Erika is done with all of her Grad school classes, and only has one final (wednesday) between her and a Master's Degree!!
Paul is finishing up his first year of dental school at MUSC. He LOVES it, but wishes there weren't so many tests ;)
One of the great opportunities at the dental school for Paul this year has been to join the Dental Community Fellowship (DCF), a Christian organization that reaches out to dental students to encourage them during their time at MUSC. During spring break, Paul traveled to Quito, Ecuador (see: South America) with DCF on a dental mission trip. Here's a few thoughts and pictures from this amazing opportunity....
DAY 1: Our theme for the week was "The Kingdom of God is near." Jesus said this about himself, so he was talking about the "gospel" and not just the Cross or heaven. We were challenged to think about why we were on a dental mission trip, what God wanted to do through us, and what God wanted to do in our lives.
As some of our teammates set up our work stations for the week, the vast majority of us piled into 2 pickup trucks and headed off on a dirt road up a meandering mountain to a special waterfall. After hiking for about an hour, we came across this....
This hike, and finally seeing the waterfall, reminded me of a Caedmon's Call song called Lead of Love. In the song it says..."you have to walk the rocks to see the mountain view." (One time I told Erika that Rascal Flatt's song "Broken Road" was the non-christian version of this song). Well I could relate to that phrase in the song. In no way am I starting to complain, but I've definitely had to "walk the rocks" over these last few years! A huge turning point in my life was meeting Erika...but this isn't a sappy love story, so i've gotta get back to Ecuador. I'm humbled by the way that God stuck with me. My life has changed and been blessed in so many ways. Slowly, but surly, i'm beginning to "see the mountain view." The farther along this path I walk, the better it gets. So somehow, I wanted to share that with the people on my team and the people we'd meet in Ecuador.DAY 2: For the first time in my (very short) dental career, I got to see patients! Our team set up in a gym in Quito and had "Clinics" for routine dental care, hygiene cleanings, and oral surgery --> extractions!! We even had an overall health screening station, and an eye-glasses clinic for people who needed reading glasses. Every morning as we walked in, people would be lined up waiting for us to arrive. The would make a tunnel (like how basketball teams set up for the starting line-ups) and cheer as we walked past them. It was humbling and exciting at the same time.
I was stationed in the hygiene clinic for the morning. And although I wasn't 100% sure of what I was doing, the stuff we'd been learning in school started to kick in and I found a good routine. In the afternoon, several of us went to a park to play soccer with the kids and pass out fliers about our dental clinic. In the park, I was more drawn to the older kids sitting on the benches who looked like they were up to no good rather than playing soccer with the little kids. In my best Spanglish, I tried to talk with these older guys about what we were doing. They thought it was cool that an American was talk with them (especially this guy...rocking my baggy basketball clothes and a backwards hat) and one even asked if he could come back to the USA with me. I just enjoyed reaching out to them, and it made me realize that often I don't really reach out to guys I see everyday....like guys at the basketball gym or at school. Why is it easy to be bold (and sometimes foolish) when you're not "home??"DAY 3: Had quite the dental first time experience. I gave an injection! Yes, that long scary needle was in my hand, I put it in someone's mouth, and everything worked out fine! I worked with a 3rd year student named Leslie in the dental clinic in the morning, and the oral surgery clinic in the afternoon. It was an awesome experience because she was really helpful and explained what she was doing and why she was doing it. I was able to do some more injections and even took out my first tooth! Leslie was a great teacher. Interestingly, she lives above my grandmother's condo. She's also a single mom who's doing an amazing job of balancing school and home. It reminded me of my sister, Lara, and my niece, Taylor. I was so proud of Lara for getting through school and so thankful for my family and how we all helped out.
DAY 4: I learned how to use my MIRROR!! Most people don't realize this, but dentists perform many procedures "backwards" by looking completely at their mirror. It takes a while to get used to, but apparently it's a skill we must have. I was able to work on a patient in the oral surgery clinic all by myself (ok, let's be honest...there was someone RIGHT over my shoulder the whole time)! So I was able to give the injections and pull out a lady's tooth. She might not remember that experience particularly...at least I hope she doesn't....but that was a special moment for me.
In the evenings we've been breaking up into small groups to get to know each other better, and to reflect on our day and what God has been teaching us. I really felt like this was my time to open up about what's been going on in my life. I told some guys that I was struggling with the fact that I was feeling God calling me to be more of a leader and share my faith at school, and yet not worry about school, tests, and all the pressure that comes with that. The guys in my group really encouraged me and agreed to pray for my boldness with my friends at school and also pray for my classes. Although I'm quite the career student, I still don't like tests and I get pretty stressed out. One of the guys in my group even encouraged me to skip our last day (a half day) in the clinic so I could study for an upcoming MicroBiology test.DAY 5: I skipped the last day! I missed being around the dental clinic, but I was definitely productive! I actually like time to myself. Little did I know, but apparently I didn't do a good enough job communicating with everyone that I was staying behind to study. Midway through the day a person who was not speaking any English handed me a cell phone. On the other end was one of our leaders asking if I was ok and what happened to me. I'm glad they missed me, but I hope they didn't think I was kidnapped or something....actually it would be pretty difficult for these little people from Ecuador to kidnap me. I was like a giant compared to them...but i digress.
That evening, we gathered as a group to breakdown our week and to talk about the things we saw or experienced this week that we were thankful for. It was pretty obvious that God had done some amazing things in people's lives this past week. All the talk about thankfulness was contagious. We talked about the number of people that we help from a dental, health, and eye-care perspective. It was well over 1000 people. That's amazing for just a couple of days. But if that's all this trip was about, then why were we claiming to be a Christian group?!?! Well, that's not the end....with each patient that we saw this week, we literally asked them if we could pray for them at the end of their visit. People were overwhelmed that we cared enough to ask. Many people were moved to tears. Some people heard that Jesus loved them for the first time, and others prayed to accept Him as their personal savior (just good goosebumps!). THAT is what this week was about!!
DAY 6: For our last full day we were treated to a couple of hours at a hot spring! Quito Ecuador is at about 9,000 feet elevation and surrounded by several volcanoes. These volcanoes provided the heat for our hot tubs and it was a great way to relax after working so hard all week.
DAY 7: Goodbye Ecuador! Here's what I feel like I learned on this trip...3 things. #1. I learned about people. I met so many people from the dental school who I see everyday, but I didn't really know them. There are some solid guys (and girls) that I'm excited to be associated with at MUSC. It will be interesting to see how we can grow from our shared experience over these next few years. #2. I learned a lot about dentistry. I love that this is what I'm going to do for the rest of my life! #3. I learned that God is going to use me. Whether it's here at MUSC or later down the road, I'm excited to see what it's going to be.
