Thirty Americans worked in Guyana, South America, under the direction of Partners
In Progress, conducting a medical clinic for 4 days at Nismes with the
assistance of members from the local Church of Christ. Eight hundred five patients were examined and treated.
Nearly every patient was taught the Gospel and given religious literature. Lots of Bibles were distributed. Maximum attendance at the nightly preaching service was 193. Twelve people obeyed the Gospel.
A detailed account of this mission follows:
After many months of planning, preparation, and prayer, on Saturday, 3 June 2006, the western Arkansas/eastern
We arrived a little behind schedule in Miami. There we became of group of 30 team members. We discovered that our flight which was scheduled to depart about 2:30 p.m. (getting us to Guyana at 8 p.m.) was cancelled due to mechanical problems. Instead, we departed about 8:15 p.m Saturday night. We were served a meal shortly after takeoff of our Boeing 737. We landed in Trinadad at 11:40 p.m. After processing the required paperwork, we were sent to wait for the connecting flight to Guyana. Few of us were able to get any sleep.
On Sunday, 4 June, our plane left Trinidad about 4:45 a.m. We arrived in Guyana shortly before 6:00. We walked about 100 yards in the rain from the plane to the terminal. We cleared Immigration and Customs with no problems at all. Everyone's bags and all our supplies arrived with us. We were transported an hour to our hotel, The Grand Coastal Inn, where we arrived about 8 a.m. After we were fed a good breakfast, we went to our rooms and slept a few hours. We had anticipated worshiping this morning with the Nismes Church of Christ, but would surely not have been able to stay awake through the services due to our lack of sleep caused by our delayed flights on Saturday night.
A few of the ladies from our team taught Bible stories in the nearby elementary school in mid afternoon. Around 5 p.m. we packed away our clinic supplies and teaching materials to set up for the preaching service that began about 6:30. We were disappointed by the low turnout for the evening sermon. We had 11 children in Bible class during the preaching. The team returned to the hotel for supper by 8 p.m.
Tuesday, 6 June, we returned to the Nismes Church of Christ building and again set up our clinic. We began seeing patients at 11:30 a.m. By the time we shut down the clinic at 5 p.m., we had treated 76 patients in our eye clinic and 145 in our medical clinic. Most of our patients participated in personal Bible studies. Four were baptized, including one who came only to study (meaning he needed no medical or eye care). There was less rain today.
Our joy turned to sadness when we learned that the house of the local preacher in Nismes was burglarized while his family was at church with us. Every person who comes to our clinic is invited to return at 6 p.m. for the evening preaching. It is dark in Guyana by 6:30. Many told us they could not leave their houses unguarded at night. Now we so much better understand why we have fewer people attending the evening services than in the past.
Thursday, 8 June, was our last clinic day. We had the clinic open by about 11:30 a.m. The day was overcast, but didn't rain much. The temperature was a few degrees cooler than on Wednesday. Our doctors saw 157 patients and our eye specialists treated 139 patients. We closed the clinic by 5 p.m. and packed up all of our stuff to be transported back to the hotel. Our evening service had 193 in attendance, including 106 children who were taught in a special class during the sermon. Seven people were immersed into Christ on Thursday, including one after the sermon.
At 5 a.m. on Sunday, 11 June, we met for a brief devotional and communion service in a conference room at the hotel. We left the hotel at 5:20. Our flight was delayed from Barbados about one hour. We arrived in Miami in time to catch our next flights. It was a day of goodbyes to team members who were leaving us. And it was a day of hellos for those welcoming us back home.
It is our most earnest desire that we have brought glory to our Creator and Savior during our time of service in Guyana. Most on the 2006 team are already looking forward to returning next year.
Azia Blasdel,
Missy Blasdel, L.P.N.,
Michael Blasdel,
David Brightwell,
Jill Brightwell,
Richard Bullard,
Shirley Bullard,
Jeannie Cole,
Michael Cole, M.D.,
Joyce Dunavin, R.N.,
Roy Dunavin,
Dolton Duplechan,
Colleen Frost,
Lisa Hammett,
Jim Hardin,
Nancy James,
Glenda Lewis,
Jack Lewis,
Mary June Lewis, R.N.,
Connie Morgan,
Ron Morgan, Pharm.D.,
Amy Payne,
Andrew Plumlee,
Amy Pridgen,
Mary Jo Russell,
Holly Smith,
Roger Smith,
Niketa Stinchcomb,
Gwynna Walker,
Steven Younger, M.D.
by Michael S. Cole, M.D.
11 June 2006
Oklahoma portion of the 16th Guyana Medical Mission Team of West-Ark Church of Christ began arriving at the Fort Smith
airport at 4:30 a.m. We 16 departed Fort Smith on time shortly after 6:30 a.m. for our flight to Memphis. There we joined 9 Christians from Riverside Church of Christ of Gassville, Arkansas. They had spent Friday night in a motel near the airport. After about a two-hour layover, we departed for Miami.
At 2 p.m. we were fed lunch. At 3 to 5 p.m. we counted and packaged many thousands of tablets for distribution at our clinic. At 7 p.m. we ate supper. Afterwards we assembled for worship and took the Lord's Supper. We listened to our annual orientation lecture by director Steve DeLoach. Then we divided the group into medical workers and Bible teachers for more specific instructions about the work to begin Monday morning. After this we all headed to bed around 10 o'clock.
Monday, 5 June, the team gathered for breakfast around 9:00. After a devotional and morning announcements, we boarded 3 vans and were transported across the Demerara River to Nismes. (Nismes is adjacent to Bagotville, where we held medical clinics in 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2001.) It was high tide when we arrived and the water level was at the edges of the church building. There continued to be a light rain frequently the rest of the day. We had our clinic set up in the church building and started seeing patients by 12:45.
Eighty-one patients were treated for medical and vision problems.
The evening service began with singing about 6 p.m. and preaching from 6:30 to 7:15. There were 61 adults in attendance. While Roy Dunavin was preaching, several in our group taught the Old Testament story of Joseph to 50 children in a Vacation Bible School style.
We departed Nismes at 7:30 p.m. and arrived back at our hotel at 8 p.m. We were served our evening meal and then entertained by three of our ladies who performed a song they had written to celebrate their victory in a game they had played against Steve DeLoach the night before.
On Wednesday, 7 June, 2006, we found the sun shining brightly when we went to breakfast. It rained very little this day, though it was the rainy season. The temperature rose to 89ºF inside the clinic. Between 11:30 a.m. and 5 p.m., the physicians treated 110 patients and our eyeglass specialists saw 97 patients. One person was baptized following a Bible study. Around 3 p.m., several on our team went to a nearby public school, where they taught age-appropriate Bible stories and sang Bible songs with the children. There were 113 who attended the evening service.
We returned to the hotel shortly after 8 p.m. There we had two surprise guests at a special reception. The CEO of the Georgetown Public Hospital and the Minister of Health each gave a brief speech of appreciation regarding our work this week in Guyana. We were also greeted by the hotel owner prior to eating supper. Then we were off to our rooms to pack for departure on Friday morning.
On Friday, 9 June, we traveled to Barbados, where we stayed at the Hilton on the beach near Bridgetown. Saturday was dedicated to relaxation and recreation.
Nismes, Guyana, on this trip:
