July 08 Update

Dear Partners in Missions:
As hard as it is to believe, our family is now preparing for our term of missionary service in Chiapas to come to a close in just a couple of weeks. There remain good and important reasons for us to return to live in NC, and yet the leaving here will be very hard. We see God at work in so many ways, and we all would love to continue to be a part of the ministry here. We are grateful to Lindsey from Minnesota whose sermon last week reminded us that "missionary service is not location dependent....it's not where we are that makes us missionaries, it's what we do - wherever we are!" There's been so much happening here, but I'll try to summarize...

General Mission Activities:

• We've hosted about 150 group members since our last update. They have been a blessing to us and we hope they were blessed by the experience of be here.
  

• Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community (Pittsburgh, PA) helped with construction in the village of Matzam and provided a VBS for local children. Related blog entry: Hot Metal Bridge.
  
• Salem Presbytery's Medical Mission Caravan (NC, IL, WA, VA) provided medical and dental care and medications to over 4,000 patients in our 2 weeks in the village of Yaxoquintela (former home of Wycliff's Jungle Missionary Training Camp). Related blog entry: Guest Author Post
  
• Second Presbyterian (Bloomington, IL) helped with construction of Las Manos de Cristo and provided a VBS for local children.
  
• Salem Presbytery's Village Construction (NC) helped expand the sanctuary of the church in the village of Matzam and provided a VBS for local children. Related blog entry: San Juan Chamula.
  
• Salem Presbytery's Clinic Construction (NC, VA) helped with construction of Las Manos de Cristo and provided a VBS for local children.
• Decatur Presbyterian (GA) helped with construction of Las Manos de Cristo and provided a VBS for local children.
  
• Samples Family Construction (WA) helped with construction of Las Manos de Cristo and provided a VBS for local children.
• River Glen Presbyterian (IL) helped with construction of a house for the pastor in the village of Plan de Ayutla and provided a sports camp for local children.
  

• We were blessed to have 3 summer volunteers with us who helped with the "behind-the-scenes" work of hosting groups. Special thanks to Derek Zanetti (Hot Metal Bridge), Whitney Farrell (Oak Ridge Presbyterian) and Amy Newell (First Pres, Boone). They were a huge help, kept us laughing and definitely became important parts of our lives. We miss them and hope to continue to be a part of their lives.
  
• Our local mission church appears to have identified some property for purchase and is now raising funds to purchase the land so that we can have a larger, more permanent location for worship and youth activities.
  
• Prison ministry sales of purses and other items has gone very well during the group season. As a result, many of the prisoners will be getting much needed funds to help cover their food costs. Related blog entry: My Education About Mexican Prisons
• VBS activities this summer have been a little different in Ocosingo. In the past we have invited different children each week in hopes of introducing more to the Good News. This year, we decided to invite the same children week-after-week in hopes of giving them a richer, more meaningful understanding of some of the basic principles of Christianity. This has been a great experience, but one that has encountered some surprising resistance from the traditional catholics in the neighborhood. Related blog entry: VBS for children in a catholic neighborhood.
  
• A family who has experience persecution from their catholic community has continued to be active in the life of our mission and recently invited us to provide a small, one-day VBS at their home. The results were quite interesting. Related blog entry: Campet Fights the Gospel.
  
• Young Felipe from Ocosingo, the young break-dancer with a club foot, was recently visited by a representative from North Wilkesboro Presbyterian Church to assure him that plans to arrange for his surgery have not been forgotten. Although it appears likely that the original surgeon will not be able to help, John discussed his case with Dr. Mike Berkeley at Mexico Medical Missions in Chihuahua. If we can arrange to get Felipe and his mother to Chihuahua for one month, they will provide the surgery, aftercare and accommodations for his mother all free of charge.
  

Las Manos de Cristo (Medical Clinic):

• Clearly the people are not afraid to come to a make-shift clinic in a church, so let's pray that we can create the same kind of comfort and safety in Las Manos de Cristo so that they are just as comfortable coming there for services in the future.
• Construction is moving fast now that the interior finished floor is poured. Almost all of the interior studs are up, and the walls are going up inside! Look for new pictures on the Clinic Construction Slideshow on Change.org. Double-click on the Photo Timeline found in the video section so you can see larger pictures. While you're there, sign up as a support and consider making a donation for clinic construction.
  
• We continue to be very, very frustrated with the customs situation in Vera Cruz. The container of medical supplies from The Starfish Fund and Samaritan's Purse is still being held. The County of Ocosingo has agreed to receive the goods if released, but customs has not yet done so. Please pray for some progress in this area in the very near future.
  
• John, Pablo and four pastors from the Tzetltal Synod recently traveled to Chihuahua state in Northern Mexico to visit the Mexico Medical Mission Hospital started by Dr. Mike Berkeley. They learned a great deal about legalities, donations, fees, staffing, budgets, etc. from those who have been running a similar operation for several years now. Special thanks to Mike Berkeley, the folks at Second Presbyterian in Bloomington, and Hebron USA for creating the opportunity.
  

Personal

• It doesn't seem possible, but we are now just 15 days and counting until our family begins the journey back to live in NC again. The transition will be harder than we could have ever expected, but we know that this too is part of God's plan. (Related blog entry: You Know What They Say About Assumptions).
  
