The Horn/Vargas family, from Michigan, donates books to the church school to replace the ones lost during Hurricane Maria.
The island of Vieques lies seven miles off the eastern coast of Puerto Rico, the “Island of Enchantment.” It’s what you’d call a tropical island, with mango trees, coconut palms, beautiful beaches, and the brightest bioluminescent bay on the planet. Wild horses roam the streets, and green iguanas soak up the sun as they laze about on branches and low stone walls. It’s a place where people go on vacation, to get away from the hustle and bustle of life in the city.
It’s also an island with a great deal of need. While the party crowd comes and goes daily by ferry, the local populace of Vieques has a hard time taking care of their basic needs. Hurricane Maria devastated the island in 2017. The only hospital on the island was destroyed, leaving the 8,500 people who reside there with just a poorly-equipped emergency medical clinic that is open a few hours each day. There are two small gas stations on the island and only one grocery store. The bars and nightclubs abound, but opportunities for people to find true health and peace are in short supply.
Because of this great need, It Is Written partnered with the East Puerto Rico Conference to bring a group of 22 missionaries to the island of Vieques. The team of doctors, nurses, preachers, and support staff arrived in the town of Isabel Segunda on July 25 and began making preparations to open a free medical clinic at the church the next day. Exam rooms were set up, a triage area was established, translators were prepped, a pharmacy was organized, and spiritual material was lined up to distribute to the children and adults who would soon be arriving at the clinic.
The Vieques mission group
Over the following days, scores of people came through the doors of the church to get help for themselves, their children, and their parents. Patients came with musculoskeletal pain, rashes, diabetes, and a variety of other health challenges. One man shared that he had been trying to get an appointment to be seen by a local doctor for over six months without success. He was elated to find that he could see a doctor at the medical clinic—and receive his needed medications—for free! And each patient who came received spiritual material to connect them with Escrito Está, the Spanish-language arm of It Is Written.
It Is Written Partners Dr. Sotero Escarza and his wife, Patti, said, “It was our first mission trip and we were struck with the fact that so many people would pay good money, take time out from their lives, and give up some creature comforts to help out people they don’t know with some basic medical needs and to give them literature about the Good News. It gave us comfort that God is in control and He has His remnant that will reflect His character.”
Keiton Bahnmiller, another first-time missionary, put his experience with construction into practice by helping to find and repair leaks in the church school’s roof and windows. He also helped pressure-wash the exterior walls and prepared them for painting. The only private school on the island, the school is a great outreach opportunity for the church.
Dr. Raul Vila, an It Is Written Partner who has joined the ministry on six mission trips, said, We encountered multiple challenges during this trip, however, we all were blessed as we cared for some of the needs of the people we served. I remember one man in particular who came with a case of shingles on his trunk and how in between acyclovir and some natural remedies, he could find relief. I’m glad that we could be there for him. Each patient seen carried new hope and a prayer sent to heaven.”
Would you like to let God use you on a mission trip? Visit itiswritten.com/missiontrips to learn how you can partner with us on an upcoming trip.
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- Dr. Vila and Dr. Turner treat a patient with back pain
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- The younger missionaries count multivitamins in the pharmacy.
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- Some of the mission team works on repairing a school window.
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- Keiton Bahnmiller finds a reptilian friend.
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- A team member checks a man’s vitals.
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- One of the beautiful beaches on the island.
It Is Written is pleased to announce its new online evangelistic series, Next Level Health. Join Pastor John Bradshaw and health experts from around the country 
Uncertainty seems to be the new standard. No one is quite sure about what to expect tomorrow. The global COVID-19 crisis has impacted people as nothing else has in decades. Questions abound. Big questions like where is the world headed, whether God cares, and will this mess ever come to an end. Pastor John Bradshaw recently tackled these questions in a 10-part virtual series called Answers in Prophecy. 
Since 1975, hundreds of It Is Written ministry Partners have gathered with the It Is Written ministry leadership team at weekend Partnership events. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, It Is Written will be conducting most of its 2020 Partnership events virtually for the first time.
Did you know that May is 
Instead of being controlled by our emotions, how can we keep our emotions under control? Join John Bradshaw as he interviews Dr. Neil Nedley and discover how your emotions form a vital part of your relationship with God, and how you can get the best out of the mind God gave you!
As humans, we are fearfully and wonderfully made, created by God to thrive. Incredibly, we make decisions and do things to our brains, our minds, that sometimes hold us back from thriving. But by the grace of God, there are those things that can reverse the damage and lift us up. Join Pastor John Bradshaw and special guest Dr. Neil Nedley.
You want to do your very best, and with God’s help, you can! “Peak Performance” will help you function at optimum levels and utilize your God-given gifts to a great capacity!
The saying goes, “Healthy body, healthy mind.” With God’s help, you can get much more out of life than you’ve ever imagined. Be blessed by this presentation with John Bradshaw and Dr. Neil Nedley, and get on the pathway to health!
Our daily choices influence our health—physically and mentally. On God’s plan you can eat your way to better health. Now that’s food for thought!
It’s one of our most precious possessions, but likely isn’t getting the attention it deserves. Learn how to boost your brain function and open your mind to richer blessings from God.
It’s a killer and it causes illness, injury and distress. But in many cases, diabetes can be simply beaten. Find out how you—or those you care about—can beat diabetes.
In this program, you’ll meet a woman whose life was struck by terrible, random tragedy, who then found strength in God through the power of His grace. Don’t miss this powerful discussion on grief and forgiveness.
In the beginning, God created a perfect world with no sin or sadness. But an enemy attack on planet Earth caused grief to enter the world. Human beings were created to be happy forever, so how do we deal with grief? Join Pastor John Bradshaw and special guest Pastor Mike Tucker, speaker/director of Faith for Today, to learn how to successfully cope with grief.
Grief is painful. It can be debilitating. And it’s something everyone experiences. Join Pastor John Bradshaw and his guest, Pastor Mike Tucker from Faith for Today, and find out not only what grief is, but how you can deal with it—healthily and successfully. Learn God’s plan to move from grief to hope.
How did Jesus combat stress and are there healthy ways of coping with stress today? In this program, discover that the Great Physician has a divine prescription for stress that will help you successfully negotiate this stress-filled world!
Research demonstrates that worship is good for you. How does worship benefit a person spiritually and emotionally? Join Pastor John Bradshaw and special guest Dr. James Marcum for “The Physiology of Worship.”
Juliet Van Heerden dreamed hers would be the perfect future. But her marriage to a cocaine addict soon unraveled, plunging her into one desperate situation after another. “Happily Ever After?” speaks of a God who is with you in the most difficult times. Join Pastor John Bradshaw for this powerful story and learn how God is able to turn a broken life into a life of hope, confidence, and joy.
If you have ever lost someone you love, you know how deep the wound cuts. In 
Comfort for the Day, Living Through the Seasons of Grief is a scripture-guided grief recovery memoir. The authors, Steve and Karen Nicola bring the grieving reader into conversations with God through Scripture that makes a healing difference for one’s pain and sorrow. It was their own experience following the death of their 3-year-old son that urged them to share with others the reality that we can live through the seasons of grief.
There’s much we can learn from the coronavirus crisis. Let’s look at a few coronavirus lessons, in no order of importance.
