My Nonprofit Reviews

Serving others in need outside of the United States has always been on my "to do" list. But with a young family and a growing, busy dental practice, making that dream into a reality -well there was never the right time.

But as the practice matured (along with myself) I looked into serving on a foreign mission team. At the same time I hired a Spanish speaking dental assistant (named Nelly) who was also interested in serving abroad.

I learned about MEDICO (Medical Eye Dental International Cae Organization) through a colleague. So I inquired. I was immediately impressed with their knowledge and experience serving in Central America- particularly in Honduras.

So in 2008, my assistant, her husband (a physicians assistant) and myself traveled on our first mission trip to a sugar plantation in Honduras called Tres Valles.

I recall one moment on that trip that has remained with me ever since. It was at the end of a long day and it's was hot. Our "clinic" was in a cinder block building with a metal roof so it felt like an oven. We couldn't open the windows because the trucks coming in and out of the sugar plantation created so much dust.

I was looking forward to completing what I thought was the last patient of the day when Chuck, one of our Spanish speaking interpreters, poked his head into the door and said: "can you take one more".

I looked at my assistant Nelly with eyes that said: "I can't do it" but she gently put her hand on my arm and said: "yes we can do it". In walked Maria, a pleasant dark haired young lady. She sat in our portable dental chair and said that she had 3 teeth hurting her- and they were all in different areas of her mouth! (Great I said to myself sarcastically).

So I looked in her mouth and saw that she had 3 loose molars- all suffering from gum disease. A piece of cake I said to myself. I quickly got her numb and removed the teeth. Three more teeth into the scrap bucket I kept on the floor where I would drop the extracted teeth.

What happened next is the story: Maria bolted up right in the dental chair and started to ball. She was saying (in Spanish and translated to me by Nelly) how she was praying to God that He would send an angel to help her with her mouth pain. She had been going to bed every night with painful teeth.

Then she learned that a mission team from the United States was coming and it included dentists. She knew her prayers were answered. So she waited all day to be seen and was so thankful that we took her. She continued through her tears to thank God, Jesus, and Mary for sending us to help her.

I never thought of myself as an answer to anyone's prayer's before! I broke down after Maria left. I was ashamed that I was ready to give up and leave the clinic when this patient desperately needed help.

I have now been to Honduras with MEDICO every year since 2008. Now when the days get long and the line of patients never seems to end, I often think of Maria. Which patient out there on line was praying for an angel today?