Fifty-six Americans worked in Guyana, South America, under the direction of Partners In
Progress. A medical clinic was conducted for 5 days at the Bagotville Community Center
with the assistance of the Nismes church of Christ. Two thousand two hundred ten 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 125 to 341. Sixty-three people obeyed the Gospel.
A detailed account of this mission follows:
Boxes ("totes," we call them) of supplies and medications were delivered to American
Airlines during the afternoon of the day prior to our departure from Fort Smith. On the chilly Saturday
morning of 6 June, the 40 local members of our team arrived at the airport at 5 a.m. Thirty-three
are current members of West-Ark church of Christ. Thirty-six departed Fort Smith about 7:30
a.m. on a larger plane provided by American Airlines. Our equipment and supplies not
placed on this plane with us were shipped on the following scheduled flight to Dallas.
Four in our group had Northwest Airlines tickets, but their flight was canceled. They were
rerouted on TWA to St. Louis and onward to Miami.
The American Airlines group had a 1-hour layover in Dallas. Two team members from Searcy,
Arkansas, joined us in Dallas for our flight to Miami. Sandwiches were served for lunch on this
flight which landed in Miami at 2:05 p.m. Eleven Christians from Mayfield, Kentucky, met us in
Miami. After reporting to the BWIA International Airways counter at the Miami airport, we
located all but one member of the full team. We found her at the departure gate. All 56 team
members were on the flight to Guyana which left Miami on time at 4 p.m.
About 5 p.m. we were served supper on our BWIA flight. The menu included a choice of chicken
with rice or flounder with potatoes. Also served were green beans, chilled salad of mostly sweet
corn with a little lettuce and 2 slices of cucumber, a roll, carrot cake, bottled spring water, and a
beverage. The meal was tasty and fulfilling.
Following the meal, the team leader collected everyone's airline tickets and baggage claim checks.
We had 49 personal bags for the 56-member team. There were 65 totes and boxes of supplies
and equipment.
On the way to Guyana our plane landed in Trinidad at 7:40 p.m. We remained on the plane and
departed at 8:45 p.m. We were then served a chicken sandwich, a Mustang candy bar, and a box
of Libby's Orange Drink. Immigration forms were completed onboard prior to our landing in
Guyana at 9:35. This year we found that some of the immigration officials were unsatisfied with
our claim that we were there on official business with the Ministry of Health. They insisted on
writing Church of Christ on the forms.
We were
informed on Monday afternoon of the arrival of the 4 totes of dental equipment on Sunday. (This
equipment was to fly with the 4 who were to travel on Northwest. In the process of
changing airlines in Fort Smith, the dental equipment must have taken a late flight.) One of our
totes never arrived, but its contents were duplicated in other totes.
We arrived at the Pegasus Hotel in Georgetown, the capital city, at 11:45 p.m. We were served
complimentary fruit drinks at the hotel while waiting to check in. Our eleven married couples plus
15 women and 19 men required 29 rooms. Having an odd number of men and women
necessitated us paying US$50 extra for each of the 2 rooms which had no roommates.
Meeting for breakfast at 8 a.m. Sunday, we found a buffet of fried eggs, bacon, potatoes,
pineapple, watermelon, bread, juice, and coffee or hot tea. At 9:00 we departed the hotel for the ride
to the Campbellville church of Christ building, which will soon also be used as a permanent clinic
near Georgetown. (In the past, our team usually worshiped on Sundays with the congregation
sponsoring our clinic, but the bridge across the Demerara River was closed to traffic most of the
day this year.) The Bible class and sermon were presented upstairs by West-Ark's personal
evangelist, Roy Dunavin, who taught about "The Holy Spirit and
Miraculous Spiritual Gifts." Downstairs, several in our team
presented Bible lessons for the children. Ninety-three people were present for Sunday school and
136 were in attendance during the worship assembly. Here we met the Boosinger and Winder
families, new missionaries to Guyana since mid-May 1998. The service concluded at 11:30.
At noon we were back at the hotel, where we were served lunch beginning at 12:15. Lunch on
Sundays at the Pegasus is not included in the Partners In Progress fee for the trip.
