Daily Prayer - Wednesday, June 19

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them.” (NABRE Ephesians 2:10)

Dear Lord,

Many of us are gathered here today to pray. Some of us may have had fears coming on this mission: Will I make a difference? What gifts do I have that I can share? How do I make a lasting impact? Please help us to remember that we are Your handiwork. You have created all of us with a special skill set so that we can serve Your people. Please help our gifts and skills to be honed and sharpened. Please bless our hearts, and calms our worries about being good enough and doing good enough. Please allow everyone here to know that they are here for a purpose and that their help is pivotal not only in our mission but in Your mission for us.

Open our hearts, O Lord, that we can take special care of Your people.

In Your name we pray. 

Amen.

First Full Day of Clinic Went by in a Flash!

Written by Dr. Lisa W.

The first full day of clinic went by in a flash. In total, we saw around 150 patients from all walks of life. The saddest being a small baby with congenital brain damage who was experiencing breathing difficulties. The prognosis doesn’t look good. Please pray for baby Valentine.

In my small corner of the world, my daughter Grace and I treated around 25 people. Grace was my interpreter, my assistant and right hand man. She would take the history and follow up by asking the patient any questions I might still have. She would help with the TENS unit and orthopedic supports. She would choose appropriate stretches and exercises for the patient and convey this to Denise as she walked them over for PT. Grace was amazingly helpful.

I had a full schedule. Many people here experience musculoskeletal problems. They work in factories, fishing wharfs, and drive motos. They take care of their parents, moving them from beds to chairs to the bathroom. The care for sick children doing the same. They hurt. Especially their necks and backs. Their muscles are tight and full of knots. The chiropractic treatment is give to them is usually their first experience. Most people feel immediate relief to varying extents.

The first patient we saw had never been to a chiropractor. She takes care of her father who is laid up in bed and her sock daughter. Grace explained that with the treatment she would hear “crujido” or clicking and that this was normal. I adjusted her full spine. After her adjustment she sat up and started crying. Grace looked at me and I looked at her. As Maria spoke to Grace, I could see Grace’s face relax and I realized Maria our patient was thanking us for giving her relief. She asked if she could bring her daughter back the next day. She hugged us and kissed us as she left. That was the way it went all day. We received hug after hug, kiss after kiss. All patients said they felt “mejor”/ better. It was a fulfilling day. 

Grace had some fun with my Spanish. The Holy Spirit did not gift me with the knowledge of languages. I can say the same word twenty different times and each time it would sound different. The Spanish word for up is arriba. Grace was amused that I couldn’t remember that for anything. She would have to remind me constantly that Aruba was an island. :)

For lunch we had another amazing Peruvian meal. Fettuccini noodles with pesto and beef in gravy.

By the end of the day, my body ached. Standing on the concrete floor, using a massage table instead of a lower chiropractic table, and the physical effort required to perform adjustments left me a wilted flower. I was ready for the day to be over.

At the end of clinic, we gathered in the living room of the school next to the kitchen. This is where we gather when we aren’t in the clinic upstairs. We were served sandwiches and chips, a welcome light dinner. After dinner, we divided more vitamins and medicine into baggies for the next day. The glass of wine helped the task lighter. And the many hands made the task faster.

We finally left for our hotel at around 10 pm. As we walked though a city courtyard and groups of teens performed dancing routines for us. We stopped to admire them for a few minutes. So friendly here. So kind.

We showered and I turned off the lights and feel into a deep sleep. Six am would be here in a wink. 

Honor and Privilege to Partake in Outreach to Peru

Written by Miranda S.

I think I witnessed and received more kisses on the cheek than I have ever before. However, that is normal every time I come on this mission.

This may be my third time in Paita, but those feelings of shock, gratefulness, sadness, and the dust in my eyes (which definitely isn't me tearing up from exhaustion) don't seem to go away. There are animals roaming the streets, people sitting or sleeping wherever they can find a spot, trash more present than there are plants, and of course, the first day of clinic like there is today.

