The August 2009 ADH trip to the Amazon had a slow start, to say the least. Our six team members met Wednesday afternoon at the Atlanta airport coming from Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Ohio, and Missouri. Our flight was 4 hours behind, and when we arrived in Manaus, Brazil, it was 3:30 am … but our luggage had not joined us on the flight.  (In fact, our luggage did not actually join us until the day we left for home.)

 

Several hours later by van, then 18 more hours by boat, and we arrived Friday morning at the riverside village of Peixinho. A small blue hut sat slightly cockeyed near the side of the river, its foundation pilings undercut by unusually high water. This was to be home for the next week. Our task:  build a new home (with running water and rare electricity) for local missioners Val and Selma (and their two small girls) to replace the cockeyed blue hut. The rough-cut lumber on sight was the only preparation that had been made for our build. We dug right in, digging holes for posts, and setting up a foundation and floor in the first day and a half. Those first two days were so hot that I wondered if our hard working team would be able to survive the heat with enough stamina to stay on task. So, when our local assistants announced that they wanted to play in volleyball and soccer tournaments downriver, there was some relief (from the heat) and yet some concern that the break from work for an extended Sabbath may set us back so far that we would not get the new home finished.

 

The occasion for the tournaments was the sixth anniversary of a church downriver about an hour. The volleyball tournament attracted 15 teams, including our group of Americans who almost pulled off an upset of one of the local teams. The anniversary services the next morning were beautiful. Boats from up and down the river came for the special service, which was followed by baptisms, dinner on the grounds, and the soccer tournament. After a fierce but brief storm, we made our way back to Peixinho Sunday night, refreshed. 

 

The next four days saw our team work as hard as any foreman could ask of his professional crew. Late afternoons we sent a pair off to fish for dinner, and in the evenings, another pair went off to hunt gator. Our luggage included much food, so we ate the local fare (which included rice, beans, armadillo and paca that locals provided). We got the house done.  Val, Selma, and their small family were delighted to be able to move in the following day, and we were delighted to be able to serve our risen Savior on the Amazon River.

 

 

May 2009 - Medical Mission

 

On May 29th, nine team members from A Doctor’s Heart left Tallahassee on a mission to the Paracuni River region of Amazonas, Brazil. Over the next 11 days, the medical members of our team – Wes Scoles, Brandy Willis, Phillip Treadwell, Paul Harman, and Rebekah Owens - were able to examine and treat over 1300 medically needy patients and dispense 350 pair of glasses to the visually impaired. The lack of clean drinking water remains to be the areas primary medical problem as most of the people in this region are infected with worms and other parasites. Many children and adults still suffer and die needlessly due to poor access to medical care. We will continue in our efforts to supply these villages with quality healthcare while attempting to improve their condition by digging wells for clean water. We covet your prayers as we move forward in our mission.

 

The VBS members of our team – Debbie Lingle, Grant Willis, Emily Harman, and Blaire Scoles – presented the story “Daniel in the Lion’s Den” to convey the Gospel of Jesus Christ to hundreds of children and adults. Using skits, music, arts and crafts, and other fun activities, the VBS team was able to reach the hearts and minds of all who heard God’s story. The VBS team also distributed Bibles, clothes, shoes, candy, and soccer balls. The spiritual health of the River People will always be of utmost concern to A Doctors Heart.

Brazil 2008

Our Brazil 2008 mission trip began in an unexpected way, as many of God’s works do. Wes Scoles, MD had felt a desire to lead a medical mission trip to the Amazon region of Brazil for several years, but had no clear direction or contacts in this part of South America. A chance encounter with a former patient led to a long distance introduction to Rick and Kim Parker, missionaries to the River People in Brazil for over 18 years. A few emails later the basic outline for a trip in late May 2008 were established. The mission would include medical, dental, eye care and Vacation Bible School.

 

To facilitate the ability to receive corporate and private donations for medical and optical supplies, Dr. Scoles and a few others formed “A Doctor’s Heart, Inc.” in July 2007. As a 501(c)3 corporation, all funds and supplies donated to the organization were then tax deductible. It was decided very early in the planning of the mission that all the team members would pay their own travel expenses. This would allow us to use all monetary donations for the purchase of supplies. Several fund raisers were held, including the very popular “Hors d’ouvres for the Brain and Soul with Robert Olen Butler”, held at the Monticello Opera House.