(For domestic and international airfare, ground transportation, lodging and two meals per day,
team members flying from Fort Smith each paid $1925.00) As usual, most on the team napped or rested
Sunday afternoon. The hotel's management hosted a reception with soft drinks for our group at 6
p.m. Supper at 6:30 included chicken, fish, rice, bora beans, bread, water, and a
dessert.
Felicia Wilson was presented a cake for her 22nd birthday.
It was also a Sunday night in Guyana when she celebrated her 16th birthday with our medical mission team.
After a good night's sleep, we met together for breakfast at 7 a.m. on Monday, 8 June. As is our
custom, we had a short devotional.
Being the rainy season, we had rain every day. In the eight years that West-Ark and Mayfield
have been working in Guyana, this was the wettest week, with hours of rain each day at the clinic.
While working at the clinic the temperature ranged from 78 to 86ºF.
To be allowed to practice in Guyana, our two dentists had to sign papers in Georgetown on Monday morning.
This, and having no equipment, prevented them from seeing patients the first clinic day.
On Monday afternoon they assisted our nurses with taking vital signs. Also, they gave considerable attention
to a Guyanese preacher student who had an abscessed tooth pulled the previous week
and had become quite septic. (After daily IV fluids and IV antibiotics, the man appeared quite
healthy by the end of the week.)
Our medical team also consisted of 3 family physicians, a nurse practitioner, a physician pain
specialist, an ophthalmology nurse who was assisted by 5 people trained in eyeglass fitting, a lab
tech, a pharmacist who was assisted by a certified medical assistant, a registered nurse and a
dental assistant who helped our dentists, and 3 RN's who were intermittently assisted by several
Bible teachers who were trained to take vital signs. Doug Winder helped scrub dental instruments
all day. Dawn Winder and daughter Danielle assisted with patient flow in the clinic. Andy and
Alison Boosinger, both LPNs, helped take vital signs on Thursday. Andy also worked with us on
Monday.
Lunch breaks were taken at various times in mid-day.
Lunch at the clinic consisted of whatever each worker had brought with them from the States.
Examples of the foods eaten: Because we used the clinic space to conduct our evening services (which we call "crusades" in
Guyana), at the end of each day we had to pack everything up and secure it in our pharmacy. The
process of setting everything back up each morning delayed when we could begin seeing patients.
Once things were set up, the medical personnel met in the pharmacy for a prayer before seeing
our first patient every morning.
Supper was served daily at 5:30. On Monday we ate from a pizza buffet. We left the hotel each
evening at 6:30 to return to the clinic/crusade site. We would arrive between 6:50 and 7:00 p.m.
Till about 7:30, we sang together, led by men from our team and by local Christians.
Each evening, the youth director from Mayfield, KY, Joe Palmer, with his wife and 3 others went
to the village of Industry with Bruce House, resident missionary in Guyana. The audience grew
from 30 to 60 during the nightly preaching by Joe on Monday through Thursday.
Gary Green and his wife, from Fort Smith, along with 3 other American Christians worked each
night with the congregation at the village of Canal Number One. Gary preached to about 30
people Monday through Thursday nights. Not being a preacher, he had not planned to preach
while in Guyana. During supper on Monday night, Gary accepted an invitation to speak for the
church of Christ at Canal Number One.
Arrangements were made early in the week for one of our van drivers to pick up about 20
delicious Guyanese pineapple at the market each day. The cost to the team was less than 46 cents
(US) per person per day. After returning to the hotel after the crusade each evening, pineapple
was served chilled and sliced about 9:00 for everyone in our group. Most folks were in their hotel
rooms by 10:00 each night.
On Tuesday morning we arrived at the clinic about 8:30 and were able to see patients by 9:30.
Probably because it rained most of the day, our crowd was smaller than we anticipated for
Tuesday. The Guyanese who arrived by 3:00 p.m. received treatment.
Our first van load left the clinic at 2:50 p.m. on Tuesday with personal workers who were finished for the day.
