In early June a team from Christian Fellowship Church in Columbia, Missouri, came to Chichicastenango on a mission – to fix, fill, pull and check teeth. This dental team came ready to better the mouths of many students and teachers at a local middle school.
ASELSI coordinated the dental outreach to a local school where students and teachers with dental issues lined up to be checked. Those who needed further care were given appointments at the ASELSI clinic.
In all, the team evaluated 147 patients, filled 68 teeth, and extracted 21 teeth and performed other dental care procedures all in four days of clinics.
One of the team members summed up the experience well. “It’s not about the numbers, it’s all about loving on the sweet patients,” dental assistant Libby Grantham wrote after the trip.
One patient left with a new smile. She had a broken front tooth and had been ashamed to smile without covering her mouth with her hand. With the help of Dr. Brad Twaddle, her tooth was rebuilt, and now she is free to smile openly again.
While Dr. Twaddle and dental assistant Grantham cared for patients in the clinic, other team members were actively teaching dental hygiene, interacting with children and helping with English conversations for some local Guatemalans learning English.
This team helped ASELSI equip the saints here at ASELSI and transform lives with the love of God in a practical and visual way.
“You have made the clinic beautiful and a very real expression of the love of God. We were amazed at the creative ways you are all using to bless others,” Libby wrote.
Thanks to the Christian Fellowship Church and this team for sharing their time and heart for people with ASELSI!