Encouraging Missions: Transforming Lives. Especially Yours!

By Dr s. Diane and Bob Meyer

Heartwarming Stories and

Encouraging Research on Volunteerism

Experience the Spirit of Joyful Service

Capture the zeal for altruistic endeavors through lively, inspiring, true accounts and sound bites from over 60 highly-experienced, short-term, trip volunteers interviewed for an encouraging, doctoral study. Discover the documented outpouring of benefits and the overcoming of detractors obtained from humanitarian travel. Fascinating anecdotes illustrate the holistic outcomes gained as illustrated by the hand.

This publication is compiled by devoted spouses--Dr. Diane, a nurturing nurse and motivational educator, and Dr. Bob, a veteran commander and dynamic dentist. It includes a summary of their adventures, "how-to" knowledge, recruitment recommendations, and volunteer opportunities. They provide a wealth of ideas gleaned from leading 60 dental teams in 45 countries over 25 years.

Drs. Diane and Bob invite you to transform lives, especially yours!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9798885401586

Book preview

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Encouraging Missions

Transforming Lives. Especially Yours!

Drs. Diane and Bob Meyer

Copyright © 2022 by Drs. Diane and Bob Meyer

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

All Scriptures are from the 1991 NIV version.

Names in the book are changed or altered to protect identities.

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Emotional Detractors of Short-Term Missions

Intellectual Detractors of Short-Term Missions

Physical Detractors of Short-Term Missions

Moral Detractors of Short-Term Missions

Social Detractors of Short-Term Missions

Spiritual Detractors of Short-Term Missions

To all volunteers with willing hearts and hands who selflessly serve humanity by spreading smiles, inspiring hope, and sharing God’s love.

Short-Term Missions (STMs)

Have Dental Clinic, Will Travel!

Introduction: Have Dental Clinic, Will Travel!

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself. (Luke 10:27)

People throughout the world often suffer not only with dental pain and disfiguring smiles, but also with souls lacking self-esteem, joy, hope, and peace. Our ultimate recommendation for human flourishing, gathered from 25 years of Short-Term Mission (STM) experience, is to encourage service in God’s name. All varieties of volunteerism enrich and benefit both the giver and the receiver. Through our experiences with STMs, we attain immeasurable satisfaction in the six holistic categories outlined and illustrated in this book. Our ideas are supported by fascinating stories and inspirational advice from seasoned STM volunteers who have found fulfillment in helping other people with the remarkable skills entrusted to us by our Creator.

Stories from Mongolia, Uganda, and Egypt

Mongolia, a vast, flat country of grassy, fenceless landscapes, intrigued us as a STM assignment in 2006 with our church group. The leader chose the two of us and another hardy woman to join a cross-country, outreach trip with 20 youthful, first-generation Christian converts. This postcommunistic, previously atheistic country is evolving into a democracy after the breakdown of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. The team traveled in old Soviet vans for 1,000 miles round trip from the capital city, Ulaanbaatar, to a small Mongolian military installation protecting the adjoining Chinese and Russian borders.

A few miles from the city, the paved road turned into ruts that crisscrossed wide plains, and the few vehicles the team passed could be counted on one hand. We waved at men on horseback as groups of gazelles often gracefully raced alongside the vans. Varied creatures greatly outnumbered nomadic herders, including camels, sheep, goats, wild dogs, marmots, peacocks, vultures, and many smaller critters.

The team showed the Jesus film¹ in the Mongolian language on a reel-to-reel projector each night on the side of the van to small groups of nomadic communities. The audience was gathered by driving around and delivering personal invitations to those in the neighborhood. During reel changes, the team provided a singing show and short, biblically-based talks. Although the military outpost consisted only of a few buildings with generator-produced power just two hours each day, the officials allowed the team’s film and show to be given inside the gym due to pouring rain—a first in any military compound in that country.

Bob, as a military colonel, exchanged American Army insignia, medals, and uniform patches with the leadership, which followed soldier traditions. The commander on post presented Bob with a personally hunted and cured Siberian wolf-skin. We adored the luxurious, grey fur and bushy tail and yearned to bring it home, but assuming customs confiscation likely, we donated it to the local ministry as a mascot.