• We have listened to enough "Plan A" speeches from Pastor Pablo Feliciano to know that God might have a different plan for us, but seems clear that God is paving the way for us to return to NC just has God paved the way for us to come to Mexico 2 years ago. It appears promising for John to join us with fellow free clinic exec and former Mexico Mission traveler, Mark Cruise, to work with the ECHO Foundation in Texas to help establish church-based medical clinics. Ginny will resume counseling at Trinity Center and build a private practice. Holly & Maggie will enroll in high school, and we'll be moving back into our house in Winston-Salem by mid-September. Our corgi, Baxter, will leave the loving care of the Sigler Family in Kernersville and move back in with us after we get settled in. In the wisdom of Pastor Jim Walker, the question is, "Can you move back to NC without getting 'back in the box?'" That, our dear friends, remains to be seen!
  
• Between all the groups and all the packing, I really have not been able to write blog entries for each of the groups. Please have mercy, and if you'd like to volunteer to be a Guest Writer (like Amy Newell did for the Salem Medical Caravan), I'd be most grateful!
  
• We are rejoicing and grateful for our brother in Christ, Randy DuVall, from Virginia Beach, VA who has committed to 5 months of missionary service next summer. We look forward to having Randy and his daughter, Stephanie, with us this week, and we pray for comfort and healing for Randy's wife, Leslie, as she recovers from surgery to repair a badly broken leg.
  
• We remain in prayer for another missionary couple/family/individual to answer the call to serve here in Chiapas after we leave. We will leave behind a house that is essentially fully-equipped for daily living. Thanks to those who funded our support, all the appliances, furniture and kitchen supplies will stay so that the next family is ready to go! Those of you who may have been in prayer to discern if God could be calling YOU, please be sure to check out the blog entry (You Know Who You Are ) and the information on our website Who's Next to Serve?

Prayers

• Pray that God works in the hearts and minds of those considering missionary service here in Chiapas so that the work here can continue and grow.
• Pray for Randy DuVall and his family as he prepares for his 5 months of missionary service here in Chiapas next summer.
  
• For those who have lost loved ones, including the families of Marshall Hollingsworth and Donna Painter. Marshall was Ginny's mother's cousin and a pillar in their family. Donna was Mexico Mission travelers', Ladd and Noel Painter, wife and mother who was an Associate Pastor at First Baptist in Asheville, NC. May their loved ones know God's peace.
  
• For those who are struggling with illness or distress including Frank Santostephano, Leslie DuVall, Warren Hayes, Megan Paulson & baby, Angela Smith, Billie Bradley, Tom Simms, Frank Splawn, Maverine Jenkins, Mary Wynne Perryman, Carol McClancy, Nancy Lingenfelser, Bonnie Bode, Ben Jones, Katie Yarbrough, Laura Mast, and Louise Holshouser.
  
• And for our Mexican brothers & sisters as well, including the mother of Hermana Antonia in our mission, Baby Petrona in Matzam as she continues to recover, and for Felipe and his mother as they make preparations to travel to Chihuahaua. Special prayers for those believers living in areas of Christian persecution. May God bring them all comfort, peace and assurance.
• Special prayers for Pablo Feliciano as he prepares for his journey as a PCUSA Peacekeeper. That his visa application is processed quickly, that his impact is broad and deep, and that his diabetic management goes well throughout the trip. Likewise, please pray for Jan Feliciano as she travels to Michigan for time with her family and for Josh as he returns to school in Iowa to rejoin his finance, Ana Brito.
  
• Of support and encouragement for other missionaries, including Pablo & Jan Feliciano, Jim & Sharon Heneveld, Mike Berkeley and all those at Mexico Medical Missions in Chihuahua, all the Dye Family missionaries, John & Sandra Wimbish and Julie Alexander and her family in Brazil.
  

Opportunities

• For financial support for our family during our transition back into life in the US (Oak Ridge Presbyterian Church, 2614 Oak Ridge Rd., Oak Ridge, NC 27310). Be sure to list "Mills Family Mission" on the memo line.
• For financial support for Las Manos de Cristo clinic construction (through Hebron USA, 6080 Old Brickstore Rd., Greensboro, NC 27455). Be sure to check out the new website at www.hebronusa.org.
• Reserve your date for next year's mission trips by emailing us (jgmills@att.net). We will continue to handle mission trip scheduling and other communications for the next several months (at least). Dates are already being filled, so reserve your date so your group will be able to come to Chiapas next year. There will be many opportunities to work on Phase II of Las Manos de Cristo, building projects for area churches, and VBS.
  
• Medical professionals interested in volunteering at Las Manos de Cristo should email us (jgmills@att.net) with their areas of expertise, dates of availability for 2009, and preferred length of stay. The date of official opening has not been set but it would be great to know that we will have some medical volunteers ready to go. Lab techs, pharmacists, nurses, dentists and doctors are encouraged to prayerfully consider serving through Las Manos de Cristo.
• If you were on a mission trip to Chiapas this summer, volunteer to write a blog entry as a Guest Author to share the miracles, challenges and opportunities from your group's week in Chiapas. Send your entry via email and we'll post it ASAP (add pictures if you can!).
  

As we go forth from Ocosingo, back to NC, we will leave here as changed people -- changed by the experiences we've had here, changed by those we have come to know and love who live here, changed by those who have come here on mission trips and changed by God's workings in our hearts and our minds. In the words of our friends, the Dixons, "we are so glad we didn't miss it!!!" We also go with the knowledge that our lives as missionaries will continue but in a different culture, a different location and with different opportunities to serve.

We remain grateful to you, our partners in missions, for your love, support, prayers and encouragement. We hope to have the opportunity visit and worship with you sometime in the coming months.

Paz en Cristo (Peace in Christ),
Ginny, John, Holly & Maggie Mills