World of Good Blogburst, Southern Girl Style

Welcome to another World Of Good (WOG) entry here at The Scratching Post. This week, we thank Southern Girl for her offer to discuss her experiences working with the Baptist Medical and Dental Mission International(BMDMI) organization.

A few years ago, a young lady with a kind heart, a desire to help people and some self-doubts came in contact with a group who encouraged her to go out in the world and share her talents. The result was a series of trips with Baptist volunteer doctors and dentists to bring free health and dental care to the people of Reitoca, Honduras. Southern Girl shares her full description of the trips on her blog.

Before I go any farther, let me pre-emptively respond to a comment I received a while back on a post I did about a similar expedition to bring health and dental care to Chiapas, Mexico. Honduras has a lot more to offer than just an opportunity to do charity work. The people are smart and industrious and the country is beautiful. Honduras can be a lot of fun to visit as a tourist and I'm sure the entrepreneurs among you can find business opportunities as well. For more information, try this site for starters.

Tropical islands, anyone?
Southern Girl's concerns about her own abilities were overstated. Thanks to her friends in BMDMI, she discovered she was stronger than she knew. Her faith and her commitment to help others overcame handicaps of her own.

My professor (at Union University) served as a translator in the medical clinic and had been a part of this mission for several years before I came along. One year after she got back from a trip, after telling me about it she said, "Southern Girl, you need to go with us next time." I think I nodded, but inside I had no thoughts I'd be able to go. At the time, I either walked using a walker or I rode around campus on a three-wheeler. Steps were a huge challenge requiring help. The places the teams went didn't have paved streets and sidewalks, and they rode on school buses, with those huge steps to get into them.

I had no faith in myself that I'd be able to handle such a trip physically and worse than the lack of faith in myself, it even extended to God as I focused more on what I would or wouldn't be able to do, and not what He could. But my professor kept after me and it even happened that our university was going to sponsor a team the next year, with members coming from the university community. And I began to pray that God would provide not only the money necessary, but that He'd give me the confidence to take this step of faith.

One after another my prayers were answered. Friends and family sent me checks and encouragement. God used my professor in a mighty way as she had an answer for my every concern and her belief that I could handle the trip never wavered.

Her post describes the adventures of the trip. Here I will touch upon the highlights of her work. I recommend you visit her blog to read more.

After arriving in the villages, we usually set up in an empty school, and the first day saw a few patients from the local community who were going to be helping the team out all week. Then for the next four days, we were up early in the morning and worked until sundown. By the time we arrived in the village there were already crowds gathering, people who had walked literally for hours and hours, sometimes in the middle of the night, just to see a doctor or dentist or attended a worship service. For most of those people, that was the only time they saw a doctor, when the teams came to town.

She worked in the clothing donation center, thinking it would provide an easy transition into the emotional difficulties of the mission. She discovered that a gentle soul finds ways to care no matter where she is.

The first year I went with the team, I started out working in the clothes closet, where we gave away an outfit to everyone who came through the medical clinic...I thought working with the clothing would be less emotionally tasking than in any other area, but after three little girls came in for shoes, and only two walked out wearing some because we simply did not have a pair anywhere close to the size the littlest girl needed, I had nightmares that night about digging through a pile of shoes and crying as I went before having to say, "No, there aren't anymore."

I'll close with a lovely paragraph Southern Girl wrote to close out her own post.

I'm so glad I let God use me, that He is bigger than my all-too-often tiny faith, that I have brothers and sisters in Christ in a far away place like Honduras. Finances, physical disabilities, language barriers...none of it is too big for God to overcome, so if you ever get the chance, expand your world and go ye...

I don't see how I can add to that. See this link for more World of Good posts.