Mission Day 2: Vicam

Today we traveled 1-1/2 hours each way to set up our clinic at the Yaqui Indian village of Vicam (pronounced vee-kom). In the 10 years we've ministered here in The San Carlos/Guaymas area, we'd never been to Vicam before. We weren't sure what to expect, since we've previously had both difficult/frightening and warm/welcoming experiences at other Yaqui villages. And I'm sure the village residents didn't know what to expect from us either. But the day unfolded to reveal one of our most fruitful, smoothly-running, and welcoming visits ever.

Learning from yesterday, the first order of business was for Curt, Mark and Brad to make an early morning stop at Walmart (yes, Guaymas has a Walmart!) and purchase 15 additional chairs so our ministry group wouldn't have to stand on our feet on concrete all day. What a welcome sight to see the bed of Brad's pickup loaded with a stack of white plastic chairs!!

When we arrived at Vicam, we found a lovely shaded concrete area for our day's work. The set-up was accomplished smoothly and quickly, with all hands helping.

Curt and Mark planning the layout:

As the tents and tables went up....

...the nurses received their "marching orders" from Dr. Gabor....

...and all our docs planned their strategy for the day.

The highlight of the morning for Curt and me was to be reunited with our dear friend Jenny Navarro. She and her husband, Jesse, run an orphanage in the area where they currently care for 16 children. Jenny and Jesse have been awarded the status of honorary Yaquis by the Yaqui nation, and Jenny was there today as a trusted friend of the Indians to help pave the way for us to work in this new village.

Jenny and Jessica set up the Evangelism table with New Testaments, Bibles and other literature in Spanish.

As the set-up continues, the locals begin lining up for registration...

...and the day's work begins with the entire team in prayer.

If you read yesterday's blogs, you know by now our areas of ministry, and our individual stations: Greeters, Triage, Nursing Care, Doctors, Eyeglass distribution, Toothbrush distribution, Evangelism (prayer and Bible distribution), and Children's activities. So rather than adding a lot of narrative, I'll just post a few of the many photos I took today. You'll know by now what's going on.

You'll notice the colorful skirts and shawls of some of the Yaqui women, the traditional cowboy attire of many of the men, and the beautiful faces of all ages of the Yaqui.

Nurse Carol performing a strep test:

Kaitlyn has become quite adept at taking blood pressure.

Rachel distributes yet another pair of glasses...with her signature smile.

It was a long but very satisfying day. We're all looking forward to tomorrow, worshiping at San Carlos Community Church, and enjoying an afternoon of R&R.

Day1 Continued: Afternoon in Independencia

After a delicious lunch of homemade soup and cheese biscuits a la Red Lobster, we piled into the vans to head for one of the poorer sections of the nearby city of Guaymas (a very old seaport town). We laughed when I took this photo of part of the team in our van, saying that this was definitely the "before" picture. No telling what we would look like "after" the day was done!

We left the more scenic San Carlos behind...

...and began to drive through the less picturesque city.

Apparently Mexico's traffic laws are a little more relaxed than ours!!

Our set-up location was at a little park on a quiet street in Independencia. The "park" consisted of a dirt triangle with one climbing feature for children.

As we began unloading the vans and setting up tables and tents...

...the local police came by to check out the action. Juan Carlos explained what we were doing, and we got the "thumbs up" to go ahead. 

Long before we were set up, the local people were lining up to see doctors or to receive medications, vitamins, toothbrushes, or glasses.

The nurses are ready for action!

Pharmacy is stocked and ready to dispense whatever is needed to help people feel better.

Hannah is ready with her toothbrushes and dental hygiene education table...and lots of helpers!

And the glasses table is always one of the most popular stops.

Each person who needs medical attention (not just glasses or vitamins) first visits the triage table where  vital signs are taken and recorded. The triage team determines if they would be best served by seeing a nurse, a doctor, or perhaps just having a prescription refilled.

Nurses listen to symptoms, administer tests, offer assurance, and refer patients to doctors as needed.

In addition to distributing free Bibles, the evangelism team offers to pray with anyone who would like prayer for any reason. We see many needs, from significant to monumental, and we take them all to the Throne of Grace...in English and Spanish.

Children learn proper dental care and get to enjoy some fun activities.

And even the local dogs wander through...though we don't generally encourage them! This guy is working on those pesky fleas. I wish we had something to relieve his discomfort!

I just have to end with a few miscellaneous photos of some of the precious people (mostly children) that we saw today.

Our first day is always a learning experience, and it usually involves a few glitches. We learn from these and work very hard to change whatever is needed to make our days run more smoothly for the rest of the week. We know, though, that we offered compassion, helped relieve suffering, and most importantly, shared God's love with others today. And for these opportunities, we are truly grateful.

Mission Day 1: Independencia

After a frog-strangler of a storm last night, the sun broke through the clouds this morning. What a beautiful day in Mexico!

After breakfast, the morning's assignment was to empty the trailer of supplies that our farmers & constuction crew drove down from Montana, and to sort and organize them. All the following activities took place simultaneously.

Many of the young people counted and packed bulk vitamins and ibuprofen into small containers to distribute to patients throughout the week.

The 5 nurses each packed their own supply kit with everything they anticipate needing throughout the week.

And there's nothing that makes a bunch of nurses happier than finding a chest of lab tests, latex gloves, and other supplies that have been missing for two years...unearthed from a storage room.

Lucas, our technical wizard, printed off Patient Information sheets, medication labels, name tags, and more.

Brett trundled the 2 large bags of medications to a pair of tables...

...and the pharmacy team inventoried and packed all the meds into the special compartmentalized boxes built by Brett and his father several years ago.

Mike oriented his triage team, teaching them to take blood pressure, temperatures, height and weight, and brief medical histories.

The glasses team unpacked and sorted thousands of pairs of sunglasses and reading glasses. We anticipate giving away about 500 pairs at each village.

Head Nurse Carol trained helpers in giving urinalysis tests, strep test, and blood sugar finger pricks.

Meanwhile, our amazing construction crew was hard at work out behind the main mission area. Art and Brenda have many short-term missionaries come throughout the year to stay and work and live here for various lengths of time. Some couples and families bring their own travel trailers or motor homes, and in the hot weather they simmer and broil in their thin-walled homes. So this year's construction project is to build a giant shade to cover the RV parking area to make the helpers much more comfortable.

Brad welds the trusses....

....While Richard digs holes for the uprights...

....And Himer cuts custom angles on more trusses (as Curt, ever helpful, supervises and provides distractions).

The local San Carlos Community Church has been active with our mission group for many years. Each day about 15-20 of their members will join us to help as translators and general helpers with various facets of the mission. This morning Mat and Mark had an orientation meeting with the local volunteers. I'm constantly amazed at the staggering number of logistics and details required to carry out a mission of this type, but somehow Mark is able to keep all those details in mind and execute them with good humor.

Finally all supplies were sorted and packed and ready for our first afternoon out. Today's village was not in a remote area, as most of our villages will be. We headed to Independencia, one of the poor areas of the city of Guaymas. 

Because of extremely slow internet service here, I'll try to publish this much of the blog post and send the rest separately.