Greetings from the Yucatan Peninsula Mission (YPM) U.S. Board of Directors!

We are very excited because we are making plans for two visits from Wilian and Erly, our hosts and leaders of YPM Mexico. Their first trip will be to the Midwest September 14-23, where they will visit churches in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Their second trip will be to San Antonio and Houston October      .

Each year YPM Mexico hosts a medical mission team comprised of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, translators and helpers who travel to the Yucatan to provide medical care and free medicine to hundreds of Mayan people who live in the Yucatan villages. These volunteers come from several U.S. churches and form a loving team that extends Christ's love and healing to the people they serve.

Mission groups from several U.S. churches also go to YPM Mexico each year to work on construction projects where they build churches in the villages as they work side by side with their Mayan brothers and sisters. These groups also offer sewing ministries where the women in the villages are taught to make sewing projects while their children play games and learn about Jesus from other mission volunteers. These same groups are helping to build a desperately needed high school in the village of Leona Vicario next to the YPM mission complex. Plans for a virtual school are underway so area Mayan students as well as students from all over Mexico will be able to take online classes during the construction phase of the physical school and beyond. This school has been years in the making because funding is needed to complete and equip the classrooms in order to qualify for approval by the Mexican Board of Education. Funding is also needed to provide for teachers and teaching materials to educate the Mayan children, who without this facility will have very few opportunities to continue their education beyond a very basic level.

The most recent YPM initiative is teaming up with the Institute for Visual Health, a government project with a group of ophthalmologists who are working to provide free vision screening and treatment to the villages in the Yucatan. Doctors from Cancun are screening people from the villages for diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy and providing treatment and/or surgery services to the Mayan people. YPM's role is to provide scheduling for the screenings in the villages as well as transportation to and from the villages and to Cancun for treatment. Funding is also needed to support this project.

All of these efforts require spiritual, volunteer, and financial support, and many of you have been very generous with your time, talent, and treasure.  We pray that your support continues so the Yucatan Peninsula Mission can continue to provide for the needs of our hard working brothers and sisters in Christ who live on the Yucatan Peninsula.

Please keep us and the people we serve in your prayers as we continue God's work in Mexico. 

We have changed board offices and all donations should be sent to:

Yucatan Peninsula Mission
c/o Northminster Presbyterian Church
10720 N Knoxville Ave. Peoria, IL 61615
Attn:  Jay Glatz

Thank you again for your loving support.
In Christ's Service,

The U.S. Board of Directors, Yucatan Peninsula Mission

Wilian Cen          Jay Glatz           Leslie Little        Amy Morgan
Sue Drake           Mark Hughey      Kim Mitchell       Cynthia Robinson
Mike Selburg      Jim Wittmer

The following is the letter the Board received from Wilian and Erly after their trip.

Thanks to Karina for the translation.

Report on the Trip to the US

Dear friends, Pastors and leadership of YPM USA.

On September 14th through the 24th, we traveled to the US in order to promote the YPM Ministry, and for the churches to have an opportunity to meet us.

1. We started visiting the church of Pastor Mark in the Coal City
2. Church of Lodi
3. Church of Pastor Mike Selburg in Morrison, IL
4. The church of Pastor Bob and finally,
5. The church in Birmingham, MI with Pastor Amy Morgan

Each church received us with open arms, and their kindness went further than our imaginations could conceive. We are very impressed by the love with which they received us and supported us.

During the trip, beginning to end, we had many amazing experiences we would like to share with you:

1. YPM is embedded in the hearts and churches in the US.  It is possible that we are so involved and compromised with the YPM mission that at times, we may have felt alone with a large load to carry.      However, after this trip, we come back renovated and motivated to serve  our people in the Mayan area.
2. We have learned that as hosts of YPM Mexico, we can improve. The compassion and common sense of our American hosts taught us that we can improve and provide a better experience to whom comes to visit us, by being more sensitive and accessible.
3. We learned what it takes to travel to Mexico. Usually, we only see them arrive, but we do not understand nor comprehend the great effort needed to travel overseas.
4. We also learned about the importance of communication.  We need to keep in touch with each of the members of the YPM Mission. If possible, I think it would be fantastic to have their e-mails in order to keep them informed.

ABOUT THE COUNTRY

It was an incredible experience since we arrived to Chicago and saw its buildings. We realized that heights dominated the skyline. Later, we were shown what they do with corn, beans and alfalfa, and showed us their dominion of the width. Finally, we learned about the car industry, and we learned how dynamic their expertise is, and how they are preparing for the future.

I would like to share that when I had the chance to speak during the first worship service at Northminster, I had an instant when I could not speak. I felt overwhelming happiness and was so moved that I was almost in tears. I had many thoughts, among them, gratitude to God for making our visit to our friends in the US possible, which we had thought may never happen. I also thought in the great distance between us, as a country, not in the geographical sense, but I believe that we are behind in at least 40 years. All this time, leaders from different areas of Mexico have requested our support in exchange for their support to different noble causes, however, they never went through, nor made a difference. These thoughts filled my heart with sadness about those who have so much power to exert an impact, and make a difference in my country, but do not care about the fate of their people. I am glad I pulled myself together and was able to continue.

They are a great nation, and it is possible we will never forget what we saw and learned during this trip. Thanks to the leadership of YPM USA, who encouraged us and made it possible for us to have this experience. Thanks to the Pastors, for giving us the opportunity to speak to the community they minister to. Thanks to our friends, for receiving us and opening their hearts, showing us the love that unite us. Thanks to those who opened their homes to host us, Pastor Mark Hughy, Mr. Jeff and his wife Cindy, Pastor Mike Selburg and his wife Keddy, Pastor Bob and his wife Vicky, and Mr. Mark and his wife Mary. They made us feel at home and pampered us. Thank you very much for everything. Thanks to those who helped with our transportation and those who took us around to see places in each city.

Thanks to God, for being so good to us, and giving us the opportunity to change and serve Him better. YPM offers an opportunity for change and this time it is our turn.

Very grateful and blessed,

Wilian and Erly