Blockbuster News

Greetings and salutations to one and all.  Busyness was the operative word and we are just now getting respite enough to feel like we can breathe.

IHS Medical Dental Brigade had a wonderful year here with restorative dental being added to the repertoire of services rendered.  Here are the results of that brigade.

2015 Brigade Results

Total Visits: 1248

Medical visits: 908 Total
Of that: Minor surgeries: 2

Dental Visits: 173 Total
Of that: Tooth Extractions 175
Received Sealants 113
Received Floride Treatments 167

Eye Clinic: 167 Total (some patients received both)

Reading Glasses Dispensed: 56
Sunglasses Dispensed: 182

Pharmacy: 3249 Total
Of that: Prescriptions filled: 2399
Vitamins dispensed: 850

Annual Hospital Appreciation Dinner was a success.  We had an amazing group of workers and their families (about 22 folks altogether) that enjoyed fun, food (grilled pork chops, baked beans, fiesta coleslaw, with both banana bread and vanilla cake for dessert), and fellowship.  It’s a nice way to show our gratitude and thanks for their hard work.

Next up was a great construction team coming from New England to warm themselves and work up a sweat storm.  Here are some photos of what they accomplished:  Plumbing for both the hospital apartments (being turned into dormitories) storage closets for supplies, plumbing for the guest house that is being renovated into the new Wiles residence.  We have two couples joining us (Braxtons and Moras) this next year sometime so we need to upgrade the living quarters for everyone.

Carlos  stayed  behind  to  minister  to  Nicaraguan  pastors  and   continue  ministry  in  Olanchito  so  he  is  not  in  the  group  photo  at  our  celebration  dinner  when  the  work  was  finished  and  the  team  was  heading  home  to  the  states.    In  this  shot,  he’s  with  a  group  of  soldiers  that  he  helped  in  daily  Bible  Studies.

Fifteen minutes home and Wes started his string of emergency flights over the next several days.  Currently he is the ONLY emergency medical evac pilot in the area. 

We’ve implemented a program with Vitamin Angels (organization) which provided vitamins for expectant mothers and for children.  What a blessing!

As missionaries, we are great at encouraging others with stories of the Lord’s victories in our lives as we serve Him. We want to be a light that shines brightly of His goodness and grace. It’s in our nature to share how we’ve overcome through Him. What we don’t usually share is the struggle and discouragement as we fight for the things that we can share later how God brought us victory. We often feel overwhelmed. That’s a good thing, because we know for sure it was not us that did the great work but Him in us. However, there are times when we need to share that we need your prayers. Please keep your missionaries in your prayers. They need it every day in the day-to-day battle of being on the front lines. Thank you, prayer warriors, for you faithfulness in lifting missionaries up before the Almighty as we serve Him.

Prayer Request:  We are going to be doing a lot of traveling this month for several events (check up, wedding,

children to and fro to airports, MAG office, etc…)  we would appreciate your prayers as we travel about.  Thank you, faithful prayer warriors!  You don’t know how much you are appreciated.

Joyfully In His Service,

Westley and Denise Wiles

A Miracle Adventure!!!

Greetings and blessings to you, our Loved Ones.

Bet you've wondered where we've been -- read on and find out our adventures.

I am a walking miracle and each day is a gift.  What started out as a trip to the states to see Westley’s mom and other family members turned into something so much more.  (There were earlier signs, but we didn’t recognize them.)  We flew into Nashville and our son, Joshua met us.  We drove to Knoxville where we hooked up with our other son, David and his fiancé, Rachel.  We enjoyed a couple of days together.  It was great.  However, I was plagued with major migraine headaches the whole time. 

We drove to Arkansas and visited Westley’s mom in the nursing home.  I was so very tired and in major pain.  I had an episode of talking weird while visiting but we all just chocked it all up to me being very tired.  I laughed it off.  We drove to Hardy to spend the night with Westley’s brother. 