Marc and Young Boy

Stress and emotions are always high as we are working out the kinks in our system, dealing with backlogs, and naturally, hearing the stories of people as they come in to get treated. Even though we are serving and helping this community, it is easy to feel helpless. Today, we met a woman who doesn't own a wheelchair that she needs to transport her bedridden mother. We couldn't convince a family to take their sick infant to the emergency room because their living of selling water bottles won't cover the cost. 

Dr. Papp with Mom and Baby

But this doesn't come without the small victories either. It's not everyday that by having a conversation with children through google translate, handing out little toys, or giving out a pair of reading glasses that you can put the biggest smile on someone's face. The gratitude that comes from all of our patients is unseen almost anywhere else I've ever been. They come up and put their children in your arms for pictures, practice their English phrases with us, and, of course, give us lots of kisses. That is why I and everyone else here do this mission and it's an honor and privilege to be a part of it.

Clinic Summary

Written by Peggy Stickney, MD

This trip is my second trip to Piura and medical mission trip with this group. My first was back in 2014. Some of the scenery remains the same and some has changed. The feel of the mission trip remains the same. When we got here, it still felt like this was where I was supposed to be. Helping/assisting with the gifts God has allotted me to utilize for the good of all who are here. The patients are of third world living. Many of them live from day to day. Water supplies remain questionable. Some of the areas have reportedly improved, but some have gotten worse. The water that came out of the kitchen faucet here at the school was the worst she has seen it. “It looks like stream water!” Deb said. There is one of the water filtrations in the kitchen that does an excellent job of taking that water and making it consumable. This is what we have used to fill our daily water bottles to keep ourselves hydrated through the day. It may be winter here, but it is warmer than Wisconsin right now.

Since it is winter here, many of the maladies we suffer from they do as well. Allergies, colds, upset stomachs, arthritic aches and pains, fungal skin infections are the majority of what I have seen/treated today. Many also with painful wrists and carpal tunnel from activities of daily living which include washing laundry by hand, cooking and preparing meals by hand (without food processors or kitchen aid utensils), cleaning, washing dishes by hand, and many of the other chores I take for granted on a daily basis. The only difference is that when I have an ache or pain, I can go grab a bottle of Tylenol or something where they may not have the resources or availability for getting the medication. Diabetics who are not on medications and can not afford to eat correctly, have time to exercise or have access to see a doctor to keep this under control. “What do I do when I run out of this ?” “I am supposed to take this every day. Then what am I supposed to do?” This was heard a few times today by me. I am sure the others heard it as well. 

Click on Pictures Below to Enlarge

Dr. Peggy Checking Results of Urine Test

People in Waiting Room Waiting to be Seen

Dr. Peggy Talking With the Patients

We had around 170 patients in the clinic today. The clinic was running very well. Like any first day, there were many things that were modified and adjusted to help with the flow of the patient experience. Everyone was very appreciative we were here. Everyone said thank you. A number of them gave hugs and were very patient when we needed to utilize the translators to help understand their issues. Finishing up the first day of clinic, we are very proud of what we have done and feel like we helped people. We are tired and going to head to bed to get up in the morning to do this all again for the next 4 days. Thank you to everyone back home who contributed, are praying for us and the mission, and to the parish for sponsoring the trip. God bless.

Memories of Peru

Written by Michael P.

Connecting with Peru - that was the main purpose of our mission; to serve our brothers and sisters in Peru.

When you open your eyes and arms to those around you, you can make marvelous connections. As an example, on our flight from Lima to Piura (en route to Paita) we happened to sit next to an gentleman who told us of his own outreach to the people of Peru.



He described how he had sold his civil engineering business to work with farmers near Piura. He created a program, Piura en Accion (https://www.facebook.com/PiuraAccion/), where they grow Fair Trade organic bananas and table grapes for sale.

The proceeds are then split between the growers and a fund to help support projects in their local community. The growers vote on which projects they want to fund.

Their choice of the first project was not in their own community, rather it was to help provide clean drinking water to a neighboring community.

What a wonderful example of the cascading effect of people helping people helping people. Pay it forward!

