MAM is delighted to have Dr. Jorge Guillen on our Dodge City clinic staff.
Dr. Guillen, his wife Juana and daughter Carla moved to Dodge City in late July.
He began seeing patients August 16. Originally from Peru, the Guillens spent
the past two years in McAllen, Texas, where Dr. Guillen completed a family practice
residency. From January through July, the MAM clinics provided 1,700 more primary
care visits than during the same period in 2005. The medical staff struggles
to keep up with the need, so we are especially pleased to have the services
of an experienced family practice physician such as Dr. Guillen.
This summer we’ve been blessed to host several work groups. Youth from
Cheney United Methodist Church conducted Bible School in Garden City. Groups
from Larned UMC, University UMC in Wichita, Rose Hill UMC, and First UMC in
Great Bend have cleaned, painted, sacked food, done yard work, and conducted
youth projects in Dodge City, Garden City, and Liberal.
As the immigration debate continues in the United States House and Senate, we
are often asked to comment on immigration issues. Since 1974, MAM has helped
people who qualified under United States law complete the paperwork required
to apply for permanent residency and citizenship. We have always provided services
to people of all races, colors, faiths, and regardless of status.
If you or your church have questions or concerns regarding Christian responsibility
in this area, we invite you to read the “Bishop’s Statement on Immigration”
from our own Bishop Scott J. Jones. We will be glad to send you a copy. Call
me at 620/275-1766 ext. 225 or e-mail me: pschwab@ummam.org. You may also obtain
a copy from Lisa Diehl, Director of Communications for Kansas West Conference,
316/684-0266, ldiehl@kswestumc.org.
Several MAM staff and clients “told their stories” for the Story
Corps oral history project sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
and National Public Radio. Among them is our own Sandra Chen, Advanced Registered
Nurse Practitioner. Sandra was born in Taiwan, grew up in Canada and Argentina,
and is now a citizen of the United States. She is married to a physician who
was originally from Lebanon.
Please keep our clients and staff in your prayers!
Grace and Peace,
Penney Schwab
Executive Director
I hope you all are having a good summer. Summer has been so busy
with our clothing rooms, food pantry, work groups, vacation Bible school and
multi-ethnic camp. There is never a dull moment. Sometimes I can hardly stop
to take a breath. Life seems to go by so quickly. It seems so much quicker for
some than others.
Sonja is a 40-something woman who has been undergoing breast cancer treatments
for about a year. She originally came to us through the Early Detection Works
Program. Shelly Nelson and Maria Elena Terrazas-(Early Detection Works Nurse
and Outreach Personnel) introduced her to people in our building and she slowly
became everyone’s friend.
She had started on her path to treatment when her husband of 15 years decided
he wanted to divorce her. She is now alone. She cleans homes to make a living
and depends on the kindness of others. Charity is not in her vocabulary.
Sonja has no children of her own but is raising a 9 year old autistic nephew.
His mother could not handle him and basically abandoned him to the care of Sonja.
The last time they were in my office she had to physically restrain him so that
he did not go flying out the front door into the traffic on the street. He requires
constant vigilance, constant patience, but most of all, every bit of her diminishing
physical energy. We have been able to help her with Christmas presents, school
supplies, mental health assistance (professional and on a personal level), and
assistance with disability forms.
She is holding it together because God has put donors like you here so we can
help her emotionally, socially and spiritually. She is an important part of
The Ministries, and the Christian Mission that God had set upon our path to
help.
Blessings,
Consuelo Sandoval
Community Developer, Garden City
Thank you to everyone who donated school supplies this year. Please remember
that we need supplies throughout the year to distribute during the school year.
We are also in need of children's shoes of all sizes.
Karen came to the Care Center with her mother. She was wearing completely worn
out sandals. All through the summer she used the same sandals. She even had
to tape them together with duct tape a few times to keep them from falling apart.
Now that school is starting her mother had no money to purchase new shoes for
Karen. With our Helping Hand Fund we bought Karen some shoes and a few new shirts
so that she could start the school year off feeling excited and like the other
children. Just to see Karen’s big smile and see her eyes light up was
thanks enough. But to see the releif on her mother's face and the gratefulness
she felt was priceless!
