Gloria Harrington sent an email this morning to let us know that she, Jim, and Mary Beth Greenway made it back safely from Belize, where they spent almost two weeks assisting in a medical mission campaign. I thought you would be interested in her report:

We arrived home late this evening from another great trip to Belize. We were able to perform surgical procedures for 52 people, plus evaluate countless others who wanted to see the doctor. Some are already waiting for the next time we will go there for their surgery.

The weather was HOT, but we all survived; everyone worked really hard, 12-16 hours each day, and we still could not get to everyone who needed our services. There were 14 in our group this time, plus we had the assistance of two local ministers, Venus Chun and Kenion Gill, and also Robert Durough, who is working with Mayfair Church of Christ this spring in Punta Gorda. He was a tremendous help to us, and he was able to meet and study with many of the patients and family members in the hospital while we were there.

On Sunday, we drove out to San Pedro Village for Church services which also included the baptism in the river of a young man who had been studying with Venus Chun, the local minister there. We also worshipped wih the Punta Gorda Church Sunday evening after having a “post op clinic” at the building, where all the Punta Gorda patients were asked to come for a check up.

On Monday, we traveled all day to various villages to see 18 patients who lived outside the Punta Gorda area. It was a long, HOT day with a lot of walking, climbing hills, sweating, and driving, but it was great to be away from the hospital and mostly wonderful to be able to visit with the families in their homes. They really appreciated our making the effort to come to their homes. Earlier in the week, one of our patients decided that she wanted to be baptized before her surgery. Diane Florida had been studying with her in the pre-op area, so Jim arranged for us to use the pool at a bed/breakfast guest house across the street from the hospital, and she was baptized, then had her gall bladder surgery. That was a first for us!

We are happy to be home and hope to see you all soon. Thanks for your interest and support of the work in Belize. I will write MUCH more later !

Love,
Gloria