¡Hola de Peru¡ - First Day of Clinic

Today was the first day of the clinic and man was it a great one! We had some difficulty all arriving in Peru. We were planning on starting the day with two providers, the podiatrist, physical therapist, and chiropractor. But the other two providers arrived in the knick of time to start clinic. It was a busy day, we estimated we saw over 140 patients.

People will enter through registration where they will discuss their chief complaint and get some background. Then they will go upstairs to see the nursing triage where vitals will be taken, then they will see their respective doctor whether pediatric, generalist, podiatry, chiropractic, or physical therapist. Then they will see the boys at the station for medicine for the parasites as well as receiving flip flops to avoid walking bare foot. Finally they will come to me, the pharmacist, who will distribute the medications that they need.

I have recently graduated physician assistant school and have a fairly good grasp on the medications and am able to remember what medications to tell people to take food with, or avoid alcohol, etc. I am working with my brother, Jon, who is an excellent helper. He complains that he can’t remember any Spanish but does fairly well!

I was on the 2016 mission trip and was in love with the people here and being able to help. It’s no different this time. Though I am tired and my feet hurt, I love seeing the smiles on their faces and knowing that they are coming to us after having no where to turn to. Our group is much bigger this time, 23 people and has been such a great group to work with. Everyone is pitching in wherever they can and is collaborating well. Our first day was a success! More to come later in the week. Buenos noches mis amigos.

Written by Olivia W.

Daily Prayer - Tuesday, June 18

Each of you has received a special grace, so, like good stewards responsible for all these varied graces of God, put it at the service of others.” (NABRE 1 Peter 4:10 )

Dear Lord,

Our doors open today and we send people out into the community. Today and this week especially, Lord, we ask that You strengthen us and allow our gifts to shine so that we can use them to serve others. We ask that You guide us to be faithful stewards of Your grace in all of our forms whether working in the clinic, in building water purifiers, in the school, or in the kitchen. We love You, Lord, with all our hearts, and know that You are here with us. You are a great example! Help us to share that with the people of Peru and lead through Your example.

In Your name we pray, O Lord. 

Amen.

God Laughs

I wish we could say that day one went of without a hitch, however a few flight delays lead to some close calls and even some missed flights, but you know what they say... when we make plans, God laughs. Thankfully we were able to keep our spirits high as most of us would soon be approaching 40 hours without sleep.

When arriving in Paita, the Sisters met us and took us to St. Clare school where we would be setting up the clinic. After getting a quick tour, we decided to take a MUCH NEEDED hour break to check into our various living quarters and relax.

But just in the blink of an eye we were back to work again cleaning and setting up the clinic for the patients we will see on Tuesday. Unpacking and shifting and remodeling after remodeling the spaces we were given seemed to go rather quickly with all of the helping hands.  

The Sister Maribel made us a delicious meal for a lunch break including Peruvian rice, chicken, and potato medley. We were also introduced to “Chicha Morada” a very sweet juice made with pineapple, lime, and mostly purple corn. Delicious!

The rest of the afternoon mainly involved lots of medicine packing and organizing until our day was done at 6pm. We prayed, headed back to the hotels, showered, and finally laid down for a good nights rest!

Written by Grace W.

First Impressions

Written by Nico S.

My first impressions of Peru were wildly eye opening. Many things I often take for granted in the United States, are scarce in Paita. Air conditioning, clean water, and ubiquitous education just to name a few. Meeting the sisters for the first time was a breath of fresh air. They are inviting and caring, as well as grateful for our group's presence. They are nothing but motivated to help see Paita improve by prioritizing the health and the education of the surrounding community.

We set up the clinic today, I had a lot of fun meeting new people. I walked the streets of Paita and was saddened to see the sheer number of stray dogs and homeless citizens around. I am excited to make a difference here.

Better Late than Never

There are things we can control and there are things we can't control. We can control what we're going to eat and how much exercise we get weekly. We can control our temper and our attitude. However, there are so many things we can't control such as our children and the weather. Both of those things are in God's hands.

