Samaritan’s Purse partners with a Burlington, North Carolina, church to help meet dental and vision needs while sharing the Good News.
Jennifer Borth had pain in her teeth for years and plenty of other dental complications that couldn’t be solved on a single Saturday, but she traveled nearly two hours on Nov. 15 hoping for relief from the worst of it.
She said the teeth that would be pulled at the Samaritan’s Purse Community Medical Outreach (CMO) hosted by The Lamb’s Chapel in Burlington, North Carolina, had turned from nagging to aching to searing pain over a year and a half of putting off treatment.
Many patients came to the Samaritan’s Purse medical outreach at The Lamb’s Chapel in desperate need of dental care.
“Honestly, this clinic provides hope. It’s a lot of nerve pain–really sharp. It affects everything,” she said. “I know they can’t take care of everything that’s wrong with my teeth, but do you know how much extractions are? I couldn’t have afforded them. That’s why it’s taken me this long.”
More than three dozen medical professionals volunteered to provide vision and dental services to more than 360 patients, many who also received medical screenings. More than 100 additional volunteers were on hand during the Nov. 15-16 clinic to support the work and minister to patients. Billy Graham chaplains were also on hand to minister to patients as they wait and recover.
“If you work in medicine, you see this unmet need everywhere,” said Dr. Elliott Tenpenny, a physician and director of the Samaritan’s Purse International Health Unit. “Poverty makes dental care and vision care the first thigs to fall through the cracks.
Billy Graham chaplains ministered to patients as they waited to be seen.
“This is like doing medical missions at home. We know the massive need that exists in our own backyard. We learned so much through the Emergency Field Hospital, like how to mobilize, how to be self-sufficient. This is the same muscle applied in a new way.”
Longtime dentist Warren Rich said the physical brokenness he sees every day, including during stints at mission hospitals in Kenya and in his other international work with Samaritan’s Purse, is a reminder of a deeper spiritual truth.
“Everything falls apart, especially in the mouth,” he said. “We live in a world infiltrated by sin and decay, and we need help putting it back together. As a dentist I do what I can, but this is just a glimpse of what’s going on spiritually in all of us. The only one who can truly put things back together is Jesus.”
Feelings of Freedom and Hope
Jennifer Adams walked for more than two hours to get to the clinic because her glasses were more than a year past due for a new prescription.
Jennifer Adams traveled two hours on foot to the outreach and received an eye exam and a long-awaited pair of new glasses.
“Someone on the bus showed me the flyer two days ago and I walked here this morning,” she said. “My boyfriend of 20 years passed away recently, and I kind of became homeless. It’s been a ride. This clinic means freedom. I couldn’t afford to get glasses anywhere else. This means I can see, I can get my license, I can work, and I can save up to buy a car. I’m very grateful.”
Similarly, Anastasia Adams (unrelated to Jennifer) arrived with five kids in tow. She and two of the children needed new glasses and eye exams.
“It’s a blessing,” she said. “They were so kind to us. A lot of people around here don’t have much, and I really don’t have access to eye insurance. This has been a blessing.”
Optometrist Steven Miller performed eye exams and encouraged patients during the clinic.
Dr. Steven Miller, an optometrist for 13 years, said it’s been an eye-opening blessing to him to be able to serve a community in need.
“You get used to your own bubble, and coming out here and serving builds gratefulness in my soul,” he said. “Access to care is a real issue. Some people haven’t been able to get simple eyeglasses. Others needed testing or even surgery, which we were able to identify here. The need is huge—especially in vision.”
Elliott Tenpenny said that strengthening the work of the local church is a priority for this and future medical outreach events. In addition to medical professionals, church volunteers and pastors, along with Billy Graham chaplains, were available to minister to patients as they waited or while in recovery.
“Everything we do is through the local church,” he said. “We’re only here for a few days, but they’re here for the long haul. People may not remember Samaritan’s Purse but they’ll remember Lamb’s Chapel. People who might never walk into a church on Sunday morning are here today. You see a cross-section of people you don’t see anywhere else. And the church gets to love on them and share Christ.”
“Their pastors and ministry teams are here with our chaplains, sitting with people, praying with them. To see all these folks in need being ministered to—it’s a special place and a special time.”
A volunteer sits with a patient to encourage him as he awaits a medical screening.