I have no memory of the next events but Wes related the story to me.  After retiring for the night, Westley awakened to me having a grand mal seizure.  I was rushed to the small emergency room not far from town.  On the way there I had two more grand mal seizures before they could get enough meds in me to control them.  I was stabilized and then sent to a another (bigger) hospital in Batesville.   They then transferred me to UAMS in Little Rock, Arkansas.  I spent nine or ten days there.  Wes said they ran tests, a couple of MRI’s and CT scans.  I don’t remember much from that time except for the last day when I was released.  Looking back, it was His timing.  If this had happened while we were in the jungle of Honduras I probably would have died.  I am grateful that He kept me safe until we reached the states.

Anyway, the results were very interesting.  I was then scheduled for surgery.  It was going to be a two part surgery.  The first one was cranial surgery.  A portion of my brain had fallen 2.5 cm and would be needed to be raised back into position and the “hole” filled so it would not fall again.  They cut along my hair line (to cut down on scarring so it’s along my forehead) and opened the brain cavity.  They cut a portion of the cranium bone (no rejection) to slide under the fallen portion to hold it up in place.  Carefully, they lifted my fallen brain and repositioned it.  They filled in the “hole” to keep it from happening again.  Yes, there are two titanium screws in there now.  They closed up, using staples.

After cleaning up from that surgery and restocking, the second surgical team came in and cut out the inactive brain material that was lodged in the top of the nasal cavity and made sure the brain cavity and nasal cavity were separated like they are supposed to be. 

Between both surgeries, I would be under five hours with a recoup time in the hospital of four to five days.  One big blessing was that our daughter, Rachael, made the trek from South Korea to be with us.  Westley’s family also came to offer support in many ways throughout this whole endeavor).  God’s hand was ever present.  He guided the surgeons and gave me a quick recovery.  After two days, I was released from the hospital.  The metal stitches came out eight days later.  Things are progressing in such a great way that even the doctors are amazed.  I’m not.  I serve an awesome God and He takes great care of me.  What blessings!!!

Everyone has been so supportive with prayers, gifts of support (good job on designating Wiles), and encouragement.  I have truly felt the prayers and good wishes that have been offered up for me and to me.  It made a difference.  Thank you.  We couldn’t have gone through this trying, faith stretching experience without all of you. 

Westley has had to make several trips back and forth during this time and take care of commitments we did NOT want to break.  That was a miracle too.  God provided by moving on the hearts of others to stand in the gap and make things happen.  Both of us reflect on this time and see His hand and your love and care for us as amazing.

I had a check up on February 6^th.  We believed for a good report so that we BOTH could return to Honduras for our next group.  And it was GOOD.  I have had stern lectures about trying to do everything I used to, so this time I will be supervising and resting only. 

It has been a blessing to spend time with family which we haven’t done in quite some time, but it is time for me (Wes tooJ) to return to our full time love of our heart.  I did want to extend our deepest thanks to you all for everything.  We have such an awesome team and we do amazing things together.  God is not finished with us yet and we give Him the praise and glory.

A special team came to minister to the children by holding Vacation Bible School.  Average attendance was around 50 children.  What a blessing!  A missive from Carlos:  “The children all had an opportunity to pray to receive Christ.  And they all received the Scriptures in Spanish.  The very little kids received a Gospel of John and the older children received a New Testament.

We took photography of every child as well as gathered everyone to secure some group photos.  The children will continue to receive ministry, play more baseball, and have fun at the river with myself and Mackenzie Jackson for the next four weeks.  So we are not done with the children whatsoever.”  We were delighted by their coming (how I wish I had been there) and they also helped with a project at the hospital. 

Carlos and Mackenzie will stay and help with the next group coming – IHS/MAG Medical/Dental Brigade.  We will be busy.  We usually see between 1200 and 1500 patients so we ask for your prayers as we gear up for this next adventure.  Much planning, getting of supplies, traveling for both team members and patients are just a few of the details.  Thank you for helping this ministry touch so many lives in so many ways.  You are appreciated.

