The mission team from First Presbyterian Church will be heading to Mexico on Saturday, July 11th. There will be 23 people on our mission team. Jorge Camacho, o works at Mi Toro in Corinth, will be joining the team at the airport in Huatulco. The team will work on a construction project to build a porch for one of the dorimitories at the Base. This is the rainy season, so we ask that you pray for this and our other endeavors, which will include a dental clinic, an eye clinic and a children's ministry. Watch the church website for updates on our trip. We leave knowing that you will cover us with your prayers until we return
Hola from Roca Blanca! We arrived in Mexico without incident but had an interesting event occur at the
airport! As we were leaving, several local taxi drivers decided that we needed to "give" them our business
and proceeded to tell us that we needed to pay them $450.00 to carry us half way to the base (per vehicle!).
Alberto and Laura did the negociating as Bernie looked on (above). Finally, after about 30 to 45 minutes, we
unloaded the base vans and proceeded to walk off the airport property, where our vans came to pick us up!
Quite an interesting experience to say the least.
On Sunday, we traveled to a remote Mixteco indian village where we held our first bible school, dental clinic and eye clinic.
Laura explained to us that there are about 16 different languages in this area, including 150 dialects, so it is very important
for each of these people groups to have the gospel explained to them in their own language. The picture above reflects some
of the children playing games in the local town.
We also got to experience our own version of "running with the bulls". As we traveled to the village, we went through several highly flooded areas and it seems that the local livestock decided to make a run for it. People and farm animals were running down the road right beside our vans!
On Monday, we traveled to our local town, Cacalote, where we will be holding bible school for the re of the week. The gospel was shared and 12 locTal children accepted Christ. This was trult a blessing. On the construction team, Dick Atkins was fired twice and Jim Corley decided to compete for the "fired" position also so he could work in the shade where the chicken coop was being "remodeled". Tomorrow they will b e pouring concrete.
At the clinic, the dental team was very thankful for the dental chairs delivered to the base this past December. Dr. Shipp performed two surgeries today and 20 people gave their lives to Christ!
We are all doing well and appreciate your prayers this week. We have traveled to the internet cafe and will give further updates as we can.
Tuesday, July 14
Today is a better day. I only got fired once. When you are so talented, they just have to have you in so many places. The construction crew has had varied experiences. There was a porch to build, but didn’t have all the supplies. We need a Bigger’s Hardware close by. Some of us laid carpet in the administrative building. (Corey, McClamroch, Jorge from Mi Toro, and me.) Wet clothes are very stylish and you get to wear them all day long. This is a great experience and I am really enjoying it. It is nice to spend quality time with fellow church members. Continue to pray for us. Dick Atkins
The dental clinic day has been a good day but very busy. It also has been a challenging day because the dental equipment will work for a little while and then quit with no explanation. The dental team has pulled 30 to 40 teeth since arriving in Mexico and has completed about 10 to 15 fillings, which is something new for this team. Previous dental teams have done only extractions. All cleanings have been done on 3 to 5 patients so far. Many thanks to Jim Corley and Mike McClamroch for keeping the equipment and running
for this trip. This has been a new experience for me because my whole family is with me and have just
Thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I would like tot encourage church members in the future to travel as families because it has just been a blessing to my family. Steve Blair
A pattern has developed for me in having “come apiarist” on mission trips…this time was no different. In the midst of a torrential downpour, tons of kids and parents, I “thought” I lost my camera that had fabulous pictures on it. I had a meltdown, the preacher announced it to the town, the kids were upset for me; and of course after Kimberly and I had searched all bags twice, Madeline finds it that night. Before the camera was found, these two teen boys from the village offered to search the neighborhood for the “criminals”. I offered a reward, but no camera. Not to sound braggy or anything, but I gave each a small payment for helping. While dining, I saw them hanging out, and upon our departure, they came up with a gift for me.
Alberto translated, but I said,”I wanted you to spend it on you”. They said they didn’t pay for it. Then I said, “Did you steal it?” A question I would have asked my own child. They said they had it, and wanted me to have it…a beautiful piece of pottery. Boy, was I humbled. I continue to be humbled here daily. God is good, all the time. I would’ve given up that camera to get the lessons I learned from those boys. Ask me later about the turkey. Love ya all, and miss ya much! Lisa
This is Don. We had some exciting and scary stuff to happen today. Jordan Parker was in the surf of the Pacific Ocean where we all have been playing. But Jordan got thrown by a wave and twisted by it and thrown to the bottom. He was put on a surfboard and his neck was secured and was taken by men to the base which was about 100 yards away. It was scary because it could have been serious. But a real comfort was having about four doctors around who consulted and evaluated Jordan. After some time and a thorough examination, Jordan was able to sit up and then stand up. He was having some soreness in his back and tingling down his left leg, but the worst did not happen. Praise God. He is now being taken to a local hospital for precautionary X-rays. Pray for Jordan and the Lord’s protection over all of us.
Jordan is sore today, but we are all so thankful that he was not seriously injured. Please continue to pray for him as he is recovering. He was told by the doctor in Puerto Escondido that he needs to have CT Scan when we return home.
The dental clinic ran very smoothly, but steadily today. We had a patient that experienced intense pain due to a decayed tooth and TMJ. Steve and the local dentist did all they could, but she will need to see an oral surgeon. Please pray for this dear, brave lady. Thanks for all your prayers!
The eye clinic saw four patients today. They were a challenge for Bernie due to lack of the equipment that he normally uses. Each case had a story behind it. We are grateful to Dr. Nelson in Puerto Escondido for allowing us to use his office for the surgeries. There will be 4 cases tomorrow. One is very special because she is a woman that has been blind for quite some time. We look forward to see the success of her surgery.
