Seventy-one Americans worked in Guyana, South America, under the direction of Partners
In Progress, conducting a medical clinic for 4½ days at the Bagotville Community Center with the
assistance of Christians from Nismes. One thousand nine hundred ninety-seven patients were examined and treated.
Nearly every patient was taught the Gospel and given religious literature. Hundreds of Bibles were distributed. Maximum attendence at the nightly preaching service was 388.
Forty-nine people obeyed the Gospel.
A detailed account of this mission follows:
This trip was the 11th annual medical mission to Guyana, South America, from the West-Ark
church of Christ in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Our local group began arriving at the Fort Smith airport at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday, 9 June. Many
friends and relatives came to see us before 38 of us departed at 7 a.m. American Airlines
provided a larger plane than usual to accommodate us. We changed planes in Dallas, arriving on
time in Miami. There we joined 19 Christians from Mayfield, Kentucky, and 14 others from Nevada,
Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Tennessee, Georgia, and North Carolina. For the first time, BWIA
required us to check in individually. We arrived at the newly remodeled airport in Trinidad
around 7:45 p.m. We were there about 2 hours. We arrived in Guyana about 11:30 p.m. One bag, belonging to one of our Kentucky team
members, did not arrive. Of the 44 totes which Fort Smith's team packed, only 16 arrived with
us. On the way to our hotel, each van carrying our team was stopped at a police road block.
Everything was found to be in order and we were soon on our way. The team leader sent an
e-mail message announcing our safe arrival to 360 addresses of friends and family of our team
members. Most of us were in bed by 2 a.m. Roy Dunavin taught Bible class using our study guide, God's Gift To Man, then preached from
it for his sermon. Mike Baker of Mayfield was introduced to the congregation. The American
Christians were introduced to several local Christians who would be assisting us through the
week. We returned to our hotel for lunch about 1 p.m. One van stopped briefly at the clinic site before
returning to investigate how we would accommodate such a large team this year. After lunch
most took naps, still tired from Saturday's travel and late arrival. In the evening we were introduced to hotel and Partners In Progress staffs at a reception. After
supper we sang spiritual songs till 7:30. Steve DeLoach, in-country director for Partners In
Progress, presented the instructions for our mission project. At 9 p.m. we divided into medical
and personal workers for further discussions. Before bedtime the remaining 28 boxes ("totes") of our missing supplies were delivered to the
hotel. On Monday, breakfast was served at 6:45. We were reminded by Kim Wilson during our
morning devotional that sometimes things will go wrong even when we are doing exactly what
Jesus has told us to do. (See Mark 4:35ff.) Our first van left the hotel at 7:35. We arrived at the clinic site at the Bagotville Community
Center shortly after 8 a.m. By 9:30 we had the clinic set up and began seeing patients. All
patients were invited to study the Bible while waiting to see the doctor. By day's end we had
provided care to 338 patients. There were 2 ladies who were baptized after they were examined
and treated by the physicians. We sent teams to 3 public schools, where the pupils were taught simple Bible lessons. Vacation
Bible School type crafts were provided for over 300 children. All were invited to bring their
parents to the evening crusade. The evening preaching was done by Mike Baker, minister from Mayfield, Kentucky. A class for
102 children was conducted downstairs during the sermon. We had 87 in attendance upstairs at
the clinic site for the preaching on Monday night. Tuesday morning we began arriving at the clinic site shortly after 8:00. The 6th and last van
arrived late due to the driver being stopped for an alleged traffic violation and having to report
immediately to the police station. Our team members sang while waiting in the van at the police
station. It was 85°F without a breeze when we arrived at Bagotville on our second clinic day. We had a
brief shower late in the morning, after which the breeze cooled the building to 80°. We had 10 baptisms and treated 400 patients. Our last van left the clinic at 3:15 to return to the
hotel before 4. Because of a Russian diplomatic function, we ate supper at 5:00, 30 minutes
earlier than usual. Sharing the facilities with the Russian Embassy was an interesting experience
for us this year. We arrived at Bagotville about 7 p.m. The children were taught separately from the adults.
There were 249 people in attendance. We left for the hotel at 8:40. Without delays we arrived
at 9:00. Though it rained most of the morning on Wednesday, we treated 487 patients before 3:30. We
had 10 baptisms, plus 1 occurred after we left the clinic site. There were 267 at the evening
service. Mike Baker preached evangelistic sermons each night, Monday through Thursday.
Three men preached in the evenings for other congregations of 30-40 people each.
The meals at breakfast and supper were very good. Hamburgers were available for those who
didn't like the menu for any particular evening. We were very pleased with the hotel service and
room cleanliness and comfort. Internet access was available for team members who were willing
to wait their turn. Everyone on the team got along very well together. Because of the size and experience of the
team, the decision was made to divide into 2 teams next year and come during 2 different weeks.
Lord willing, the teams will be sponsored by West-Ark and Mayfield.
