West Ohio medical team to Manos Juntas Mission in Mexico
The April/May 2022 Medical Mission to Mexico was nothing short of amazing. The team was small but mighty with 11 people on the mission, several of them new. The team saw a total of 260 patients in the three days that we operated the mobile clinic. In that time, the team also passed out more than 7,000 children’s and 7,000 adult vitamins, prayed for and with hundreds of patients, and provided a dietician, legal advice, physical therapy, an optometrist, and haircuts to the community. But the impact this experience had on the team members was just as amazing as their impact on the patients…
“These short-term Missions trips have much more of an impact on us than we all realize. We form lifelong friendships, even with people we may never see again or people we may not see for a few years. Seeing the people who are in need and how accepting and loving and kind they are speaks volumes to my heart. Shows me how much more loving, grateful, patient, and kind I need to be to everyone around me.” -Meredith Meftah
“Each interaction I have with the individual patients is a blessing to myself and an eye-opening experience. I am always more blessed by the patients than I could ever bless them. Experiencing the culture difference and everyday living difference is a truly enlightening experience and each experience teaches me something new and an alternative to our culture and living in the States.” -Brittany Rice
“Towards the end of the day [I saw] an elderly woman. During her time with me in triage I found it more and more difficult to find my words after sitting in the heat all day. She placed her hand on my shoulder as we finished and said, ‘not too much longer.’ Tears filled my eyes as she thanked me. …From my questions during her assessment I had already known she had been at the clinic most of the day waiting patiently and hadn’t eaten since the day before. But she never complained. Only showed kindness and compassion to a complete stranger that can barely speak her language.” -Jen Hollis
“Although we have given so much of our time and talents to serve over these short few days, the team has come away being blessed more or at least equal to the blessings that we gave. …Over the past couple years those of us in the medical profession have been through a lot. We have cried, been to the brink of exhaustion, burned out, yelled at, abused, and even threatened. That is why a lot of us, including myself, always look forward to these trips. It refreshes us and reminds us why we chose the profession that we did. It becomes our reset button on our career and life.” -Chad Stoltz, team leader
If you are interested in participating in or leading a medical mission team to Mexico, contact Chad Stoltz at cstoltz1984@gmail.com or visit www.westohioumc.org/mexicovim.