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Mark's
Remarks
We celebrated Valentines Day this year more than we usually do with a
banquet and dance on Saturday night, and then with a photomontage of couples
from our church with our bell choir playing in the background. The After
Hours Band played big band music and one hundred people did some ballroom
dancing. It was a lot of fun. Equally pleasing was the worship service
Sunday with the many photos of our church couples when they first got
married, and more current pictures of the same people today. One quick
observation is that many of us have added weight and lost hair! But we're
still the same inside, right? It is important for churches to have fun
together and we did this weekend past.
We have another team going to Jamaica, leaving this Friday for Memphis
where we will spend the night. This will be the ninth trip to Falmouth
for our church. The main function of this trip is to staff the medical
clinic, seeing patients for a very minor fee. The fee is intended to insure
his or her own pride, though if one cannot even pay this minor fee, he
or she can still see the doctor for free. The clinic has been operational
for approximately 25 years. Dr. & Mrs. Wally Carpenter began the clinic
after an initial visit where Dr. Carpenter saw patients in the Methodist
church. Seeing the great need, Dr. Carpenter elicited the help of some
of his fellow doctors in Nebraska and his hometown of Rock Port, Missouri.
A pastor friend of mine was the Carpenters pastor and he got his church
involved in the building of the dormitory and eventually the clinic. When
I first went in 1992 we had just two doctors and a construction crew.
Our group worked on the clinic, adding a room, doing some plumbing and
electrical work. At that time the clinic did not have air-conditioning
and it could get pretty hot inside. We saw some unusual things, from my
perspective, things like grotesque tumors growing in people's faces, arms
and backs. A man with advanced throat cancer came in and was in just horrible
shape with no help at all for his condition. Today, the clinic has made
a huge difference in the welfare of the community. Every year there are
about 10-12 medical teams that operate the clinic, most always in the
winter months. The rest of the year the clinic is shuttered down, waiting
for the next season to begin. Our church has been heavily involved in
Falmouth from operating the clinic, to helping to build an infirmary,
repairs on the parsonage, a girl's orphanage and area churches. It has
always been a rewarding experience. We have some new faces going this
year from our church: David Zechman, Chris and Joanna Patillo and Amy
Ackerson. It should be another good visit!
Cathy LeGrow has informed me that we need to raise up another team of
van drivers to pick up people on Sunday morning. We would like to expand
the numbers of people we pick up, too. This is a good ministry, so if
someone out there would like a small job, we have some openings. Peace,
Mark
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