As we sign off this time, we give all praise and glory to Him who has paid our price and given us overcoming power.  He gave us the opportunity to serve Him.  We love what we do and we also love that YOU have joined us in partnership to reach others in love.  Since my experience, relationships have come to mean so much more to us than before as special as they were even then.   We don’t want to take anything for granted, so forgive us for being a little mushy!  J

Joyfully In His Service,

Westley and Denise Wiles

Wow! October!!!

Greetings one and all!  How wonderful to join you again for an exciting update and a new bonus “Misadventure” story.

We have been busy bees!  Our MAG medical/dental brigade was engaged in a three day (and some of that next morning after) extravaganza.  The stats are below. 

We did have medical evac of a pregnant woman with a possible broken hip.  They were concerned for the baby as well.  

They couldn’t get a heartbeat.  After Wes flew her to Puerto Lempira for treatment we received good news – the baby was okay and the hip was just dislocated.  She is walking around on crutches.  What a blessing to have had this awesome team here.

Medical/Dental/Eye Brigade

Sept. 29 – Oct. 2, 2014

Medical

177 Adults

138 Pediatric

315 Total

Dental

115 Patients

238 Extractions

 67 Floride Treatments

Pharmacy

1269 dispensed

Eye

73 reading glasses dispensed

 503  Total Patient Encounters

Other October news – Wes and Carlos flew to Mocorron and Puerto Lempira for a meeting with the Alcade of Gracias A Dios.  Getting a full time teacher for the school and bridge repair were the topics of conversation.  They left hopeful that their information and pictures will bring about some help in the bridge repair project.

The alcalde is also coming out on Sunday to assess the teacher situation here.  We will fix them a tasty lunch after they visit with the villagers.

Medico, another medical organization, will be visiting toward the end of the month.  They are looking us over in anticipation of sending a possible brigade themselves sometime next year.  They want to see the facilities and get to know us a bit.  We are hopeful that they will like what they see.  If they come on board, it’s possible that we could have medical/dental brigades 3 times a year (staggered out) so the folks will have care in a more consistent basis.  

We are excited by what He is doing.  Please continue praying for the work here.  The Braxton’s will Possibly be joining us in service sometime next year.

we have another couple, the Mora’s, that will be visiting in January to see if this is where God is calling them to serve as well.  We can’t wait to see what will happen as we grow.  

Bonus- MisAdventure

“What in the world?”  I think as I am jerked awake from a sound sleep.  The monkey is pitching a fit and I can hear the dog barking with almost a full howling, and the cat meowing very loudly.  I grab up the flashlight, flip on the porch light (soft yellow lighting) and head out to the porch to see what was going on.  I can’t get the flashlight to penetrate the screen to see so I step outside.  It’s very dark, no moon or stars because of cloud cover.  The cat’s meows are even louder so I step towards her thinking she is injured.  As I get closer a stray thought enters my head since I am barefoot about fire ants being out or the big black ants that bite hard and hang on.  But….I was already out by the tree.  Ebony (dog) and Pixie (cat) are still caterwauling.  I notice they are both focused up on the tree.  I shine my light slowly up the trunk to the branches.  Poor thing, a young cat was clinging for dear life.  I firmly tell my animals to be quiet, several times.  They don’t shut up.  I head back to the porch to get a broom to “herd” Ebony to the porch, where hopefully, she will calm down.  The flashlight goes out.  Battery was dead.  I walk gingerly in my bare feet to the porch.  I put the flashlight down and get the broom and head out of the yard to the other side where Ebony is still barking and semi-howling.  It took quite a few tries, but I managed to herd her into the yard and onto the porch.  Again, speaking firmly I tell her, “Lay down and be quiet.”  She looks at me.  I don’t know if she will obey.  I shut off the porch light and close the door.  I listen intently to see if she will behave.  Things quiet down.  I notice the time.  It’s 2:15 a.m.  I head back to bed, hopefully to drift back into dreamland.  I listen a little more, but it’s still quiet so I go slip onto the cloud of dreams and float away.  But wait!  That’s not all.  A while later, I hear Ebony howling (this time the full roar howl) and she begins to whine and cry.  No kidding.   This causes the monkey to get into the act (again).  I get up with a groan.  I flip on the porch light and speak firmly to her but she is not listening.  I glance down.  Eureka!!!  I see the food storage for the animals.  I decide to give her a little food.  Surely appealing to her tummy will help quiet her down.  I give her a cup of dog food.  She is happily crunching when I shut the door and turn out the porch light once again.  It’s 3:10 a.m. as I stumble back to bed, listening to see if a happy tummy will make for a quiet Ebony.  It seems to have done the trick and even Jack creeps back to his little house to rest.  It took a little longer for me to slip away to dreamland but I managed to find the cloud and drift away, hoping that this was the end of this nighttime adventure.  J

Joyfully In His Service,

Westley and Denise Wiles

September's Shaping Up!!!

Greetings from Rus Rus!

This month is shaping up to be very busy with visits and a medical brigade coming up next week.  You can look forward to a blog (or two)about that but in the meantime: 

We asked visiting couple, Joel and Abrielle Braxton, to write a little something of their time visiting here.  They are praying about their role in missions.  

I hear the whir of the engines, and as I gaze out the window watching the blue and white variations in the sky I remember where the last few weeks have taken us. We, Joel and Abrielle (a small town/big city boy from Ohio and a big city girl from Texas) now married and equipped with skills in aviation and general mechanics (Joel) and in nursing (Abrielle) found ourselves deep in the virgin jungles of hon-DUR-as (as the radio announcers say).

I eagerly joined my husband who had gone 10 days earlier to help with the annual inspection of the Cessna 206. Right away, Wes and Denise welcomed me with big smiles and warm hugs. Veteran missionaries of 16 years in La Mosquitia, Honduras, they are used to welcoming strangers from the States. This time was different though. Not only were we interested in visiting and serving short-term, but also seeking whether the Lord may be calling us to full-time service with Missionary Air Group in Honduras. 

The hot air hit me like a blanket thrown in my face - a warm welcome due to Ohio's cold summer. A 3+ hour bus ride, dinner on the beach, a night in the hotel, and a 1.5 hour flight in the Cessna later we arrived in the village of Rus Rus. Ebe-Nezer, the black lab, eagerly greeted us at the plane in her jolly way while the chickens and monkey (Jack) waited for us to introduce ourselves. Over the next 6 days, we watched, looked, and listened to what life and ministry is in Rus Rus and what they want it to be. Of course, we couldn't help ourselves from dreaming about potential realities for ourselves living among and serving the Miskito people in the jungle.

Wes and Denise are clearly in love with each other - affectionate and playful, they keep their relationship fresh, enjoyable, and strong. They have to in order to survive in this environment. Gifted with skills in hospitality and cooking, Denise (or "neecy lou" as she is affectionately called by Wes) made sure we were more than comfortable in their home with plenty of fantastic food. Wes let us rest before giving us the tour and making work available when we were ready. Joking and teasing all the way, we knew we were included. Book, movie, and family game buffs, we all enjoyed sharing our interests, and we even got in a few card games. Not without me going into shock over the numerous cards overflowing from my hands and blurring together. We laughed till our bellies and cheeks ached. 

The Wiles easily opened up about their roles, commitments, desires, dreams, and vision for Rus Rus, the airplane, and Hospital Rus Rus. 