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to put smiles on their faces!
God bless you,
Elva Dominquez
Community Developer,
Dodge City
Another long hot summer is gone and a new school year is about to begin. For
some that means new clothing and shoes, new friends, new teachers. But for others
it’s a hard time to look for nice second hand clothing and shoes, and
a new year of hope. We are taking applications for school supplies for the 2006-2007
school year.
Veronica, a mother of five girls 14, 11, 9, 4, 2 years of age came into our
office to apply for school supplies as she has in the past. But there was something
in her eyes that was breaking her heart. I asked how her sister was doing. She
burst into tears and said, “I don’t really know she just got out
of jail. We haven’t spoken since her release.” Her youngest daughter
looked at her with sadness in her eyes, and the four year old said, “Mommy,
please don’t cry. I don’t want to see you crying again.”
Veronica continued to tell me that her sister’s husband had sexually abused
her oldest daughter for years. The sister’s husband told a friend and
the friend reported him to the authorities. When her sister’s husband
found out the authorities were looking for him, he fled taking her sister and
her sister’s two daughters.
The police found them in Georgia. The police arrested the abuser but also arrested
Veronica’s sister. The Georgia police transferred the abuser back to Liberal.
While he was in jail waiting for his hearing, he died in jail. Veronica didn’t
know if it was suicide or if another inmate killed him.
Veronica is in a lot of pain. Please, I ask for your prayers for this mother
who was just released from jail, that she might be granted the strength to heal
her soul, and help her daughter recover from this trauma. I also ask you to
pray for her family.
Camp this year was another successful one. We took six children from Liberal.
The kids enjoyed every minute of it and talked about it all the way home. We
continue to help our community in need. Keep us in your prayers that we may
serve this community not only with material but also spiritual help. Pray that
we find the words to help heal and lift people who have fallen.
God Bless You,
Dora Ponce
Community Developer, Liberal
I can not believe it is time for school to start. The summer is going by quickly.
Our office continues to give out USDA commodities in Ulysses and Johnson. USDA
will probably stop giving food soon. Our August order has been canceled.
I have been giving out many Bibles that the Hoisington UMC donated to us. They
are brand new Spanish Bibles, easy to read and understand.
I am a member of an Hispanic family veterans’ organization founded by
the late Dr. Hector P. Garcia in 1948 called the American GI Forum of the US.
In June, my wife and I attended the State Conference hosted in Garden City.
More recently, we attended and hosted the National Conference in Overland Park,
Kansas. We had over 200 delegates from Arizona, California, Colorado, Oklahoma,
New Mexico, Michigan, Nebraska, Texas, Washington State, Washington DC, and
Wyoming. The GI Forum passed a resolution supporting an immigration reform bill
that is fair to all. My wife was re-elected the Chairperson for the GI Forum
Hispanic Education Foundation and I was elected as National Treasurer. Our National
Queen is from Wichita, Kansas, and our Mr. AGIF is from Dodge City, Kansas.
Francisca Devora, MAM Diabetes Outreach Coordinator, had a great workshop for
all attendees. It was a very productive conference.
God bless you all for your continued prayers and support of Mexican American
Ministries.
Jose Olivas,
Community Developer,
Ulysses, Satanta & Johnson
United Methodist Mexican American Ministries is experiencing incredible growth.
As Penney explained in her article, we have a new physician in the Dodge City
Clinic. We also see more and more people who do not have any health insurance.
They look to MAM to for all their medical care. Through our programs, children
are immunized, women are screened and treated for breast and cervical cancer,
and insulin is provided for diabetics. Hundreds of women come to MAM for the
prenatal care and thousands of people are screened for mental health issues
every year.
The newsletter has many loyal readers. One of my greatest hopes is that sometime
every one of our readers will visit one of our Care Centers and Clinics. Please
continue to pray for this ministry of the United Methodist Church. I am convinced
more thoroughly every day when I see so many people receive care and spiritual
support that only prayer keeps this ministry growing.
Mia S. Korbelik
Director of Development