An Exciting First Week

One week ago I loaded up my two large suitcases to their 50 pound limit with random foods and different necessities, my carry-on with tons of clothes, and my backpack with a large amount of books, said good-bye to my friends and family and hopped on a plane to Honduras for a 10 month adventure. The last week has proven to be nothing short of an adventure!

Hanging out with some of the Shine girls after Church at Mateo on Sunday!

When I arrived in Honduras, I was greeted at the airport by Steve and Dianna Teel, the president and his wife of Baxter Institute.  We loaded up the truck and headed off to Baxter, where I was given keys to my apartment and a few minutes to unpack before joining the women of the school for a devotional.

At the devotional I was quickly overwhelmed with love and encouragement from all the women that I met.  I struggled through pronouncing names and communicating, but the women covered me in grace and love.  To close off the devotional I was asked to pray in Spanish, this pushed me outside of my comfort zone, but it was a blessing to share that time with such wonderful women.  One of the things that I am looking forward to most, is building relationships with so many different women from so many different countries, who are attending school here, at Baxter.

Hanging out after church with the kids.

Each morning I have had the opportunity to work in the clinic alongside my new friend Hillary.  Hillary is a 3rd year medical student from VCOM, the medical school associated with Virginia Tech. Hillary and Dr. Xiomara, the director of the clinic, have been so encouraging and helpful in teaching me different medical techniques. I have had the opportunity to observe and help with many different procedures, and I have learned so much in only one week!  I am looking forward to spending quality time in the clinic practicing my Spanish and learning more about medicine.

I was also given the opportunity to observe a night shift in labor and delivery at one of the public hospitals.  This experience was challenging, but I was able to learn so much.  I was able to observe 10-12 natural deliveries (and by natural I mean completely natural), 1 c-section, and was given the opportunity to observe a few other clinical aspects.  I now know without a shadow of a doubt, that epidurals are wonderful things!  I was thankful to have Hillary by my side for the 12 hours explaining everything that I needed to know!

Just after Hillary and I completed our 12 hour
overnight labor and delivery shift!

This past weekend we had visitors from my home church in Oklahoma, Norm and Denise Easter.  They spoiled me rotten during their time here by taking me out to lunch, to Walmart, and having me over to share dinner with the students at Baxter who are from Cuba.

Walmart looks the same everywhere!

One of the highlights from my week was sharing pizza with the Easters and the Cuban students.  After we had all had our fill of Pizza and cookies we sat around the living room and enjoyed each others company.  So many of the students from Cuba are very musically talented.  We sat around and listened to them play and sing different songs from Cuba.  It was such a wonderful experience to be able to learn more about their culture and share such a enjoyable evening with them.

I am hopeful that during my time here I will be able to build wonderful relationships with so many of the students that are studying here at Baxter.  I am looking forward to many of the women teaching me how to cook foods from their countries, loving on their children, and sharing our lives with each other.  I feel incredibly blessed to have this opportunity, and I pray that during my time here I can be an encouragement to all of those that I come into contact with, and that I will be stretched and will grow in new ways.

The beautiful Baxter campus, where I am living!

If you want to learn more about Baxter and the incredible impact this school is having on the Kingdom of God, take a look at our new website, http://www.baxterinstitute.org