NTC members gather to celebrate Juntos Servimos

Emily roared into the history books in July 2005 as the earliest Atlantic Basin Category Five Hurricane ever, the only storm of its size to form before August.

After battering the wellknown vacation destinations of Mexico's southeastern coast, Emily's 160 mile per hour winds tracked northward, dealing a near deathblow to the fishing villages in the state of Tamaulipas.

A little more than a month later Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast of the United States. Katrina is still fresh on the minds of most people in the U.S.A. Emily is mostly forgotten.

The families of Tamaulipas' fishing villages remember Emily. They were once able to make a subsistence living off fishing and shrimping in the Gulf waters. No more. As they struggled to repair homes and boats, the Mexican government dealt another blow by putting severe restrictions on legal catches.

Conditions, which were never good, are getting worse. Who cares for the people of these fishing villages? Among the few who reach out are the staff and volunteers of Juntos Servimos (Together We Serve), a ministry of outreach and compassion that began with a North Texas Conference Volunteer in Mission effort.

Juntos Servimos, which has now grown into its own not-forprofit corporation, continues to have a close relationship with the NTC and its churches. Many North Texas United Methodists joined to celebrate the Juntos Servimos ministry and learn about future challenges and dreams at "An Evening with Larry and Dr. Nancy" on April 20 in the Great Hall of Highland Park UMC, Dallas.

The overarching goal of Juntos Servimos is for the communities served to build an infrastructure that can become self-sustaining, providing for the needs of its own citizens over time. Highland Park Director of Outreach Rev. Linda Roby described the dinner as: "Truly a mission community event. Two hundred people broke bread and shared community, even though many of us had never met. We were reminded of our bond as brothers and sisters here and across the border. Our love of God in Christ was and is at work in a powerful, transforming and incarnational way in the ministry of Juntos Servimos.

Larry is Larry Cox, a former executive with a large corporation, who left the business world to devote his life to serving the poor and dispossessed. With NTC support, Cox launched an outreach in Matamoros, Mexico's, impoverished colonias that has developed into the Juntos Servimos.

Dr. Nancy is Nancy Rodriguez, M.D., a physician and committed Christian who devotes her life to meeting the medical needs of Mexico's poorest citizens. She is a graduate of the Medical School of the University of Matamoros with more than a decade of experience in her chosen field.

She directs the Juntos Servimos medical program that includes supervision of Casa Bugambilia, a place of care and refuge for medically fragile persons of all ages.

Recently married, Cox and Dr. Rodriguez continue to expand the Juntos Servimos outreach.

Among accomplishments of the past year are: 25 homes built, 5000 medical consultations, 25,000 meals prepared and shared in Casa Bugambilia, and rice, beans, and fresh water for 1600 persons in the fishing villages.

Both Cox and Dr. Rodriguez referred to the after-effects of Hurricane Emily in their remarks at the Celebration. Cox explained that food delivery to the islands has been increased and he sees the need for special efforts there continuing for at least another year.

One of the major efforts fishing village efforts is a water purification facility, a Juntos Servimos project on the ironically named Isla Fantasia (Fantasy Island). Volunteers installed a gas powered pump to provide water for 70 families. Work is also underway on a building for the purification equipment.

In addition to food, water, shelter, and medical care, Juntos Servimos includes an intense focus on education, an effort Cox sees intensifying in the years ahead.

Cox says, "We find students who want to get out of the schools near the garbage dump (in one of the Matamoros colonias) and into good schools." He also spoke to the need for alternatives for special needs children who need fulltime instruction as Mexican public schools do not provide this kind of support.

Cox described the plight of a 15 year-old who can neither hear nor speak. After efforts to get her into a residential facility failed, Cox turned to a group of NTC volunteers, hoping to recruit a volunteer special education teacher.

"Kids are not learning in public schools around the garbage dumps. They need more attention. The parents realize that the only way their children can get out of the dump areas is through education, and we need volunteers to help," Cox explained. He introduced Laura Moser, a speech pathologist for the Richardson ISD, who began volunteering in the Santa Maria colonia after hearing about the need for someone to work with autistic children at the 2006 Celebration.

Speaking of her experience with autistic twins Alexis and Jonathan, Moser remarked, "The week I was there I was blown away. The little boys with little educational background were doing things that took months to accomplish in the classroom."

Thinking of how she became involved, Moser said, "God can work in pretty unexpected ways...As you hear Larry and Nancy talk, if something grabs your interest, be open to the possibilities. You might be hearing what it would be like to be part of God's work in Mexico."

Cox also praised the many Volunteer in Mission teams and others who come to help with projects ranging from building homes, to helping educate and care for children, to setting up computer networks, to assisting with the medical mission.

"You are people who care and often find yourselves not too distant from personal tragedy and suffering, but you come anyway," Cox said, adding: "Time after time it is made clear to me that the people we serve realize you put us, and particularly put Nancy, in a position to respond to their needs."

Rev. Paul Escamilla, pastor of Spring Valley UMC, Dallas, translated for Dr. Nancy. She noted that in the past year Juntos Servimos has cared for some 1200 families in and around Casa Bugambilia.

She expressed hopes that the ministry can expand into the fishing villages in a more sustained and established way. Dr. Nancy's other big dream is for Juntos Servimos to expand into the isolated area around Pueblo, places so cut off from the mainstream that the indigenous languages are still spoken there.

Juntos Servimos is a "501(c) (3)" corporation with Dallas headquarters located at 12801 Central Expressway, Suite 1560, Dallas, TX 75243.

Corporation officers include: Frank Roby, President; John Gajdica, Vice President; Ellen Curnes, Secretary; Cynthia Yung, Treasurer; Larry Cox, Executive Director; and Dr. Nancy Rodriguez, Medical Director.

Other board members include: Wesley Burress, Bill Easton, Lee Forland, Richard Gorzia, Geoff Hart, Steve Tenney and Chad Townes.

For more information, please either visit Website: www.juntos servimos.org or send an e-mail to: info@juntos servimos.org.