Collegedale, Tenn; Ellen Smith, Norwood, North Carolina; Deborah Cardwell, Albemarle, North Carolina; Heather Moody, Norwood, North Carolina; and Carter Johnson, Charlotte, North Carolina. The group leaves Raymond at 1:30 a.m. On April 1, and returns April 16.
The students that are from out of town are mostly boarding students that attend Mission Creek.
Mary Nell Ellingsen is the director and principal of Mission Creek Christian Education Center and Mission Creek Outreach services. Her husband, Galen, is president of the board.
Mission Creek does an incredible amount of good for many Peruvians.
“We don't usually know exactly what we will be doing there until we get there because we provide for the needs as they present themselves,” Mary Nell Ellingsen told the Herald. “For instance, one of the things we do is disaster relief, so we have to see what the needs are. Last year we responded to 130 victims of a fire in the poorest part of the city of Iquitos, which was Belen. We also provided disaster relief in the way of food for flood victims. One hundred and thirty thousand people were flooded out of their mud huts and we were able to help the 150 neediest ones. We will do disaster relief based on whatever the needs are.”
According to Ellingsen, Mission Creek does more than disaster relief, including eye glass ministry. “We fit 300-to-500 people with glasses for far-sightedness, so they can see to read. People in this area have a huge problem with this and usually need glasses long before we do in the States, due to a huge nutritional lack; some by the age of 30.
“We provide food for people in severe poverty, which is rice and beans primarily,” she said. “Last year we bagged up and provided 300 families with 5,079 pounds of rice and 1,400 pounds beans. Students and staff helped pay for this with the money they raised before we left on the trip.
“We also to door-to-door work in the poorest communities like Belen, San Pablo De Luce, and Union to find out what the needs of the people are,” Ellingsen said. “Sometimes it has been medical needs, housing (Mission Creek has put many roofs on houses, and even built complete structures for families.), food, and helping students get resources to go to school. The majority of students in Iquitos don't get to go to school because they have to buy their own books and uniforms, which is about $100 for the year. There is no way that most people can come up with that money. One year we sponsored 16 students in school.
“Every year we do children's programs, kind of like a vacation Bible school for 10-to-12 days,” Ellingsen continued. “We take puppets, stories, felts, crayons (1,000's) and coloring sheets, crafts. The children have the time of their life and hang up pictures in their mud huts like they were masterpieces. These children don't have the simplest things like crayons. We give them the crayons they have used during the weeks at the end of our time there and they are thrilled.
“Every year we do adult evangelism, which gives the communities we work in an opportunity to know Jesus and learn about eternal realities that give them hope beyond their current situation,” Ellingsen said.
“Every year we provide hygiene packs door-to-door, which is simply shampoo, soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste,” she said. “Dr. Hamilton over the years has given us thousands of toothbrushes and toothpaste.
“We also do prison ministry there,” Ellingsen said. “We go into the Peruvian prison to give hope Bibles, and literature to those who have given up completely.”
If you can help in any way, Mission Creek could use funding.
“We really need funding,” Ellingsen said. “We have individual students who are still far from their goal of $2,000. However, the airline tickets have been booked because every year we take a leap of faith that the resources will come in and they always do. This is our eighth year to do this mission. I think it would be amazing to give the community a challenge to help sponsor some of our local students to be a part of this happening once again. Every year our community helps our young people do this mission and it is a blessing to all. It's one way that this community can give our youth an experience they will probably never have to see how people in other parts of our world live and actually do something about it. It's an amazing thing. We will probably be raising a total of around $35,000 to $40,000.
“Our fundraisers consist primarily of the students writing letters to family and friends to tell them what they want to do and why,” Ellingsen said. “We also raise probably one-third or more of the money taking our orchestra and choir to do concerts in local churches. The First Baptist in South Bend, Seventh Day Adventist, and the Lutheran church have been awesome to support us, and about eight churches across Washington and Oregon that help us each year. We used to do auctions, bake sales, but found that we were much more successful sharing what we were doing and asking people to become a part. Individual families do a variety of things like making popcorn balls, baking bread. Our school have also done bake sales and car washes.”
As of Monday afternoon, Mission Creek raised $28,000 or the $40,000 needed for the trip. If you would like to make a donation or any kind, contact Mary at 875-6052 or mail at Mission Creek; P. O. Box 1066; South Bend, WA.