Day4: Ministry in Potam

So many photos of Potam (and it was such a long day...12 hours from getting on the bus to returning!) that I've had to divide the day into 3 blog posts. 

First things first: take a look at how well fueled we are!

At breakfast time, the table is laid with everything we need for packing our lunches: bread, mayo, chicken or tuna salad, cheese, cold cuts, lettuce, veggies, and chips. We each pack what we want into a large ziploc bag, label it with our name, and stack the lunches into 2 coolers on wheels.

Before leaving, of course, I had to do my daily check of the construction team. Great progress on the giant sunshade:

Here's a welcome sight! For the past few days we've been traveling in an assortment of rented vans, not always with great confidence that they would get us there. The bus was inoperable, waiting for a part. And this being Mexico, the part came much later than expected. However, it finally arrived, and Himer, who can do anything, installed it. Now we can travel in style! (Well...comparatively....)

We jounced along for an hour and a half till we got to Potam. (If you know what a "Fitbit" is, you'll get an idea of how bumpy the ride was. A Fitbit records your activity for the day: number of steps, total miles walked, etc. kind of like a sophisticated pedometer. After the rides to and from Potam, my Fitbit was fooled into thinking that I walked almost 18,000 steps that day for a total of over 7 miles!).

The setup is becoming easier every day, as team members move into the rhythm and we become more efficient and aware of all the little details involved.

 

Jenny and Juan Carlos preparing the evangelism table:

More shade for our workers and patients:

 Lucas and Mark setting up the tent for a port-a-potty. You have no idea how important these are, when we have 50 team members spend 8-12 hours in a remote village with no running water. We set up three each day: one for men, one for women, and a third to use for our patients who may need a urinalysis test.

Hannah's dental hygiene station:

The opening prayer service was especially moving this morning. The local pastor of a church in Potam prayed for our mission and ministry. We were all touched by having the prayer turned around. Usually we pray more for those we will be serving, and this particular morning, we were blessed as the Pastor prayed for US.  The following shot shows the pastor and his wife, who stayed with us the whole long day, encouraging the people in his village to accept the love of Jesus Christ.

The day was VERY busy. This is a village where we've ministered for many years. The first year the people were suspicious and even hostile, and we could serve very few. But year by year they have come to trust us more and more. God has been working mightily in Potam, starting with touching the hearts of a few people, and then bringing an evangelical church and pastor to the village to reach more. On Monday over 400 people came to receive medical care, eyeglasses, sunglasses, toothbrushes, encouragement, wholesome children's activities, prescriptions and vitamins, to hear about the love of God, and to receive that love in many different ways. 

Before we were set up, we had a long line of patients. Later in the day there were so many that we had to divide the people into two lines.

Los tres jeffes (the three head honchos) conferring and fine-tuning. Curt, Mark, and Dr. Gabor.

 Each of our doctors has a tender and caring heart. They pray with their patients whenever possible, and treat each person with compassion and dignity.

Dr. Gabor:

Dr. Ken:

Dr. Juan:

Dr. John through the screen of his examination "room":

Now for just a few miscellaneous shots of the day's work and the beautiful souls we served:

Juan Carlos sharing the Gospel:

Lunchtime in the trailer is a very important time to refuel and refresh, and spend a few quiet moments away from the noise and the crowd. Our sandwiches are here in the coolers, accompanied by fruit, cookies, granola bars, and a large cooler full of cold drinks. We slip away a few at a time to eat, so the ministry can continue throughout the day.

This was too nice a day to eat inside the trailer!

Rocky Mountain Ministries is a 501c3 non-profit mission. This is our 16th year providing medical, construction and evangelical Christian help to those in remote villages in Honduras and Mexico, who may not otherwise have access to these opportunities. Donations of any size are always gratefully received and will be used to continue to provide care such as you have seen in this blog.

If you wish to join with us financially, please make checks out to KALM (the original name of Rocky Mountain Ministries) and mail them to:

Rocky Mountain Ministries

P.O. Box 1371

Bozeman, Montana 59771

We will send you a tax-deductible receipt and will prayerfully and carefully use any donations received.

As always, we ask for your prayers...for the health and safety of our team, for wisdom and courage in the day to day ministry operations, and for the precious souls we reach to receive healing: both physically and spiritually as they come to know the love of Jesus Christ.