One of our vans stopped at a jewelry
store on the way back to the hotel to shop. The last van left our clinic site at 4:00 on this day.
One of our physicians was suffering with a kidney stone on Wednesday, so was unable to leave
the hotel. (The stone passed that afternoon, so on Thursday he was able to return to work.)
Upon arrival to the clinic Wednesday morning we found hundreds of people waiting. We were
able to begin seeing patients by 9 a.m. following our daily prayer at our pharmacy. This was a
very busy day with 514 patients, more than the West-Ark and Mayfield team had ever seen before
in one day in Guyana. We cut off entrance from the line at 2:45 this afternoon, and saw our last
medical patient at 3:50. Dental patients were not finished till after 4:00. The last van, which is
always filled with medical personnel, arrived back at the hotel at 4:50.
We received e-mail for free, but agreed to pay $1 per message sent out this year. This
arrangement allowed us to send many more messages than last year. Unfortunately, the receipt of
e-mail messages was blocked a few days after our arrival in Guyana because of an unexplained
problem with the e-mail system on Guyana Missions' Web site. (This was promptly corrected
when it was discovered after the team returned home.)
Wednesday morning at breakfast we had steak. On the buffet for supper Wednesday night was
fish, sweet and sour pork, rice, egg rolls, and salad. For dessert we had cubes of watermelon,
pineapple, and papaya.
Roy Dunavin preached for 50 minutes Wednesday evening. There seemed to be more mosquitos
this year. We had bats flying overhead during the preaching on more than one night. We
returned to the hotel at 9:00 Wednesday night.
Thursday morning we discovered the hotel elevators were out of order. For breakfast we had
scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes, pancakes, bread, juice, and coffee or tea. The first morning van
left 10 minutes early to allow some in our group to get everything set up. It was 9:00 when we
saw our first patient. The temperature was 80ºF at the clinic when we arrived. This was the first morning that it
wasn't raining when we got to the clinic, but there was a brief shower at 11 a.m. The last van
departed from the clinic at 4:20 p.m. after a record 561 patients were seen by our team. We
arrived at the hotel at 4:50 and found the elevators were now working.
After supper, one of our doctors went to an orphanage to examine a sick child.
On Thursday night a brightly-colored snake was killed near the foot of the stairs immediately following our
evening service. Since this was our last night in Guyana, our departure for the hotel was a bit
later than usual. At the hotel we enjoyed our last evening of fresh Guyanese pineapple. We visited
around the poolside while enjoying the steel pan drum band. Most in our group retired to their
rooms early to begin packing for Friday's departure.
Friday's breakfast consisted of omelettes, sausage (which looks and tastes like hotdogs to us), potatoes, pineapple,
watermelon, bread, juice, water, and coffee or hot tea. Our doctors left 3 people at the hotel this final day because of
sickness and concerns of possible pending sickness. When we left the hotel at 8:00 it appeared that it was going to be a
great morning with no rain, but it was sprinkling by the time we arrived at Bagotville. It was
dark much of the day in the clinic due to an overcast sky from which we occasionally heard thunder. The
temperature stayed around 80ºF most of the day.
As usual, there were people standing in line when we closed the clinic Friday who needed to be
seen, but couldn't. This final day we had to shut down the line at 2 p.m., one hour earlier than
previous days, in order to start packing everything away. Most of the supplies that remained at the end of the week were
left in Guyana for future Christian projects.
Our final vans and truck full of totes departed the clinic site Friday afternoon at 3:45. After supper
at the hotel, we left for the airport at 7:00. The discovery of a new and modern check-in area at
the international airport was very exciting to everyone in our group. We now had 50 personal
bags to check and 16 totes. Fifty-five members of the team left on the BWIA flight that took off
at 10:30 p.m. (One member of the team skipped the free day
in Trinidad. Saturday, she left the hotel in Guyana at 2 a.m. for her return to the States.)
