We thank the Lord that Br. Hight is recovering from his recent illness. However, we want to invite your prayers for Sis. Irene Mauer. She has been diagnosed with pneumonia. She is at home and is recovering but needs your prayers. Hopefully the advent of spring and warm weather here in Bedford will help heal the EFM family!!
EFM had a prominent display at the IHConvention this year. We filled our display with pictures from the recent medical team to Honduras. We are happy to report that many people talked to us and we made many new contacts. We are excited that there is a large interest in medical missions teams. Now the challenge is to incorporate all these people into the teams! Thank you to those of you who gave us your name and information. If you know anyone else in the medical field who is interested please contact us at EFM. My current email address is a quick way to get in touch: donald.smith@parkview.com
Please pray for Br. Hight. He seems to have caught a bad bug at IHC and had to miss the missionary service on Sunday morning at Faith Mission Church in Bedford. He will appreciate your prayers and thoughts.
EFM participated in the Penn View Miss. Conv. last week. There were so many highlights it would be hard to write about them all. One of the most interesting events was directed by Br. Hight. It is called “the culture game.” The entire student body from junior high through the college was divided into 4 groups. Each group was assigned a certain set of cultural styles and practices. One group was to be extremely laid back and not care about anything. Another group was to be an extremely outgoing, energetic and excited group. After reading their instructions they decided how to implement the cultural strategies. One team appointed Sis. Faith Hemmeter as their matriarch and did not do anything without her permission. They were extremely regimented in all their actions. The excitable group would jump up and down and turn circles like puppies-all the while clapping incessantly- when they met someone. Br. Hight directed the teams to make visits to the other teams. After each team had a chance to meet all the other teams they then presented their thoughts and comments about the other teams. Most interesting is that the groups made statements that sounded so REAL. They called the regimented group stuck up. They called the excitable group overbearing etc. It truly showed how culture can create HUGE barriers between people.
A six member medical team went to the Santa Barbara region of Honduras. We stayed in San Luis at the clinic/mission compound. However, the caregivers to the sick became the sick. A viral gastroenteritis was contacted by the missionary families and the medical team caught it one by one. David Matlock M.D. was the first member of our team to catch this bug. It lasted for less than a day but while it lasted it was miserable – vomiting and diarrhea. Despite this we were able to see several hundred patients in remote outlying areas. We went to locales with a church so we could lend our influence to that church work. One elderly patient could not even walk and so she was literally carried by her son. We even saw a couple of patients in their homes. Even though we were the caregivers, we still learned a lot. Some of the medications we had overestimated and others we had underestimated. It all worked out and our next trip is in September. A BIG thank you to the people who helped fund this trip.