Background
I went to San Vicente, Mexico over the weekend with thePulse (InterVarsity's pre-health ministry). The mission was coordinated through Mexico Medical Ministries. Dr. David Levy, an amazing, humble neurosurgeon who is truly a man of God, accompanied us. We stayed for two nights at the mission base, and operated three half-day clinics.
Friday, October 2
3, 2009I woke up at 8am to get ready and pack for the trip. All the hot water in the Muir residence halls that morning wasn't working. It's ironic, because I had hot water showers in Mexico but not in San Diego. I turned in a draft of my essay that morning, and then went to Sun God lawn to wait for the cars. We left a little late, around 10:30am, in order to get all the packing and car maintenance things taken care of. I was in the van with Connie, Jesus, Natalie, and Abby. It was a really cool ride and we shared about our life stories and other stuff. About half way through the trip, we made a pit stop at a taco stand for real, authentic Mexican tacos that are cooked in front of you. It's really unique, because you order the tacos and finish eating them, then just pay for what you ordered based on the honor system. Their carne asada tacos were pretty tasty, and their pork ones were okay, but a little spicy. We got back into the cars and continued our journey down to the mission base. Along the way, we passed by a plot of land owned by one of the big blockbuster film companies, and saw the ship that was used in Pirates of the Caribbean. We arrived at like 3pm, a little behind schedule, and were welcomed by the base missionaries, Dave and Lynne, a wonderful, elderly couple. After dropping off our bags and freshening up, we went back into our cars and followed Dave and Lynne's pickup truck, along with a local pastor, to a small migrant camp about 20 minutes away from the base. After arriving at the camp, the kids living there all poured out and were just excited for all the attention. The kids there would just run up to you and ask you to pick them up, or swing them around. They were so precious, willing to put their trust into a group of strangers who arrived in American cars. I covered the vitals station and took their blood pressure, heart rate, and glucose levels. There weren't many patients (approx. 20), so almost all of them had the chance to talk to Dr. Levy personally about their health problems. We had VBS-style activities for the kids there like coloring designs and Spanish translated versions of popular Christian kids' songs (Jesus Loves Me, etc.). At around 6:30pm, the sun was setting, and we packed up and drove along the bumpy road towards camp. That night, we had chili dogs for dinner and shared about our day. We finished up with devotions and a little bit of worship, and then headed off to bed.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
We started off the morning with breakfast (cereal, yogurt, fruit) and used the compound at the mission base as our morning clinic. We had one patient (yes, only one), but had the chance to practice taking blood pressure on each other. We mainly just talked and hung around the compound. When the clinic closed at 12pm, we make sandwiches and headed off to another migrant camp to work in their clinic. This camp was much larger than the first one, and had an actual building we could use as a clinic (instead of setting up a table as the vitals station.) We only had four patients that day. All of them had the chance to talk with Dr. Levy and had their blood pressure, heart rate, and glucose levels checked. I shadowed Dr. Levy with one of her patients. She was having back pain, and flinched when Dr. Levy touched a particularly painful spot. There was some discomfort with her eye as well, which Dr. Levy did a quick examination on with ophthalmoscope. Then, he had the lady stand up, and told me to place my hand on the spot with pain. I thought I was just feeling the physical properties, but then Dr. Levy had me pray for her healing, and after our prayer, her pain was down to zero. Dr. Levy then led her through a forgiveness prayer, and she mentioned the name of one woman she held bitterness against. I was totally smiling the whole time seeing her healed and just praying for the Holy Spirit to touch her. After praying, she shared that she felt warmth on her hands and a wave of peace coming over her. The patients that day ranged from a variety of temperaments: from being extremely open about their lives and struggles to being defensive and vague about the sins God wanted them to specifically confess. Since there weren't that many patients, we had the time to play with some of the kids in that community, which was really a blessing as well. Children are so precious. We went back to the base and cooked pasta and salad for dinner, and shared about the experiences we had with Dr. Levy seeing patients. To finish up the night, we had worship and some late night conversation.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Bright and early, we woke up and did some housekeeping on the base before leaving. Dave (the host) shared that in ministry, it's not the number of patients we see, but how we impact lives. Humanitarian work is about productivity, but not ministry. We packed up and headed for the border. There was a line to get to the border patrol, and we bought snacks and other goods from the vendors lining up between the cars. When we arrived at the border, Abby had forgotten her permanent resident's card in her dorm room. We were moved into the secondary inspection zone. I got out with her and waited in the Border Patrol office while everyone else drove back to UCSD, picked up her documents, and came back to pick us up. It wasn't much of a delay, and we got back to UCSD around 3pm.
Notes
More importantly than the medicine we performed were the lives we touched and what we learned about God. It was a bubbly, joyous feeling to be able to help plant seeds and further the kingdom of God. I learned so much about healing through prayer and incorporating faith with medicine through Dr. Levy's example, testimonies, and lifestyle. The people in involved in thePulse are selfless, extraordinary people with a heart for serving God and people. Being around them just changes the atmosphere and my attitude.
