| San Vicente Weekender February 2010 |
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Report by Theresa Ventura
On February 5th and 6th, Dave and Lynne Johnson hosted another medical outreach at the migrant camp, Campo Consuelo (The Camp of Comfort) near Santo Tomas, and in the clinic in San Vicente. They were joined by Dr. César Tamez, his wife Rosy, daughter Laura, four grandchildren, and family friend, Corina from Tijuana. Buky Ventura, and his wife, Theresa, also drove up from San Quintín to join the team.
When they arrived in Campo Consuelo, they were surprised to find a brand new play structure and swings next to the basketball courts. This was definitely an improvement for the children that live in this camp. The Angels, a group of young ladies from the local church that assist the Johnsons with outreach, jumped right into the middle of the kids from the camp and organized a game of “fut-beis” (pronounced foot-base, a mix of soccer and baseball). Afterwards, they held a Vacation Bible School for the kids with singing, a story, and coloring page.
While the Angels kept the children occupied, the dentists, Laura and Corina were busy seeing dental patients in the dental unit. They were able to attend to eleven patients that first night. They cleaned teeth and did some fillings and extractions. They also talked with the people about taking better care of their teeth. Some people came through that needed oral surgery and root canals. It was hard to turn them away knowing that they do not have easy access to oral surgeons, but these surgeries could not be done on the dental unit.
Dr. Tamez was available for medical consults. He not only took care of the medical needs of the patients, but the spiritual needs as well, often praying for patients and giving them spiritual counsel. Later that night, Dr. Tamez commented that it was ironic that the camp is called the Camp of Comfort when the people are isolated and without access to medical care and other services. However, he said that our team going into that camp every couple of months provides comfort to the people, through medicine and the hope of Jesus Christ.
A chance to share the hope of salvation came for Buky Ventura near the end of the night when a group of kids came to him to ask him questions about the Virgin Mary. Often it seems that we try to chase after children so that they will hear the Gospel, but Buky was amazed that the children came to him. He began to read from an illustrated Bible tract about salvation. The children asked how they could be sure about going to heaven, and five of them decided to pray with Buky to receive Christ! The team rejoiced over the decisions of these children.
The next day they continued consults at the clinic in San Vicente. Even though it began to rain in the afternoon, it did not keep the patients away. The dentists were able to see 21 patients, Dr. Tamez saw 30 patients, and 11 pairs of eyeglasses were handed out. It was another great weekend of bringing healing and hope to the people of Mexico.
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