On Thursday we treated 550 patients and had 20 baptisms. The line for seeing the physicians
was closed at 2 p.m. The eye patient line was shut down at 2:30. Our final patient left the clinic
at 3:30. We left the clinic site, taking all but eyeglasses and teaching materials, by 4 p.m. Immediately upon returning to Bagotville at 7 p.m., a woman, asking to be baptized, found Mike
Baker who had personally taught her earlier about Jesus. Following her baptism, the preaching
started about 7:45. Mike preached for half an hour to 156 adults upstairs while 232 children
were taught downstairs. After returning to the hotel we ate pineapple at the poolside, then many played basketball.
Before going to bed, we packed for our departure. On Friday morning we left our luggage outside our apartments as we went to breakfast at 6:45.
All but 14 of us returned to Bagotville for Bible study and eyeglass fitting, as well as children's
Bible classes at 4 public schools. The doctors, nurses, and pharmacist who stayed behind worked in the Partners In Progress clinic
at the hotel. We treated 51 patients, mostly staff of the hotel, the Russian Embassy, and their
families. At Bagotville we provided eye care for 171 patients. We saw 5 baptisms. There was 1 Bible
study that was continuing as we left. About 4:30 we arrived in Trinidad where we passed through immigration and customs without
incident. Then we rechecked with BWIA our 58 bags and 21 (mostly empty) totes. Most found
something to eat at the airport before we boarded our 15-minute flight to Tobago. The plane
arrived about 8:30. We were quickly on our way to the Hilton Hotel. Our second Saturday has traditionally been a day of rest and recreation. Team members went
shopping in the capitol city of Scarborough, toured the island of Tobago, played at the beach and
hotel pools, went diving or snorkeling, found good restaurants, and spent the day as they wished. On Sunday morning, 17 June, we checked out of our hotel rooms by 5 a.m., then met for a
special Communion service in a hotel conference room. We were to depart for the airport at
5:30, but our transportation was about 15 minutes late in arriving. The team leader left for the airport with a team member who was returning a rental car. BWIA
was informed that our group should be arriving shortly. Everyone and all our baggage were
checked in by 6:20. Following a quick flight to Trinidad, we were on our way to Miami shortly after 9 a.m. Most on
our team ate lunch at the Miami airport before catching various flights home. Our group from
Fort Smith returned on 2 separate flights. The crowd meeting us at the Fort Smith airport was
appreciated by all. It's always good to be back home, but we can't forget the many people we met in Guyana. It is
our prayer that the lives we touched will be physically and spiritually better because of our
efforts. To God we give the glory for granting to us the awesome opportunity to serve Him in
such a marvelous way.
Don Abernathy, R.Ph.,
Mike Baker,
John Berger,
Sandy Berger,
Missy Blasdel,
David Boozer,
Richard Bullard,
Shirley Bullard,
Jeannie Cole,
Michael Cole, M.D.,
Ashley Crider,
Jamie Crider,
Joel Crider,
Joey Crider,
Nick Dalton,
Sean Doyle,
Susan Doyle, R.N.,
Joyce Dunavin, R.N.,
Roy Dunavin,
Ted Edwards,
Bruce Eubank,
Bob Fisher, M.D.,
Lee Fox,
Rupa Gootam,
Betty Griffin,
Ron Griffin,
Janet Grimes, R.N.,
Connie Grove, R.N.,
Donna Hannah,
Aaron Henderson,
Paula Hill,
Glenda Hodnett,
Gary James,
Nancy James,
Jimmy Jones,
Bob Jones,
Janelle Kelso,
Gwynn Kerns,
Mary June Lewis, R.N.,
Lisa Massey,
René McKinnon, N.S.,
Amanda McManus,
Sonny McManus,
Jane McManus,
Kathy Monk, R.N.,
Darrell Moses,
Robertta Moses,
Amy Payne,
Charlotte Pinedo,
Nancy Pryor,
Evelyn Ratliff, R.N.,
John Richardson,
Linda Richardson,
Larry Roper,
Mary Jo Russell,
Beth Sullivan,
Steve Sullivan,
Cara Tipton,
Connie Tipton,
Lindsay Trotter,
Cheryl Wallace, R.N.,
Tony Ward,
Barbara Wilkins, R.N.,
Irene Willis,
Brenda Wilson,
Deborah Wilson, R.N.,
Jim Wilson, D.O.,
Kim Wilson,
Daniel Word,
Sara Word,
Steven Younger, M.D.
by Michael S. Cole, M.D.
17 June 2001
We were up on Sunday morning in time for breakfast at 8:30. We departed the hotel at 9:30 for
the Nismes church of Christ, across the Demerara River from Georgetown. It was nice to see
familiar faces from our previous campaigns there.
Our team tolerated the apartment sharing at the Cara Inn, inside the Russian Embassy
compound. Before coming we were concerned about sharing bathrooms and getting to breakfast
on time. We began eating at 6:45, but didn't require everyone there till 7 when announcements
were made. We had a brief devotional before leaving the dining hall each morning.
The vans waited at the east side of the Demerara bridge for the team from the hotel to arrive.
Then we proceeded to the airport, arriving about noon. There we waited for our BWIA flight
that left about 3:30.
sunrise over the Atlantic as seen from our hotel in Guyana
Bagotville, Guyana, on this trip:
