[News] Feb 17, 2010

[Berkshire Mission]

Feb.17, 2010

 

Hello mission friends,

 

The excitement has started and oh my does it have its rewards.  I heard a
great statement tonight from Brian Caster who handles the construction site.
When telling me all  they did today he added that they did a lot of smiling,
which is really odd to some people.  Imagine, smiling all day at a hard job
that you have had to pay to work at!  That really  sums up the amount of joy
that comes from doing this.  We all pay our way to come to a place that has
a living style that is really tough.  Did I mention that toilet seats are
not something that is thought to be necessary here?  And yet we all gladly
give up our luxury life styles and vacation time to work and minister to
strangers.  The reason for loving this work is simple, Jesus teaches that
when  we touch one of His people whom He died for we have touched Him.  And
that is glorious.

The church building is off to a good start.  The parts with the steel are
about 99% finished and they should be able to start laying block tomorrow.
The digging of ground where the stone fence will be placed started today.
That is tough work with hard rocky ground. Of course it is all dug by hand
and I hear Pam  and Amy were  so efficient that Bob was more than a little
impressed.  Every person who has signed on to our team are dedicated, hard
workers, we are so blessed.  Donna told me tonight that she has parts of her
body aching that she didn't even know she had.  This is her first mission
trip and I am sure it won't be her last.   These trips are like potato
chips, you just can't stop at one.

The medical clinic treated 150 patients today.  Dr. Roy said mostly it was
for gastritis, some diabetes and hypertension and one broken finger. Dr.
Eloise had two patients in particular that stood out to her.  One was a man
who was 100 years old, he was complaining that he has been feeling a little
weak lately!  I am sure your heart is smiling right now along with mine.
The other patient was a young boy of about 10  who had a very curious
birthmark that started at his ear and went down his face and neck and  onto
his chest.  Her youngest patient today was a 3 month old infant who had some
bronchial problems and diarrhea.  One of the first few patients she saw
spoke one of the Indian dialects  and they were not able to communicate.
One of the other patients in the waiting room spoke her dialect and was able
to translate it into Spanish  and finally it got translated  to English and
she was taken care of. There are 100 people already signed up to see our
doctors tomorrow with  more coming.

Stuart said they fitted about 100 people with glasses today.  One pair went
to the 100 year old gent, who only needed a mild lens.  All the people in
the clinics were cooperative and friendly, making it easy for the workers to
help them.

Pastor Bill gave an outstanding worship talk this evening  telling a story
about going to Ethiopia to do evangelism.  Seems he had just arrived and he
started seeing lights twinkling in his vision.  He asked one of the doctors
and they said he was probably having a stroke and should go back to the
states.  Well that put a damper on things for a few minutes.  He felt sure
he was where he was suppose to be, doing what he was called to do. So, if he
died, then what better circumstances to die in?  He stayed and he was well.
There was much more to the story but not enough space to tell it all here.
Before the worship talk  Mathel played a few songs on the piano for us to
sing along and that was also inspiring.  Bob asked if there were any
testimonies anyone would like to give about the day and Betty who is working
in the kitchen along with Mary said how impressed she was with the school's
workers.  Before they start the days duties of feeding all the students (and
now us), they hold hands and pray together for blessings on their work and
each other. What a wonderful work place that must be , don't you agree?

Marcie thought it would be nice if our women and the Mexican women in town
could have a season of prayer together each day and we will try to work that
out. Language might be a barrier but smiles and a gentle spirit of love
always goes straight to the heart.

During this sharing time Richard told us that today marked 11 years since he
stopped smoking pot.  He told me afterwards that back in those days he was
in continual danger as he not only used drugs but sold them and the police
were watching him.  It would have been just a matter of time before he would
have been in jail.  Now he has found Jesus and he is free in deed!  He
estimates he had wasted about $25,000 on drugs and booze in a very short
time.  But he answered the call of Jesus and in Sept. of 1999 he joined the
church and nothing has ever been the same. Praise the Lord, God is so good
to us and has such mercy.

Remember. Jesus has always loved you best!

Smiles from Jennifer Young,  Mission Reporter

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