Two weeks before the crusade Victor, Mark, Adrian and Jhon (yes, that's how he spells it), spent the entire week prepping the three vehicles scheduled to go on the crusade: the two 15 passenger vans and the truck. Of course, they set out counting on changing some oil and maybe some spark plugs, but as they dug into each vehicle they kept discovering more and more work to be done! They worked diligently and the three vehicles were declared "crusade ready" by the end of the week.
Then, the opportunity presented itself for us (Victor and Julie) to go to Veracruz with Daniel in order to get his passport and the signatures needed from his birth mother in order to move forward with his heart surgery. We are learning to take advantage of these opportunities in the moment the Lord brings them along. So, we set out on Sunday afternoon for the eight hour drive to Veracruz, one week before the scheduled crusade. What we had expected to be a two day trip turned into four and a half days, complete with the Ford Focus breaking down and returning home in a vehicle generously lent to us by a pastor friend in Cordoba, Veracruz! (Watch for the upcoming blog entry later this week sharing more about those adventures....and the results!)
We arrived home Thursday evening and then left early Friday morning to head across Mexico City (the world's largest city and over a three hour drive) to go to the Mexican Immigration office in order to go through the yearly ritual of renewing Julie's visa. (Is anybody else anxious for a border-free, paper-free heaven? The only "immigration" question there is: Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour? Praise God that, in His mercy, I will pass that immigration test!) OK, so the whole visa application deal was quite the adventure, but, praise the Lord, Julie's visa was renewed! Then, we went and picked up the Karkow family at the airport. They flew in from Iowa to participate on the crusade.
On Saturday we sent Mark Marshall and a friend from church back to Veracruz to return the borrowed vehicle and bring home our Ford Focus. I, Victor, spent the day making last minute contacts with crusade volunteers to coordinate their arrival the following day.
Sunday - the day the volunteers arrived! Since the Oaxaca crusade was to the south of Refuge Ranch, all of the crusade volunteers descended upon our home late Sunday afternoon. Volunteers from Iowa, Mexico City, the State of Mexico, Michoacan and Guanajuato. All 30 volunteers, plus our family of 14 and Refuge Ranch staff enjoyed a supper of roast chicken while we prayed fervently for.....the white van whose transmission decided to burn out earlier that afternoon! Many have already heard the miraculous story! The transmission was declared "dead" by Mark Marshall, our in-house mechanic. Not knowing how to rebuild a transmission overnight we decided to pray! The Lord placed in my (Victor's) heart the impression to add a few liters of transmission fluid and go out on for test drive. Mark, Adrian and I drove the van to Cuautla and back (30 minutes south and downhill from here) and the van ran PERFECTLY! Praise, praise, praise, praise our Almighty Father who does things greater than we could ever ask or imagine! Had the van not been running, that would have meant leaving 15 of the 30 team members behind! However, the Lord knew what was coming in El Chilar and knew that all 30 team members were going to be needed!
This is the last stretch before reaching El Chilar, Oaxaca! The picture was taken by those riding in the black pick-up truck, which followed the white 15 passenger van, which followed the red 15 passenger van, which followed the local missionary's vehicle who led the team to the crusade location!
This is the community plaza/basketball court/covered area where the crusade was held. Those sitting on the bleachers in the background are waiting to be seen by the crusade volunteers! People came to the crusade from 12 surrounding villages! Some of them walked over 8 hours through the hills to get to the crusade! Several people, even entire families, arrived the night before and spent the night on the bleachers to be first in line to get their appointment number the following day! The crusade volunteers attended to over 250 individuals everyday! The total number of people attended to during the crusade was: 1048! Every single one of those heard the gospel on an individual basis and over 200 prayed to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior!
Several of the crusade volunteers, besides their "regular" duties, were willing to dress as clowns and help out with the children's ministry. Here they are praying with a group of local children.
All of these people seated in plastic chairs are waiting in line for.....a haircut! In these indigenous communities, not having to pay $30 pesos (roughly $3 dollars) for a haircut means being able to buy tortillas or oil to feed their family. We had ONE hairdresser on this crusade! Do you know how to cut hair? No license required, just a good pair of scissors, willing hands and plane ticket to Mexico!
This is the heart of the crusade and the reason for all that we do! Here an entire family prays together to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior!
