Honduras Mission

A team of 26 flew into San Pedro Sula, Honduras and went to Pena Blanca to help the people of Honduras with the help of the folks at the Pan American Health Service. It was a very busy, exhausting experience but very worthwhile and fulfilling. We saw a total of 1,500 patients and dispensed thousands of medications including anti-biotics, anti-parasitics, analgesics, 20,000+ adult multi-vitamins and 20,000+ child multivitamins. We were ready for whatever the experience brought us and all worked very well together. We went on a pre-trip which gave us a very good idea of what to expect and how to plan for it. It was the organizational plan that did us the most good. We ran like a well-oiled machine. We were equiped and manned and ready when the first patients came to the door. Most of us were seasoned with at least one mission trip under our belts, the rest of us were ready and willing for anything. Though it was sponsored by the Adventist Health System it was ecumenical, all inclusive and all-accepting. We even had a Buddist physician with us.

Probably the most rewarding experience for me was seeing the good will and love the fellow team members had. They were dedicated, loving, gracious, and commited. they did it out of the goodness of their heart. Out of a sense of altruism that is not often seen on a day-to-day basis. Out of a love for God and man. They left the daily grind of taking care of their own needs to self-lessly giving and giving and giving. It gave me renewed hope in our human race.I was blessed by spending a week with these wonderful people.

Psychiatrists in the mission field

I went on a mission trip to Ecuador with the folks from Maranatha and Adventist Midwest Health in January. I expected to help as a support team member as much as I could in the medical and surgical endevours but I was surprised how busy I was practicing psychiatry. In my short-sighted, narrow view I didn't think there would be a need for my specialty services. I was faced with the reality that mental illness knows no limit to region, culture or language. I saw people with depression, bipolar, alzhiemers, OCD, ADHD, panic attacks, people who had experienced domestic violence, sexual abuse, etc. I saw pain and suffering like I do in the states with an added twist: poverty and lack of resources, both for therapy and and medications. I'm not sure of the follow-up the people will have or if they responded to the medication I started them on, but I prayed that the consultations sent them in a positve direction, that the medications helped and that they could continue them and improve the quality of their lives.