Green - Flight Path Around Thunderstorms

Two people, Deb and Michael, missed their flight in Orlando for two reasons... the flight was late getting into Orlando due to the weather and they weren't given a boarding pass in Chicago because of who knows why.  When they tried to create their boarding pass on the LATAM app, it didn't work. After arriving on Orlando, and going to customer service at LATAM, they were told to go to the American desk. When at the American desk, they were told that LATAM should've handled the problem because it was a flight operated by them.

Thanks to American, all 9 of left-behind travelers. who never met, were helped. The nine people corroborated about their travel woes. In the end, all had flight reservations and traveled on different flights to Lima, never to see each other again. All would be arriving in Lima a day late and a dollar short.

Michael and Deb were given excellent seats in Business Class  Monday evening and will arrive in Peru at 10:30pm. They'll be able to sleep in a bedlike recliner and drink heavily for free. Their next flight is at 8am Tuesday morning.

For another reason, Mary Anne, Lou, Rosie, and Doug missed their flights from Lima to Piura on Monday morning. These four travelers will be traveling to Piura on Tuesday morning at 5am.  Hopefully, the entire team will be together again Tuesday by noon.

Monday, June 17

Click on Pictures to Enlarge

Welcome Outreach Team!

Welcome, St. Paul Outreach Team. With God's help, most of them made it on Monday! Six more to arrive on Tuesday!

Sister Paul, Sister Matilde, and Justin

Headed to Paita

Seventeen of our travelers have arrived in Piura and are on their way to Paita for a full day of work. They plan on setting up clinic and unloading all of the shipment containers.Some of the travelers arrived in Lima as a tourist, a few days ago, and did many touristy things and are running a a full night's rest. Others, arrived last evening, stayed in the airport all evening, and got absolutely no sleep, waiting for their early morning flight to Piura.

This picture is of the group, taking a van to Paita.

Daily Prayer - Monday, June 17

The human heart plans the way but the Lord directs the steps.” (NABRE Proverbs 16:9)

Dear Lord,

You are a good and merciful God. We thank you for helping us to all arrive safely and for getting all of our equipment here with us. We know that you have blessed our mission and are here to guide us. We ask that You are in our minds, in our hearts, and in our hands today and through this week, Lord, as we begin to embark on one of our greatest missions: serving Your people. We ask for Your forgiveness, Lord, pl

ease purify our hearts as we begin our service and our mission.

In the words of St. Therese of Lisieux, Patroness of Missionaries and Doctor of the Church: “In spite of my littleness, I would like to enlighten souls as did the Prophets and the Doctors. I have the vocation of the Apostles. I would like to travel over the whole earth to preach Your name and to plant Your glorious cross in the soil. I would be a missionary, not for a few days only, but from the beginning of creation until the consummation of the ages.”

Please be with us today, Lord, as we begin our mission work in the clinic, school, and community.

In Your name, 

Amen.

Parish Blessing

Thanks to Father Dan and St. Paul Parish for their blessing at the 9am Mass on June 9. Please pray for our missionaries this week, as they prepare for their travels.

What is the meaning of the Tau Cross

Connecting Hearts and Hands with Peru, has partnered with the School Sisters of St. Francis, a Franciscan order. The School Sisters use the Tau cross as a symbol of their order. As partners and Tau volunteers, we have done the same.

Here is the Tau cross we have chosen to wear as we volunteer in Peru. The picture below shows Father Dan blessing these Tau crosses

To explain more about the Tau cross, here are some of the excerpts taken from an article written by  Corrado Paolucci, in October, 2014.  

Ancient Origin

Tau is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet and was used symbolically in the Old Testament. It was already spoken of in the Book of Ezekiel: “The Lord said to him, ‘Go through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark upon the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over the abominations… (Ez. 9:4). The Tau is the sign placed upon the foreheads of the poor of Israel, it saves them from extermination.

It was then adopted by the very first Christians, for a twofold reason:

As the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, it prophesied the Last Day and had the same function as the Greek letter Omega as it appears in the Book of Revelation: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water without price from the fountain of the water of life … I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (Rev. 21:6;22:13).