At the military post, Bob gave several days of charitable dentistry to those in pain and seemed so well-received that the interpreter commented that she might like to become a dentist. A few days later, we gave a morning of dentistry at another military post to senior officers in hopes that it would open the door for the team’s film and show. The top commanders eagerly came for the unobtainable, dental treatment, and Bob labored over numerous, difficult extractions. However, when the young people wanted to present their wholesome program, the leaders abruptly shut down with a resounding No! Now that they had received dentistry for the top authorities, they said, We like free, but we don’t like Christian and asked us all to immediately leave. Dentistry had been the only thing of value to them.

Our goal will always be to attempt to share God’s love with whomever He places in our path. We especially desire to engage the next generation of young people in the Christian faith. The encouragement was given by our American team and many subsequent strong Christians who came from a Western sister church that helped the local Mongolian church to grow.

In a COVID-19, pandemic world, STMs face new world orders and ever-expanding controls of governments, yet our prayer is for a calling on hearts to take up the challenge of reaching the generations in their countries for God. STMs are a formative—even transcendent—experience for adolescents and young adults² and the enthusiastic passions of youth were created for valor, courage, and great causes. If Jesus’s instructions of reaching the nations for Him are ever going to be brought to completion, it will require the harnessing of youthful energy.³

On a STM to Uganda in 2013, we held dental clinics in different, village churches during our two-week trip. I (Diane), just months out from finishing cancer chemotherapy and surgical treatment, felt depleted on one of the last days and wondered if I should have come. As the team bus bumped along toward another busy day, fatigue and discouragement washed over me as I prayed for strength.

Suddenly, an unnaturally warm, electric feeling enveloped me as sudden tears flowed down my face. A deep voice consoled, You are my precious daughter and I love you. You are obeying Me and are exactly where I want you to be. Without a doubt, I knew God’s voice. It became an affirming moment, and as patients pressed near to be seen by the dentists that day, I felt assurance in my role and hummed while assisting Bob and performing sterilization duties.

Further drama on the ride home occurred when the dependable, Ugandan bus driver admitted to being lost in the maze of rural roads. Turning down a seemingly random, gravel lane, the bus driver rounded a corner and unexpectedly encountered a crashed motorcycle. Several large, yellow, plastic canisters spewed out banana moonshine. The weight of the alcohol and the two male riders caused a spin-out on a rocky curve. A crowd quickly gathered. For the first time on a STM, two American, firefighter-paramedics, trained to triage patients, accompanied the team.

Hold it! Slow down! The paramedics spit orders as they grabbed a red bag in the back of the van, calling, Game on! They bounded off the bus with the team close behind. One man’s leg ankle appallingly touched his knee with an obvious compound fracture. Open, bloody wounds saturated the ground and the two injured men seemed in shock. In seconds, the paramedics assessed the trauma, snatched protective gloves and supplies from their bag, applied a tourniquet to arrest bleeding, splinted and stabilized the broken leg, and taped the gashes and wounds. Meanwhile, a team dentist stitched the deep, facial injury and a foot-long gash that exposed the leg bone of the other sufferer, and in a short time, the paramedics pronounced the two packed and ready to go to the nearest hospital.

This caused a transportation problem. Early on, a local ambulance barely stopped—most likely presuming the victims to be poor economic risks—and drove off. Meanwhile, a Ugandan pastor who accompanied us negotiated transport payment to the nearest medical facility with two men offering motorcycle rides. Upset by their insensitivity, as they delayed leaving due to haggling for a higher price—quibbling over an equivalent difference of 40 cents—our local pastor flung money at them, and they disappeared in a cloud of exhaust and thundering noise, with their precariously balanced, wounded riders. Our Ugandan pastor prayed and preached to the crowd, repeating the message spoken to the two, injured men that God cares for and comforts in all our trials.

Well, they didn’t die on our watch, the paramedics declared although their outcome was uncertain. The accident victims might easily have bled to death in mere moments without the paramedics’ interventions. Now it made sense why, in numerous dental trips, this was the first time paramedics accompanied our team. Even if we feel discouraged or lost at times, we can be confident that God is with us and is sending us down the best road with the right team members.

A tall, intimidating community leader organized a tense interrogation over tea the first day of our initial attempt to provide dentistry in an Egyptian, Muslim village. The officials refused our offers of dental and medical treatment as we accompanied a Habitat for Humanity⁴ construction team. So on the first day, the clinic professionals helped build the house, sweating profusely alongside the Muslim workers. The next day, the Muslim leaders felt more comfortable allowing an area for a clinic where villagers with toothaches and medical concerns came for care.

After three days, as we departed the village, the Muslim leader confessed, You are the first American Christians I had met. At first, I hated you and thought I would disagree with you. But now that we have worked and talked together, I feel differently. The whole village feels a debt of gratitude and you have become part of us. We would now die for you! This common sentiment when loyalty has been built in the Muslim world showed a commitment of deep friendship. They promised to defend us as allies and comrades. Amazed at how little it takes to bring affirming and positive progress on both sides of a seemingly wide, cultural abyss, we warmly exchanged goodbyes with the Muslim villagers and honestly clasped hands in friendship. On three trips to Egypt, it became humbling to ponder the difference caring STMs can make in changing the distrust and bias of others.

We both grew up in small towns with involvement in churches and community organizations that believed in helping neighbors and people in need. Diane felt called to be a missionary early in her teens after reading biographies and listening to missionaries who visited her church, and she recommends that fledgling readers be exposed to the narratives of great, Christian servants who inspire lifelong service.⁵ Diane’s goals included becoming a medical missionary and hopefully, a wife and mother. Bob, active in the Boy Scouts while maturing, embraced a 32-year Army career, beginning at the West Point Military Academy. Those years provided the leadership and military skills to command an artillery battery and the only Airborne Dental unit in the world that deployed mobile, dental clinics around the world, as well as directing an Advanced General Dentistry Residency program—God’s preparation for future involvement in portable STMs.

We ventured into faith-based, dental STMs in 1996 when our church formed a construction team going to Nicaragua. Diane asked the team leader—in Bob’s absence—whether they might use a dentist on the team and received an enthusiastic response. Bob, always practical and careful in commitments, balked without personal dental items since he practiced in the Army. However, God directed Bob within a week to a CDS exhibit booth at a regional dental convention (only two such booths occurred annually in the US by a faithful, CDS member in those days). Bob discovered from the seasoned STM dentist how to rent equipment and instruments from the CDS and how to sterilize on the Nicaragua STM. We gradually built an air-transportable, arsenal of dental equipment and supplies that fit normal luggage requirements without extra fees. We became hooked on STMs following that first trip.

We both experienced epiphanies that directed us to full-time, dental STM work in our empty-nest years. A packed schedule of STMs came to an unexpected halt with Diane’s diagnosis of breast cancer at age 56. During a year of God’s healing, Diane wrote about our first dozen years in dental STMs, resulting in published books that tell our personal story.⁶ A morning, devotional reading arrested Diane’s attention when it blared in all capital letters: Find a need and fill it!⁷ Bob came home that same day and announced that the CDS administrative secretary had called to beg his help in restoring the organization about to fold due to the lack of leadership. With much prayer and Diane’s affirming answer from that morning’s reading, Bob embraced the volunteer job which required many hours each week in addition to his 30-hour, private dental practice load, and active STM schedule.

The Christian Dental Society logo represents the spreading of the Gospel Message of the Cross of Christ through global dental missions.

Although happy in his private, dental practice, frequent dental STMs, administration of the CDS, and family responsibilities, Bob’s plate piled ever higher. We prayed about what needed to be let go?! Suddenly, a divine redirection into full-time, dental STM work occurred due to Bob’s severe, eye retinal detachment that amazingly occurred in his home office (recent STMs to Turkey, Indonesia, and the Philippines would have proved disastrous if his eye had malfunctioned in any of those austere places). The emergency surgery to save his sight in that eye immediately took his private practice away. Since visual acuity and depth perception is essential to perform dentistry, a year and three surgeries would pass before Bob would be miraculously able to perform quality dentistry again. It stunned us initially when this crisis took Bob out of his dental practice permanently until we realized that our prayers had been answered for a more manageable and properly-prioritized schedule that allowed us to embrace full-time service in the CDS and the STMs. Within a week, God provided the perfect replacement dentist for Bob’s practice patients. For the last eight years since taking leadership of the CDS, we have been paying it forward, participating on STMs, and manning convention exhibit booths to encourage and inspire other dental personnel toward service.

