OCTOBER,2017

Medical Journey.  Sept 30 to Oct. 15, 2017

Well….here we go again!  A little fear and trepidation as we journey to and through the terrible earthquake damaged areas in Mexico City and Chiapas.  Your prayers for sure for our safety and that of our whole Mexican team as we offer our hearts and hands to those who have little and suffer much.  If possible, we may take the Medical Team to nearby areas hit hard by the earthquake.   I don't know what kind of medical needs they may have, but I know that our presence can make a difference.  We can surely provide Hope and basic help and reassurance that God is with them, even through the worst of times.  

In the meantime, here is a little report on life there before the earthquakes.  

                                    CHIAPAS UPDATE.  AUGUST, 2017

Jan was the featured speaker for a large gathering of Presbyterian women in August.  Her topic was who we are in Christ.  She talked about what Jesus meant when he said we are the salt of the earth, etc.  Kinda fits in with our Following Christ luncheon series that is occurring now at the Village Church.  

Their little mission church Nueva Vida has raised enough money to buy some land to build a bigger church, outside of town, looking down the mountain into the valley, near the clinic.  It is rugged pasture land, but sits atop a high hill, out of the teeming chaos of Ocosingo, and has a beautiful view of the whole valley.  Next step is to slowly raise Pesos to put up a building.  Jan and many ladies are making  and  baking items to sell!

The Synod has been thinking of assigning Pablo another church.  He is in demand, but remains “stretched”, and is trying to decline.  He needs to stay close to the clinic control to continue to work with the synod and pastors to meet their Covenanted amount of funding .  

Funding for the clinic and for Pablo and Jan is in dire straits .  Involved churches are maxed out.  The Synod of Chiapas seems reluctant to participate financially in the clinic.  Pray for new churches to come on board. 

Jan and Pablo will be in the states in November.  I am trying to line up Winnetka Pres, and Knox Pres.  Bloomington is trying to engage another Pres church there. 

Sebastian and Dina are doing very well.  They are happy in their work and family life.  They are engaged in more churches, preaching, visiting, working with the youth.  they are getting more direction and blessing from Pablo.  They also help with the groups as they come.  

Several groups were here in the summer, doing various construction projects. These are always life changing.

Bloomington is planning a continuation of the Train the Trainer course.  It has been well received and the young teachers look forward to further study and instruction. Pray for Pastor Christian Johnson who has masterfully spearheaded this long term educational offering.  He has been called to a church in West VA. 

Nurse Mari and Dr Gustavo are happy in the clinic.  Patient census is low, contributing to the lack of income from the .Mexican side.  Many discussions are taking place on how to engage more pastors, more villages, get more patients to travel in on a daily basis, etc.

LAMENTATIONS..

Oh yes...time is running out.  Time for lamentations that my time in Chiapas is nearing a close.  

So many rich and deep times, made up of small and large moments.  After the intensity of the groups, these past 2 weeks have been filled with peace and spent just living here.  My time spent with the family, traveling, being with the larger family and listening to endless Tzeltal patter, doing church business, events, river devotions, small talk, walking the market, buying fresh produce and flowers grown locally, cooking for large groups of people, walking the mountain roads......   I could list a million thoughtful and deeply enjoyable moments.  And I could list some of the uncomfortable, inconvenient, vaguely nervous, easily forgettable moments: roadblocks, skirmishes in the parque, earthquakes, clinics without medicines, villages without clinics, bad toilets, worse showers, bad roads, bad cars, bad drivers, bad water...

But...now I start to think of home.  I let my thoughts start to move northward.  I miss my daughters, granddaughters, and Tommy!  What are they all doing?  Have they all grown? What have I missed?  Have they missed me?  I miss church, the "home" feeling, the beautiful music, and the people who pray for me.  I even miss work!  My dear work partners and my patients, so fortunate to receive excellent cancer care. 

So here are a few final photos! 

Our time in Yax was so good.  Yax is a quaint village, quiet, safe.