Though it rained much of the day, Saturday was spent resting, shopping, bird-watching, eating,
swimming, sightseeing, and relaxing in Trinidad. Sunday
morning everyone was up very early to check out of our rooms at the Trinidad Hilton. We met at 5:30
in one of the hotel conference rooms, where we had a communion service till 5:55. Buses picked
us up in front of the hotel at 6 a.m. for the return trip to the international airport. We were all
on board the plane by 8:15. Four people in our team had to sit in first class to Miami, where we
arrived about 12 noon.
Sunday evening, most of the team returned safely to their families in Fort Smith, Arkansas, or
Mayfield, Kentucky. We also had people from Searcy and Benton, Arkansas; Roland, Tahlequah,
and Chouteau, Oklahoma; Dallas, Texas; and Miami, Florida.
We give God the glory, honor, and praise for His abundant use of our talents to serve Him and
those He loves in Guyana.
Britney BEARD,
Pat BEARD,
David BERGER,
Sandy BERGER,
Michael BLASDEL,
Liz CATHEY,
Janet CATHEY,
Jane CHOATE,
Jeannie COLE,
Michael COLE, M.D.,
Steven COLE,
Lloyd COPPEDGE,
Beth CRAIG, R.N.P.,
David DICKEY,
Brent DUNAVIN, DDS,
Joyce DUNAVIN, R.N.,
Roy DUNAVIN,
Bob FISHER, M.D.,
Rupa GOOTAM,
Gary GREEN,
Judi GREEN,
Larry GREEN,
Janet GRIMES, R.N.,
Mitch HARPER, DDS,
Glenda HODNETT,
Bart JONES,
Donna LAREY,
Keith LAREY,
Mary June LEWIS, R.N.,
Cindy MEEKS, CMA,
Randall MORGAN,
Darrell MOSES,
Robertta MOSES,
Terry OVERBEY,
Blake PALMER,
Carolyn PALMER,
Joe PALMER,
Debbie RAY,
Keith RAY,
Larry ROPER,
Wes ROPER,
Nolan RUSSELL,
Billye RUSSELL,
Chuck RUSSELL,
Jason STEWART,
Shelley TROTTER, R.N.,
Jay TROTTER, R.Ph.,
Meagan TURPIN,
Lori VENICE,
Tony WARD,
Will WATSON,
Felicia WILSON,
James WORD, M.D.,
Doyle WRIGHT, Med. Tech.,
Judy WRIGHT, R.N.,
Steven YOUNGER, M.D.
by Michael S. Cole, M.D.
19 June 1998
Steve DeLoach and Ivan Persaud met our group at the airport. Luggage and totes were identified
and collected. All personal luggage made it to Guyana with us, but only 60 totes arrived.
Once it was determined which claim checks matched the missing totes, appropriate
measures were taken with BWIA to begin tracking them down. Porters carted out the totes
and team members carried out their individual luggage. A large flat bed truck was used
to transport luggage and totes to the hotel. Our group was transported by vans.
From 7:30 to 10 p.m. we met with Steve DeLoach for the usual instructions on how to have a
safe and effective project. We learned that our group was the 50th team since Steve became the
Guyana Coordinator for Partners In Progress in 1992. After the meeting, we separated into
groups of Bible teachers and clinic personnel for more focused attention by the personal work and
clinic directors, Roy Dunavin and Dr. Michael Cole, respectively.
Afterward, we loaded our supplies and equipment onto a
truck, boarded vans, and departed the hotel about 8:00. We reached the clinic site about 8:30.
For the second year in a row, we set up our clinic in the Bagotville Community Center, where we began seeing patients at
9:45. The clinic was an evangelistic and benevolent outreach of the church of Christ at Nismes,
the adjacent village. Many Christians from the Nismes congregation worked at the clinic site
throughout the week.
Balance Bars,
Beanie Weanies,
Beef Jerky,
Boost Bars,
Breakfast Bars,
Canned Peaches,
Cheese Crackers,
Clif Bars,
Cracker Jacks,
Ensure,
Fruit Snacks,
Gatorade,
Gold Fish Crackers,
Granola Bars,
NutriGrain Bars,
Nutter Butter,
Oatmeal Cream Pies,
Pay Day,
Peanut Butter Crackers,
Peanut M & M's,
Peanuts,
Pop Tarts,
Power Bars,
Pringles,
Pudding Snack Paks,
Sugar Smacks,
Trail Mix,
Tuna Salad Lunch Kits,
Vienna Sausages,
Wheat Thins.
