Amy Boyd
Reporter
February 17, 2006
Milligan College students and CrossRoads Missions are planning a medical missions trip to Piedras Negras, Mexico, during spring break. A group of approximately 12-15 Milligan students are signed up for this collaborative medical missions trip. The group plans to leave March 4 in two vans for a 24-hour drive and return March 11.
Although there is no actual deadline for signing up to attend this trip, students wanting to go must have a minimum of a $25 deposit to Jennie Powell by Feb. 28. The full cost for each student will exceed $450.
According to sophomore Jennie Powell, the cross-cultural missions coordinator at Milligan, every day the group will go to a different community that needs medical attention but can not afford it. Each morning and evening the group will have fellowship and worship with the congregation of New Christian Fellowship Church located in Piedras Negras.
“It is a life-changing experience where you learn what it means to be humble,” Powell said. The people always praise the Americans for their kind service, yet the group has to constantly remind the people that their service is the work of God, not of the Americans.
Powell completed a summer internship in Piedras Negras in 2004 and coordinated last year’s winter and spring break mission trips. She said the work hours will vary each day and there will be an “evening feature” where the group members can do activities such as explore the ruins of San Bernardo Mission or the Macro plaza.
There is no need for medical experience to attend the trip and everything is voluntary, Powell said. The students will not be handing out heavy drugs to the local community. Instead, they will stick to the basic Metamucil or Extra Strength Tylenol. However, two emergency room doctors will attend the trip to oversee the medical work and to provide assistance, Powell said.
“The trip is usually a medical and soccer trip, but only soccer when someone expresses interest in it,” said Powell.
Powell is uncertain whether soccer will be an outreach this year; however, it is possible that some going on the trip would like to play soccer rather than get involved with the medical work.
Along with Powell, Campus Minister Nathan Flora and CrossRoads Mexico Field Coordinator Gina Wells have helped coordinate the mission trip. Although Flora is not able to attend the trip, he helped Milligan get connected with CrossRoads Missions and “Crossroads is the vehicle of the trip,” he said.
CrossRoads Missions started building a neighborhood of homes in Piedras Negras, a city neighboring the Rio Grande and in close range with Texas, according to Flora. CrossRoads Missions, composed of Milligan alumni, was located at Milligan, but moved its headquarters to Louisville, Ky., where it coordinates several short-term mission trips to places like the inner city of Chicago, rural areas of Kentucky, and Piedras Negras, Mexico.