
Snake bites and shalom
SPRINGDALE, Ark. — Uh-oh! I’m at a Church of Christ…
The occasional “BANG” of fireworks punctuates the Sunday evening air. From the roof of the two-story church we see plumes of smoke from the brightly-painted cemetery. This Halloween eve the people are preparing for tomorrow’s Day of the Dead observances – a festival of flowers, feathers and exotic dances that combines Catholic theology with Mayan rituals. Dia de los Muertos celebrates the lives of ancestors while appeasing their spirits.
Poverty and discrimination have limited the people’s access to adequate health care. Health Talents ministers here by addressing basic needs and speaking the Gospel to all who will listen.
Physician Lisa Dunham and her husband, Kemmel, a health care consultant, will move to Guatemala in March to serve as medical missionaries for Health Talents. Members of the Eastside church, Colorado Springs, Colo., the Dunhams plan to train volunteers from local churches to teach Bible, community development and preventive health care to their neighbors.
“This helps empower local Christians with a tool for evangelism and helps communities address problems in health care and development without relying on outside support,” Lisa Dunham said.
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