Summer Extravaganza!

What a Summer!

Name of the game: Community Outreach 

Tristan's Favorite - house building

  

We've had an incredible summer! 7 straight weeks of teams that were focused on community outreach in our communities. We love working with teams - matching them to serve a big need in our community, and helping them draw closer to God themselves in the process. We've done water filters, VBS programs in schools, built a house, poured a bunch of cement floors for families that didn't have floors, installed some latrines, did make-overs in kindergartens, etc. The response from the community has been so positive and they feel very encouraged & loved by God - which is the end goal!

House for Ester, Jorge, & their 6 kiddos

Girls playing at a VBS

The Girls & I cheering the team on while they mixed cement

         On top of all of that, July 15th we open the clinic! Many of you have taken this clinic journey with us - you've walked with us since 2008 - building the walls of the clinic, pouring the floor, building the roof, the health inspections, finding equipment, the ups and the downs, etc. To have the doors open for general medicine and see the lines of people coming to receive affordable, quality health care in their community, was really emotional for us. Truly it was a dream come true. **Click here to see the video of the first day: http://vimeo.com/100836547

       This clinic is now functioning daily - normally we see 18 patients a day, and turn down at least that many more (already we see the need for a 2nd doctor!). The dentists are busy as well - providing complete dental care! Our clinic staff is amazing - and they are all passionate about combining the physical care with spiritual care. Some great news is that we have a great couple on staff - Jon & Helen Hovestol - who have taken on the role of Clinic Coordinators - making it possible for me to stay sain :).

      A great part of the summer is that my mom has been here for most of it! We are all loving having her here! Maddy & Ali love the energy of teams - meeting new people every week. Sigel has been busy getting Student of the week at least twice a month. Tristan has successfully completed a ridiculous amount of beautiful construction throughout the last few months! I have enjoyed helping keep our awesome leaders moving ahead.

This next week we will be celebrating El Ayudante's 10th Anniversary as a ministry and dedicating the clinic - we invited over 400 people to attend! We will also be spending the week with our board of directors, looking forward and planning out the next steps for the ministry. Prayers are welcome!

We very much appreciate you! We know that being on a team with you - supporting us financially, and encouraging us, makes what we do on the ground possible. Thank you for your faithfulness in the big stuff happening down here! Every cement bag mixed this summer is because of your involvement! Please continue to pray for us, the ministry, and our community.

With much love,
Tristan, Beth, Sigel, Maddy, & Ali

Corey-Ann blessed our summer by coming to love our kiddos

Tristan's 4th of July fireworks show is starting to become famous!