Words from the team member
Don T. McIntosh

Don is married, 34 years, to Anita and they have three grown children (two married) and three grandchildren (4 years, 1 year and 10 months old).

Attend Southview Alliance Church in Calgary, AB.

Born of missionary parents in the Dominican Republic, Don spoke Spanish before English but had no opportunity to keep it up since leaving the DR in 1957. Much was forgotten until this trip.

Enjoys photography, golf, travelling.

Sales Director Western Canada of Manulife ONE, a new and innovative all-in-one banking product launched by Manulife Financial.

Since 1957 have lived in Vancouver, Nassau, Bahama Islands and Calgary.

Don McIntosh hugs children at the Orphanage Casa Hogar Alegre in Tuxtla . December 13th - Samaritan's Purse, Operation Christmas Child (OCC) Mission Trip to Tuxtla, Chiapas, Mexico.

In the fall of 1999 I became involved with Samaritan's Purse through the opportunity of working in the Operation Christmas Child warehouse. Through a number of unique situations, I was invited to travel to S.E. Asia in January 2000 with Sean Campbell, Executive Director of Samaritan's Purse, Canada. The purpose of the trip was to see a number of their activities in north Vietnam - water filters, schools, and OCC shoe box distributions. We also travelled by train to the China border to search out new opportunities of ministry there - new school and community health clinics among the Hmong tribal people. The trip also took us to visit four orphanages in the Chiangrai area of northeast Thailand.

This first trip gave me a whole new appreciation of what God is doing through different individuals to bring hope to so many who are suffering. Help is provided in the from of education and housing to street kids in Hanoi; clean water to suffering and dying children; love, housing, food and clothing to orphans; education and public health to tribal people - all in the name of Jesus Christ, God's Son, all as a free gift with no expectation for anything in return, all through the generous financial and prayer support of people in Canada.

Don McIntosh giving out candies in the town of Lazaro Cardenas . December 15th, 2000 - Samaritan's Purse, Operation Christmas Child (OCC) Mission Trip to Tuxtla, Chiapas, Mexico.

The trip to S.E. Asia only encouraged me further in my desire to help people in need. Needs of a physical nature but also a need to know more of God's grace and love. I made my desires known to Samaritan's Purse and I was once again invited to participate in an Operation Christmas Child shoe box distribution trip in December 2000 to the state of Chiapas, in the southern part of Mexico. I did not hesitate for one second in accepting the invitation - a chance to once again participate in bringing some joy and happiness to children AND an opportunity to practice my long-forgotten Spanish. What an experience!! Other articles in this web site will highlight various aspects of the trip but one of my greatest experiences was the way God worked in giving me language recall in situations when there were no other translators around. While distributing rice and beans to people along the mountain trails we would be invited into their small, smoke-filled shacks and offered tortillas - a true sacrifice from people who had so little. It reminded me of the sacrifice God made as He sent His only Son to the cross to die for us so that we, by simply accepting His free gift of salvation, would have eternal life with Him forever. Another emotional experience was in the rebel area of San Cayetano. There was a point in the day where, after blowing balloons and playing with the children, I was standing and surrounded by many, many children - none of whom could speak Spanish and I couldn't communicate with them. It reminded me again of Jesus when He was surrounded by so many children and His disciples were pushing them away. Jesus told the disciples to leave them alone because the Kingdom of God belonged to them. Yes that is true, but here I was with such an opportunity to share the love of Jesus with these beautiful children but no ability to tell them about it.

My prayer is to be given other opportunities with Samaritan's Purse to return, with my wife and some of my grown children, to a Spanish-speaking country and pick up where I left off and sharing those things God has blessed us with - time, energy, financial resources, love, hope, and most of all the story of Jesus. What will I need to do to prepare? Brush up on my Spanish, learn to make balloon characters, take lots of balloons, candies, bubbles, stickers, and anything children like! Most of all to be available to God's call.