The Christians adopted the Tau, because its form reminded them of the Cross on which Christ was immolated for the salvation of the world.

What is it a sign of?

It is a concrete sign of Christian devotion, but above all it is a sign of the commitment of one’s life to following the poor and crucified Christ.

It is a sign of the awareness of a Christian, i.e. of a child of God, a child who has escaped danger, of one who has been redeemed and saved. It is a sign of powerful protection against evil (Ez.9,6).

It is a sign willed by God for me, it is a divine privilege (Rev.9:4; Rev.7:1-4; Rev.14:1).

It is the sign of the Lord’s redeemed, of the unblemished, of those who trust Him, of those who see themselves as beloved children and who know that they are precious to God (Ez.9:6).

It is a symbol of the dignity of the children of God, for it is the Cross that held Christ.

It is a sign that reminds me that I too must be strong in time of trial, ready to obey the Father, and docile in submission, as Jesus was docile before the Father’s will.

“Look at the crucifix and it will teach you everything…”

St. Francis and the cross

Because of the Tau’s resemblance to the cross, this sign was very dear to St. Francis of Assisi, so much so that it occupied an important place in his life as well as his gestures. In him the ancient prophetic sign was actualized, regained its saving power and expressed the beatitude of poverty, which is an essential element of the Franciscan way of life.

“Whenever necessity or charity required, St. Francis marked with this seal the letters he sent” (FF 980); “He began all of his actions with it” (FF 1347). The Tau was therefore the sign dearest to Francis, his seal, the telltale sign of a deep spiritual conviction that the salvation of every man is only in the Cross of Christ.

Thus the Tau, which is backed by a solid biblical and Christian tradition, was received by St. Francis for its spiritual value. The Saint of Assisi took hold of this sign in a manner so complete and intense that, at the end of his life and through the stigmata impressed in his flesh he became the living image of the Tau that he had so often contemplated, drawn, and especially loved.

This article originally appeared in the Italian edition of Aleteia. Translated by Diane Montagna. We have taken excerpts from this article to explain what the Tau represents.

Note: The Tau Cross is most commonly used in reference to the Franciscan Order and Saint Francis of Assisi, who adopted it as his personal coat of arms after hearing Pope Innocent III talk about the Tau symbol. It is now used as a symbol of the Franciscan Order.

Parish Blessing at Mass This Weekend

On Sunday, June 9, twenty-three missionaries going to Peru will be blessed at the 9am Mass. Come join them and meet them in the Gathering Space after Mass.

Please pray for the St. Paul medical team as they travel and serve the people in Paita, Peru from June 16-June 21.. God extends His love through them to the people they are serving.

Dear Jesus, Savior of the World,

Watch over your St. Paul missionary team traveling to Paita, Peru, – In difficult moments, sustain their energies and comfort their hearts. Please grace them, from Your own Heart, with the gift of humility so that they may be able to do works of our Father, through You. Join the hearts of those staying behind with Yours, and multiply our humble offerings; whether financial, in-kind donations, or prayers alone, so that God may be glorified in Peru.

Amen

The Sisters

Meet the Spindt Family

The Spindt Family have been members of St. Paul’s Catholic Church for over 15 years and service to others as a family is very important to them. They are long time volunteers with local organizations in Waukesha such as the Hope Center and the Eras Senior Network. Even though Charlie and Miranda have served with the medical missions before, this is the first time the entire family is serving together in Peru and are very excited.

Miranda “Charlie” Spindt has been a part of the Peru Outreach Ministry since 2013. This will be her third trip as the medical coordinator for the mission. She is a Physician Assistant in Family Medicine and serves as a volunteer provider at St. Joseph’s Free Medical Clinic serving the homeless and uninsured. Currently, she is the Clinical Education Coordinator and a Clinical Assistant Professor at Carroll University’s Physician Assistant Program in Waukesha. She serves St. Paul’s as a Eucharistic Minister and together with her husband Marc, as a pre-marriage FOCCUS facilitator. She loves to spend time with her family and helping the community. 

