Merlin and Becky Gesing to be part of medical mission trip to Ecuador

Merlin and Becky Gesing of Waukon will be part of a 20-person team of volunteers journeying to Ecuador in South America later this spring as part of a mission trip to offer medical, dental and other services to the people of Zumbahua, Ecuador.
The trip is organized through Christ Lutheran Church of Whitefish, MT and will take the mission group into the Andes Mountain range. Zumbahua is a small town located near the center of Ecuador in the Andes Mountains, sitting at an elevation of about 12,000 feet above sea level and about three-and-a-half hours southwest of Ecuador's capital city of Quito.
Becky Gesing is an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (ARNP) at the Ossian Clinic  recently opened by Winneshiek Medical Center. She will be part of a team assisting to medical needs for the indigenous Quechua Indian tribe in Zumbahua, as well as traveling to other remote villages in the region to provide medical care to those who are unable to access that kind of care due to lack of transportation or lack of availability of those types of services in the area in which they live.
Merlin Gesing will be one of the volunteers helping with a variety of other tasks, including a building project at a church in the area. Members of the mission group will also be conducting a vacation Bible school session and taking part in the "Soles for Souls" project, where mission team members wash the feet of children in the area being served before supplying them with new socks and shoes.
A majority of the medical, dental and other supplies for the mission purpose have been donated for the trip, and mission volunteers pay for their own travel expenses to and from their mission destination. The Gesings, themselves, have been creating hygiene and other supply kits to take with them on the trip for distribution to those they will be serving, but financial donations to help cover in-country costs, such as lodging and transportation, as well as to help cover the cost of additional supplies for the mission, are welcome.
Those wishing to donate to the cause being served by the Gesings and the mission trip may do so by sending funds within the next week to Merlin and Becky Gesing at 503 Second Street NW, Waukon, IA 52172. Checks may be made payable to Christ Lutheran Church-Ecuador Mission. Those with further questions may contact the Gesings as well.