After a few weeks at home to catch back up and reflect, I want to share an overview of my time in Mexico for all of the people who supported me and enabled me to go on this trip.
Our first full day was Sunday, and we attended church with the congregation run by the same parent ministry as the medical outreach. I really enjoyed experiencing a service in another culture. At the core it was the same and felt very familiar, but little things were different. The music was very fun and everyone was moving or dancing. They also left the doors to the outside open and people’s dogs would follow them to church. Some hung out in the courtyard, but others came into the sanctuary and would lay down in the isle or under seats. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming, and I loved the service.
The next four days were spent running the medical clinics. Each morning we drove to the church to pick up our supplies and then drove between 40 minutes to an hour to a different small village that doesn’t have any local medical care. We set up in a park the first day, a town square the second, a backyard the third, and the mostly finished hospital the fourth day.
The first three days, clinic was made up of pop up canopies like you see at sports games. The clinic worked in stations. First they checked in and got a form to take with them through the stations, and headed to the waiting area. That’s where the pastor preached a message and sang with the congregation members who came to volunteer. After the message, the patients came to the vitals station. That’s where I was with 2-3 other teammates. We took their weight, temperature, heart rate, blood oxygen, blood glucose, blood pressure, and asked if they had any allergies. When we were finished we walked them to the doctor’s waiting area.
After seeing the doctor they would head to the “pharmacy”, which was a grouping of tables with all the medications we brought, and their paper would have the doctor’s prescription written down.
We saw 50-60 patients the first three days, and the fourth day was the soft launch of the hospital my church is helping fund. That day we saw 130 patients.
Each day of clinic, we also sent small teams to the houses of people who weren’t well enough or mobile enough to come see us at the clinic. I got to go on two of those visits to help take their vitals. It was beautiful to watch Dr. Sandy with her patients. The love she has for them was so visible.
After we finished up each day, we took our supplies back to the church and then headed to the retreat center where we were staying. La Biznaga is up in the mountains, so we had beautiful views and got to go on a few late afternoon hikes. Evenings were always fun with time to relax and bond as a team over card games.
One evening, we also got to volunteer at their sponsor children’s mid-week service. The kids recited memory verses for some prizes we brought, and they heard a message from the kids’ pastor. They also got to play some games and had a dinner that’s included in their sponsorship.
Later that evening, we also got to attend the adult mid-week service and heard a message from one of the congregants. I enjoyed getting to be a part of all of the church’s regular activities while we were there. It was nice to experience another culture’s church life.
Our final day was a free day, and our hosts took us to the nearest large city, Saltillo. It’s about the size of Indianapolis and was an hour from where we were staying. We started in the historic district at a souvenir market, and then headed into the newer section for lunch. That restaurant was really cool! They brought mini charcoal grills to our table (about 9in tall and 1ft wide) and we cooked the meat ourselves. It was delicious. After that they took us to a mall and we all got some ice cream. Then, we went back and packed for our flight.
This trip was a beautiful experience for everyone who went. It’s such a special place because of the people, and our whole team was blessed by the experience. I’m excited to stay connected to the people I bonded with and go back to volunteer with them again!
Our first full day was Sunday, and we attended church with the congregation run by the same parent ministry as the medical outreach. I really enjoyed experiencing a service in another culture. At the core it was the same and felt very familiar, but little things were different. The music was very fun and everyone was moving or dancing. They also left the doors to the outside open and people’s dogs would follow them to church. Some hung out in the courtyard, but others came into the sanctuary and would lay down in the isle or under seats. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming, and I loved the service.
The next four days were spent running the medical clinics. Each morning we drove to the church to pick up our supplies and then drove between 40 minutes to an hour to a different small village that doesn’t have any local medical care. We set up in a park the first day, a town square the second, a backyard the third, and the mostly finished hospital the fourth day.
The first three days, clinic was made up of pop up canopies like you see at sports games. The clinic worked in stations. First they checked in and got a form to take with them through the stations, and headed to the waiting area. That’s where the pastor preached a message and sang with the congregation members who came to volunteer. After the message, the patients came to the vitals station. That’s where I was with 2-3 other teammates. We took their weight, temperature, heart rate, blood oxygen, blood glucose, blood pressure, and asked if they had any allergies. When we were finished we walked them to the doctor’s waiting area.
After seeing the doctor they would head to the “pharmacy”, which was a grouping of tables with all the medications we brought, and their paper would have the doctor’s prescription written down.
We saw 50-60 patients the first three days, and the fourth day was the soft launch of the hospital my church is helping fund. That day we saw 130 patients.
Each day of clinic, we also sent small teams to the houses of people who weren’t well enough or mobile enough to come see us at the clinic. I got to go on two of those visits to help take their vitals. It was beautiful to watch Dr. Sandy with her patients. The love she has for them was so visible.
After we finished up each day, we took our supplies back to the church and then headed to the retreat center where we were staying. La Biznaga is up in the mountains, so we had beautiful views and got to go on a few late afternoon hikes. Evenings were always fun with time to relax and bond as a team over card games.
One evening, we also got to volunteer at their sponsor children’s mid-week service. The kids recited memory verses for some prizes we brought, and they heard a message from the kids’ pastor. They also got to play some games and had a dinner that’s included in their sponsorship.
Later that evening, we also got to attend the adult mid-week service and heard a message from one of the congregants. I enjoyed getting to be a part of all of the church’s regular activities while we were there. It was nice to experience another culture’s church life.
Our final day was a free day, and our hosts took us to the nearest large city, Saltillo. It’s about the size of Indianapolis and was an hour from where we were staying. We started in the historic district at a souvenir market, and then headed into the newer section for lunch. That restaurant was really cool! They brought mini charcoal grills to our table (about 9in tall and 1ft wide) and we cooked the meat ourselves. It was delicious. After that they took us to a mall and we all got some ice cream. Then, we went back and packed for our flight.
This trip was a beautiful experience for everyone who went. It’s such a special place because of the people, and our whole team was blessed by the experience. I’m excited to stay connected to the people I bonded with and go back to volunteer with them again!