This morning Leigh and Therese both came to relieve me from the overnight clinic hours so that I could go to the BIG circle. I actually haven't been to BIG circle in 2 years, since they didn't not have it last year during my stay (due to the rains this time of year). I was so excited!!!
When I arrived to the yard (where the BIG circle was being held), I said my hellos/goodbyes to many of the children who I've become close to over the past 3 years. I chose to stay by Doris during devotions. The team that arrived yesterday afternoon was walking around, and I quickly recognized them as the same team who had come last year while Andrés, Jenny & I were there. They are SO kid focused and it was exciting to see them again. They had mentioned emailing me months before to let us know they dates they'd be down in Honduras, but since we had changed internet providers...the email never reached us. I was glad to be able to spend the day with them.
Verónica led the devotion this morning (with Tammy translating). It was about forgiveness and how we need to think about truly forgiving. We say it ourselves in the prayer that we've been taught by our Lord: "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us". Think about that for just one second. You are PRAYING to God that if you cannot forgive one another, you wish that God does not forgive you either! I don't think that I put too much thought into that during my elementary, secondary, and college years...because I have always had a hard time forgiving those who had hurt me. I still have a difficult time forgiving, but know to ask for God to help me through the process of forgiving those who have really hurt me...because I WANT TO BE FORGIVEN BY HIM.
Lydia spoke afterwards about the illnesses that are all throughout Honduras and at Emmanuel. We have 3 staff children who have Dengue Fever, and then there's been the chicken pox. The clinic has been running, but the energy of the few who are able to work the clinic (those who have had chicken pox previously, or the vaccine) is lessening by the day as volunteers like me have been working non-stop 8-18 hours per day for 2-3 weeks straight. We prayed with Lydia for the illnesses to go away and for rest for the volunteers. That was pretty emotional for me, as I realized that my time here was winding down.
After BIG circle, I headed to the clinic to update Leigh & Therese on how last night went and to see if there was anything they needed. On the way back to the volunteer house, the team leaders caught me and asked what they could do to motivate their team to do some clinic hours. I was SO excited for this question! We chatted a while and they said they'd try their best.
I spent the morning doing laundry, getting ready to pack to go back home. I had plans to go into Guaimaca when my laundry was done to get a few things for family (especially for my kids) before the day-long trip back to San Pedro Sula tomorrow. Tammy dropped by to ask me if I could take the team into town in the early afternoon, so I thought that would give me a good chance to talk with any who had questions about the clinic.
The team, Andrés & I headed into town about 1:00 and they got some groceries. I purchased a few items (not nearly as much as I had in years past, since I was focused on getting the team where they wanted to go), and after a few hours we headed back to the orphanage. There were team members who chatted about the clinic and had questions, and we agreed to meet there around 5:30 to show those who were interested around and what was going on.
So here's how I spent the time inbetween town and what would be my last stop at the clinic: Heading to various girls houses to drop off a few notes of encouragement to those children I had made connections with:
- Blanca & Carol -I gave them some glitter shower gel, to help her SHINE for Jesus!,
- Doris -I also gave her a few Christian T-Shirts I had brought from home,
- Dalia - She had helped me so much when she was in the clinic with the chicken pox, so I also gave her a T-Shirt of the U.S.
- Pamela (aka: Invisible) - I had a pair of tennis shoes which didn't fit me correctly and happened to notice her shoes were completely worn out...all of her toes were completely exposed because her tennis shoes were ripped from wear. I didn't think that anyone would have the same size feet as me (since most girls, even the upper teenagers, are around size 7 or less)...however she wore a 9! What a perfect match. :-)
At 5:30, I met with the team at the clinic and noticed that the clinic was back up to 10 children...all ages 8 and under and 4 of them were toddlers. Once again they have their hands full! I was so happy that FIVE team members wanted to help out. Leigh even shed a couple of tears for the relief that was about to come - most likely from sheer exhaustion. This helped me to feel better about leaving tomorrow. If they can only get a couple of days of rest...that'll most definitely help!
Rachel had made some cupcakes for two girls who worked over at the toddler house, so I offered to help her take the trays of goodies over with her in the pouring rain! Then I headed to bed early, knowing that we'd be out the door early Saturday morning at 5am.
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