Morning devotionals continue at CMP

The staff at the Clinic continues to rotate in our daily morning devotionals with all the patients and clinic workers. In January our Pastor, Percy Padilla, officially began his work with a church plant in his neighborhood as well as the Presbyterian Church in Arevalo. We miss him very much! As the search begins for a new Pastor for the clinic we will continue with our daily bread at 8am each day. After opening our doors the patients come in and we begin our day by reading and meditating upon scripture followed by a short time of prayer.

During Semana Santa, patients listen to Sonia Guerra Gonzales, our obstetrician, read a passage about the Resurrection of Christ.

We would like to congratulate and welcome the newest member of our team in Wichanzao, Dr. Julton Tomanguillo! Dr. Tomanguillo is a recent medical graduate of the Escuela de Medicina at the Universidad César Vallejo in Trujillo. He will work as a full time physician in the clinic in the area of general medicine. This is a position we have been looking to fill for some time, and are grateful the the Lord has provided a strong and committed Christian leader to work with us. Dr. Tomanguillo grew up in Moyobamba, Peru and is a talented musician who plays guitar, churrango, quena, the zampoña as well as others. He is currently using his gifts in music to play at services in the new church plant in downtown Trujillo. He will also be getting married later this month to Miss Julie Rogers, a former Peru Mission intern. Congratulations Julton and Julie! We would like to give a warm welcome to Julton and are very excited about the services, ministry and witness he will provide to patients in the community of Wichanzao.

Pucallpa February 2010

CMP recently had the opportunity to contribute to a mobile dental campaign of the LSU Dental school in a Shipibo village outside of Pucallpa, Peru. The village "Alfonso Ugarte" has a population of over 1,000 Shipibo Indians and is located 8 hours upriver from Pucallpa, a major city in the jungle of Peru and the only one that links the Amazon River and the Pacific Ocean. Shipibo is the native tongue and lanuage of daily life in the area although many of the men speak Spanish, and the children are learning Spanish in school. During the week the Peruvian missionaries who accompanied the team held a vacation bible school and played games with the children. Also they were able to obtain a movie about the life of Jesus...in Shipibo! All of the villagers were very excited because it is the only movie that they had ever seen in their own language. The Clinic was able to provide a translator for the dental team as well as supply toothbrushes, vitamins, anti-parasitics and other medicines that are difficult to obtain in this isolated area. This was the first dental campaign in the village and many people traveled from areas deeper in the jungle to receive the free dental services performed, which included extractions, fillings, cleanings as well as oral hygiene education.

Terri Attardo returns to E.E.U.U.

One of our fellows, Terri Attardo, RN recently returned home to Connecticut after serving for 5 months in the clinic. Terri not only brought down suitcases full of supplies but also taught us how to use them! Sometimes Peruvian physicians and nurses are not familiar with medications, wound care dressings, et cetera that are new in the United States and not common here. Terri was able to help our staff members to use them correctly. She also faithfully nursed one of our elderly diabetic patients, Senor Leon, and we know he will miss her. Starting Monday, Terri will begin her new position in the OR at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut. Congratulations Terri, we hope you return to us soon!