Blog Report January 1, 2023
Happy New Year to all! It is hard to believe that we have come to the end of another year and are entering 2023! It has been a very busy and productive year, one filled with many blessings from the Lord!
As you have seen from the earlier reports, it has been a miracle in process to see the new addition to the Multigrade School go up thanks to many of you who gave so generously to the project and to the arduous work of several missionaries, in particular Missionaries Steven Hepting, who directed the project, and Ben Clark, who was right there with Pastor Steven throughout, and a number of other missionaries and locals who all spent countless hours of hard work under the hot sun here to make the project happen. It is now a beautiful and extremely useful building being used to its full capacity every school day since it opened this spring semester in January. A big shout out to everyone who helped get the building ready for this semester, and many thanks to each of you who gave to make this possible! Thank you so much!
We have also been busier with teams this year. Praise the Lord for all the visitors who have come to help this year! I will list below our summer and fall teams — so thankful for each and every one of them!
Groups who visited and worked at Roca Blanca during the summer and fall:
Interns Abby Alexander from Chicago, IL and Hannah Dumbeck from Norwalk, Ohio
June:
Hannah Krehbiel, intern from Fort Smith, Arkansas
The Cadena Family
The Buzzell Family (Dave’s oldest daughter Esther and her family)
July:
Makaden Barnes, missions intern from Savannah, TN
August:
Gateway Church from Dallas, TX
October:
Mercy and Truth, medical ministry from Kansas
Ken and Nedena Pimentel from Tulsa, OK
November:
Godtown, ministry from Minnesota
December:
Vriend family and team from Lancaster, Pennsylvania
These are teams who worked with the clinic or with Dave and myself. There were many other individuals and small teams who visited other areas of the base during these months. We are so thankful to each one of you who came and helped out during this past year!
Testimonies from Clinic Outreaches:
We have been focusing on two villages that are currently planting churches, the Chatino village of Yaitepec, and the coastal village of La Boquilla. Many of the people in La Boquilla are of African descent, and now have intermarried with the Mexican people and incorporated into the culture here on the coast.
Yaitepec
We recently were able to visit Yaitepec. The town has in the past been very entrenched in many erroneous traditions and religious practices, and this is the first time a strong presence of the Gospel is being established there. The clinic took medications, and we were also able to take a portable ultrasound machine which was donated a few months ago to offer this service which was very useful! A visiting physician, Dra. Daymaru, offered the ultrasound services, Dr. Enver offered medical consults, and Dr. Adriana offered dental consults. A total of 116 patients were seen, and 52 of them responded to the invitation to receive Christ as their Savior! There were also testimonies of a number of healings and deliverances as a ministry team from the ¨Fuente de Gracia¨ (Fountain of Grace) ministry here at Roca Blanca prayed over each patient.
La Boquilla
We also saw something very dramatic in one of our clinics in La Boquilla. A lady who appeared to have been living on the street from her unkept appearance and matted hair came in just to see what was going on (we think the Lord drew her there with great intention), came in and walked around a few minutes, then decided she would leave. But one of our team members had spotted her, and did not let her get away! She escorted her back to the prayer area, and offered that our prayer team could pray for her. She accepted, and after sharing with her that Jesus really loves her and has a plan for her life, she opened up and received prayer, and opened her heart to Jesus! The team picked glass out of her matted hair (not sure how that got there), and made sure she received the attention she needed. She left with a much different countenance than she came in with – her expression much clearer and with a smile on her face! It was one of those transformations that leaves you saying, “Wow!” “Thank you, Lord!”. God is merciful and very good to those who seek Him!
God’s Provision!
We shared in a previous update about Brothers Ruben and Enrique Iglesias who have made several donations of medications from their pharmaceutical company in Mexico City free of charge to our clinic. Their meds have helped us tremendously both in outreaches to the villages and the daily consults at the missions base, and we are extremely grateful for their generous gifts!
The Iglesias brothers also decided to purchase and donate a hospital bed to the clinic. We shared with them that we have a vision for expanding the services of the clinic, and they gifted us the hospital bed for when we are ready to hospitalize patients. We thought it would be for future use, but since we have had the bed set up in the clinic, it is amazing how many patients have needed to use it! We have had a number of patients kept on observation there, receiving IV fluids for dehydration, and a few kept overnight who needed a day of care before being ready to be sent home. We had a patient a few weeks ago who was carried in pale and sweaty and almost unresponsive and was found to have a blood sugar of 43. We got her in the bed, gave her glucose IV’s, and within a few minutes she was responding normally, and her blood sugar came up to 185. (She is a known diabetic.). God provides what we need when we need it!
Another amazing provision recently was the donation of 180 Chromebook laptops and 6 computer towers to be divided between the Multigrade School and some other private Christian schools being organized in our group of churches by Don and Marielena Steiner. These computers were donated by a missionary couple from Toluca, and we are so very grateful for this very generous donation! The computers came from a Christian School in the US which is replacing its computers, but they are relatively new and in good condition. Praise the Lord!
Personal News
We are very happy to announce the birth of a new grandchild — Finney Abraham Clark born to Ben and Hannah Clark on August 30th! He was born at about 36 weeks, but very healthy and with a good weight. He was born here in a hospital in Puerto Escondido. There were many miracles proceeding his birth. Hannah had a number of complications with this pregnancy, the most serious being a problem with the placenta, but God miraculously healed the placenta, and she received the good news that the placenta was completely normal when she went into the hospital for delivery. Praise the Lord! Many prayers were going up and we are so very thankful for the uncomplicated delivery, and that mom and baby are both doing great!
We very much enjoyed the visit here by Esther, Dave´s oldest daughter, and her 5 children in June – what a treat to have them here for a time. Was great fun seeing them all again and seeing the grandkids connect with their cousins, the Clarks, who have lived her for 3 years now. (Esther and her five children are pictured below in he right lower corner). Was also a blessing to get to New York in August for the first time in 3 years to see Esther, Nate and Erin, and Miriam and the ten grandkids there. Covid kept us away the last two years – so thankful for the freedom to visit the family again! Was very special to be able to spend time with all of them again.
Also visited Laura´s family and churches in Mississippi in August, which is always a blessed time! Pictured below are two of Laura’s new great nieces with their moms.
Thanks so much to all who hosted us during our time in the US and set aside time to visit and invite us to your homes and to many delicious meals. The fellowship is always encouraging and refreshing!
Thank you!!!
We are very grateful to each of you who has sown into this ministry to enable us to reach out to more children, patients, and the indigenous peoples of Oaxaca, Mexico! We pray for God´s richest blessings on you and your family during the New Year!
With Love and Gratitude,
Dave and Laura
