Sixty-five Americans worked in Guyana, South America, under the direction of Partners In Progress. A medical clinic was conducted for 4½ days at the Leonora Primary School with the assistance of the Leonora church of Christ. One thousand nine hundred seventy-nine patients were examined and treated. Nearly every patient was taught the Gospel and given religious literature. Hundreds of Bibles were distributed. Attendance at the nightly preaching services grew from 136 to 215. Thirty-seven people obeyed the Gospel.

A detailed account of this mission follows:

Forty-nine Christians from western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma, 12 from Mayfield, KY, and 4 from Texas left their homes in the United States on Saturday, 1 June 1996. Flights were scheduled to depart from Fort Smith, Arkansas, at 5:50 a.m. and 7:10 a.m., but were delayed because of a storm. Twenty-three people were about 4 hours late leaving Dallas, Texas, due to mechanical problems and a storm. Those arriving late to Miami were pleased to discover the British West Indies Airlines flight delayed take-off for one hour while awaiting their arrival.

Our flight stopped in Trinidad, where we were forced to disembark and pass through the In-Transit lounge before reboarding the plane. We arrived about 11 p.m., an hour later than scheduled in Guyana. We were met at the airport by Steve DeLoach, director of Partners In Progress in Guyana. We had 64 boxes of medical and teaching supplies, most of which had been flown by American Airlines to Miami the previous day so all arrived with us on our flight to Guyana. The personal luggage of 21 team members did not arrive till Monday.

We stayed at the Pegusus Hotel in Georgetown, the capital city. It takes about 1 hour to travel from the airport to the hotel. The team met at 8 a.m. for breakfast on Sunday morning. Afterward, we were transported in 5 vans to the village of Leonora, about 45 minutes away, for Sunday morning worship. Roy Dunavin preached. At the hotel we were provided with a buffet lunch for US$5.

Since we were returning to the exact facilities we used for our clinic in 1995, it was not necessary to meet to determine how the school rooms would be divided up. Therefore, Sunday afternoon was a time to rest. At 6 p.m. the hotel provided a reception for us with free soft drinks for the purpose of meeting the hotel's management. Afterward, we had supper, followed by a devotional and briefing. The medical and teaching teams then separated to discuss issues specific to their needs.

Monday through Friday mornings we ate breakfast at 7 a.m., followed by a brief devotional. We departed from the hotel each morning by 8 a.m. We found the bridge over the Demerara River closed only on Thursday morning.

On Monday morning we arrived at the Leonora Primary School about 8:45 a.m. and immediately began setting up the clinic in a similar fashion to the previous year. We used 4 classrooms, each about 20 by 30 feet. The first 2 rooms were utilized by our Bible teachers, who taught the Gospel to most waiting patients. The 3rd room was divided into examining areas by hanging bedsheets over ropes strung between the walls. It took us about 1½ hours before we could begin seeing patients. The 4th room was divided into a pharmacy and break room. Drugs and supplies were kept secure at night by Christians from Leonora spending the night in the schoolhouse.

The headmaster (i.e., principal) of the school was very cooperative with our work. He allowed our American workers to use his flushing toilet in his private office. The school had 720 students enrolled.

The medical workers met for a prayer each morning prior to seeing the first patient. We had 5 physicians, 2 dentists, 4 trained in fitting eyeglasses, 2 pharmacists, 2 assisting the dentists, 6 to 7 nurses and an EMT. Most of the remainder served as personal workers. The teenagers taught VBS type lessons in the public school classrooms. Two or three of the men taught one afternoon at the public secondary school in Leonora. Our teenagers sang Christian songs with the school children at every recess and lunch.

There were rain showers daily. The temperature never exceeded 86 F. The weather had no noticeable effect on the clinic. One team member failed to drink adequate water and was provided IV fluids after becoming dehydrated.

Baptisms were performed in a portable baptistry near the clinic. The custom-made lining leaked, we presumed from the heat melting its glue. Baptismal garments were borrowed from West-Ark church of Christ.

We received thousands of pairs of eyeglasses from Tahlequah, OK, which we took to Guyana. A Refractometer was donated for our use by Dr. Calvin Graham of Fort Smith.

A team from Searcy, Arkansas, worked at another village in Guyana the week prior to our arrival. There are several other teams planning to work in various villages during week-long campaigns after our departure. We again had use of the portable generator which we shipped to Guyana in 1995. The generator is for the use of any team who can use it while in Guyana. This gasoline-powered generator was also used to provide lighting for the evening services.

We also worked in Leonora in 1994 and 1995. As much as possible we encouraged those who had been taught during previous trips to obey the Gospel or, if baptized, to remain faithful. Many local Christians helped teach one-on-one at the clinic. Only God knows the full impact which our trips have for the expansion of His Kingdom.

We were able to get all vans back to the hotel by 5:00 each evening. Supper was at 5:30. We departed each evening at 6:30 to return to the school where Roy Dunavin preached. We returned to the hotel by 9:30 p.m.

Gary Brown of Fort Smith preached at the village of Nismes on Monday through Thursday evenings. Attendance there ranged from 33 to 83. Joe Palmer, youth director at Mayfield, KY, preached each evening at the village of Pleasance, where 45 attended.

Because of the delayed crossing of the bridge on Thursday, our biggest day at the clinic was on Wednesday. The physicians treated 293 patients, the dentists saw 73, and 132 people were fitted for eyeglasses on Wednesday. Seventeen of our baptisms were on Thursday.

The physicians treated 1,222 patients. The dentists served 274. There were 483 people who were given improved vision with eyeglasses.

On Friday it was necessary to close the clinic, pack everything, and leave the school by 11:30 a.m. Most drugs and supplies were left in Guyana for use by future medical teams. Including empty boxes, only 12 items returned with us to the States. We departed the hotel for the airport at 1:45 p.m.

We were informed that 2 elders from a congregation in the States were scheduled to do follow-up work during the week after our departure.

We arrived at St. James's Club resort hotel in Antigua on Friday evening by around 10:00. On Saturday our team members relaxed, toured, and played in Antigua. The hotel had two beaches, one on the Caribbean and one on a bay. Many water activities were provided free at the hotel. This "free" Saturday provided needed rest from the week's work. Sunday morning we met in a conference room at 5:45 for a special Communion service. We began leaving the hotel at 6:15 to catch our 8:35 a.m. flight to Miami.

The group from Mayfield had a brief layover in Miami. Most of the rest of us ate lunch in Miami at Burger King before we went our separate ways. We returned to Fort Smith on 4 different planes Sunday night, arriving between 6:35 and 11:17.

May all that we did be to the glory of God.