Ten years ago today (2012) we were having a closing program for the community centre. Part of the program was to give out some wheelchairs to people who had been identified as having a special need.
These are the “old style” wheelchairs provided by another mission. The new ones are a lot better and more sophisticated. But for someone who had no access to any chair, these were a good start!
We just finished a crazy week with the team from Mt Calvary Church! We were a little disappointed that we couldn’t spend more time with them (one of Hannah’s school projects ended up taking over!), but we enjoyed the time we had.
Last Saturday was the soccer tournament. In spite of some trouble (again) with the permits (which apparently was not our fault), it went ahead. Here’s the winning team – from the church in Jesús MarÃa, no less! Jonathan, second from the left, did a great job sharing his testimony during the day.
On Sunday the team shared in the service, even doing a song in Spanish. In the afternoon, they led an event for the youth of the church.
On Monday we went to a local public Jr. High School, and took part in a rally. There were several hundred students – I’m not sure of the exact count. The team members joined various classes, and Hannah and Nathanael even got to join in. Shari and I helped out at a couple of the stations. The team helped in many ways, including their presentation of a skit.
On Tuesday and Wednesday there were various service project and outreaches – a youth girls and adult women event at the church (but with many people from the community who don’t attend our church), painting at a rehab centre, putting together wheelchairs, clean up and community improvements, and so on.
Thursday was a day of site-seeing and souvenir shopping downtown.
On Friday we had a big wheelchair/hearing aid event in the city of Chalco. Many people in need were given wheelchairs and hearing aids, as well as Bibles. They also heard a clear gospel presentation from Mayra Fry!
Last night there was a goodbye party for the team at the church, and this morning(?) at just before 5am we said goodbye as the team headed to the airport.
We were blessed to have Maddy and Katelyn stay in our home for the week as well!
Yes, a big week! But a good one. Thanks for your prayers!
On Wednesday we went to Chalco (with the team from Mt. Calvary Church) and presented another eight wheelchairs to people in need of them. Each person was given a Bible, and Mayra gave a presentation of the Gospel to the recipients and their family and friends who were there.
Here are the eight people who received the wheelchairs, given in cooperation with the Free Wheelchair Mission. In the bottom right you can see Mayra sharing with one woman, using the woman’s new Bible.
To see this event in our Photo Gallery, just click the image below.
As many of you know, we have a team here from Pennsylvania. It’s been a great start to summer activities, with a soccer tournament, tiling at the church property, baking classes, visiting a home for seniors, a wheelchair presentation, English classes – and we’re not done yet!
Eventually I’ll post some pictures in our photo gallery, but here are a few just to show what we’ve been up to in the past few days…
Last night thanks to our visiting team we managed to assemble a set of wheelchairs to present to new friends in Las Palmas. The assembly process may not have been completely without its ups and downs, and I won’t say that every wheel was put on the right way around (but if it did happen, it was fixed). But eventually we succeeded.
Then this morning we had a program to present the chairs. The community centre was full of the recipients and their families. Rod shared a bit about the vision of the community centre, and Mayra shared from God’s Word, and then we made sure everyone had the right size chair, making adjustments as needed.
It has been really great to meet new people, some of whom live very close to the community centre itself. And also to see interest in spiritual things.
One of the men who visited today emphasized that he was going to be reading the Bible we gave him. And the other day, a mother and a boy walked in off the street to find out what classes we had. Tina gave them a flyer about some of the summer activities, including a soccer tournament, English classes, and a children’s Bible club. “Oh look!” said the woman to the boy,”They have Bible classes!”
Well, if everyone gets that excited, we’re good to go. Apparently there have been others asking about Bible studies lately too, so – well, the answer is yes, we do those. 😉
I joined Rod yesterday as he went to present some more free wheelchairs to four people in need. These people were contacts that Rod made through a local doctor. I met the doctor in Jesús MarÃa, but he lives in another area not far from our neighbourhood.
The people you’ll see in the video below had a need for various reasons – cerebral palsy, chemotherapy … but whatever the need, all these people and their families also need the Lord. See the latest wheelchair recipients here.
If you’re a supporter of this ministry, this is one of many things that we would like to say thank you for.
If you’ve seen the old wheelchairs, these are a new type – the next generation.