Giving Back Smiles, Sharing God’s Love

Medicine is an incredible platform for the Gospel, and a unique way Samaritan’s Purse applies this principle is through World Medical Mission specialty teams trips. Recently, a group of volunteer dentists, hygienists, and dental assistants traveled from El Salvador, Guatemala, and the U.S. to serve the people of Honduras for a week. The Samaritan’s Purse team partnered with Salt and Light Clinic, joining forces with their team of dental professionals.

This trip not only provided dental care, it also addressed spiritual needs and opened the door for people to hear the Gospel. A husband-and-wife volunteer team, Peter and Raquel, led the spiritual care for this trip. Before the dental clinics began, Peter and Raquel led an evangelism training for local church volunteers and leaders, encouraging these people who would serve as chaplains to explicitly and boldly proclaim the Gospel to every patient they encountered.

“Jesus saves, and His love for us is the motivation, is the drive of what we do. It's why we do it, and it's really what people are hungry for—a love that is unconditional, a love that is constant and faithful, a love that will never let us down.” – Peter Rodriguez

The first day of the dental campaign took place at Salt and Light Clinic in Peña Blanca. The team took some time to pray, giving the day to the Lord, knowing that God orchestrates everything. Every person who walked through the doors of the clinic was ordained by God to be there. One of those patients, Carmen, who had never been to the dentist before, shared how the spiritual care blessed her.

“I was always waiting for a time to tell someone my story and things that I'm struggling with … So, it was a good experience and talking to [the chaplain] and the words that he gave me, it gave me strength and gave me peace.” – Carmen

The next day, the team packed up the equipment and supplies and drove to a neighboring community of San Francisco de Yojoa, where they performed mobile clinics for the rest of the week. Our volunteers provided a safe space for kids to get treated but to also do things like color or play soccer.

One of our podcast correspondents sat down with Avery, a hygienist on the trip, to hear about the last few days working in mobile clinic outreach. One of her favorite parts about the trip was educating kids about the basics of brushing and flossing.

“I specifically like traveling to more rural communities because I feel like they don't get quite as much care. They may not have the access to it. So, I really enjoyed being in the school. And we got to see quite a few kids, and I have a heart for kids.” – Avery Maize

On the final day of the dental trip, our podcast correspondent witnessed a chaplain praying with a father and his little boy. She sat down with the man named Adonay, and learned that this was his first time getting dental care. Adonay was thankful that Samaritan’s Purse volunteers were so kind to him, his wife, and two children. He saw a difference in the way they were being treated and said that the chaplain made him feel like family.

“It was amazing to see God's love in everybody here, and my heart has a lot of gratitude for that.” – Adonay

Please pray for the people who were treated during this dental trip. Pray that as the chaplains follow up with them, the patients would begin walking genuinely with Jesus. If you’d like to keep up to date with more stories from On the Ground, please visit SamaritansPurse.org.