Sunday night, March 22nd, Dr. Vance Pirkle, missionary doctor to Hospital Loma de Luz in LaCeiba, Honduras visited Pyerian Baptist Church. Dr. Pirkle with his wife Susan and five children are originally from south Georgia.
They have been serving at Loma de Luz for the past four years. Dr. Pirkle has been filling in at the Elizabethton, NC hospital for a few weeks before returning to Honduras the day after Easter. Dr. Pirkle spoke to the children in AWANAs at six before sharing with the adults at the seven o’clock service.
He shared the hardships of living at the end of a seventeen mile long dirt road to get to the hospital and the vital nature of the hospital. They are the only medical facility within an hour and a half for over seventy thousand people.
Dr. Pirkle is an obstetrician and surgeon. His wife Susan acts as the hospital administrator. The Pirkle’s oldest daughter is in South Carolina preparing for her life in missions working with media. In the past year the his team at the hospital has delivered 196 babies and performed over 100 surgeries. When talking to the children they asked what his greatest need and greatest frustrations were. He stated that the hospital needed a full-time mechanic because of the terrible conditions of the roads and his greatest frustration was his inability to become more fluent in Spanish. Dr. Pirkle is known for his sense of humor and he said he was thrilled to asked for his autograph by one of the kids.
The AWANA children gave Dr. Pirkle a love offering from the coins they have been collecting to help with his work.
