Pastor: Bill Ivins
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NICARAGUA Three Team MISSION 2012 Day 1, February 25th (We will arrive today)
Day 2, February 26th
Day 3, February 27th Our first day of our mission started in the village of Las Canas, about one and half hour drive from Matagalpa. After a warm and friendly welcome from the children all the medical groups started to set up. The medical groups included the general medical team, the dental team, and optometry team. Initially, there was a steady flow of patients, but as the day progressed, the number of patients increased. A number of conditions were evaluated and treated, that included hypertension, gastritis, skin disorders and headaches. A total of 30 dental evaluations were completed, along with 50 tooth extractions. Also the medical team had an opportunity to treat 138 patients and approximately 43 eye evaluations were completed. A number of low sodium dietary educations werealso completed. The overall experience was very fulling, especially when you saw how grateful all the patients were with the help they were receiving. The day ended at 4:30 with long sleepy bus ride back. God Bless.
Day 4, February 28th The medical team visited El Saltz today not far from Matagalpa. It was an older established village that had many medical needs. We were able to assist 271 people. We ministered 163 in medical, 48 in dental, and 60 in optical. It was a very busy day. Many of the villagers were older, one was 92 years old. We felt in sync today and everything went smoothly. Our home family provided a wonderful noon meal, beef stew and rice. Most of us went back for seconds! We arrived home after a fulfilling day around 5:30 and again had a great meal of lasagna and salad. Then we ran some errands to find more medicines needed for tomorrow. Afterwards we had our fellowship and sharing. Diane and Murray provided the devotional, and then we had ice cream and social time before bedtime.
Day 5, February 29th Happy Leap Year Day, the team made the most of the extra day this year. We traveled to Yaule village not very far from the team house. As Diane says, "We've got rhythm" seeing 248 total patients (163 medical, 60 optometry, 25 dental with 55 extractions and 417 prescriptions were filled). Today was the first time that all teams were in one location. With a good rhythm, steady rain and close proximity the team took part in some extra curricular activities such as adventurous bathroom breaks and performance judging. The second to last picture is Muffet's feet under the outhouse door. The last picture is the medical team nurses (Samantha and Marisa) judging the dental team's performance (the collective score was a 9.75) while Dr. Smith and Dr. Obergon cheered them on doing the wave. Don't let the doctors fool you later in the day after a crying 4 year old left girl left the dental chair they gave the dental team a collective score of 1.1. It was great team building and successful day for all. Thank you and God Bless.
Day 6, March 1st Today started out a little cloudy and rainy. On our way to our adopted village, San Jose, we had a flat on the bus. As our bus driver and Alex changed the tire, we gathered for a group shot. We rode as far as possible but because of the rain and mud we all had to get out of the bus and walk across the bridge into the village. We set up all the medical but dentistry inside the the church of San Jose. Dentistry was stuck outside in an open air chicken hut. The medical team saw over 170 people, dentristry saw 35 and pulled 49 teeth, vision saw 48 people, and over 483 prescriptions were filled. Our total people served was 253. Tata (grandfather of the village) was on site to keep us in line and visited the doctors for medicine and sunglasses and a cup of coffee. Many of the group visited the homesite for the next week mission. It was a little muddy. We had a delicious dinner at The Prairies, had a meaningful family communion, sang our Servant's Song and called it a day.
Day 7, March 2nd It is finished!!! What a wonderful week! We have been blessed beyond imagination. The first picture is our guide as we leave Matagalpa. The next pictures are the L-O-N-G H-O-T bus ride to Granada. Then a few pictures of Granada. We saw a beautiful ancient cathedral, an active volcano, and some imaginative street dancers. Alex promised a surprise while we were in Granada - air conditioning on the bus - a first! Woo hoo! A great picture of our wonderful host family - the Alvarado family. There is much to be said about a hot shower in a cool room - and a great meal with wonderful fellowship is a great way to end it. Love you all and see you soon.
Day 8, March 3rd (We are coming home!) We will be leaving Managua at 7:00 a.m. and arrive in Houston George Bush Internation Airport at 10:30 in the morning. We will ALL turn on our cells at that time so please call! The El Paso missioners will leave 1:49 p.m. and arrive in El Paso at 2:52 p.m. The Midland/Odessa missioners will have a LONG layover in the airport. We have been offered a special group room to rest and regroup. Our flight leaves 8:55 p.m. and arrives in Midland at 10:24. We will have transportation home. We will see our families and friends soon. Thank you for the prayers. As you can see from the last two pictures, we were delayed leaving Houston until 10:30 and arrived in Midland at 12:12 am Sunday morning. We are all exhausted but also so full of wonderful memories. We are ever indebted to so many: prayer warriors, donors, friends and family who made it possible for us to leave for a week, Murray and Diane without whom none of this would have happened, and to Bridges of Hope and their staff. It was a wonderful week of sharing God's love with His children in Nicaragua.
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