The Medical Caravan
During the week of Christmas and New Years our Puebla team had the privilege of traveling to the state of San Luis Potosi (9 hours north of Puebla) and working on a medical caravan. The medical caravan is organized and run by a non profit organization called Time for Christ. Based in San Antonio, TFC prepares teams of 100 – 200 workers to travel to a remote village in Mexico, two times a year, to provide medical aid and share the gospel with all who seek treatment. Maintenance workers, cooks, doctors, nurses, translators and other specialists are part of the group every year. The caravan, with permission from the local government, sets up on the campus of a public school, turning school rooms into a pharmacy, lab, clinic, dining hall, x-ray, surgery and sleeping quarters.
A 9 hour trip through the mountains of southern Mexico sure gives some beautiful scenery. I’m not sure why Efrain thinks it’s funny that I’m praying :) …
This past caravan I had the privilege of working in the clinic, taking patient histories, and translating between the patient and the doctor. It was the first time I’ve ever gone to the caravan and translated full time! Some of the greatest blessings were the opportunities I had to share Christ with dozens of people. It’s one of the few jobs on the caravan where you have 2-5 free minutes to talk to patients, while waiting for the doctors. Many people were open to hear the gospel, had good questions and desired Bibles and contact with local Christian churches.
“The way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like and do what you’d rather not.” – Mark Twain
Among the 1100 patients we saw in that week, I think over half of them came in with either lower back pain or gastritis. Gastritis is an irritation / burning in the lining of the stomach and esophagus that can feel like indigestion. In my opinion, about 90% of Mexicans have it. It can be caused by eating and drinking acidic foods like coffee, Coca-cola, and hot peppers. It’s hard to convince people to change their diet when those are the three most available and well-liked foods in Mexico.
The lower back pain patients are almost always farmers or masonry workers. That came as no surprise due to the remote region in which we were working. It’s hard to tell someone that they will never get better if they continue working in the only job they’ve had for their whole life.
The rest of the patients varied from head colds, to tuberculosis, to cirrhosis of the liver, to hernias, to acne. You name it, we saw it.
New Year, New Home
The day after Christmas, Juvencio and his family moved into their new home. They are truly grateful for all the prayer and support that so many of you have given. In Mexico, one of the ways a family will show their gratitude is to invite you over for dinner and serve you the best dish they know how to prepare. In many houses, that dish is called “mole Poblano” (pronounced, moe-lay) which is a special hot sauce made with peanuts, hot peppers, chocolate, and all other kinds of items, and served with chicken and tortillas. Because all of you are “up there”, and we’re “down here”, the mole Poblano will have to wait until you all come to visit. Don’t let the picture scare you. It’s really delicious! In the meantime, while they’re waiting for your visit, Jovencio wrote a letter of thanks to all of you who helped make this possible.
Juvencio’s Letter
Hola,
¿Como están? Les mando muchos saludos a todos en el nombre de nuestro señor Jesucristo. Gracias por la ayuda que me han brindado de cada uno de ustedes. Otra vez le doy gracias a Dios para ustedes. El 26 de Diciembre ya nos pasamos a nuestro nuevo hogar, gracias a ustedes, nos apoyaron mucho. Primeramente Dios podamos volver a vernos este año 2007. También quiero que tengan una feliz navidad y un prospero año nuevo.
Gracias! Y que DIOS LES BENDIGA.
Juvencio y familia.
Hello,
How are you all doing? I send you all greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for the all the help that each of you has given. Once again I want to thank God for all of you. On December 26th we moved into our new home, thanks to you all, you helped us so much. Lord willing I hope that we will see some of you in 2007. Also, I hope that you all have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
Thank you! And may GOD BLESS YOU.
Juvencio and family.
Piñatas
During this holiday season I witnessed 4 piñata smashings, at a safe distance, contemplating one question over and over again... Why? As I was mulling over this question in my mind, my Mexican brothers were voicing a question that continued running through theirs... Why not? Or better said, Why don’t we have piñatas in the states? Well... why don't we have piñatas in the states? Ok, instead of giving you my opinion, I’ll do the best I can to paint the picture for you… and let you decide.
The number one reason for smashing a piñata is for the candy. No one really cares about the tradition, they just want candy. But just in case any of you are curious, the piñata is a paper-Mache ball with seven cardboard cones sticking out of it which is covered with crepe paper and made to look like a seven pointed star. The piñata is supposed to represent the Devil and the 7 deadly sins. The purpose of letting stick wielding children beat it is to make the Devil let go of the good things that he is holding back from us. These good things are represented by some candy, plastic toys and a lot of peanuts. The piñata is hung with a rope over a courtyard or between two trees and a man pulls on the rope to make it bounce up and down. Each kid is blindfolded and handed a long stick, spun around three times and left to the guiding shouts of those around him to bring his wild striking attempts into contact with the bouncing piñata. Every now and then, contact is made and some candy flies out, sending children running everywhere to gather it up around and under the stick-swinging, blindfolded child. Pieces of crepe paper fly everywhere, half of the candy gets stepped on, all of the peanuts get stepped on, kids cry. It takes about 10 attempts to destroy the piñata. Afterwards, any crepe paper, cardboard and candy wrappers that haven’t already blown into the neighbors’ yards are swept up with the smashed peanuts.
It really is a hilarious experience. I’ve enjoyed every one I’ve ever seen.
Prayer:
1. After 3 doctors visits, two clinical tests and some prescription medication, the diagnosis for Juvencio is that he does not have a hernia, but inflamed and injured muscles, which have responded well to the medication. Thank you all for praying. Now with his house finished, and him feeling healthier, he is going to return to work full time for a construction company. This whole past year he had been working odd jobs, and doing small construction projects to make ends meet. Praise the Lord for the gift of health and a new home that he has given to Juvencio.
2. Continue to keep me in your prayers regarding my future. No matter what, my life is going to change a lot, again, in the next year, but I’m constantly comforted with a peace from the God who never changes.
3. I had a terrific opportunity to share the gospel with my next door neighbor Dario. I would love to continue to have opportunities to talk with him and my other neighbors about Christ.
Thanks for hanging in there and reading all of this update. May the Lord continue to bless, guide and comfort you all as you walk with him.
In Him,
Jon
Special thanks to Efrain (he's the one laughing in the picture where I'm sleeping) for taking the pictures!!!