 The Presbyterian women's meeting was a success, and it was good to see how it works in Mexico.  Even though this was a women's annual meeting, it was run by the men....  oh dear.  The activities are overseen by men (this is one of Sebastian's duties).  The men preached at the services, and served communion (that was nice).  

Saturday was a retreat for the clinic/Hebron staff.  It was lovely!  Everyone came in by truck or car, the secretaries, drivers, Mari the nurse, The new Doc Gustavo and all the families.  AND Pablo's grand family.  The ladies prepared FISH purchased somewhere down the river, starting the day before with gutting and cleaning them.  Then at 5 AM , they made a fish soup with the heads (really good, but not much fish!), a mole' type fish stew, and the rest was grilled on the shore of the river!  We loaded trucks with 40 people or so, food, tables, etc and headed thru the jungle to the river, where we spent the day.  It was beautiful, in so many ways.  The fish was superb.  We circled, and prayed, and as a greeting to the new doctor, Pablo welcomed him and we  went around one by one and introduced ourselves.  Very nice.  Swimming was great, tho it had rained, so the river was running a little stronger than normal and was muddy.  We were not deterred!  We were even joined by a group of cows who probably wondered what we were doing in their watering hole!  

Mountain road, Yaxoquintela

Newborn horse
It's Palm Sunday.  A humble man rode in on a humble donkey, forever to change the world, one word, one person at a time

Sent from Carolyn's I Pad

THE EDUCATORS

The Educators...
Train them in the way they should go...
The Train the Trainer group arrived yesterday! 

The group!  

All participants arrived,  and only one bag missing.  It is lost somewhere between Atlanta and .Mexico City.  It moved from Atlanta, we hear, but hasn't been seen since.  In the interim, the bag returned to Bloomington!  
This is such a fun, talented group of travelers!  There are teachers, Christian educators, college student, pastor, family life practitioner, and 4 young adolescents.  They have planned and prepared and now are presenting very interactive and informative sessions.  

The young people acting out a Bible story

Lazarus rising from the dead!

The attendance was disappointing, especially to Pablo, who had recently advised us there could be up to 100 in attendance.  Turns out 2 of the larger villages sending "teachers", one of which was to host the group for interaction and observation of classes, had to back out at the last minute.  

We all thought it interesting that there were 12 in attendance. 

The 12....

 Didn't Jesus teach the 12, who were then to go out and teach others?  This group adeptly incorporated the importance of their own faith in feeling that this is a calling to teach and mentor the children.  Teaching techniques, skits, songs and interactive activities kept the young teachers engaged and excited.  

It was a fun and meaningful experience! 

Certificates are a Must!  

Pablo describes gifts of paper and supplies from the children at Bloomington Pres

The group got to experience some of Chiapas culture in the short time they were here.  They have seen and climbed the beautiful, lesser known ruins of Tonina', just outside of Ocosingo.  A lovely walk into the jungle leads you to this magnificent edifice.  It has been noted that the mountains just behind are actually ruins and excavation is planned soon.  Supposedly, these ruins will rival Tikal and other larger structures. 
We observed 2 different Sunday Schools in progress which will be helpful in teaching and planning activities for these teachers. 

Sunday School in Ocosingo

Sunday School in Yax

Our hammock home for the night!

Line up after Sunday School for the proverbial coke and cookies!

Some of the teachers, straight from the river 

We traveled to Yax, where they quickly put together a Wednesday Sunday School for us so we again could observe and interact with the teacher and kids.  What fun was had by all in this tranquil place!  

A swim in the river was a highlight!  Just enough current and rocky shore made the swim a bit of a challenge, but oh so fun!  

Down to the river!  

Pablo teaches Elisa to skip rocks

We slept in the church in hammocks.  Some are hammock,converts, some are not!  

Hammocks

This is lowland, jungle and We got bit up by mosquitos.  But the time there was precious.

Sent from Carolyn's I Pad