The Christ Community Church group of visiting workers from Nashville arrived on Tuesday evening 25th May for an intense three day schedule of medical clinics, building and teaching work. It was their first visit to Armonia, and no-one suspected that within 24 hours of arriving, one of the team would be face-to-face with a death in the Armonia community that in turn would illustrate the strength and love that comes from being brothers and sisters together in God's family.

For the three days they would be working with Armonia, the Nashville group split into three teams and worked at the Jalalpa community center in the following areas:-

1) One team taught singing, sports and crafts to the children.

2) Another joined the team of Jalalpa builders who had started the construction of a much needed extension to an upper floor. (This extra space will play an important part in meeting the increasing demand for adult education at the center.)

3) The third team ran an exhaustive series of medical clinics over the three days. Nashville pediatrician Dr. David White led a series of children clinics, while resident Mexican doctor Osamo Susuda and his wife Nurse Lolis Susuda saw the adults - either for medical consultations to treat illnesses, or for a health evaluation. They also held a half-day class for parents on health promotion for their children.

The tragedy occurred on Wednesday afternoon, when a lady called Marta phoned the center, crying that her husband was seriously ill and had stopped breathing. Marta has been attending Armonia for several months - her husband, Raúl, has been in fragile health since he had a stroke fifteen years ago.

Marta (right) and Laura Dawn at the Jalalpa Sunday service.  Laura Dawn had helped in the attempt to resuscitate Marta's husband five days earlier.

Saul asked one of the Christ Community team - Laura Dawn, a practicing nurse - to accompany him to Marta's house to offer any help she could. They drove quickly to Marta's house, to find Raúl lying on his bed in a small, very clean, but very hot and stuffy room, his body already getting cold. He was very pale, and there were no signs of breathing or a pulse. Saul phoned for an ambulance and Laura Dawn, with the help of Marta and one of her daughters-in-law, began the CPR resuscitation technique as they waited for the ambulance to arrive.

For the next hour, the four of them tried to revive Raúl, through CPR and prayer. At one point it seemed that Raúl's temperature was going up, but this may have been an effect of the mechanical pumping of the CPR procedure. The heat in the room was so great Saúl was worried that he or the others might collapse as well.

Their efforts at reviving Raúl were in vain. The ambulance finally arrived, and to Marta's anguish and sorrow, after checking for vital signs, the paramedics pronounced him dead.

The reaction of the Jalalpa Transformation course and local Armonia volunteers was wonderful. They all reacted as one to gather financial contributions from the community for Marta and to assist in organizing the coffin and the wake. Members of the Nashville team also contributed generously to these arrangements. That night, members of the Transformation course led Marta and her family in prayer and Bible readings at Raúl's wake, as well as preparing food for the steady stream of relatives and friends who came throughout the night to express their sorrow.

The wake was also, as is the custom on these occasions, attended by staff of Armonia. Late in the night (after being delayed by an immense thunderstorm in the city), Saúl and Pilar arrived at Marta's house, where Saúl gave a talk to the gathered mourners on what salvation in Jesus Christ means. Pilar spent her time with Marta, talking with her and comforting her.

Four of the Nashville team went to the wake early the following morning and then accompanied the mourners to the graveyard for Raúl's funeral, where two of the team gave their services as assistant coffin-bearers. Laura Dawn spent much of her time with Martita, Marta's 15-year old daughter. Martita is seven months pregnant and was taken to hospital the day after her father's funeral with early contractions from the stress; praise the Lord, she recovered and is back at home with her family.

Many prayers were offered up for Marta, and also for Laura Dawn. Visiting workers are rarely involved so closely with such tragic circumstances, and certainly not on their first day of working for Armonia. However, the visitors continued to work hard on Friday, and on Saturday relaxed with a trip to the pyramids at Teotihuacan and a visit to a Mexican crafts market in the evening.

On Sunday, the group attended the worship services at both Santa Cruz and Jalalpa, joined by the team from Orangewood Presbyterian Church, Florida, who had arrived the day before.

Praising the Lord, Nashville-style: the team sang several songs to the Armonia congregation, including 'My Jesus, My Savior' and 'En Mi Vida'

At both services, members from both teams gave testimonies and sang as witness of Christ's transforming power in their lives. One told of how Christ drew her to Him after going through years of feeling different and isolated from everyone else; one of how Christ helped him to pull through his agonizing injuries after a car crash that no-one expected him to survive; one of turning away from God and seeking fulfillment in human love, another of how Jesus helped him through a shattering divorce that had left him with no wife, no children, no home - just a car, a box of belongings and a Bible.

As one of the congregation said, their testimonies demonstrated that no matter how young or old, or rich or poor we are, no matter what color our skin is, what country we're from or what language we speak - suffering affects all of us, and God is there for all of us when we suffer. That Sunday six people made a public declaration of faith, which (as one of the team leaders Michael Oliver wrote later) "is always the greatest miracle to witness".

And at Jalalpa, where they had worked, the Nashville team lined up at the front to receive small gifts of Mexican craftwork from the community as a token of thanks for the work they had contributed to the community members.

And then Marta came forward. Holding a small box in her hands, she said she wanted to give a special present to Laura Dawn for the help she had given to her, to someone she had never met before.

She stepped up to Laura Dawn, and as they embraced, Marta broke into thanks and praise that was both tearful and joyful - thanks that when she was feeling so desperately lonely, she had found a bigger family with everyone there; praise for all the love and strength that God had shown her over these last days, in the daily support she was receiving from her community and the help she had received from the foreign visitors. Laura Dawn wasn't the only member of the congregation to join Marta in her tears.

In our human frailty, it's often easy to focus on the problems, divisions and arguments that assail our efforts to live as chosen members of God's family. Here, on this Sunday afternoon, as two women who had met each other for the first time only five days before embraced each other, God let us glimpse the wonderful joy and fellowship there is in living life as His children, according to his commandments.

The final words should go to members of the Jalalpa community saying what they had learnt from the Sunday service.

"If we understand that we are children of God, we can understand that we have everything and are brothers and sisters together, even if we have few earthly things." (Paty)

"We will go through suffering whatever happens; if we do it with God we can love one another, no matter what country we're from." (Guillermina)

"In spite of the worst suffering, Jesus is always with us. If we see someone struggling, we should help them." (Alejandra)

"God uses His word to heal the largest wounds in our lives." (Marta)