GAINESVILLE, Texas. (ABP) — The people of El Arenal, in the central Mexican state of Jalisco, have to drive three hours to Guadalajara for medical care. When that information came to Pastor Juvel Garcia and his wife, Silvia, of Primera Iglesia Bautista in Gainesville, Texas, they decided something needed to be done.
Pastor Juvel Garcia (left) and his wife, Silvia, along with Don Sewell, director of Faith in Action initiatives for Baylor Health Care System, select equipment for shipment to a clinic in El Arenal, Mexico.
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Silvia Garcia, who practiced medicine in Mexico, said she learned of the need when she went to visit the country last year. “They told me they had a big problem without medical assistance,” she said.
She learned many who made the trip to Guadalajara waited as long as three days to be seen in emergency rooms there. Many gave up and made the long drive back to El Arenal without ever seeing a doctor.
“The idea emerged to begin a medical facility in El Arenal,” she continued. “We want to give medical resources to the people who have no money.”
With the help of other Baptist-related organizations, the Garcias' idea is becoming reality.
Baylor Health Care System’s Faith in Action Initiatives is donating four hospital beds, two stretchers, an neonatal incubator, two wheel chairs, desks, file cabinets, lobby chairs and other equipment.
“This fits perfectly with the purposes of the Faith in Action Initiatives office,” Director Don Sewell said. “It deals with getting the strengths and assets of Baylor Health Care System outside our walls to those who need it most.”
The donated items will have a “second life” at the Mexican clinic, he added.
They are stored in a Gainesville warehouse now, waiting for clearance from the Mexican government.
The Garcias are being helped on this side of the Rio Grande by Hands in Service Ministries. Officially, the hospital equipment from Baylor was donated to the non-profit organization. Hands in Service, in turn, will donate the medical equipment to Manos Hermanos, a Mexican non-profit lay organization that will give the equipment to the clinic in El Arenal.
The Mexico-Americano Baptist Hospital in Guadalajara will have an ongoing relationship with the clinic.
“It’s a whole lot of people in the Baptist family working together to bring health care to people who have none,” Sewell said.
The Garcias also stressed the clinic will be a place for people to hear the gospel. “One of the purposes is evangelism. If people come to the clinic for a medical consultation, they can also wait 20 minutes to hear about Christ,” Silvia Garcia said.
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George Henson is a news writer for the Texas Baptist Standard.