Twenty-three Americans worked in Guyana, South America, under the direction of Partners In Progress, conducting a medical clinic for 4 days at Kitty in Georgetown with the assistance of members of the local Church of Christ. Five hundred fifty-four patients were examined and treated. Most patients were taught the Gospel and given religious literature, including many Bibles. The maximum attendance at the nightly preaching and teaching service was 163. Twenty-eight people became new Christians.

some flowers of Guyana

A detailed account of this mission follows:

Our eighteenth annual medical mission to Guyana began with an organizational meeting in early January 2008 at West-Ark Church of Christ. The majority of the team met weekly from early March through May for prayer, Bible training, and other mission preparations. Medical and teaching supplies were procured from many sources. Countless friends and relatives contributed liberally to cover the $2,900 fee per team member.

Five days before departure, fourteen suitcases with our supplies were packed, weighed, numbered, and stored. These bags were transported to the airport on the morning of departure by Gary & Nancy James. In advance, various team members were assigned a specific, numbered suitcase as their second check-in bag. The assigned suitcase remained the same person's responsibility on all days of air travel during the trip.

On Saturday, 31 May, seventeen members of the West-Ark church and two from Roland (Oklahoma) Church of Christ met at the Fort Smith airport at 4:30 a.m. Each person was allowed a personal suitcase weighing less than 50 pounds. Our American Airlines flight left on time at 6 a.m. After arrival in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, everyone had time to find breakfast or refreshments before the connecting flight.

Before boarding the American Airlines plane to Miami, the team grew by two men who arrived from Missouri and Oklahoma. (Dr. Younger's wife, Vicki, also flew with us to Miami where she spent several days with a grandbaby.)

We landed in Miami, Florida, shortly before noon. We were able to check in as a group at 12:45 p.m. with Caribbean Airlines. By 1:15 we were heading in various directions to find lunch. Two Christian men from Houston arrived in Miami about 2 p.m., completing our team of 23 for our 2008 medical mission to Guyana, South America.

After we boarded our flight to Georgetown, many seats were traded until everyone on the team was satisfied with whom they would sit by for the six-hour trip. We left Miami on time around 4:45 p.m. A simple supper of chicken, macaroni and cheese, peas and carrots, salad, and juice or soft drink were served about an hour into the flight. People watched the in-flight movie or cat-napped till we landed in Trinidad for a one-hour layover. We did not leave the plane.

Our 737 jet landed in Guyana on schedule about 10:45 on Saturday evening. There was a light rain falling on us as we walked from the plane to the terminal. We waited in lines to clear immigration, reclaimed all our luggage, and quickly cleared customs. Steve DeLoach, director of Operation Guyana (and representative for Partners In Progress), was at the airport to meet us.

Outside the airport we loaded our stuff and our tired bodies into vehicles for the one-hour trip to our hotel. Refreshments were provided at the hotel, the Grand Coastal Inn. Shortly thereafter we were getting settled into our air-conditioned rooms, hoping for a good night's rest.

On Sunday, 1 June, breakfast was served beginning at 8 a.m. We departed the hotel at 9:45 for the 10-minute drive to Kitty, a section of Georgetown, the capital city.

We met many members of Kitty Church of Christ. This day was the 56th birthday of Fredrick Darryl, their preacher. Michael Cole gave an overview of Abraham in the auditorium Bible class. Roy Dunavin preached on knowing God. Then Steve DeLoach encouraged everyone to work as partners during the week.

teaching, preaching, encouraging

After we returned to the hotel, we were fed a nice lunch. Between 3 and 6 p.m., team members counted and packed many thousands of pills. These medications were later distributed free of charge to needy patients at our clinic.

counting and packaging medications

After supper we endured a recorded (and thankfully shortened) version of the annual "Steve's Rules" lecture. Then the medical and personal workers met separately for briefings about our tasks for the week. Everyone was dismissed by 9 p.m.