 

Now that all the paper work was out of the way, it was time to form a mission team. We were restricted to eight members due to the size limitations of the boat on which we would be living. The members were: Wes Scoles MD, Brandy Willis MD, Phillip Treadwell PhD, Paul Harman OD, Rebekah Owens RN, Katrina Guerry, Chris Connor, and Bryan Mooneyhan. Wes, Brandy, Phillip, Paul and Rebekah were responsible for providing medical care. Katrina, Chris, and Bryan organized and led a Vacation Bible School program for the children. Each person on the team was uniquely gifted by God with the ability and desire to reach out to those less fortunate, to see every man, woman, boy, and girl as a child of God, created in His image. It was with these common ideals that our mission team was developed.

 

On the morning of May 22, 2008 we packed 8 people and 20 suitcases full of medicine, medical equipment, clothing, soccer balls, candy, etc. into two rental vans and headed south from Tallahassee for Miami International Airport. 24 hours, and a harrowing 4 hour bus ride through the Amazon jungle later, we arrived at the Amazonas port city of Itacoatiara. Here we embarked on the Discovery II, our floating home for the next 10 days. (If you get a chance, ask Chris or Bryan about clearing customs with a 70 lb. suitcase full of drugs!) The Amazon River itself is hard to describe. Its sheer size and power dwarfs anything in the US. You could easily put six or seven Mississippi Rivers side-by-side and not match the width of the Amazon. For the next 18 hours we traveled up the Amazon and its tributaries, awestruck by the majesty of God’s creation.

 

Did you know that roosters can not tell time? They seem to feel that the sun rises about 4 AM. For the next 7 days we were welcomed in each new village by the cry of a rooster and the anticipation of helping the villagers both physically and spiritually. The villages generally consisted of 10-15 small one room wooden houses. All were built on stilts to accommodate the rising and falling of the river. We were told to expect 40-50 people at our clinic the first day, we saw 300. Over 150 children and adults attended the Vacation Bible School. And this was just the first day.

 

The native Brazilians were inspiring by the simplicity of their lives. They had no running water and cooked over an open fire. A few villages had electricity, but only for a few hours in the evening if their small generator had diesel. They farmed where they could and fished in the river. The men hunted for small game in the jungles. They generally wore shorts, shirts, and flip-flops. Many of the ladies wore simple dresses. They were all very polite and seemed delighted to have us as guests in their villages. But, there are some very real spiritual and physical needs. Clean drinking water is necessary for basic disease prevention. The nearest medical facility is a 24 hour trip by canoe. There is some alcohol abuse and fathers have been known to prostitute their daughters.

 

In 7 days we served over 1000 medically, dispensed over 400 pair of glasses, and pulled over 300 teeth. We traveled 600 miles on six rivers and treated patients from 27 villages. Countless children participated in a great VBS themed on the story of Noah’s Ark. We slept in hammocks on a double-decker boat. We ate lots of Brazilian food (including crocodile, armadillo, and piranha). We prayed. We laughed, swam in the Amazon, trekked through the rain forest, laughed some more. Most of all, we were reminded that Jesus came to earth as a servant, and it is in service that we are most like Him.  “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and with truth.” I John 3:18.

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It seems there is always a selfish aspect to mission trips. Most of us harbored a spiritual agenda somewhere in our soul that we hoped would emerge as a deeper connection to God. We hoped that by being removed from the busy world that surrounds us, and spending time in an effort to help others, we might also succeed in helping ourselves. The eight members of our team met every morning and evening in a devotional time. We looked to each other for guidance, encouragement, and comfort. We were not afraid to lay souls bare, and were quick to heal broken spirits. The saddest part of any mission trip is when it is over, and that nagging feeling begins that the deeper connection with God that you worked so hard to forge, will slowly slip away. But this trip was different. The bonds of friendship and lessons learned from our time with God and others sank deep, and will hold fast. It is with that spiritual anchor that we prepare for Brazil 2009.