CHIAPAS REPORT OCTOBER, 2018

OCTOBER , 2018. CARAVAN REPORT

We arrived in waves...first me, then Rich (delayed by his bag inspection and tariif imposed...), who arrived on the next flight, and then the rest of the group at 6 pm.  A long , drizzly ride through the mountains, and then a long, lumpy, steep, gravel road detour to go around the blockade near the one of only two road entrances to Ocosingo. Weary but joyful. 1 new traveler, the rest of us veterans! Good to see Jan’s smiling face, ( Pablo was in a village).

Really nice church service Sunday. Jan and Pablo’s anniversary, Jan’s birthday, and Pastor appreciation day. Three for one! Special guitar music, muchas bienvenidos for us, and wonderful words from Sebastian!  

He is a gem! Always smiling, down to earth, a gifted preacher/teacher. As is Dina. Together they have grown and energized the young people at our small , storefront mission church. The attendance in the last 2 years has soared, and the church is proudly chipping away, peso by peso, at the goal of paying off the land purchase, in Order to build a larger church building. The property is located kiddy corner from the clinic, situated at the top of the hill, looking down over Ocosingo. It is rough land, with one precious, large tree. They envision a medium sized sanctuary, with a kitchen, a large patio, a small pastor house, etc. This will be a great project for a youth group or construction team!  

Blessings abound! The clinic is in the black for now...due to several individual donations. More work needs to be done to outreach to the hundreds of individual churches in the mountains and jungles of Chiapas. Formerly, the Synod was not contributing, but controlling and tying the hands of individual churches. Pablo has just had a meeting with them, re: this. And always the support of new churches in the U.S. is needed. 

  Pablo has made a large purchase of Bibles and Hymnals from the National Bible society in Mexico City. These are small Spanish Bibles intended for young people. There are active requests for these. Young people are those 15 to 31. There is a large contingent of university students that attend our mission church. They are usually living in town for 1-2 years while attending school. There is wonderful word of mouth and the turnover each year has been great. Thanks go to Village and one other church for $500 donations to get this small money maker project started. 

Well, personal news...

 Sara, accountant, pregnant with child #2. A change of chofers..Josue is now driving Pablo locally and to villages. He needs a little experience... We have a new secretary. Mari, the nurse is doing well, and Dr. Gustavo’s name has been painted on the front of the clinic building. No turning back! He is wonderful. We are loving him more and more. His gentle, wise nature and sense of humor is blended with excellent skills, and his ability to work and enjoy the doctors and nurses who come with the Caravans 3 times per year. The wife of Guadalupe, revered Para medico, has just died this week. Yet he would not miss an opportunity to serve with us. Pablo’s dad celebrated his 79th birthday Monday, with cake in the face!  

Our patient count is low this week. There were blockades earlier , which deter people, but all roads are open now. There were recent elections, and always, the results are questioned, often with extreme means. Our Radio Maya is down, as the antenna was hit by lightening. Costly repairs... Everyone misses the broadcasts: sermons, classes, Bible courses, music, health talks, and announcements of upcoming Caravans. With out these announcements, our numbers have been obviously lower. It is amazing the impact and the scope of listeners.  

But the people who came(many Catholics, who heard our announcement on their Catholic radio station) were meant to come and were served well. We have seen about 100 patients per day. It has been a great week. Lots of collaborating on things medical, spiritual, and Hebron organizational! A cross country biker, from Poland, has joined us! She is Marie, speaking Spanish and English well, smiling, very friendly. Fascinating story! Biking alone from The Arctic Circle all the way to Patagonia! 8000 miles so far. She is helping Alexa with the glasses. She is decidedly agnostic, bur we are hoping hanging around us crazy, but committed Christians will rub off.  

  The donated Ultrasound machine just arrived! With joy, Dr. Rich Silver has been using it and teaching Dr. Gustavo! But Gustavo is well versed, having been attending classes in San Cristobal for the last year, almost. He has 6 months to go, and will receive certification in such. This will be such a boon for treating patients. There is a great need, and desire for this testing. We will be able to charge for this, and it will greatly help the clinic funding.  

We continue to promote the water filters. I will do some home/hut calls with Sebastian to follow up on usage. This is expected, by the organization who is donating a lot of the filters.  

We thus, have finished clinic early in the afternoon, and able to enjoy some down time. Lots of walking...down, down the brick and cobblestone streets, to the park, the shops, the crazy open markets. Time to nap, read and write. Yesterday we enjoyed an invitation from a church family to a birthday party. Nice! Wonderful soup with potato, squash, carrot, and a piece of chicken in it, a different, delicious tamale with masa and black beans. And of course....Happy birthday in English and Spanish, words from Pablo and Sebastian, and the obligatory face in the cake!  

So! As usual, this has gone on and on! So much to tell. So much to pray and smile about. 

Love!

Carolina in Chiapas