A Month of Miracles, Mountains and Ministry

September has been one of those months when ministry and life seemed to blend together. We served nearly 1,000 people in a medical mission, explored a new corner of Puebla, painted a milagro, celebrated 22 years of marriage, climbed to the top of a church in Atlixco and hiked La Malinche.

The biggest part of our month was our medical mission in Ixtepec with folks from TN. For several days, a little Methodist church in northern Puebla became a place of healing, service, and community. By the time the clinic closed, we had served 968 people.

Doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, interpreters and volunteers worked long hours to care for the people who came through the doors. There were children's activities, educational and preventive programs, reading activities, reading glasses and sunglasses distributed, and a busy pharmacy where everyone received vitamins, calcium and anti-parasitic treatment, along with the medical and dental clinics. But what made this mission especially meaningful to us was watching our Community Health Promoters step confidently into their roles.

We have to brag about these women for a minute. They are becoming a locally rooted network of women equipped to help their communities become healthier long after a visiting medical team has gone home. That is why we call this program More Than a Bandage. One evening, they volunteered to lead our devotional. Their voices were incredible, and then they surprised us with a hand-washing ritual that brought tears to everyone's eyes. It was so meaningful to have our hands washed with such tenderness and care. These are the same hands that spend their days helping, loving and serving others. But that night, those hands that spend their days serving others became a conduit to our hearts, reminding us of the same humility and love Jesus demonstrated when he washed his disciples' feet.

And then there were three unexpected little miracles. The first one was Addi. She recently graduated with a degree in nutrition. She was visiting family in the area when she heard about the medical mission. She walked over on the first day and asked if she could volunteer. She quickly became an important part of our efforts to help families struggling with malnutrition. She was knowledgeable, enthusiastic and incredibly helpful.

The best part is that Addi has signed up to become a Community Health Promoter. We also discovered that her best friend is a dentist who is interested in helping us with future community wellness events. 

The second mini-miracle was Rebecca. When one of our interpreters became sick at the last minute, Rebecca, a student studying miltiple languages, stepped in to fill the gap. She worked with Dr. Jake in the dental clinic and had a positive impact on the patients. She also discovered one of the less glamorous realities of dental missions: the bloody spit bucket containing extracted teeth made her nauseated. But she kept going. We love that story because mission isn't always beautiful or glamorous.

And apparently Patrick found his calling, too. He spent the week helping in the dental clinic. Not only was he an excellent assistant, but he also prayed over patients while they received treatment—often while Dr. Jake was pulling an infected tooth. There was something powerful about seeing dental care and prayer happening at the same time. 

Then there was Dr. Solomon. Literally the night before our team was scheduled to leave, one of our physicians had to cancel because of a death in her family. Dr. Solomon, a pediatrician, was called at the last minute to fill in for his friend. Having a second pediatrician was an incredible gift during a week when we were seeing so many children. Dr. Solomon has a medical practice near Tlancualpican, where our Tree of Life Training Center is located, and during the week he became interested in GYTTE, possibly helping train our Community Health Promoters and creating a community wellness event in his community. Another unexpected connection. God is so good!

One of our favorite moments came during closing worship. Someone reminded us of the question that had been making its way through Ixtepec in anticipation of our arrival: “When are the tall people coming?” The people of Ixtepec are primarily Totonac and Nahuatl, and many of them are very petite compared with our visiting teams from the United States. In some cases, we're talking about a foot and a half to two feet of height difference. So apparently, we are the tall people. It made everyone laugh, but there was something wonderfully human about it. They noticed our height; we noticed their language and culture. They noticed our accents; we noticed their hospitality. They noticed the medical team; we noticed their generosity. 

Of course, life in Mexico isn't all medical clinics and Community Health Promoters. We continue to seek out adventures and new places every chance we get.  One day, we took a day trip into the part of Puebla known for its marble and onyx. We saw beautiful stonework and the craftsmanship that has become the identity of the community. But one of the things that caught our attention wasn't in a showroom. It was the sight of herds of donkeys traveling down the streets carrying construction materials and supplies.

It is such an ordinary part of life for the people who live there, but for us it was one of those uniquel Mexican scenes that we know we will remember!

Painting milagros was an awesome experience. A milagro is a small devotional object, representing a person, body part, animal and is traditionally offered as a prayer or expression of gratitude. Painting and hanging out with a new group of friends was a great way for us to participate in Mexican culture AND add to our art collection, lol!

We also had a wonderful adventure in Atlixco—known as the city of flowers.  We spent the day exploring and l found ourselves climbing to the top of one of the churches.

Standing above the city and looking out across the rooftops and mountains gave us one of those moments when we reflected about how different our lives look from what we imagined a few years ago.

So, here we are living in Mexico, working with rural communities, speaking Spanish and climbing church towers in historic Mexican cities. This certainly wasn't on our original life plan, but we're really happy with it!

Somewhere in the middle of all of this, we celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary. Twenty-two years is a lot of life—a lot of ministry, a lot of moves, a lot of laughter, a lot of hard things and a lot of adventures. There is something nice about celebrating our marriage in this season of life. We came to Mexico together. We serve together. We explore together. We occasionally get on each other's nerves together. And we keep saying yes to the next adventure together. We are very grateful for that.

And then there was La Malinche. We didn't summit the huge volcano, but for Pat, getting back on a mountain was significant after his back surgery. The goal was to get out there and hike a very steep incline. We made it about five kilometers and gained roughly 600 meters in elevation. The forest was beautiful, and the mountain was humbling. 

And the most memorable moment of the month for Kim was story time with the goats!  Its a tough job, but someone has to cuddle those cuties!

This month reminded us once again that ministry isn't always about the things we plan. Sometimes it is about the people who unexpectedly walk through the door, the hands that wash ours, the doctor who says yes at the last minute, the husband who discovers he likes being a dental assistant, the prayers spoken over a patient receiving an infected tooth extraction, the donkeys carrying supplies down a village street, the church tower we decide to climb, or the mountain we don't quite summit

There are miracles in the ministry, miracles in the mountains and miracles in the ordinary moments in between. And we are grateful to be experiencing them together.