Everyone who wanted to be seen in our clinic on Monday was allowed in before we closed the
line at 3 p.m. On our return to the hotel on Monday afternoon one of our 5 vans broke down due
to an electrical problem. Not long afterward another of our vans arrived, from which we removed
all the men to allow the stranded women to proceed to the hotel. Most of the remaining men
caught a ride in the last van of the day which followed the one having trouble, but had finally
started. The last group arrived at the hotel at 4:30 p.m. on Monday.
Roy Dunavin preached each evening at Bagotville, beginning about 7:30. The attendance grew
from 125 on Monday evening to 341 on Thursday evening. On Friday evening after our
departure, the local preacher, Desmond Zephyr, conducted the crusade. Lights in the meeting
room were provided by the mission team's generator. This generator was utilized during the
daytime to run some of our clinical equipment.
The children were escorted to a room downstairs just before the preaching began on Tuesday,
Wednesday, and Thursday nights. They were taught Bible lessons on their level of understanding
by some of West-Ark's teens, under the guidance of Glenda Hodnett, a Fort Smith kindergarten
teacher. The class could not be conducted on Monday night due to a lack of lighting in the room.
The number of children grew from 102 the first night to 197 the last night.
Each day, Tuesday through Friday, our young people conducted vacation Bible school type
classes at three public schools in the vicinity. On Monday, Glenda Hodnett made arrangements
with the headmasters at these schools to begin teaching on Tuesday. The popularity of these
classes, along with invitations to attend the evening Bible classes, resulted in many adults bringing
their children and attending the evangelistic crusade services in the evenings.
Upon arriving at the clinic, all patients are kept in lines for medical, dental, or eye care. They are
given a numbered ticket for the care they are seeking. Little by little they are admitted to the first
station where each person's name and address, along with their preference for "M.D." or
"Dentist" or "Eye" and the ticket number, are written on the top of our clinic form by a local
Christian. This paper is then given to the patient, who must keep up with it till their treatment has
been completed. Each patient is then directed to one of our Bible teachers. Everyone who comes
to the clinic is offered a one-on-one Bible lesson, but everyone is free to see the doctor whether
they study or not. People are treated with the same kindness in the clinic regardless whether they
sit through a Bible lesson. After the patient is taught about salvation offered through Jesus Christ
or indicates they are not interested in a study, the Bible teacher records information on the
patient's clinic form about their religious preference and interest in spiritual matters. The patient
is then directed to an area of the clinic for service of their primary health problem. Usually, the patients
are seen first by a nurse, then shown where to wait for the doctor.
Following completion of an
examination and treatment, medical patients are sent to the pharmacy where the clinic forms are
kept after medications are dispensed. For dental and eye patients who don't need medicines, the
forms are kept by the dentist or nurse to be collected at the pharmacy at the end of the day.
Every Christian worker at the clinic invites every clinic visitor to attend the crusade each evening.
There were 6-inch, tree-ripened bananas available at lunch on Tuesday at the clinic. At supper at
the hotel this year we had an option of hamburger and fries. Others on Tuesday night ate from
the buffet of fish, shish kabob, rice, salad, plantain, soup, bread, and cold bottled water. Upon
returning from the evening services Tuesday, we had pineapple and mango. The mango was a gift from a
patient to one of our team members that day.
Many people came to the clinic on Friday just for Bible studies. Many studied with more than one
of our Bible teachers throughout the week. Two dozen people made the commitment Friday to
serve Jesus Christ by being immersed for the forgiveness of their sins (Colossians 2:12; Acts 22:16). Again this
year we used a local water tank cut in half for a portable baptistry set up close to the clinic.
Baptismal garments were borrowed from West-Ark church and shipped with our supplies from
the States. One room at the clinic site was set aside for a changing room for new converts.
Bagotville, Guyana, on this trip:
