Cwe Missions Short-Term Missions with Long-Term Impact

By CWE Volunteers

This book tells the story of CWE’s development from its initial formative years and its progression into a ministry that uses the tools of construction, medical and farming as a means for sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world. The Lord had far loftier goals for CWE than the mere construction of buildings. You will read about the ministry’s initial focus on construction, and how that focus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, transitioned to assist the local church in fulfilling the Great Commission by providing and facilitating spiritually effective mission opportunities throughout the world. It has been CWE’s vision to see lives transformed for the Gospel’s sake in all the World through construction, medical and agricultural missions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jan 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781973674634

CWE Volunteers

Multiple contributors

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Copyright © 2020 CWE Volunteers.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-7462-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-7463-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019913961

WestBow Press rev. date: 01/07/2020

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CONTENTS

Contributors

Editor’s Note

Introduction

Chapter 1: Early History And Ministry Growth

Chapter 2: Transforming Lives: Learning By Doing

Chapter 3: Medical Ministry Of Cwe

Chapter 4: Aquaponics—Feeding The Masses

Chapter 5: The Future

CONTRIBUTORS

James O. Smith, MD

Dr. Smith is an interventional cardiologist and graduate of the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. He is also a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary. He has been on short-term missions to Ukraine, Bahamas, Togo and Cameroon in West Africa, Honduras, and Guatemala. He has taught theology in Cuba and the Bahamas. All three of his children have served on short-term missions. In addition to his other responsibilities at home and work, Dr. Smith serves on the CWE Medical Committee.

Paul Puleo

Paul Puleo, the cofounder of CWE, is a state-certified electrical contractor and, with his family, owns All Phase Electric & Maintenance, Inc. and Alarm & Communication Systems, Inc. in Tampa, Florida. Twenty-nine years ago, he and several other laymen had a burden to start an organization—CWE—to help fulfill the Great Commission by assisting missionaries on the foreign fields in the construction of facilities in order to accommodate the preaching of God’s Word.

CWE developed from an organization that originally was focused on construction. With the Lord’s help, it developed into an organization with the vision of seeing Lives Transformed for the Gospel’s sake throughout the world through construction, medical, and agricultural missions.

Paul and his wife, Sharon, have been married for fifty years and are members of Idlewild Baptist Church in Tampa, Florida. They have two sons, Travis and Troy, who actively run their family businesses and are very involved in their local church, CWE, and their community. Paul and Sharon are blessed to have five wonderful grandchildren. Two of the grandchildren are also employed at All Phase Electric (third generation). Praise the Lord.

Paul and Sharon serve on the CWE Medical Committee. They and the entire Puleo family have been on countless short-term missions throughout the world.

Randy and Duellyn Pandis, DNP, APRN, FNP-C

Randy and Duellyn are married and have three children growing into adulthood. Together they own and operate a medical clinic that specializes in travel medicine, where Randy manages the financial and business operations. He is a former army engineer officer and has worked in the aerospace and telecom industry. He is active in his local church in leadership roles and serves on various ministry and mission boards. He holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Tampa and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Kennesaw State University and has taken seminary courses at the Master’s Seminary in California. Randy serves on the CWE Medical Committee.

Duellyn manages clinical operations and is the primary provider in the primary care and travel clinic she owns and operates with her husband. She is a certified family advanced practice nurse practitioner with a doctorate in nursing practice from the University of South Florida. When not in the clinic seeing patients, she teaches at the University of South Florida as adjunct faculty in the College of Nursing. Duellyn serves on the CWE Medical Committee and has served on multiple short-term medical missions. Her experience on medical missions has enabled her to use her gifts and talents to fulfill the Great Commission.

Richard Bymaster, MD

Dr. (Rich) Bymaster earned a BS degree in biology and graduated from the University of Florida, School of Medicine. He is an internal medicine physician in Tampa, Florida. Growing up in Miami, he was blessed that his family could enjoy plenty of fresh garden vegetables and fish. In this time of need for environmental solutions, the CWE aquaponics ministry inspires people to change the world by producing sustainable food in alternative ways. He has experienced more than twenty years of short-term international missions that have deepened his faith and love for diverse communities. Dr. Bymaster has served on the CWE Medical Committee and has led teams of short-term volunteers for medical missions in Africa and Central America. He has a very full, active life with family and church activities. In his spare time, he has limited success but great enjoyment fishing from his paddleboard.

Terry Schmidt, DDS, and Nancy J. Schmidt

Terry was born in Columbus, Indiana. He attended Ball State University on a football scholarship and graduated with a BS in biology with a concentration in predental education. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints Football Club, and after two years in New Orleans, Dr. Schmidt went to the Chicago Bears, where he played an additional nine years. He attended Loyola University, School of Dentistry and graduated covaledictorian in 1989. He did a dental residency with the Department of Veterans Affairs and then remained with the VA for twenty-nine years. Dr. Schmidt has been the leader of numerous medical/dental mission trips to various countries in Central and South America and Africa. He continues to serve on the CWE Medical Committee and directs the Dental Division.

Nancy was born on a farm in Schoolcraft, Michigan, and was one of nine children; she had four sisters and four brothers. She worked as an administrative assistant for many years for several large corporations that included American Century and Grainger Corp. She and Terry were married in 1990 and in 1996 started going at least once a year on medical/dental mission trips. Nancy was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2008, and after four major surgeries and five episodes of chemotherapy, she was called home to her Lord and Savior on March 1, 2018. She served the Lord faithfully on the CWE Medical Committee and on many CWE medical missions, even during her time of illness. She had a cheerful, dynamic, lovely personality that impacted many lives. All who knew Nancy could not help but fall in love with her. She is missed by all of the CWE family as well as her relatives and friends.

Jack E. Maniscalco, MD

Dr. Maniscalco attended the University of Florida, School of Medicine, where he earned his medical degree and completed residency in neurosurgery in 1975. After training, he joined the teaching staff at the University of Florida, School of Medicine as an assistant professor for three years. He moved to Tampa and began his private practice of neurosurgery in 1978. Dr. Maniscalco is now retired from surgery but performs neurosurgical consultations part-time and remains active in his church and with the ministry of CWE. He has served as chairman of the CWE Medical Committee since the beginning of the medical ministry in 2004. He has led numerous short-term medical missions to various countries in Africa, Central America, and South America. The joy of his life is his family. The Lord blessed him with two wonderful parents, two loving sisters, a precious, devoted wife of fifty-two years, three adult children, and four beautiful grandchildren.

EDITOR’S NOTE

Had it not been for a mission trip to the Dominican Republic in 1990, there likely would have been no ministry of CWE to write about. Paul and Sharon Puleo, along with a group of construction-minded volunteers, participated in what in retrospect was a poorly organized mission to build a two-story church facility in the mountains of the Dominican Republic. Reflecting on that trip, Paul and the other volunteers were disappointed and heavyhearted as they returned to the States. But what man considers a failure, God can see a bright future.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28 NKJV)

In the pages that follow, you will read about the birth of an evangelical Christian ministry that, by God’s grace, has been successful and continues to flourish. It would be a mistake to consider this book anything less than a tribute to what the Lord has accomplished. It is through the prompting of the Holy Spirit and the manifold blessings of the Lord that doors were opened, and pathways were paved