Marc is the Vice President of Service Delivery for an internet security company in Brookfield. He serves as a group leader for high school age kids with the religious education program at St. Paul’s. He is also a Eucharistic Minister and a pre-marriage FOCCUS facilitator. Marc and Charlie have been married for nearly 24 years and have two great kids together, Miranda and Nicolas. He loves to spend time with kids and is currently a coach with the Kettle Moraine Sporting Clays and Trap Team. He is looking forward to traveling to Peru to help with water filtration program and support the medical mission.

Miranda is a Sophomore at Marquette University where she is a double major studying Political Science, Economics with a minor in Spanish. She is in the Burke Scholars program where she has the opportunity to volunteer in the Milwaukee community and has become involved with the Next Door Foundation working in the pre-school classrooms. This will be Miranda’s third trip to Peru. As part of her Girl Scout Award in 2016, she helped our mission bring 50 water purification systems to help families have access to healthy drinking water. She looks forward to helping again with medical translation, the water filtration program and is super excited that she gets to share this experience with her brother Nico for the first time.

Nico Spindt will be finishing his sophomore year at Kettle Moraine’s School of Health Sciences where he is an active participant of the Lake Country Fire and Rescue Training Center’s Firefighter I workshop. He hopes to be a volunteer firefighter and EMT while he pursues a career in medicine in the future. He has been serving the homeless veteran community for many years. At the age of 10, he started a service project that he called Socks & Sole-diers, which collects new socks and gently used shoes for homeless veterans. He continues to engage the community with drives and to date has collected well over 4K pairs of socks and over 1K pairs of shoes donated to multiple local homeless outreach organizations. He raised funds to purchase sandals to donate to the mission to help decrease the spread of parasitic infections from walking barefoot. He is a member of KM Sporting Clay and Trap team, Tri-M National Honor Society and is the Student Representative for his class.

Meet Dr. Peggy

Dr. Peggy is a Family Medicine Physician and works at Froedtert in Sussex. She earned her Doctor of Medicine degree in 2002 from the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) as well as her residency at St. Michael's Hospital with MCW. 

She is known for her caring and compassionate approach to patient care. In 2010, the Wisconsin Medical Society recognized her with the 2010 Citizen of the Year Award for her commitment to the community in which she lives and her work with our team is another example of that commitment. 

She is very passionate about sharing her time and talent and serving the Lord in her community close and far. This is her second medical mission trip with Connecting Hearts and Hands with Peru. She has also done many other mission trips with other churches. She and her husband Chuck have three beautiful daughters and two dogs. She stays active with volleyball and running. She loves traveling and looks forward to serving the people in Peru. 

Meet Roseemary and Doug

Rosemary and Doug met in 2007 and have been together since. They enjoy time spent with their four children, grandchild, and many other family members and friends. They love to travel and have visited a number of countries throughout Europe, Mexico, Canada, the continental US, and Alaska. They enjoy reading, fishing, and time spent outdoors.

Douglas has a degree in Business and has spent many years in the pharmaceutical industry. HIs primary focus for 12 years was the treatment of Asthma and Allergies and later selling chemotherapy for breast, lung, and prostate cancer. Currently, he owns his own business working in the commercial trucking industry testing and treating commercial drivers for Obstructive Sleep Apnea. His passion has always been helping others which is why this mission is so important to him.

Rosemary is a bachelor’s prepared registered nurse with early education in the medical field alongside her father who was a veterinarian. In the past 29 years , her experience has included work in Cardiology, Cardiothoracic surgery, Trauma, Medical Surgical, Home care, palliative care, and hospice. She has held roles as Director of Nursing and assistant Director of Nursing in the hospital setting. Currently, she is working as a senior case manager for a level one trauma center in Milwaukee, WI. 

Rosemary has had a lifelong passion  to be involved in a medical mission and she's looking forward to serving the community in Peru. The Peru mission has been made possible by  her long friendship with her past co-worker and friend Dr. MaryAnn Papp and her spouse Dr. Louis Papp. She has been a lifelong member of St. Bernard’s Catholic Church in Watertown, WI.