Meet Dr. Gustavo! He’s the new doctor at the clinic, Manos de Cristo, in Ocosingo!

The 2017 mission season kicks off with the arrival of three groups in March!

On March 11th a group of American physicians, nurses and lay people organized by First Presbyterian of Hickory arrive in Ocosingo to conduct a week long medical clinic. The following Saturday a second group of physicians, nurses and lay people arrive in Ocosingo for a second week of primary medical care under the auspices of Salem Presbytery. Board of Directors’ members Dr. William Herring, Penny Musson, Dennis Stamper, Carolyn Vogel and President Randy DuVall will participate on these medical trips. The groups will work at Dispensario Tzeltal Manos de Cristo in Ocosingo (pictured above).

On March 25th a group of Christian Educators sponsored by Second Presbyterian of Bloomington will begin a week of Christian Education instruction for Tzeltal Sunday School and Compassion International teachers. The seminars will be conducted in Ocosingo and two outlying villages. The provision of primary medical care and the education of Tzeltal church leaders are continuing core ministries of Hebron USA.

The summer mission season begins on June 24th when a team from Salem Presbytery begins work. A week later a group from First Presbyterian of Virginia Beach will be down. Later in July, two teams from the Pittsburgh area will work in Chiapas. Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community returns to Chiapas and is followed a week later by a group from John McMillan Presbyterian Church.  All summer groups will work in and live in a Tzeltal village where they will engage in construction with the men of the church, conduct Bible School and live with the members of the village Presbyterian church. Finally, in late August Second Presbyterian Church of Bloomington, Illinois will conduct a one-week medical clinic providing primary medical care from Dispensario Tzeltal Manos de Cristo. Hebron USA has been organizing and facilitating cross-cultural mission trips to Chiapas for many years in conjunction with the Tzeltal Synod and our sister organization Hebrón de Desarrollo Tzeltal.

We still have an available mission group week running from July 22-30. If your church is interested in discussing sending a team to Chiapas during this week, please contact President Randy DuVall at 757-672- 1797.

Join with us in congratulating Sara and Elias on welcoming their new daughter, Ana Paula, who was born right before Christmas!

Hebron USA is organizing a Medical Mission trip to Chiapas, Mexico, in October 2016. The trip will consist of two weeks in the village of Ch’ixtontic, which by all accounts is a beautiful village high on a ridge and inhabited by very hospitable Tzeltal people. The trip gives the participant the option of one or both weeks.

Trip costs include $500 per week for all in country expenses plus airfare to Tuxtla Guttierrez. Participants are expected to make their own travel arrangements with help from trip leaders. Priorities for participants are medical providers( docs, Pas, nurses, nurse practitioners, etc.); Spanish speakers for translators and non-medical folks. Our early medical work was to the villages and has been a favorite of previous travelers. We will sleep on air beds and have flush toilets and showers( cold).

Applications and further general info can be downloaded at the Hebron USA website. Deadline for application, with payment of a $100 application fee, is August 25. Trip leaders are Penny Musson, RN and Bill Herring , MD. Bill and Penny have led around 20 medical trips to Chiapas and would welcome inquiries from interested parties. Contact info is Bill Herring, walnutcovefarm@yahoo.com Home# 828-297- 4604 and Penny Musson, pennymusson@yahoo.com Home # 336-921- 2131.

Hebron USA will host six mission teams in Chiapas during the spring and summer of 2016 from churches across the country. All teams will fly into the airport in Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital of Chiapas and then travel to their destination. The teams will be met on the ground by Hebron President and in-country summer trip coordinator Randy Duvall. The teams will be working with  Pastor Pablo Feliciano and his wife Jan, long-time missionaries with the Presbyterian Church and servants to the Tzeltal people of Chiapas.

There are two types of trips planned for the summer of 2016: Medical and construction. The medical teams will be working alongside Dr. Gerado Cruz Gomez, the medical director of Clinica Tzeltal Manos de Cristo providing care to the Tzeltal people in and around Ocosingo, Chiapas. The construction teams will be assisting the members of the local Presbyterian churches with construction projects approved by the local church, the Tzeltal Synod and Hebron USA.

Costs for 2016 are $500 plus airfare.

• March 6-12       Christian Educator’s Exploratory Trip: A small group of Christian educators from several churches will visit Chiapas to learn how the US church can support the Tzeltal church’s effort to provide Sunday school and youth education
• March 12-19      Eastern Virginia Medical School and First Presbyterian Church of Virginia Beach will take a team of medical school residents, physicians and lay people to work at Clinic Tzeltal Manos de Cristo in Ocosingo.
• May 21 – 28        Second Presbyterian Church of Bloomington, IL will bring a medical team to work at Clinica Tzeltal Manos de Cristo in Ocosingo.
• June 25-July 3    Salem Presbytery will bring a team of youth and adults from several churches in the central NC to work with a church in a village in Chiapas.
• July 9-17             John McMillian Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh, PA will bring a team of adults to work with a church in a village in Chiapas.
• July 23-31            First Presbyterian Church of Virginia Beach, VA will bring a team of youth and adults to works with a church in a village in Chiapas.

There may be openings available to join one of the trips listed. To learn more contact John Mills at (336) 817-6990.

We got a call last week from Janet Rolison in Winston Salem. She and her sisters Casey and Shirley have been making dresses for children for several years. The three sisters have made over 1,200 dresses so far. They work on these in their spare time and send them to Janet who then gives the dresses to groups going on mission trips. These groups have shared these beautiful little dresses with children in Haiti, Belize, Nicaragua, Uganda and Chaiaps.

Janet Rolison showing one of the dresses she made that will be givien to a lucky child in Chiapas.

Janet gave us 50 dresses to take with us this summer as we work in villages in Chiapas. We will ask Jan Feliciano, the wife and partner of Hebron USA missionary Pablo Felicano Cruz to help our teams determine how to distribute the dresses among the churches we are working with.

Thanks Janet for this amazing gift and stay tunes for pictures of some cute little Chiapas children wearing these.

This is a first call for volunteers to join us for the fall 2015 medical mission trip to Manos De Cristo clinic in Ocosingo, Chiapas, Mexico. Hebron USA has designated the weeks of 19 Sept.- 27 Sept. and 26 Sept.- 4 Oct. as our fall mission time. We are looking for medical providers, translators and non-medical support folks.

Teams will need a minimum of 10 travelers per week and a maximum of 15. Cost will be $500 per week PLUS airfare. Flight arrangements are to be made by the individual traveler with help/guidance from trip leaders.

Deadline for applications will be 15 July, with a deposit(non-refundable) of $100 and the application form mailed to me at 760 Walnut Lane, Vilas, NC 28692. Checks should be made out to Hebron USA. The application form can be found on the here on Hebron USA website. Fill out the form and print it and send to me with your deposit check. Trip leaders will be Bill Herring, MD, 828-297-4604, walnutcovefarm@yahoo.com and Penny Musson, RN.,336-921-2131, pennymusson@yahoo.com.

DO NOT make your airline reservations until the trip is confirmed.

An additional opportunity to serve may be an option if you are interested. Second Presbyterian Church of Bloomington, IL, will be doing a medical trip to the clinic June13-21, 2015, and may have openings. Contact DeAnn Worth if interested. Dean.worth.bh2d@statefarm.com. 309-824-6742.