Final Stages

Our mission team has had two trip prep gatherings in the last week. Wednesday night was medicine sorting/packing in the church office basement. About 15 people ripping open boxes and bottles of meds and transferring them to labeled Zip-Lock bags for ease of packing in our donation bags. POUNDS and POUNDS of medicine!

Some was purchased specifically for certain needs of the clinic, while much of it was donated by many caring folks who took the time and energy to clean out their medicine cabinets, or shop for items.

My client Alice has a husband and a brother-in-law who are pharmacists...four large boxes of meds donated. My sister Maureen and Monica each gave me a bag. Other clients and friends dropped off bags. So thankful for everyone's generosity!

I drove to the meeting on Wednesday with my Trailblazer filled with drugs - hoping nothing would cause a cop to pull me over! How to explain...would they believe me? No worries...all went well.

This Sunday our team was at both services in order to be on the platform with Pastor Matthew for a blessing. He asked everyone in the church to surround the platform, placing hands on it, or on the shoulder of the person in front of them. Our team was all holding hands. First service Matthew placed his hand on my shoulder, since I happened to land front and center, and said a beautiful prayer. All was repeated after second service (with another person front and center). What a great send-off from our church members! Very touching. Wish all my friends and family could have been there!

After services was our donation bag packing. Don was kind enough to stay to help. We all enjoyed Panera Bread lunch, then around 12:30 we began the free-for-all packing party! Hundreds of bags of clothing, shoes, school and medical supplies littered the chapel floor. Somehow areas were staked out for sorting the different donation categories.

I became known as The Recycling Queen as I moved around gathering anything that shouldn't be put in the regular garbage. Men were hoisting giant bags filled with clothing and medicine onto a hanging scale...no more than 50 pounds per bag allowed! Somehow we were done packing 57 huge bags by 2:30 or so. Mark Derry, our fearless leader, stood on a chair and said, 'If this is how well we're all going to work together this whole week, it's going to be a GREAT week!'

How amazing that the contents of all 57 50# bags will be left for the folks in Batey Nueve! How wonderful!