Riverside Memorial Church Moves Mountains
Mission Team helps fulfill medical, dental and construction needs in Peru
 Four members of the Riverside Memorial Church UCC stepped outside their doors in Haverhill and joined twelve other mission workers in Jicamarca, Peru -- a poor area on the outskirts of the capitol city of Lima -- to help fulfill medical, dental and construction needs. But they didn't do it alone.
Through a series of church dinners and fundraisers, Riverside collected almost $5,000 to fund a construction project and assist team members with the participation expenses of a Medical Missions International mission trip.
The medical and dental team members, who included Riverside member Christine Rupp, worked for months ahead of time to gather supplies, equipment, and medication in order to attend to medical needs of the community. The construction members collaborated with a small local church and planned the construction of a new church building sorely needed in a growing area of the city.
When Doug Rupp, Daniel Cannon and his grandson Michael Goggin arrived with the other members, they stood on the side of a mountain. By the time they left, preparations were being made for a worship service in a church building on that very same site.
"We helped dig out a piece of a mountain slope, move rocks, and level the area," said Cannon. "With the money our congregation sent, prefab building pieces were purchased. On the last day we put up the panels and pieced the church together. When we left, a church stood strong, still needing a roof, but the Jicamarca community was able to hold a service in the church that Sunday. (Unfortunately travel snafus prevented the Riverside team from attending the service.)
"When we returned home and the congregation was told that a church was built in their name, they were ecstatic," Cannon said. As for the medical component of the mission, Rupp said the team approached that work "with humility, recognizing that our team brings only a wave of health to the community, as vitamins and medication we provide will be exhausted within a few months of our visit. Each of us approaches this work with the understanding that we are using our time, talent, and treasure for the Lord's purposes and not our own," she wrote. "Therefore, we focus on loving the patients we are caring for, not the number we can see in a day."
Jon Gifford, an active member of the church, thought the mission trip was a wonderful project for the congregation. "It unified our church and by taking on the project, brought everyone together for a common goal." "It was my grandson's idea to go and when I heard he was going I decided it was something I'd like to do as well," said Cannon.
"It was a life-changing experience. I had never realized there were people in the world living like these poor Peruvian people. It made me feel good just to see them smile when I said hello. The least little thing we did, they were happy. My grandson and I can't wait to go back and continue to go back."
Riverside member Christine Rupp, wrote: "Each day our team was encouraged to see that through us, God quite literally moved mountains!"
They did indeed move mountains to build faith.
Share Your Still Speaking Story
 Tell us how God is speaking in and through your church. Have you reached out to the community in unique ways? Initiated a new mission project? Found a new way to minister to those within the congregation? Share your story and help us to spread the good news! Contact Marlene Gasdia-Cochrane, Editor, at cochranem@macucc.org.
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