New Officers Have Been Elected

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The SHMI Board of Directors has been selected.

  • President:  Dr. Ron Fleck
  • Vice-President:  Rhonda Tilley
  • Secretary:  Sherry Wiedemann
  • Treasurer:  David Reed
  • Vision Team Leader:  David Reed
  • Event Coordinator:  Gary Heagey
  • Member at Large:  Gatbel Chamjock

These new Board members are enthusiastic and passionate about the mission of SHMI. They are seasoned travelers to developing countries on previous SHMI service trips, and have been honing their skills in several areas.

During the past few months they have met on a regular basis for training. The first class, which lasted several weeks, was called Essential Conversational Spanish—In Minutes Not Months. Since several of our foreign trips have been to countries in Central and South America (Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Bolivia), team members felt a need to learn some basic conversational Spanish as well as important basic cultural concepts. They were given laminated charts, several books, and several internet resources to use on smart phones. Next time you meet one of the SHMI team members, you might try asking them some basic phrases in Spanish!

Another popular class was Wilderness and Jungle First Aid and Basic Life Support. There was even a class in Remote Area Wound Suturing. Now, the Vision Team members can help teach this classes in areas where we are unable to take all our prescription eyeglasses.

SHMI team members have also been learning to teach Village Healthcare and how to use the training resources, including PowerPoint presentations and other formats of teaching health in developing countries.

 

Recent Training Events in the United States

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Recently, Dr. Fleck was asked to present health evangelism classes in a church in Fresno, California. This was a weekend series, specially designed for several registered nurses and physicians in that church. These people are motivated to serve the needy in their community. A Health Community Services Center is being planned at their church facilities, and they were eager to learn the basic principles and concepts of developing a center where local people can obtain education on healthful principles, and get free medical and dental care. This is the third such training seminar held here in the States, and more requests are being received from other places.

As foreign travel becomes more dangerous and difficult, this aspect of the mission of SHMI will very likely become more important. It is visualized that motivated persons could be selected in certain foreign countries to come for an intense 3 week training in Village Healthcare, Basic Life Support, Wilderness and Jungle First Aid, Hydrotherapy and Massage Therapy. These highly trained local nationals would then return to their own countries and train others in how to serve as Jesus did.

Shoe Ministry

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Because of a very generous owner of a very large shoe store, SHMI has been the recipient of several large donations of brand new shoes. Approximately every 3 months many boxes of high-quality, name brand shoes (up to 1500 pairs each time).

It has been a real blessing to many unfortunate people to receive 2 pairs of very nice shoes. Some of these shoes have gone to people who have only one pair of worn-out shoes, or even just flip-flops to wear. It is not uncommon to see these people shed tears of joy, as they share with us that this is a big answer to their prayers.

Many of these shoes have gone in containers to Central America, others to people in northern Washington in what is one of the poorest counties in the United States. We thank God for this shoe store family. It is amazing that people who receive these shoes often pray for the shoe-store owner, even though they don’t know his name or the name of the store. To help continue this great mission, please contribute today.

2015 National ASI Convention in Spokane

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Several SHMI team members were fortunate to attend the 2015 National ASI Convention in Spokane, Washington, on August 5–8. This was a very inspirational session and many important contacts were made. As a result of these contacts, we received several invitations to take the SHMI team to Bolivia, Guatemala, Germany, Nepal, and India. The main thing holding up these future trips is the financing that is needed.

We thank God for loyal financial supporters, and we are praying that God will bless whoever feels impressed to be a financial supporter for these medical mission trips. You may not be able to go, but your financial help will facilitate a tremendous blessing for people in developing countries who receive medical evangelism training and prescription eyeglasses. For further information, please contact SHMI.