It has been hard for us to start
writing this report. There is so much we want to make sure
that you (our supporters) get to experience with us, as we
share our journey on the mission field with you. We have
come to the conclusion that it will be best to write up the
facts and let the pictures speak the unspoken words.
We arrived in Mexico City on Monday the 17th at 10:30am just
as scheduled with our entire luggage. Praise God! Dana was
the only one to receive a “red light” meaning that her
luggage would need to be searched by customs. They were very
curious about a sample pack of a home dental kit (there were
20 packed in her bag), but after a few minutes and several
agents involved they finally let us through (Julie had
stepped up to assist her as her chaperone). Raul and his
family were waiting on the other side for us. He had flown 2
days earlier to spend time with his family. He had received
a “red light” at customs too, but when he told them the bag
was filled with gifts for an orphanage, they did the
obligatory inspection by looking at a couple of items.
While we waited for the
Niños
staff to arrive, Raul helped everyone exchange their
currency into Pesos. Matthew Carmichael and Daniel Rangel
then arrived to transport us to the Genesis Home. We then
loaded up the “luggage” SUV and the “people” van and drove 1
½ hours to San Vincente where the Genesis House and School
complex are located. You will remember that Genesis is the
first of the four group homes that comprise Niños. This
complex includes the home for the house parents of the older
children (many of whom are in college), the dorms for the
older children, the K-12 school, the offices, the supply and
distribution areas, the guest area and dorms for the work
teams.
We quickly acclimated to our surroundings and settled into
our rooms. We had lunch and then Matthew and Tiffany
Carmichael (our hosting staff for the week) gave us a brief
orientation. We immediately started to work setting up our
Dental clinic. The occupants of the Genesis House were on
vacation so we sat up in their family room. The guys carried
the chair from its storage area into the room we would
transform into the clinic. Everything went very smoothly and
within 2 hours Dr. Pine and Lacy were ready to see patients.
It was about 4:30pm.
On Tuesday we saw 34 patients and at lunch time Dr. Pine was
able to get the compressor hooked up. So after lunch he was
able to do fillings as well as check ups and extractions.
Lacy did a very good job assisting Dr. Pine, Raul
translated, Julie cleaned and sterilized instruments, Andrew
was a “jack of all trades” and hung out with the teenage
boys, and Theresa and Dana handed out toothbrushes and toys
as well as instructed proper brushing techniques. Half way
through Tuesday’s work the power went out to the complex.
Some areas would work, but as time went on we gradually lost
power to the entire complex. Matthew would then turn on the
generator just during “clinic hours”.
On Wednesday we saw 23 patients, many who returned for more
“difficult” procedures. So Andrew, Theresa, and Dana started
and completed a work project in Dr. Noe Flores examining
room. The room needed the walls to be scrubbed and scraped
so that it could be repainted. They also organized and put
away all of the gifts that we had taken with us. After
lunch, which is at 3:30pm, we were supposed to pack up and
rest for the next day’s trip to Chilapa. But a family of 7
showed up to see the Dentista and keeping with Dr. Pine’s
personal policy we made time to see them all. After a
shortened lunch time we saw the entire family (the two
mothers who are sisters work at the Agape house). We then
quickly started packing up our supplies. We stopped to have
dinner with the Esperanza house. It was really a joy to
interact with several of the children that we know
personally through the
HUGS program. I, Julie, personally sat next to Maricela
the young lady whom I help support. After a time of
fellowship (with battery operated lights) we went right back
to continue packing for our Thursday trip. The last of us
lay down at 11pm for a few hours sleep before our 5am wake
up with plans to leave at 6am.
After a few minor delays we left at about 6:30am for our 7
hour trip to Chilapa. On Wednesday we had made the decision
to take the light pole from the dental chair, but we packed
a portable wooden dental chair (created by Dr. Fick, a
friend of Dr. Noe). It turned out to be the perfect
combination for the work we needed to do with the space and
weight constraints we had. God is so good at making sure the
work He wants done gets completed. It might happen in a
totally different way than we would plan it, but if we are
willing to be available and are flexible, God takes care of
it.
After a few stops along the way including one for breakfast
at a great road side taco stand, we arrived in Chilapa about
1:30pm. We immediately went to work setting up. It was
wonderful being part of a team, working together, and
focused on the task of serving others. Dr. Noe had his
medical clinic set up and Dr. Pine his dental clinic set up
and ready to go in about 30 minutes. We immediately started
seeing patients, many of whom had been waiting there most of
the day for us to arrive. Even with stopping for lunch at
3:30pm and stopping for the day at 6:30pm Dr. Pine saw 13
patients that day.
