Atotonilco is a small Chatino village about 3-4 hours from the Roca Blanca Base.  Pastor Clemente, who had been pastoring the church there since its inception 12 years ago, invited us there for a medical outreach.  We left Tuesday morning and planned to arrive in time to set up the clinic in the church and to see members of the church that afternoon.  On Wednesday, we planned to see patients invited from neighboring towns.  There were only 8 of us, including another physician and his wife from Tulsa, OK who have been long-time supporters of the Base, often visiting 3 times a year.  We had 3 translators and a person to staff the pharmacy.  Being a smaller group, we were able to mix well with the church members administering the clinic, including the Pastor, his wife and 5 children.  It was lovely to see the devotion, respect, and love within the pastor’s family.  We stayed in a compound that contained at least 3 or 4 families (with many children) and it was humbling to see the cooperation among the women, in a communal kitchen, as they prepared plentiful and delicious meals for us.  The children were very playful and engaged us in Frisbee games, Chinese jump-roping, working on Sudoko problems.  In addition, they taught us the song “God is so good” in Chatino, a very different language from Spanish.  We are now able to sing it in 4 languages: English, Spanish, Mixteco, and Chatino.

Bertha, surrounded by children

We learned on Wednesday morning that we had just made it through to Atotonilco   before a road block was erected in San Gabriel to the road between Oaxaca and Puerto Escondido to protest the defeated mayor’s refusal to hand over the town seal to the new mayor of the same political party.  Many truckloads of people had gone down to San Gabriel to participate in the demonstration.  As a result, we had many fewer patients than we had anticipated on Wednesday morning.  By 1 pm, we had seen everyone, including two house calls, and were packing the truck for departure.  One house call was a pregnant woman, near term, who had developed headache with high blood pressure; we gave initial treatment and referred her on to the Central Salud (local government health clinic).  The other was to a man who had sprained his knee a month earlier and it had not gotten any better.  He had a significant amount of fluid on his knee, and he was referred for an x-ray and offered an appointment at the Base to try to drain the knee.

Mary Kay examining a robust 7 month old.

Ordinarily, we offer spiritual care to each patient after he has been seen and is waiting for medicine.  Usually the local pastor or church members provide this.  However, they were busy with other tasks, so each team of physician, Spanish translator, and Chatino translator offered prayer at the end of the consultation.  As is the custom here, everyone (including the patient)  prays simultaneously-3 different languages at once.  At first this was a little disconcerting and distracting, but then it began to feel very natural and appropriate.  At one point, a 70 year old wizened woman, with a bit of a sharp edge to her manner, came in for a consult.  Our translator advised that she was well-known as a vocal opponent to the church and its activities. We dealt patiently with each problem she presented and she seemed to warm up slightly.  We were briefly interrupted during which time the translator (17 year old girl) and the woman spoke in Chatino.  When we returned, we asked her about her sleeping, was it restful and restorative?  Finally, the dam broke, and she started describing that she was unable to sleep because she would see children, all dressed in black, in menacing and threatening postures.  She was unable to make them go away, and was exhausted and terrified.  We gently presented the Gospel (not new to her), and suggested He could help her with her fear, and she accepted Christ into her life.  We taught her some simple prayers to repeat when these night-time terrors appeared and told her that others would be praying for her as well.  The encounter ended with her smiling and weeping at the same time, and the exchange of many hugs.  About an hour later, while we were with another patient, she burst into the area to give us a present-a big bag of frijoles (black beans).  Again, smiles and hugs, and also a photo.

Consulting team with beaming Fortunata.

With the road block not expected to lift for 5 or more hours, we prayerfully accepted the suggestion that we return to the Base by another dirt road in the opposite direction, over the mountains.  Pastor Clemente accompanied us, for he was expected at a conference back at the base that evening.  Since he had never traveled this route, we stopped at several settlements to confirm we were going the right way.  It took 4 hours to drive 31 miles, over bumpy and curvy mountain roads; despite that, we all enjoyed the gorgeous vistas, and trees of coffee, bananas, and palm.  Clemente brought his 5 year old son who proved to be a fierce and persistent teacher of Spanish.

Two sisters-they really take care of each other.

Grinding the cooked corn into Tortilla dough, a daily task.

And a praise report!  We drove 2 vehicles the 2 ½ hours to the airport and picked up the Elim students last Friday.  They soaked up the warmth and sunshine and enjoyed the beach and a visit to Puerto Escondido, before starting classes on CHE (Community Health Evangelism) being taught by an American pediatrician who has lived in Mexico for >10 years and is involved in training people for this program, which concentrates on people learning to identify needs in their communities and develop plans to help themselves.  It is an integral ministry that includes ministering to the spiritual, physical and social needs of communities.  Next week a dentist will come to give a week of classes, culminating in a 3 day outreach to a Mixteco community.

Que Dios te Bendiga!  Mary Kay and Dave