Browning's in Balfate: November 2009

Of Burns and Benefactors
God uses all kinds of people to get things done. About two months ago, a 37-year-old Balfate man named Enil received 2nd degree burns over 45% of his body when some gasoline he was working with caught fire. His family owns the little hotel just behind our house, which, up until the time of his accident, also sold gas and diesel fuel. All told, he spent 7 weeks in the Hospital, receiving 1-2 hours of daily wound care. He needed skin grafts on his calves, but Loma de Luz only had a dysfunctional, archaic dermatome, the cheese cutter-like device for harvesting the healthy skin. Dr. Leon Greene, our very humble world class cardiologist, and his wife Judy were in Washington visiting a new grandbaby, when our surgeon Dr. McKenney wrote, asking if he could track down blades for the old machine or, preferably, find a whole new dermatome.

Dr. Greene located a supply house in Seattle that had the blades, but during his first visit, an employee told him they didn’t have any dermatomes. He began looking elsewhere for a used one, knowing they cost $14,000-20,000 new. He found a used one in Oklahoma for $6,000, but that was far out of the price range. At a second visit to the Seattle supply house, Dr. Greene commented that it was too bad they had only the blades and not the machine itself. The lady behind the counter said, “Oh, we do. You must have talked to Cathy. She’s a bit confused about our inventory. We have 2 or 3 Army surplus dermatomes from Desert Storm. They cost about $500.” Not having the money at the moment, Dr. Greene asked them to hold one for him.

The following excerpt from Dr. Greene’s recent newsletter describes just how God provided the needed funds: “Still wondering where the money might come from, we went to a dinner gathering that night. A dear friend who had worked with me for years gave Judy an envelope at the end of the evening and said, “Here, use this for anything that you need at the hospital.” (You can see this coming, right?) Inside the envelope was $500! And we’re still surprised when God answer prayers through unexpected channels, and at unexpected times! So we were able to bring the dermatome to Honduras when we came back, and Enil was able to have his skin grafting. He went home a few days ago. Rarely do Honduran men cry in public. Enil cried with joy when he was finally able to go home.”

Now at home, Enil comes to the hospital every week for continued wound care. His hands and face have healed perfectly with no scars, and the rest of his burns are also doing well.

Josh’s Jobs
As always, there are lots of jobs, both big and small, to keep Josh busy. Most of the hospital’s housing is built on hill sides, so with the rainy season comes landslide cleanup and repair. Aside from regular maintenance things, most of his time in the past month has been spent finishing a house for one of the missionary families. Work is just beginning on two suspension foot bridges which span a large ravine connecting the housing area to the hospital area. Another large project is replacement of the original metal water storage tank built in the mid-90’s. Over time it has rusted out and is losing structural stability. A second tank was installed in 2006, but the combined 17,000 gallon storage lasts less than a day if the system goes down. The construction guys are currently putting together a cost estimate to construct a larger concrete tank to solve the water storage problem. Below is a photo of the top of the storage tank with several supports rusted away.

Teaching
I have been thoroughly enjoying my students! I am teaching 5th, 7th, 9th, and 10th grade math students, as well as one 9th grade physical science student. I have classes three mornings a week, and during that time, Guildy and Hadley are with a wonderful Honduran teacher named Lyndi. She takes great care of them, and they are learning lots of Spanish! Below are Lyndi and the girls.

In Closing
And now for the weather report. Everyone wants to know what the weather is like in a foreign land, and in a nutshell, the north coast of Honduras is HOT. Hurricane season is just drawing to a close, and rainy season is just kicking off. With the winter rains come wonderful moderate temperatures, lots of mold, and perpetually wet shoes. The minute the rain stops, it gets hot again, but we can‘t complain. It’s better than shoveling snow!

Thanks so much for all they ways you support us and the Loma de Luz ministry!
Blessings,
Josh, Linzy, Guildy, and Hadley

Please Pray For:
Fair, peaceful general elections on November 29th
Staff needs at Loma de Luz, including a surgeon, anesthesiologist, family doctors, and nurses
Hospital finances
Our Spanish skills
Safety and protection