On Monday, 2 June, our team departed in two mini-buses at 10:45 a.m. for Kitty. By noon our clinic was set up and we began seeing patients. The first 3 hours were very busy, but then slowed down considerably, which is typical for the first day. We expected greater numbers for the remaining days as news spread that even the most timid would be treated well at the clinic.

our medical workers

Our two family physicians treated 85 patients, and 53 people were given vision tests on our first day. Many needy people received free medicines or free eyeglasses.

The majority of patients on Monday were members of various churches of Christ around the area. Every person who came to the clinic was asked if they would like to hear a Bible study while in our waiting area. Five people became Christians through baptism this first day.

The church in Kitty had a U.S.-sponsored, short-term medical clinic many years ago when their church building was being built. Because of that experience, the members modified the plans as they finished their building. Intentional changes in construction were made to better accommodate future clinics as a service to their community. For whatever reason, years went by before a medical mission team was found to provide free health care again for their neighbors.

Our clinic on the first day stopped admitting patients at 5 p.m. The facility was returned to use as a church building. At 6 p.m., about sundown, the evening service began with singing. The 33 children in attendence were escorted upstairs for vacation Bible school. Then our American preacher shared a sermon for about 40 minutes with the 64 adults assembled.

We returned to our hotel for the evening meal and a good night's sleep in comfortable rooms.

On Tuesday we were very pleased to find that the church members had moved furniture back to how we needed it arranged prior to our arrival that morning. We had our clinic set up within 15 minutes of arriving at Kitty so that patients were admitted at 11:15. It was a sunny and very hot tropical day with a light breeze. Team members frequently reminded each other to drink lots of water to prevent dehydration.

The electricity was off when we arrived and power wasn't restored till after 5:00. The generator, that our team purchased this year for Partners In Progress, was appreciated when a few portable fans started blowing. The temperature inside the building was 88F by noon and reached 90.

The Kitty church building is very well built and functional. The stage area is the prettiest one we have seen in Guyana. There is a nice auditorium with well-built pews and ceiling fans. Upstairs is a large open area with four or five classrooms down the side and an office for the preacher. Our two doctors used the first two classrooms for examination rooms, eyeglasses were organized in the next classroom, and our pharmacy was set up in the last classroom. We were loaned the preacher's office for our breakroom. Each door could be locked in the evenings to keep our supplies safe. With stairs at each end of the building, patients came up the back and down the front. The building has nice restrooms on both floors. Local church members did an excellent job keeping the flow of patients going smoothly each day.

these Christian ladies of Kitty were among our helpers

Everyone was disappointed that we didn't have more patients on the second day, but there were many very excellent Bible studies conducted. Nine people were baptized on Tuesday. We saw 119 patients.

The evening service began shortly after 6 p.m. with singing. The electricity was off for about the first 15 minutes, so the generator was used till the power was restored. Roy Dunavin preached a lesson called "An Introduction to the Bible."

couples on a mission: Blasdels, Coles, Tignors

On Wednesday, 4 June, immediately after breakfast and devotional, a team photo was taken. By 10:45 we were on the way to the clinic site. We quickly had everything ready to begin seeing patients.

It was another very hot day. The temperature was 90F most of the day. Most years in Guyana at our clinics it would rain occasionally, bringing a cool breeze and lowering the temperature a bit. Through Wednesday, there was no rain during the day at our clinic. We were constantly concerned about preventing dehydration among our team members from the States who are unaccustomed to spending so many hours outdoors at one time in the summer. We were frequently encouraging one another to drink lots of water.

We treated 157 patients on Wednesday and baptized 8 precious souls into Christ. Everyone who came for medical or vision care was invited to return in the evening for singing and preaching. These special services are called a "crusade" by the Guyanese. There were 115 who attended the Wednesday evening service.

All children seen each day were invited to a special Bible class that was provided during the preaching. Vacation Bible school type songs and activities, including puppet shows, were greatly enjoyed by all the children who came each evening.

Roy preaches to adults while grandson Seth teaches Bible stories to children.