Rus Rus Hospital

There are innumerable opportunities for ministry, but it is crucial that we are careful to seek the Lord's wisdom in all things and ensure that we follow His leading doing His work rather than seeking our own project dreams that may not be necessary. Much work has been done in Rus Rus, and much is left to be done. In the last 4 years, the Wiles have practiced more Spanish, been establishing and building relationships with the locals, repaired much of the hospital, acquired medications and supplies, repaired a building for their own lodgings and space for housing short-term teams, hosted several large and medium short-term teams, repaired/maintained the airplane, provided air ambulance service, distributed salaries to hospital employees (all locals), cared for pets (dogs, monkey, and chickens), and hosted several "big" Christmas parties. The community has a Catholic church with a lay minister and a protestant church with no pastor (the hospital's head nurse, Geraldina, is helping to keep it going). Most villagers attend one of the two weekly services, and several villagers are eagerly seeking to know Christ more. However, there is not much spiritual leadership, very few good role models, an occasional flaky teacher, and limited food varieties available. 

Our hearts' desire is that wherever the Lord leads us, we may walk alongside seeking followers of Christ in their journey so that locals can rise up to lead the people to accept God's grace and eagerly obey His precepts. In addition to spiritual ministry, we wish to use our skills and gifts to serve the people in physical ways.

Our next team is coming to have a mini-clinic with medical and dental services at the end of this month (next week and a half).  Your prayers would be greatly appreciated for all the traveling as well as for the team as they minister to the sweet folks in the surrounding area.

On a more personal note - What a blessing to have our son, Joshua, come home for a visit during his block leave after returning from Afghanistan!  I tried not to spoil him too much but I did make a lot of his favorite meals.  It will be sad to send him off again.  What’s in store for him?  He doesn’t know when he will receive his next posting so for now he will be in Kentucky for the winter.  Brrrr!!!!

Joyfully In His Service,

Westley and Denise Wiles

August News

Summer and Fall are shaping up to be busy.  Here are some things that have been going on.

       Flight That Saved Lives

It brings great joy to our hearts to see returning mother and twins after they were flown over to Puerto Lempira to House of Hope for further treatment.  The twins (picture on the left) were “failing to thrive” at 6 months and only five pounds,  but look at them now (picture on the right).  Their lives were saved and even Mom picked up a few pounds too.  It’s a wonderful feeling when we know that we’ve made a difference.

           More Medicines

We were very thankful that more medicines were donated to our pharmacy when we were in Roatan.  It is such a blessing when the country struggles to get meds to this area especially.  Thank you, God, for making a way.

                   Church Service

We  were  recently  blessed  with  a  visit  on our porch from  the  Catholic  Church.  They  brought  an  afternoon  service  to  us.  Songs  and  a  short message  were  shared.  It’s  a  real  joy  when  the  locals  want  to  include  us.  The   service  ended  with  them  laying  their  hands  on  us  and  lifting  us  up  in  prayer.

 

        Kia Work Truck

One of our needs is to have follow up care and to get supplies in here (when things are too big or bulky to put on the plane).  Consider partnering with us on this project to raise the funds for a Kia Work Truck that we can use to go from here to outlying areas with follow up care, parasite treatments, vitamins for pregnant mothers, and bringing in supplies when needed.  

Our Blessings Update

Rachael is renewing her contract to continue teaching English in South Korea for another year.  She’s very active in her church with several programs.  We hope to go visit her sometime next year.

David is working at the Geek Squad Department at Best Buy.  He is still having some health issues so please keep him in your prayers.  

Joshua has been stationed in Afghanistan for the past 9 months.  He is being rotated back to the states this month (or early next month).  He is hoping to come home to Honduras for a visit during Holiday Block Leave but the paperwork to leave the country is pretty intensive.  Praying for favor with the powers that be for the army would be greatly valued.

PRAYER REQUESTS

We have a couple of big things coming UP!

The annual inspection and permit to fly in Honduras is due on the airplane which includes a trip to Guatamala.  The paperwork chase begins. Your prayers would definitely be appreciated.

MAG is planning its first medical/dental team to minister at the hospital at the end of September with lots to do to bring it all together.  Again, prayers requested for all those involved.

A heart felt thanks goes to you all who faithfully pray and have committed to helping us reach this area with His Love.  You are the greatest team!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Joyfully In His Service,

Westley and Denise Wiles