Students for International Mission Service (SIMS)

Mexico
by Keith Wresch, sophomore, School of Medicine

When I decided to go on a mission trip to Mexico, I knew that I would see things that would make me sad. I knew I would see pain and suffering. No matter how much the head knows, there is nothing that can prepare the heart for the sadness and anger that comes from seeing God's children in misery.

For the month I was in Mexico I saw countless tragedies. Most of the people in the area in Baja California, where we volunteered were migrant workers from the state of Oaxaca. They lived in cardboard or tin houses. There was no running water or other utilities.

While working in the clinic of a mission, a nurse encountered a family with an alcoholic father. Their 3-month-old baby boy, Celestino, weighed less than five pounds. He was not premature. He was literally starving to death. He had a cleft lip and palate which rendered him unable to feed, yet his mother did not give up trying to feed him throughout the day.

After some time the parents were convinced that it would be in the best interest of Celestino to let the mission take him until he was healthy.

Another student and I volunteered to take care of him the first night until a family could be found to take him in. Celestino could not use a bottle, so we spent a lot of time hand-feeding him with a syringe.

At first we fed him three ml every half hour. For the eight hours that I had him that night, I could not help asking God how He dealt with the pain of seeing countless numbers of His children suffering. I felt an immense sorrow for this little one; yet at the same time I felt ecstasy in being able to make a difference in his life.

When I left at the end of my month in Mexico, Celestino, now nearly 4 months old, weighed about seven-and-a-half pounds. He had regained a small portion of his body fat, had started smiling, and recognized familiar faces. It was clear that he was going to survive.

Making a difference in someone's life can be as easy as giving blood, or giving a hug to a friend. It is recognizing a need and doing little things to improve that condition. It doesn't have to be going to a foreign country.

People are suffering around us. The important thing is that you don't let the opportunity pass you by.

Editor's note: Jennifer also met a 4-year-old child, Carmen Hernandez, and was instrumental in having "Carmelitaî come to LLUCH for heart surgery. You may read Carmelita's story in the next SIMS Outlook.

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