Celebrating Our New Laboratory!

April was a joyful month in Ocotillo, Honduras, because we celebrated the dedication of our new medical laboratory! Our Honduran staff has dreamed for years of having a medical laboratory for the Ocotillo community. The Lord heard, and the Lord responded! The grand opening came as wonderful news and evidence of God’s goodness. The lab services will be affordable to everyone, and will include HIV, pregnancy, glucose, blood counts, cholesterol, and urine tests.

Many people attended the dedication ceremony, including Lifeline Honduran staff, school parents, nurses, a community leader, and pastors. A devotional was read, and the guests shared in a time of prayer and rejoicing.

One attendee works for a nonprofit organization that rescues children from child labor in the local landfill. She explained that employers require that new employees get a full medical exam and lab work-up, but getting to a lab "requires a day’s worth of waiting just to get results, plus the costs of transportation." She went on, saying, "The local public health center can often only see 15 patients a day, which requires patients to arrive at 4:00 a.m. just to get a place in line. So you can see, the Lifeline clinic is a big benefit to the community!" A local nurse agreed, saying, "This laboratory is progress! Patients normally have to go into the city to have testing done before receiving treatment; yet many times, patients cannot afford the costs of transportation and lab services."

The laboratory is part of our medical clinic, located on the same property as our Ocotillo school. A school parent said, "The clinic is such a blessing because it is right here in our community! Medicines are affordable, and the clinic and laboratory help our students. Thank you for the support! We live in a marginalized area, but Lifeline has been so involved here…We know there is more to come!"

To sum up the gratitude and excitement, Pastor Hever, of our Ocotillo church, exclaimed, "We are thankful that the Lord meets our needs and fulfills our dreams! May the Lord continue guiding the staff so that the community can continue to be served well." We couldn’t agree more, Pastor Hever!