The journey's end...

I have been home for a little over a week now and I wanted to put up a final post. Last Friday I began saying my goodbyes as I began my journey home. My last day in the clinic was busy as usual, but it was also filled with sadness as I said goodbye to the clinic staff and to the patients. The staff all gathered together at the end of the day to share thoughts with me and to pray for me. I can't even express the love and kindness that they showed me, but I will say that I was very blessed to have such an amazing send off. Sheree and I, together in a picture at last.
This is my pal Sonia, she is the x-ray tech that I used to walk home with when Giovanni didn't come to pick us up. (Gerson and Yadi are goofing around in the background.)
This is Dr. Gerardo Flores. He has such a heart for the Lord. He was one of the individuals that was an encouragement to me on a daily basis. It was truly an honor to work with him.
This is Gerson, he is one of the medical interns that has been working at the clinic here these last couple of months.
Leaving Olancho

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Leaving the clinic was hard, but leaving the family in Olancho was much harder. Roldan and Conchita were pillars of strength for me. They were always there to encourage me when I was struggling. Karely told me that Conchita cried when I left...but the tables were even, because I cried when I left as well. It was hard saying goodbye to Lety who became like a sister to me, and to her son, Daniel. I have never had a little brother before, but Daniel became a brother and a friend. Leaving Olancho behind, we set out for Tegucigalpa, where I said goodbye to the rest of the family and to Sheree. After living, working, and playing together everyday for the last three months, saying goodbye to my sister and friend was not easy. She, and the rest of the family and staff will continue to be in my prayers.

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By God's grace, and only by His grace, I made it on every one of my connections and I was reunited with all of my baggage in Boise. My homecoming was very rich. It was great to see family and friends here that I had been missing. I am starting to settle back into life here...I have already returned to work and to jr. high ministry, and I finally unpacked everything last night. God has definitely given me a heart for missions and I look forward to going out in His name again. There is a need at the clinic in Olancho, and I am already praying about the possibility of returning there... But wherever He leads, I will follow.

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Thank you again for your faithfulness and prayers for me.

In Him, Jen

On the home stretch...

Well, I'm definitely on the home stretch of this journey. This will probably be my last blog post before I come home. I leave for the states on Saturday, and I have only 1 day left at the clinic. It doesn't seem even the least bit real to me that I will not be there next week. Over the last couple of days I have really come to know the phrase "no se vaya", which means "don't go." The clinic will be shorthanded once I leave because they don't have any other trained nurses at the moment. You can be praying that the doors would open for the clinic to bring in another nurse to help with the workload.

This is my pal Jefrey...He has a very severe burn on his leg that I have been doing dressing changes on twice a week since I got here. He has been a patient at the clinic for over a year.
I have been preparing for my return to the states in the next couple of days. I am bringing back some files and x-rays on several different kids that need to be submitted for surgery in the U.S., so I am bringing back chores to keep me busy. Sheree and I have been working hard the last couple of nights to get things ready before I go.
This is Maria...She is one of the heart kids whose paperwork I am bringing to the states with me.
Just getting everything ready to go.
This is Saira...She is another of the heart kids that I am working on her paperwork.
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Thank you to everyone who has prayed for me, sent me emails or comments, and stayed up to date on what is going on in Honduras. It really was such an encouragement to me to know that people were rooting for me. God has really taught me a lot in my time here…some of them were hard lessons, but my time here has been a very rich experience. Thank you again to all of you.
See you soon, Jen

Kicking it in Teguc...

I just wanted share some of the fun that I have been having. It's not all work...Sometimes we play too...

We had a great time with the gynecology brigade last week. They were a lot of fun to have around, and they changed up our routine a little bit. Before we sent them back home we all went to La Pita for lunch and a little bit of fun in the canopy. The canopy is a five part zip line that is in the "canopy" of the trees. It's not good for anyone with a fear of heights, but I had a blast.
After all of our fun last week, we topped it off by chilling in Tegucigalpa for the weekend. Sheree and I had to take the gynecology brigade into the city to drop them at the airport, and then we spent the rest of the time shopping and relaxing...we had a great time. I hadn't been to the city in almost two months. Tegucigalpa is like a little America, they have several malls...all of which are bigger and nicer than our mall in Boise, and they have restaurants...I ate at a Wendy's. It is a totally different world than here in Olancho. The most American thing that Catacamas has to offer is that we occasionally will go and get pizza at the Texaco gas station. It's hard to explain, but I definitely prefer our world here in Olancho.
But spending the weekend with Sheree's honduran sisters Karely and Dilian, and her niece Linda was a really special treat for me. They have all become my very close friends, and I am going to miss them when I leave.