A Day to Remember

This morning the team started with a Bible study from 1 John chapter 4. We are reminded in these verses how incredibly important it is to love others. What a beautiful reminder of how God uses these acts of love, it definitely prepared our hearts of the day ahead.

Today Dr. Ginger was stationed at the Amigos Animal Rescue getting things organized for surgery, while Dr. Bri and Katelyn headed out to La Champa to gather animals. The community was so excited to see us, and in no time, we had performed quick medical screens and loaded up a truck full of animals. Three women and one kid from the community came with the dogs and to spend the day with us. We were able to complete several surgeries today, but most importantly we were able to spend time with some people from the community. Katelyn, the tech wonder-woman, was able to keep things moving and spend so much quality time with the La Champa families. They played soccer, made crafts, laughed, and packed lots of goodie bags for other kids in the community. One unexpected surprise was getting to meet 2 baby opossums!

We were also blessed to have Amanda, Tori, and Reka helping again today. The number of people showing up and just jumping in to help has been an answered prayer. We kept the team small this year, one reason for that was that we wanted help from the community. God has really blessed us over and over with help.

We wrapped up surgeries and sick visits a little early today so we could attend church with Matt and his family. Their 2-month-old son was being presented today, it was so special to be there for them. It is always amazing to attend church somewhere new, there was some awesome music and singing, and the pastor even prayed for us specifically. The whole church was so welcoming, even with a language barrier, we could still communicate with smiles, hugs, and attempts and speaking Spanish.

To round out the day, we enjoyed a wonderful meal with Meg (our hostess) followed by some games and popcorn around the dining table.

Looking back on the day it is always mind blowing just how much we experience and get to be a part of. Tomorrow, we have a local veterinarian coming to help. We are so excited to meet him and his team. It is hard to believe we have just a few days left; we are already looking forward to when we get to come back again!

We will add photos to this blog when we are able! The power went out last night, and the cell service is not good enough to get pictures uploaded.