Dr. Bill Karkow from Iowa performed many minor surgeries throughout the week. He was a huge blessing to the team and the Lord knew that this was the crusade on which he was going to be needed! He even operated one night until 1:30 a.m.! Here he is assisted by his daughter, Kirsten.
Louaine Karkow, a registered nurse, did the intakes for all 1048 of those patients! That included their blood pressure, weight and other important information.
Diana Karkow, a pharmacy student, did a great job attending to the crusade pharmacy and getting each patient the meds they needed!
Kirsten Karkow was a hit with the local children!
Daniel Karkow, between Louaine and Dr. Bill, fit right in with the crusade volunteers and environment, jumping in to help out wherever needed. Here, Louaine, Daniel, Dr. Bill and Kirsten pose with Dr. Gisela and Becky, two of our bilingual volunteers who helped translate throughout the week for the Karkow family.We praise the Lord for all that was accomplished during the crusade! Thank you for all of your prayers, for your financial support and for coming to Mexico when the Lord calls you! You are truly a part of the team that, together, makes this ministry happen!
As a family, we read our after-supper devotions from a book produced by Voice of the Martyrs called "Extreme Devotion". A recent devotional especially touched my (Victor's) heart, as it was a reminder of a situation that we face frequently. While we are always grateful for all that is accomplished in the ministry, we live with a constant sense of "We could do more, if we only had the tools." Our dentists even tease me that sometimes they feel that all they have to work with are their own fingernails (this is a saying in Spanish), referring to the fact that they have to make do with the most basic of equipment.
We would like to share that devotional with you:
"The smoke of the train wreck was thick as cries of agony came from the sea of passenger's bleeding, broken bodies among the ruined cars. Among the wounded and dying walked a surgeon who was unharmed in the collision. His luggage, though was lost in the confusion, and he cried out, "My tools! My tools! If only I had my tools!"
With medical instruments, the man could have saved many lives. With his bare hands, he stood virtually helpless, watching as many died.
Today's persectued church is like that surgeon. They have the knowledge and the willingness to save many lives caught in the wreckage of Communism or Christless Islam. What they lack are the tools.
"Hear the cries of your brothers and sisters in captive nations!" wrote Pastor Richard Wurmbrand when he first came to the United States. "They do not ask for escape; they do not ask for safety or an easy life. They ask only for the tools to counteract the poisoning of their youth-the next generation-with atheism. They ask for Bibles. How can they spread the Word of God if they do not have it?"
Christians in restricted nations cannot provide these tools for themselves. They count on Christians in free nations to help. "Give us the tools we need," one of the Christians told us, "and we will pay the price for using them!"
Chalk for a teacher, needles for a nurse, patience for a parent, and a tractor for a farmer. Every person, regardless of calling, uses tools. It may be as complicated as a computer or as primitive as our hands, but our lives change drastically with those tools. As Christians, we know our spiritual tools because we read about them in God's Word, the Bible. But what about those who never read about the tools or compassion, forgiveness, love, sharing, and all the gifts and talents that God offers? You cannot keep these spiritual truths to yourself, hiding them as a miser hoards gold. Willingly share your tools freely with others in need.
Just as persecuted church is like the surgeon in this story, so are the Fishers of Men volunteers. They have the knowledge, language skills, medical skills, ability and willingness to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with the most needy here in Mexico. However, at times they lack the tools to do so in the most effective way possible. That is where you come in to play! We depend on your prayers, your financial generosity and your obedience when God calls you to come to Mexico, in order to provide the tools that the volunteers need to share about Jesus Christ! Thank you for your faithfulness! We look forward to doing even more together to continue furthering the Kingdom of God here on earth!
(Note: Voice of the Martyrs (check out their website at www.persecution.com) has published a list and map of restricted and hostile nations around the world. Restricted nations are places where actual law makes Christianity and sharing one's faith illegal, punishable by prison or death. Hostile nations are areas where local tradition and culture make it dangerous to be a Christian. The Mexican state of Chiapas, the location of the next Fishers of Men Evangelistic Medical Mission Crusade, is included in the Voice of the Martyrs' list of hostile areas. Many local Christians in Chiapas have been run out of their villages and local pastors murdered because they follow Jesus Christ.)
So, give us the tools and we will commit ourselves to faithfully use them to the best of our ability and work passionately to further God's kingdom!
To God be the glory!
To God be the glory!
1 comment:
Words are so inadequate for this blog. THANK YOU....
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