It was a dry, dusty and brown landscape in North Western Mexico (We are so blessed in Canada!) But the 5 days, June 8 to 13, visiting Good Samaritan Home for the Aged, Good Shepherd Hospital and Vincente Guerro Christian Community Centre were anything but dry.
Once in a while in life we have magical or special spiritual moments. One of these occurred as I listened to Juan Cruze the director of Good Samaritan Home tell how the miracle unfolded as the Mexican Government gave them the land to build the 24 bed home for abandoned seniors under almost impossible circumstances. I felt I was in a special presence, as Juan told of abandoned, violent confused homeless seniors whose lives were transformed as they experienced the care and love of Jesus expressed by these dedicated underpaid Mexican care givers. It is a real privilege that MEMO has to help in this ministry by providing things as down to earth as decent cafeteria tables and chairs to replace folding tables and rickety chairs.
When residents of the Home become ill and need hospitalization, they are cared for in the 18 bed Good Shepherd Christian hospital a few miles away. This small but very busy facility needs a lot of different medical equipment that MEMO can supply. They have only 2 blood pressure machines for the entire hospital. MEMO will be sending them an adequate number of various types mostly from the closed Dawson Court Home for the aged in Thunder Bay. Most of the hospital’s beds are worn out and no longer work. We will be sending them comfortable hospital beds and mattresses with railings along with much else.
Several years ago a wealthy Californian built a Christian Community Centre in the 8000 pop. town of Vincente Guerro. He was never able to get it up and functioning. Now EFCCM missionary Karen Wind is administering it for him, and it is used 24/7. We visited the centre during the morning when it is used as an occupational and physio therapy centre for community kids with a variety of disabilities. The program is run by an American mission called “Eternal Anchor” who provide staff and resources. MEMO will contribute children’s physio and other equipment to augment what they already have. This comes from Thunder Bay’s George Jeffrey Children’s centre. The Community Centre also runs nutritional and exercise programs along with other community events to develop a healthy community environment. Again simple things like tables and chairs will make a world of difference in the effectiveness of the Centre.
Thunder Bay MEMO volunteers are busy preparing: 45 beds, stuffing 24 bedside tables with several thousand adult diapers, packing 65 gallons of disinfectant soap concentrate into shelving, dozens of feeding chairs and wheelchairs along with all kinds of furnishings, to be shipped the first week of September. The plan is that a 53’ tractor trailer will carry the equipment and supplies to San Diego where it will be off loaded into temporary storage. It will then be picked up by Mexican trucks to be delivered to the various sites in Mexico.
As you read this you may feel you want to be part of this. One need is for a top loading clothes washer as doing daily washing for 24 seniors soon wears out the existing washing machines. You can contribute financially to the cost of shipping to Mexico. The market value of the stuff we are shipping is around $150,000.00. Click Donate to make a difference today.
And you can pray that all the details-especially customs-at the Mexican border will be worked out.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Without your support MEMO cannot exist.
