IS GOD CALLING HPCUMC TO SERVE IN A NEW WAY?
Each year for the past nineteen years, the West Ohio Conference has sent six medical mission teams to Nuevo Progresso, Mexico to provide medical treatment to the people living in the community. A full team consists of about 5 MDs/NPs, 5 RNs, a pharmacist, 5 Spanish translators, 2 kitchen coordinators, a spiritual director, a coordinator, and laity to help with registering the patients, interacting with the families/children, praying with families, and “runners” for whatever might be needed. The trip is five days long. Thursday, Friday and Saturday are spent caring for the community, while Wednesday and Sunday are used as travel days. The team stays at First UMC in Mercedes, Texas and crosses the border each day in vans to the clinic at El Buen Pastor Methodist Church and to rural areas outside of Nuevo Progresso.
This July, Pastor Dave and Diane Weaver, who have gone before, will be going as spiritual director and nurse, respectively. There is also an exciting opportunity for 3-5 MD, NP, pharmacists, and/or Spanish translators from HPCUMC to join an experienced team of 20-25 people. By 2017, most of this team will be retiring after 10-15 years of serving. Hyde Park Community UMC has been asked by the conference Volunteers In Mission (VIM) Coordinator to consider coordinating the annual mission trip in the future, which would include coordinating an entire team of people – both those with medical training and those without. One goal of the July 2015 trip will be to discern the appropriate response to the VIM invitation.
We are asking everyone to keep this mission trip in prayer. If you are an MD, NP, pharmacist, or Spanish translator, please ask God for guidance as to your participation this coming July. If you have a heart for missions and/or for Mexico, please ask God for guidance as to your participation in possible future trips. Regardless of your personal call to the mission field, please pray for our church discernment if this is something we would do on an annual basis. If you have any questions, need more detailed information, or are interested in the July 2015 trip or one in the future, please contact Rev. Dave Weaver at dweaver@hpcumc.org or Diane Weaver at dianeweaver@cinci.rr.com. We can both be reached at 871-3041. We will also have a table with brochures and costs in the Welcome Center March 22 and 29.
Dave and Diane Weaver