Day 4 in Nicaragua

We had a lot of prayers and praises from the day before at worship this morning. 

Before we started seeing patients today I decided to visit the first morning worship service where the patients must go first. They were rocking it out! It is so wonderful to see our team and these villagers united and worshiping together. 

The dental team was off to a fast start! We had so many kids this morning. It was like a pediatric office and they were so scared. Tear after tear came and then their was a little girl standing outside the door that passed out and I watched her head hit the tile floor. I yelled for help and the translator scooped her up and ran her over to medical. We prayed she was ok. 

 I finally had a breakdown today from being so overwhelmed by the needs these people have. I was fighting back tears on every patient I treated.  These people have nothing but the bare necessities. They are in constant struggle everyday. 

Brooke and I were encouraged by other team members to take half a day out of the dental clinic to go with another team. We both chose the veterinarian team. Funny I know! I grew up on a farm so it brought back so many memories. I was so excited to get out and see the land and people. 

While Brooke was out in the morning they met a man who had just cut his hand open with a machete. They drove him to the medical clinic where he was treated.

After he was treated the gospel was shared with him and he accepted. Glory to God!

Our job on this adventure was to visit and witness to the families while the animals were being vaccinated. It was actually not too hard because the people are so hospitable. 

 When they saw us coming they went and got chairs and wanted us to sit down and visit which was good because that was our plan too. This was such a beautiful family. 

They have three girls and the oldest could rope these cattle and make it look so easy. 

After roping them they would wrap them around a tree. 

They would catch the baby calves by their tails and pin them to the ground. 

When you are standing on a dirt road and you think their is no one around..... all of a sudden children would appear. They could literally sense our presence. 

We handed out candy, balloons, and Bibles. They were so excited about the Bibles and would ask for more for a friend. 

We got to love on babies and hand out shoes to this little girl who didn't have any.

I had never seen a pig get vaccinated but it was one of the funniest things I have seen. It squealed so loud!

This family is one of my best memories from the trip. They were so excited to see us! When I gave the elderly lady a bible she gave me the biggest hug and kept kissing me on each cheek. 

Both women hugged and rubbed their new Bible. I still tear up just thinking about it. It was a true highlight of the trip!

Yes, these are pink chickens! They are pink so they are camouflaged to look like the colorful flowers from the air to protect them from predators. 

The family invited us in and they were so proud to show us around. Remember all these homes have dirt floors. 

They made us fresh popcorn molasses balls.

You can see the hammock in the background. This is where they sleep. 

This was a Christian family and this cross was on the front door. 

Brooke also loved her experience with the Bibles. A woman ran out her door asking for a Bible. When Brooke handed it to her she started hugging and kissing her. I love it!

When we ran into this family they asked us to walk to their home to vaccinate their cow. Of coarse we said yes. However, we did not realize their house set a mile off the road. 

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 It was one of the prettiest walks with amazing views. 

This was their kitchen. They were so kind and once again brought us chairs so we would stay for a bit. 

After spending the afternoon visiting with these families. One of the locals took us to this beautiful waterfall! This was such an added bonus for me! It was a pretty good hike and a lot of it pretty strenuous. 

Those of you who know me well know I am always up for an adventure!

Absolutely  BREATHTAKING! 

While I was gone a gentleman came into the dental clinic and he had a terrible cane. Dr. Howell ran over to the medical clinic and brought him back a new cane. He was so thankful and gave Dr. Howell a big hug!

When I returned the dental team was still hard at work and we ended up working until  8:45pm. Whew! We were exhausted but ready for one more day!

This by far was my favorite day!

Day 3 in Nicaragua

This was the first day for us to wake up in the village. This is the corner of the unexperienced.

And here is the experienced mission trippers.  

Yes, next time I will bring one of these. It would have been good for privacy and keeping out little critters. It was hard to sleep with the roosters crowing all night and snoring roommates. Earplugs took care of that the rest of the trip. 

We start off every morning around the flagpole at 6am for worship and devotional. 

Kurt, one of the pastors on our team, led our devotional the first morning. He read from John 13. "Love one another as I love you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another." Jesus commands us to love one another. It is not a choice. Kurt's point was that we are unified today with this village and we are to love these people as God loves us. 

You all have heard me talk about my Monday morning Bible study at home with my Starbuck's Sisters. Well guess what....... We are studying the book of John and when I looked at my watch I realized my girls at home were reading this at the exact same time. This was one more confirmation that Brooke and I were right where we were suppose to be.......in Nicaragua! Still gives me goosebumps!

After morning worship we headed to the kitchen where this awesome crew fixed our meals.  Remember, this is a school room not an actual kitchen.  All the food, pots, pans, ovens, and utensils were brought in by our team. This was how they ministered the whole time. They worked so hard!

This team consists of 13 different ways to minister.

Here is our dental team.

This is our Medical team.

This is our optical team. 

You can see how many boxes of eyeglasses were brought in. 

These two ladies were our pharmacists. 

Veterinarian team 

But BMDMI (Baptist Medical and Dental Missions International) is more than medicine.

It is a store for food and clothing.

It is a place you can be pampered.

It is a place you can have a family photo made and printed to take with you. 

There are families who have never had a photo of themselves.

BMDMI is also a team that witnesses door to door. 

It is teaching children about Jesus in children's church.

It is about a youth group for the week. 

And it is about worshiping our Savior!

Each family had to sign up and attend a worship service before they could receive and entrance card for medical care. 

Here is our first day in Dental!

This was my main job..... LOCAL ANESTHESIA!

We pulled a lot of teeth! I was able to pull my first adult tooth on a patient! 

The children are beautiful, thankful, and loving.

There were three dentists including a dentist from Nicaragua. 

These people wait in long lines and walk hours to seek medical care. 

There was one boy Nathaniel's age that left his house at 3am all by himself and walked hours to get here.

We prayed that he got home safely. 

We finally left the dental clinic at 7:45pm and made it to worship. I took two eight year old girls with me.  They were so sweet and hugged and thanked me afterwards. 

Brooke and I got brave enough to wash our hair in the freezing cold water. It felt good to have clean hair but we still were not brave enough to get in the shower.