Bob’s dental practice team in Colorado

The hand illustration⁸ sparked a unique, innovative, 300-page, doctoral research dissertation,⁹ with summaries in the American Dental Association¹⁰ and Dental Abstract journals.¹¹ These resources document the positive and productive outcomes of dental STMs by individuals who serve people globally. There are detractors for volunteerism attempts, of course, but the research instrument results and the interviews from STM-experienced dentists showed that risks and concerns are productively manageable and may be resolved.

The hand shows the six areas of human development: with the five fingers representing emotional, intellectual, physical, moral, and social aspects, while the palm depicts the spiritual facet that comprehensively impacts and sustains each of the five fingers. The Scriptural parallel is charted from the New Testament of the Bible: And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man (Luke 2:52). This table shows the relationship between Jesus’s life and our desire to grow to be more like Him in the six, corresponding, holistic areas.

The mixed-methods research¹² involved quantitative, numerical data from 400 research instruments carefully derived through an accumulation of STM resources from an extensive literature search, from years of personal experience, and interchanges with thousands of dental personnel interested in mission work. This body of knowledge was condensed into three benefit and three detractor statements in each of the six holistic hand categories that participants evaluated concerning STMs. The results for the benefits of STMs are shown in Appendix A and the detractors of STMs are documented in Appendix B. Appendix C records the demographics of the dentist participants of the study. This number of respondents provided a confidence level of 95 percent and a confidence interval of five—both substantive indicators of the reliability of the research returns.¹³

Interviews with 60 dentists—who averaged 55 dental STMs each—produced the qualitative portion of the research and confirmed and added information to the numerical data. These combined results showed the holistic benefits of dental STMs and the challenges and detractors that may be overcome. Since all research studies must have parameters for the participants, Christian dentists were chosen since faith-based organizations dominate STMs.

The graphed means of benefit and detractor results from the 400 research instruments evaluated by dentists are shown below and the evaluated statements and numerical statistics are given in Appendices A and B. There are significant benefits that may be gained in all six, holistic dimensions of a dentist’s life from participation in STMs. Although the detractors of STMs were identified, there were much fewer of them than benefits, and dentists generally agreed that these did not deter them from going on STMs. The detractor sections are often smaller in this book because dentists did not consider them as significant.

Relevant to any field of volunteerism—not just dentistry—real-life stories and guidance from the research instruments and the interviews are given in each chapter, along with recommendations for recruiting and encouraging dentists to participate in dental STMs. The research results were validated via triangulation of the valuable and extensive literature search, the quantitative research instruments, and the qualitative interviews.

We have outlined instructions for conducting STMs safely and comfortably in Appendix D. You can find more detail given in the Christian Dental Society’s Dental Mission Manual ¹⁴ available through Amazon Books or on Kindle.

A pastor went to an atheistic dentist who confessed that he did not believe in God because there was so much suffering and pain in the world. The pastor waited (of course, until the drill was put away) and then the pastor said, Using the same argument, I could say I do not believe there are dentists because how can so many people have broken, infected, and missing teeth if a dentist exists? The dentist immediately answered that he could not help anyone who does not come in to have their teeth fixed and the pastor answered, Exactly! That is the same for faith—Jesus cannot help people until they come to Him in repentance and trust, accept Him into their lives, and ask Him for help!

This book holds to a Christian premise that the Bible gives God’s Truth and that God is working in the lives of all people in the world today.

Christians remain the world’s largest religious group, although declining spiritual growth in much of the industrial world contrasts with a progressive increase in emerging countries of the world. Christians make up nearly a third (31%) of the Earth’s population, followed by Muslims (24%), people not claiming any religion (16%), Hindus (15%), and Buddhists (7%), while adherents of folk religions, Jews, and members of other religions make up much smaller shares of the world’s people (7% total).¹⁵

Therefore, we believe that the Christian component of STMs is necessary as we