We had lunch with the family that lives right next door to
the church. We learned that the lunch time is extremely
important in this culture. It is very important to them to
have the human interaction during this time of sharing a
meal. The people who hosted us during lunch would work all
day preparing for our arrival. And even though they lived in
very meager conditions they would share all that they had
with us.
Later that evening, we left to go to our hotel which was
over 1 1/2 hours away in Tlatlaquitepec (there was a lot of
traffic because of an accident). At about 9pm we had dinner
at a restaurant close to the hotel. It was very nice and a
couple of us bought local-grown coffee to bring home. We
then went and settled into our hotel rooms, which were clean
and comfortable.
Matthew, Raul and Dr. Noe made arrangements for us to have
breakfast at the hotel the next morning. The restaurant
staff ended up not getting there on time and put us behind
schedule on Friday. We were supposed to be back in Chilapa
at 9am Friday morning and we didn’t make it until 10:30am.
Pastor Jorge was preaching a sermon to a captive audience
(they weren’t even upset that we were late). We learned that
this Pastor seizes every opportunity to preach a sermon, a
true man of God on fire for our Lord. The people in the
community were very patient and accepting.
On Friday we saw 24 patients. It was very interesting to be
a part of this
medical / dental ministry outreach. While Dr. Pine was
seeing his dental patients Dr. Noe was seeing medical cases
and administering IV fluids to older patients. There were
also a couple of people giving vitamin shots. It was a very
festive atmosphere with everyone gathering together and
visiting while they were waiting for their turn. The Pastor
had Christian music playing and he was interacting with the
families. The Pastor’s 2 daughters were playing with the
children. On this day we walked about 2 miles to the place
we were having lunch. They served rice with mole sauce and
fresh hand made tortilla’s that our hostess continued making
as we ate. When it was time to leave that evening we loaded
up some of the patients in the vehicle with us and gave them
a ride to the bottom of the mountain (30-45 minutes on a
gravel road).
On Saturday we saw about 31 patients. After the problem we
had with breakfast on Friday, the Pastor invited us for
breakfast at his home. We arrived there at 7:15 am in hopes
to make it to the church by 8am. We had a minor problem with
Dr. Noe’s truck and we made it to the church by 8:30am. At
the corner we dropped people off the night before, we picked
them back up that morning. The flow of patients was
continuous, but no one seemed to be in a hurry. We had one
little boy who had 2 teeth pulled on Friday that it took him
4 more tries of getting in the dental chair before he would
agree to get three more pulled. When he succeeded we all
gave him a round of applause and everyone paid up their
promises to him of toys and a trip to the tiny store located
about a mile down the road. All of the people we saw were so
appreciative of our presence. As each person arrived they
would go around and greet everyone. That evening when we
finished seeing patients about 6:15pm we started packing
everything up. It went very smoothly and quickly. We once
again took a few extra passengers down the mountain with us.
We had dinner at a taco stand close to the hotel. While
everyone was having their tacos, I, Julie snuck next door to
have sweet bread at the bakery. I met a very beautiful young
lady named Gloria. With my broken Spanish and her broken
English we managed to communicate for about 30 minutes. Her
mother and a friend were working there with her. When I was
getting ready to leave she insisted on giving me a gift. I
believe God will have us cross paths again someday.
On Sunday, Resurrection Day, we had breakfast at the
Pastor’s home once again. It was so nice being in their home
and he played some very beautiful music selections for us.
Then we headed onto church and picked up folks along the
way. People were bringing 2 liter bottles of soda, tortillas
and other food offerings. Today was the day they picked to
dedicate their church building and to honor us as their
guests. The community had butchered and cooked a pig for
the occasion. We had a wonderful church service, with a
powerful sermon, some special music, and a time of sharing.
Raul and I shared that it was by the grace of God that we
were there and our team represented support and Love from
Huntsville, AL. We told them that God’s Love stretches far
and that our church prays for them often. It was a glorious
morning there in the mountains. After the service they
quickly prepared to serve lunch and it was a true fiesta.
The children were laughing and playing and everyone was
celebrating Jesus among us. When it was time for us to leave
there were many hugs and hand shakes. We have truly made
friends with our brothers and sisters in Chilapa.
Our drive home was a little long because of traffic, but we
made it safely. We were at the airport on time the next
morning at 3:50am and our flight took off at 5:50am as
scheduled. In Houston there were no problems in immigration
and customs and we made it back to Huntsville at 12:25pm
with all of our luggage. God is so good to us! Plans
are already underway for Dental Mission Trip 2009! |
