By Todd Fincher
Our day began meeting a great group of dentists, dental students, dental assistants, and volunteers from Buffalo, New York and Michigan. They immediately took us in as family and allowed us to assist them in the day's work. Members of FPC this day were Dr. Henry Flautt, Eddie Amelung, Mary Steele Flautt, Katharine Douglas, and myself.
The dental group we joined had the most amazing setup I have ever seen on a mission trip. We pulled into the batey and to the local church to set up for the day. In 21 minutes these guys had moved the pews back and set up an eight chair dental clinic, yes EIGHT chairs, including two units to perform fillings! Not to mention a complete sterilization area which Eddie, Henry, and Mary Steele helped run with complete efficiency. They brought a compressor, air driven handpieces, electric handpieces for surgical dental extractions, and enough energy for an army. Katharine aided all the staff with medical evaluations and taught Mary Steele how to take blood pressure. Henry delivered dental anesthesia and did dental extractions, and I did my usual.
The setting was inspirational as the church faced west and the sun shone through an outline of the cross on all of us working throughout the day. I was continually reminded why we are here. These people are some of the poorest I have ever seen in some of the poorest conditions I have ever been in. Yet they are happy and praise the living God with a fervor that inspires me and the team. We ended the day seeing 176 patients, most having 3-5 dental extractions each, too many pediatric prophys to count, and endless fillings. What a great start!
I have included a list of the generous friends who allowed us to work with them below. Remember all of us in your prayers as we seek to make a small difference in God's kingdom.
- Dr. Bill, Theresa, Christian and Cody Shortt
- Dr. Kevin and Beth D'Angelo
- Dr. Bill andElizabeth D'Angelo
- Krista, Lianne, and Maggie VanWagner
- Mary Wilson
- Chelsea Eppolito
- Katherine Marshall
- Shalia Ramandev
- Rachel Nozzi
- Ashley Mears
- Matthew Valerio