Meet- Blair Milster

Meet Blair Milster:

Ok, why do I go to Honduras and help out where I can?

I suppose I am a Do-Gooder.  I like to help people.  Where I can, I help. Maybe it's Cub Scouts, mission work or collecting donations for charity auction with my son's school. I like to help. The Honduras trips are a place where I can make a bigger contribution. I  use my Spanish and general handiness with tools to help build a community and a church.  These trips are rewarding in ways that the other stuff isn't.

How are these trips rewarding?  That is a tough one to answer. On dental teams, I have translated for patients who are looking at us and comparing us to visiting angels. The eloquence of the Spanish is difficult to convey in English. 

I remember one trip, I got a chance to talk with the father to a child who needed a lot of work.  Dr's. Moore and Fetsch  had stayed late to work on this little boy.  It was after hours and we were all tired. They had been working non-stop for many hours.

While we were waiting, the child's Father took a minute to say "Thank you". We chatted a bit more.  He then went on to talk about how much our work contributed to the church in Talanga.  He used personal pronoun in the phrasing. Clearly he meant me. I pushed it off as being the dentists' work and I am just a helper. He clarified that he meant all of us on the team.

From his point of view, having a team come down and help pastor Lois did incredible things for him and the church he was building.  His comments summarized to: "Yes, you bring dental care and economic benefit with what you spend.  You also show that this church cares about people and God.  You don't just send money or hire somebody, you come here and work with us. That does tremendous things for us."

I look back on that and think of Jesus' parable of the talents. What are we doing with the gifts we have?  Me, I try to help where I can.  Helping with the mission work has the greatest impact, so I will do that when I can. I also help a home, in the shadow of the steeple.

On this trip, I expect to translate a bunch, relearn some Spanish I have not used much lately, get lots of exercise, see friends and help build a church community.