About our T-shirts

Last year's team purchased some really cool Christian T-shirts for the Haiti mission. The shirt's message was John 3:16 -- probably the most famous or relevant bible verse there is.

For this year's mission, Norman and I had T-shirts made up for all the team members and we customized them ourselves.

For the front we wanted a bible verse that would really capture the team's mission and how we felt about answering the Lord's call.

We went back and forth from John to Romans to Acts to Psalms and then finally landed on Isaiah 6:8: "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? And I said, Here am I. Send Me!"

Here am I. Send me.

What could be more perfect than that? All of us, every single member of this team heard something, a calling, a voice crying out of the wilderness...here are we Lord, send us.

One week before we leave

The team is very excited about our 6-day medical mission trip to Nicaragua. Just like the mission I put together last year, I made sure to include people from different churches. I like the whole Christian Unity theme.
More posts and pics to come.
Below is a stroy I wrote for the Florida Catholic about our mission. Enjoy, pray for us and keep coming back.

Christian Unity Mission readies for Nicaragua
By John A. Torres
INDIALANTIC, FL – Last year I listened to the Holy Spirit.
This year it was someone a little closer to my level. His name is Norman.
Responding to call born during Eucharistic adoration last year resulted in me leading a team of doctors and others on a very successful mission of mercy to Haiti in June.
While I knew Haiti was lacking in medical care almost all over, I realized there was another reason for doing the mission. I felt my calling was more than just lugging suitcases filled with antibiotics, medicinal creams, baby formula and clothes to the needy in a village for battered women and children outside Port-au-Prince.
No. It was more about Christian unity.
I wanted people to see Catholics in action. I wanted people to see that we weren’t a bunch of wafer-eating statue worshippers. I wanted other Christians to see how much we have in common.
In putting the group of nine together I made it a point to include born-agains, protestants and even a lapse Catholic to accompany the core of Catholics from my parish, Holy Name of Jesus in Indialantic.
I also made it a point for the mission to go and help people who weren’t necessarily Catholic.
The team was so charged up spiritually after we got back that they asked me where we were going next year. I didn’t realize this would become an annual event.
That’s when I listened to Norman.
My co-worker at Florida Today newspaper suggested we go to his native country, Nicaragua.
How could I say no? After all, Norman always lent me his bible at work when I was still too far away from the church to have my own. He was a Christian brother even before I was able to be one back. He had invited me to his church to speak about my trip to Africa and he always listened with an interested ear about the great sermons, music or programs going on at Holy Name.
I’ll always remember how he introduced me to those who came to listen to me speak at his church, First Christian Church of Cocoa Beach.
“For many years, John would come to ask me if he could look at my bible,” Norman said. “Now, I am happy to see that he has one with him all the time. He really is a changed person.”
The words may sound simple but they had a profound affect on me.
Changed.
Yes. That’s what I am: Changed -- Changed by the relentless, undying love of Christ. Things in my life changed when I started to listen – first to the Holy Spirit, then Norman.
If you had told me just a few years ago that I’d be leading mission trips to third-world countries I would have looked around for the hidden cameras.
But here we are getting ready for a five-day medical mission to a town called Nueva Guinea – a five-hour drive from Managua.
The area, I’m told, really saw a population boom in the 1980s when Nicaraguans looked to get away from the violence between the Contras and the Sandinistas. They stayed but doctors rarely make the trip from Managua – where it is profitable for them.
Even more people resettled in Nueva Guinea after the civil war ended.
“Warriors, people fighting in the jungles had no where to go,” said my friend and co-worker Norman Moody.
Like Haiti, access to adequate healthcare is extremely limited. And when care is available it is normally too expensive for people to see a doctor.
So when I put the call out to see if anyone would be interested in making the four-hour flight, five-hour drive to see hundreds of patients a day, play baseball with the children and sleep in roadside motels the response was amazing.
My group of nine grew to 15. Two doctors and a physician’s assistant from Holy Name signed on in addition to an optician from another denomination. The support staff once again includes my wife and son.
Bags are packed. Lists of medications have been sent. Team meetings have been held and really cool T-shirts handed out.
Now the only thing left is the adventure of traveling to a strange country, ministering to the sick, enjoying the fellowship and showing them God’s love.
Thanks for listening.