Medical Outreach

We felt very privileged to be invited by the medical clinic director to take a weekend trip with them and their visiting medical personnel. There is a husband/wife doctor team with their interpreter who come every year from New York for three months. In addition to that, there are 7-8 health care students from a New York’s Elim Bible School studying, observing, and participating for 6 weeks. Along with a pastor, his wife who is the cook, and several interpreters for Spanish to Mixteco, the Indian dialect, we made quite a caravan in four large vehicles going up the mountain. The last two hours of road became the worse we have ever driven for such a length of time. Words can’t adequately describe them but to give some understanding let us just say we could only drive 3-5mph in clouds of dust those two hours. We were only too happy to arrive at our destination, unload, and begin setting up tents while the cook prepared a hearty and hot meal.

Yes, we enjoyed the luxury of tents with air mattresses and sleeping bags under the beautiful starry nights, shower stalls with cold water and sheets for doors, and a bathroom with a bucket flush…you fill the bucket and you flush. We also had an early morning wake-up call by a donkey whose bray would challenge the roosters of the surrounding area to reply, which they did well into the next hour.

The local people are 4 ½ - 5 foot tall and are descendents of the ancient Aztec peoples. The older generations still wear a different costume. The men wear white pantaloons with a loose white top, banded by a white or black tie belt. The women are topless but wear a white shawl for public dress that covers them most of the time. The younger generations are wearing modern clothes and are learning the Spanish language.

We were in three villages over the weekend. Every day we would have to pack everything, including the mattresses and sleeping bags and lock them inside the clinic only to drag them back out again at night and set up camp. The first village, El Mosco, had a growing church and somewhat prospering family farm. A missionary from Roca Blanca had taught them tree grafting and talapia fish farming. Still patients were plenty and came from all the surrounding areas on foot. These people are used to walking 1-2 hours anywhere they need to go. There were 40 consultations that first afternoon which is quite astonishing when you consider most every consultation required two interpretations to be made. John was busy driving to pick up more interpreters and I spent the time praying over the people individually with Pastor Jesus (Haysoos). They were required to see the pastor between their consultation and pharmacy pick-up. Many agreed to pray a prayer of acceptance of Jesus Christ.

The second village was poverty stricken. We had to build makeshift consultation rooms by hanging a tarp from trees and dividing it with sheets. The people were hungry and thirsty so most of their complaints were of head and stomach pain. The day ended with the nurses and students crying over our inability to truly help them.

The outhouse was the highlight of that day. It was built for these very short people and so we were struggling to get in and out while straddling the little hole in the ground. John look like he was literally going to wear the whole outhouse when he came out or at least tear it to the ground. We were all thankful to reach that cement outhouse with the bucket flush later in the day. The driving was very tiring that day for John as he had to go on several other trips in outlying areas. One patient he endeavored to take home finally had to walk the last portion because there was no more road and the path became too narrow for the big truck. His highlight was being able to preach the Word on Sunday morning. Many seeds were planted in the hearts of the people those four days. Many prayers are needed for the watering and growing of those seeds. We were very thankful for the experiences and believe there will be more opportunities ahead to teach and preach there and in the surrounding areas. Please pray for the grace of God to be with us and for the endurance of our truck as we travel.