Newsletter - July, 2018
| July, 2018 Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me." Matt. 25:40 Published by the Society of the Good Shepherd, P. O. Box 122, Amberson, PA 17210. (717) 349-7033 |
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" Rev. 7:9-10 The Kingdom of God is made up of peoples from all nations of the earth. Ambassadors of God’s Kingdom take the Gospel message across the world not only in words, but also by showing love to their fellowmen in other countries in various ways.
In the last newsletter, we told you about a group of young brothers who traveled to Honduras this year to do construction work to greatly expand the size of the rural health clinic in the small village of Jardines. There is another rural health clinic in the nearby town of Taulabé. For many years, the women who live near Taulabé have gone to this clinic to have their babies. However, until 2007, the clinic had no space to care for these new mothers and their babies after childbirth. As a result, sometimes, within a few hours after delivery, the women were having to walk back home with their newborn infants. Many women endured a walk of several hours. This led to complications and contributed to high mortality rates for new mothers.
In August of 2007, at the request of the clinic, a crew of brothers came from Pennsylvania to build a new maternity ward for the medical clinic in Taulabé. They worked extremely hard, and in two weeks they had the maternity ward built! The importance of this clinic can be seen in the following statistic: within months after the maternity ward was completed, maternity deaths were reduced by 61%. In fact, in the past four years, the clinic has not experienced any maternal deaths. What a blessing the clinic has been! Now let’s fast forward to February, 2018. When the team of brothers arrived to begin work on the addition to the clinic in Jardines, they were accompanied by a team of four young sisters. These sisters came to tackle the huge project of re-painting the maternity ward in Taulabé that had been built back in 2007. With 20 gallons of paint, multiple ladders, brushes and rollers, Chantel Brechbill, Jordyn Stewart, Victoria Stewart, and Samantha Skrivseth finished painting the entire maternity ward in just 3 days! These ladies were so enthusiastic, always smiling and laughing, that they immediately bonded with the doctors, nurses, and patients at Taulabé. At the same time, they also worked hard, with excellence and attention to details! Their work made a world of difference. It not only beautified the ward, but made it look and feel cleaner, more inviting, and safer for the women from the community and their babies. The clinic directly and positively affects mothers and their babies, enabling them to thrive physically and remain healthy. As followers of Jesus, we can reach others across cultures, even if we don’t know the language. That’s because God’s love is a language in itself! God brings his people together to carry out His purposes. Sometimes loving others may be through conversation, or holding a ladder, or painting walls. It can be expressed through a smile, or through a donation that enables others to carry out God’s work.
Although these sisters each paid for their own travel expenses, the 20 gallons of paint and the paint supplies were made possible through the donations of our readers. Thank you for being enablers for these ambassadors of God’s Kingdom.
The Society of the Good Shepherd, P. O. Box 122, Amberson, PA 17210 • (717) 349-7033
Click on the following link if you would care to make a donation to the work in Honduras: Donations
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