LAKELAND —Dorothy Collins visited a clinic in Quetzaltonango, Guatemala, last month that was just a building with no medical equipment. A few days later, she toured a missionary project in Puebla, Mexico, that was experimenting with solar ovens and waterless toilets.

Collins is the Florida Conference’s representative to the Encounter with Christ in Latin America and the Caribbean. She and 31 other Encounter representatives visited the two Latin American countries Jan. 27-Feb. 4 to experience the needs the Encounter is designed to address.

"It was impressive seeing the needs and seeing how some of the needs are being responded to in Mexico," she said, "and the difference between that kind of project and the needs in Guatemala, the building with no equipment or people to get it off the ground."

Encounter is a permanent fund of the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) established in 1992 to provide support and ministry for the autonomous Methodist churches in Latin America and the Caribbean. Its intent is to support evangelism efforts, new church development, ministries with women and children, and community-based health care.

Encounter’s immediate goal is to collect $1 million in cash. Once that goal is met, GBGM will begin awarding grants from the interest earned to specific ministries. The fund currently has $301,000 in cash and another $415,000 pledged in annuities, according to Collins.

Collins said the project in Mexico is an example of what can be done through missionary giving to help people in impoverished rural areas. Called "Give Ye Them To Eat," it is a social outreach project of the Methodist Church of Mexico and an Advance Special of the United Methodist Church. It also provides the local people with community and family health care and environmental services to help them produce food. Collins said she saw water pumps operating without electricity or gas, toilets that flush without using water, and solar powered ovens and tortilla stoves.

In Guatemala group members toured a Methodist campground in Chichicastenango that had buildings, but no water because of problems digging wells. They also visited the Patalup Methodist Church, a rural church that houses a community farm and is supported in part by the sale of local handicrafts.

At the headquarters of the Methodist Church of Guatemala, Collins toured a clinic that is open a few days each month when there are enough volunteer doctors and nurses to staff it.

"This trip gave all of us an opportunity to see what’s going on in Latin America," she said. "This all points out the need for the Encounter with Christ fund to build up so we can start to use the interest."

Collins said she is frustrated at the lack of knowledge about the Encounter in the Florida Conference. Despite her visits to district mission rallies and pastors’ meetings and United Methodist Women’s meetings, she feels the Encounter is still taking "baby steps" toward full acceptance and participation in the conference.