Thursday, 5 June 2008, was the last day of our clinic. Though it was the rainy season in Guyana, we had no rainy days to interfere with people coming to the clinic. The rain showers only happened while we slept, except for a brief one in mid-afternoon on Thursday. The temperature was not above 88F upstairs where we held our clinic that day. The breeze was noticeably cooler after it rained; the temperature quickly dropped to 86.

The downstairs was used each day by the Bible teachers. Some of the local Christians also served as teachers. Each person scattered throughout the auditorium, sitting on a pew beside someone willing to listen to a story from the Scriptures. It could get quite noisy, but everyone quickly learned to ignore the conversions of others. Ceiling fans helped to make the heat tolerable.

Some people learned about Jesus Christ for the first time. Most came to a better understanding of what the Bible teaches. Every visitor to our clinic was treated kindly and respectfully whether or not they sat through a Bible study.

On Thursday we saw 140 patients. The total number for the week was 554. The doctors treated 309 and our vision specialists aided 245 people in four days. We witnessed the baptism of 6 on Thursday. That made 28 new Christians for the week.

Rachel, a college student, was in Guyana as a mission intern, working with Steve and Colleen DeLoach this summer. She worked with us in Kitty when she did not have other duties. She helped in our pharmacy, fitted eyeglasses, taught Bible studies, and served as the "Water Nazi," insisting that we all take time to keep hydrated.

We were pleased that Narine Khublall stopped by our clinic. We had not heard from him in a long time. Our team first met him in 1994 during an evangelistic medical clinic with Leonora Church of Christ on the West Coast of the Demerara River. After the local Christians recognized Narine's potential to become a preacher, West-Ark Church of Christ (in Fort Smith, Arkansas) provided his full financial support to attend the Bible training school in Georgetown (Guyana) during 1995-96. In June 1997 Narine helped to establish the church at Sophia (pronounced "so-FIE-uh"). During his years of faithfully preaching and teaching, the Sophia Church of Christ has grown to 144 Christians and 87 children.

With mixed emotions, we closed our clinic about 4:30, a half hour earlier on the last day, to give us adequate time to pack everything for our return to the States. A truck was hired to return our supplies and Operation Guyana's equipment to the hotel. Those supplies will be used by other medical mission teams this summer in other sites in Guyana.

Those not involved in getting the truck loaded late Thursday afternoon were privileged to witness the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Ivan Persaud. Most on the team became aware of the wedding just minutes before the ceremony. Missy was asked to take wedding photos and Dolton served as best man. The wedding ended in time to begin our evening service at 6:00. The bride and groom remained through the singing and preaching. Until this year Ivan had been the chief van driver for our teams each year since our first trip in 1991. He had to retire from that responsibility due to his failing nighttime vision.

Roy preached for 45 minutes. The team was presented with a thank you card signed by many members of the Kitty church. Because we made so many friends among the locals, it was a sad goodbye. We departed for the hotel at 7:45.

On Friday morning we left for the airport at 3 a.m. Our plane lifted off shortly before 6:00. The Caribbean Airlines 737 jet made a stop in Trinidad, then proceeded to Miami, where we landed about one half hour early.

Though we were only in transit, we had to reclaim our luggage and supplies. Immigration and Customs was in a new area where we were not anticipating. Getting all our already-tagged suitcases to American Airlines proved to be more challenging than anticipated, but we all managed to find something for lunch before catching our flight to the Bahamas.

We were delayed a bit at the airport in Nassau while we reported that one of our bags with nurses' supplies did not arrive with us. The trip from the airport to our hotel on Paradise Island took 40 minutes.

The team enjoyed a day of relaxation and recreation on Saturday.

Early Sunday, 8 June, we assembled at 4 a.m. for Communion and a brief devotional before heading for the airport. Our flights home were uneventful. Many West-Ark members were at the Fort Smith airport when we returned before 3 p.m. It was a great joy to be welcomed home by friends and family.