I spent the morning praying with a group of leaders from “One by One Leadership” in Immokalee; Reed, John, Dave, Dick, Sinclair, and Pastor Andre from Haiti. The heart for the area is strong and the desire is to practically meet the tangible needs of the community. How to accomplish this is a concerted effort between the churches of the community, the Ave Maria community and University, and the resources of the Naples area. Collier county consists of one of the wealthiest communities in the country; wealth in both dollars and experience. I am awed at the talent and success that is collected here. Immokalee is also home to a relatively large Casino owned and operated by the local Seminole tribe. The local population includes a smaller population of land owners and farmers in addition to the migrant communities. Yet the pressing need from the perspective of a Pregnancy Medical Clinic CEO is the absence of medical care for pregnant woman. PP will be present pushing their agenda but isn’t it a tremendous opportunity to demonstrate the compassion and care that God’s people provide. A recent visitor to the local Pregnancy Center summed it up this way: “ I can’t have a baby now, I already have 3 and I can’t put shoes on their feet.” In response a nearby church ended their Sunday service by instructing the congregation to leave their shoes at the door as they left the service. Hundreds of shoes were collected and distributed in Immokalee. I heard they were all gone within a couple of hours. What about you?  Will you be part of a team that brings help to those in need? Let me know.

Immokalee FL, A Mission Ministry Opportunity

God has been amazing during this mission trip to Immokalee. We had a great response from the banquet. Cindi and I met with Dave, Diane and 2 of their leadership team members for about 3 hours on Saturday to help them plan for their future. Today I will be headed to Immokalee to pray with a number of those who minister in the community. Immokalee is a migrant community with groups of African Americans, Haitians, Latinos, Guatemalans, etc. It reminds me of some of the places in Mexico, the Carribean and Africa that I have visited before.  There are parts of the community that resemble a 3rd world country right here in Florida. The needs are great especially since the tomato and orange crops have been hit hard with frost this spring. There isn't much work for those that are here and there are a number of Haitian refugees on their way. Pregnant women don't have access to basic pre-natal care and little OB care as well. The clinics that take Medicaid are in Naples, Ft. Meyers and Miami, all of which are too far away to walk to. Planned Parenthood is here and most believe that chemical abortion is as well. As this ministry builds it's "street cred" by serving faithfully, they could use short term medical teams here at least once a month doing nothing but pregnancy verification, STI testing, pre-natal exams and vitamins as well as follow up post partum and limited pediatric care. They have an ultra sound but no one to operate it. Pray with me that God will raise up teams from existing PMC's to send short term teams here for a week at a time. A team a month would be a great start.