June 2020 part 2

In our last report a few weeks ago, we promised a follow up with “the rest of the story” of what God has been doing here over the last months. So below is a brief report of visits and outreaches in January through March of this year that were not included in June Part 1.

Co-Laborers for the Harvest

“Then saith he unto his disciples, the harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.” Matthew 9:37-38 KJV

We are sincerely grateful to each of the visitors mentioned below who have come and invested much and have enriched our lives and the lives of those we serve by their presence and sharing of the giftings God has given each of them.

We were blessed by the visit of Ralph and Ann Classen from the beginning of January through February, and as usual they exceeded our expectations of productivity! Below are photos of a few of their projects while at the clinic this year. Besides what you are able to see below, Ralph saw patients in the clinic and on clinic outreaches, and Ann studied Spanish and made some beautiful curtains and cushions for the upstairs of the clinic. Thank you, Ralph and Ann! We appreciate you greatly! It is always good to have long- time friends with us, and we were so pleased they could stay with us for two complete months this year!

Bertha Guild is another long-time friend who we were so pleased to have with us for almost three months this year! Bertha has come for a number of years with Drs. Dave and Mary Kay Ness from upstate New York as a translator and nurse to help them and us with translation as well as nursing functions. This year was no exception — Bertha was always ready to jump in and help whether it was giving a shot, taking vital signs, or translating for a doctor. Thank you, Bertha!

One project that Bertha translated for was consultations with a physical therapist with a specialty in women’s health issues. The therapist is Tamara Waldum, who came with her family both to study Spanish and to offer her services in the Corban Clinic. What a blessing it was to be able to offer her very specialized services at our clinic! Thank you, Tamara!

Randy and Janet Holt were with us from Jan. 28th through Feb. 7th. Randy and Janet came to serve in whatever area they were needed, and the main project we had that needed attention was revamping the overhead fans in the clinic (there are lots of them – I lost track of the count but I think ten or more fans). We depend on those fans to keep air moving, and because they were dirty and rusty, they were not working effectively. Randy and Janet sanded the blades, put on a primer, and then repainted all of the blades. It was a work of love — very tedious, but so thankful to have it done! They are working great! Janet also helped in the Multigrade School, and they helped out in the orphanage.

Robin and Marty Douglas were with us from Feb. 24th – March 7th. Robin taught in the Multigrade School — we are so thankful when we have English speaking volunteers there! Marty did a special project to teach some of the men here how to do dry walling. That will be very exciting when we see these students with their own dry wall projects! Thank you, Robin and Marty!

We enjoyed a quick visit on March 4th – 6th with Bob and Lola Phillips, supporters of the base who lived here for a period of time a few years back. They are back in the States now, but it is always so good to visit and catch up a bit!

Also Dr. Harold and Linda Harder were with us for a short but very pleasant visit at the beginning of March. Dr. Harder and Linda are also supporters of the base and clinic, and we appreciate so much their taking time to come see us.

Ken and Nedena Pimentel were with us on March 13th – 21st. This was the time when the Covid19 Pandemic was beginning to be an issue in this part of the world, so we are very grateful to Ken and Nedena for their courage in coming and serving. Nedena is a Nurse Practitioner and attended patients in the clinic. Ken does mechanical work, and helped us to get several of our cars running better! Also, Ken and Nedena donated a beautiful trailer for us to use on our medical outreaches in the villages! There are almost always more supplies that we need than what we have room for in the vehicles, so the trailer will be a wonderful solution to that! See the picture below. Ken also donated a beautiful set of tools which Dave will take care of, and will be used for many projects here. Thank you, Ken and Nedena!

We are so sorry that Drs. Dave and Mary Kay Ness were not able to be with us for health reasons this year, but they continue to be a part of our team from a distance, and we look forward to having them back with us this coming year!

Grace Chapel Team here in March, visited Puerto Angel and Tierra Blanca, Loxicha

We just had time to get in two outreaches with the Grace Chapel Team from Pickwick, Tennessee before the quarantine hit here. The church is located about 30 minutes from Laura’s hometown of Corinth, Mississippi, and Laura’s brother Dr. Leonard Pratt is serving at Grace Chapel as assistant to Pastor Don Elliott. It was, of course, a special treat for us to have this team that included family and long-time friends. The week was tremendous with a number of testimonies of divine healings, some newcomers to the church receiving deliverance from the bondage of addictions, some powerful testimonies of lives touched at the medical outreaches, and many children drinking in the love of Jesus as they experienced His love being poured out to them. There were approximately 225 patients seen in the 3 ½ days of clinic in Puerto Angel and the mountain village of Tierra Blanca.

One testimony that impacted me was that of a very small child in Puerto Angel — I believe about one year old — who was very malnourished and not wanting to eat. The baby, although awake, was very unresponsive. One of the team members began to pray over the baby and recognized that there was a demonic oppression over the family that was affecting the child. As he prayed against that oppression, the baby began to lift its head and respond. Other team members quickly went to look for milk and food for this baby and her family. Before leaving the clinic site, the baby had drunk three cups of milk and was much more alert and responsive than when she arrived. We saw the physical manifestation of a spiritual response from this child. The family was also given food and encouraged spiritually.

Another was a family who live near the church in the town of Tierra Blanca Loxicha who brought their eight year old boy into the church being carried in the father´s arms because the child was too weak to walk. The physician saw the boy, and the team ministered to him, as this appeared to be a combination of physical and spiritual forces causing this extreme weakness. The boy was given some medications, and it was decided that he could go home, but that first he needed to eat something to begin to give him some strength. The team was being served their evening meal, so the boy was brought to the table to eat with some of the team members. He was able to eat only a small amount, but that along with the prayer he had received gave him strength to walk and he left walking with his family to his house. The team was able to work out with the pastor a way to continue giving to the family to be sure they would have adequate food and the basic necessities to care for the young boy and their family.

These are just a few of many testimonies of lives touched during these outreaches.

New Missionaries

We are also very happy to report that Steve and Laraine Roberts from Kansas arrived about three weeks ago to serve long-term here at the Roca Blanca Missions Base! They studied Spanish School for eight months this past year (2019 – 2020), and sensed the Lord calling them to return to serve here. Steve will be heading up the Trade School, a branch of the Bible School here at the Missions Base designed to prepare the Bible School students to have practical skills to enable them to make a living for their families and to have the resources to continue pastoring while practicing the trade they have learned. We do teach on giving in the churches, but the income level of most of the families in our village churches is so low that most churches here are not able to support a full-time pastor. Laraine will be helping in the Multigrade School among other activities.

Also Pastors Steven and Barbara Hepting are in the process of moving down to Roca Blanca long-term! They have pastored an Elim Fellowship church in North Carolina, Cornerstone Fellowship, which has supported us financially and also with teams coming down to help hands-on with the work here for many years, for which we are very grateful. There is a new pastor and his wife in position in the church in North Carolina now, Pastors Brian and Autumn Boswell, and Pastors Steven and Barbara are making preparations to make the move down to Mexico. Steven was here for over a month studying Spanish in February and March, and we will be blessed by a visit from him in a couple of weeks as he works on building a house for he and his wife. Pastor Steven has had a plumbing business for years as he has pastored, so he has already served in helping with the construction of the new clinic here and offering his skills on other projects. He and his wife’s friendship, encouragement, and counsel are also very valuable to us, and we so look forward to having them here and working alongside them.

Thank you so much that through your prayers and your giving, you have been a part of all that we have shared here. You are a vital part of our ministry, and we love and appreciate each of you. Thank you so much for being willing to be co-laborers with us here in Oaxaca, Mexico!!

Love,

Dave and Laura