This is more than just relieving pain and suffering … It’s about spreading the gospel.
That sentiment resonates with participants in a recent mission trip to Tanzania with Dr. Bob Zimmerman of Waynesboro.
For Zimmerman, a retired dentist, it was his 60th mission trip, a journey that started in 1977 after he graduated from dental school. “I bought a local dental practice, but it was being remodeled and would not be ready until September. I needed something to do. An acquaintance mentioned to me that a dentist was needed for a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. So I volunteered.”
“I was hooked on the adventure of it … people getting up at 3 a.m. to stand in line for three hours to see me. It was an adrenaline rush. That changed in the mid-’80s, when it became more about Christ and ministering,” he added.
“Since then, we have helped bring Christ to people by helping missionaries look better in the eyes of the people they are trying to reach with the gospel. And there’s the extra benefit of relieving years of pain and suffering.”
Zimmerman’s work eventually led to invitations from missionaries overseas to their missions stations,” he said. “Then, in the mid-90s, I started planning mission trips on my own, many of them with the Christian Medical and Dental Association.” The most recent trip was his 16th to Tanzania, which is just one of the 11 countries – including Romania, India and Ecuador – on five continents he has visited with volunteers ranging in age from 12 to 86.
“This was my 13th trip with Safina – Swahili for ark – Street Network, an organization that rescues kids off the streets.” It is a holistic outreach to vulnerable children and young people, with many coming from broken families. The children live on the street, where they face crime, drug abuse, hardship and repeated rejection, according to information on its website, safinastreetnetwork.com
Zimmerman’s wife, Linda, has accompanied him on 20 to 25 of the trips. “When she didn’t, she let me leave her with five kids at home. She has been a huge support. She plans logistics for our international travel. During the projects she is the clinic manager. That’s the biggest headache … scheduling the exams, who’s coming in and when, and their transportation.”
Zimmerman said his volunteers “have a heart to serve. They’re willing to sacrifice their time, energy and money for someone else. They have a faith and want to do this for Christ and to help spread the gospel. I’ve also taken atheists … they want to serve.”
A volunteer trip to a third world country “is like trying to empty the ocean with a spoon,” he said. “You know you have limited impact, but you do it because you want people to know Christ and to help the organizations working in those communities have a stronger voice.”
Often, transportation is on dirt roads to work and can be in locations such as under a tree, on somebody’s front porch or in a church, he added.
Typically, half of Zimmerman’s team doesn’t have medical or dental training. “But if you need someone to fix an air compressor, or run electrical lines on 110 when local energy is 220 … when the situation calls for a MacGyver (a TV show about a character who has an extraordinary knack for unconventional problem solving), who can fix, with limited resources, whatever goes wrong.”
Early trips, during which mostly extractions were done, supplies could be packed into two overseas trunks, he added. “Now that we are doing restorative work, we need 10 to 12 trunks and one or two air compressors.
Accommodations for volunteers vary, according to Zimmerman. “The typical and ‘the best’ is what we would consider a cheap motel, and the worst is when we sleep on the floor on mats and take baths in a stream, well or spring,” according to Zimmerman.
A memory that tugs at Zimmerman’s heart strings concerns an angry Romanian teen who refused to open her mouth for an examination. “It was fear, but we kept talking to her (through an interpreter) as sweetly as we could and finally she agreed.” After the procedure was over, “her whole countenance changed. She walked over to me – I was sitting down and interviewing another patient – and she said, ‘Can I give you a kiss?’ She leaned over and kissed my cheek. It was worth the price of the trip. And we have lots of stories like this, of people surprising you with how grateful they are.”
Volunteer Aspen Buffington of Waynesboro said she traveled to Tanzania with Zimmerman because she wanted to make a difference in someone else’s life. Buffington, a senior at Shippensburg University studying biology, was an intern in Zimmerman’s dental office during her senior year of high school. “I’m a biology major because I want to go into the dental field and have a lifelong goal of being an oral surgeon.
“Once I got to know him (Zimmerman), he really influenced me. After high school, we kept in touch, and mission trips always came up in our conversations,” she noted.
The experience was “incredible,” said Buffington, her voice breaking. “I never realized what I was given until I saw what these children weren’t given.” Buffington encouraged others to “take advantage of any opportunity you have to make a difference.”
In addition to going to church in people’s homes, Buffington played soccer with their children. “They were smiling the whole time, barefoot, playing on rocks with a badly made soccer ball, but they couldn’t have enjoyed themselves any more. They were amazing.”
Sixteen-year-old Anna Oslikova, a junior at Waynesboro Area Senior High School, said the trip changed the trajectory of her life. “I really like to travel – I’m adventurous – and thought this would be a very cool opportunity to see another part of the world.”
Now mission work “is going to be my career,” Anna said. “This inspired me and my entire life has changed completely. No matter how much you see or read online (about conditions in third world countries) it doesn’t prepare you. You never truly know (what it’s like) until you are immersed in that culture.
“The one big thing I learned about materialism, which for a lot of people is the source of happiness, is that happiness, connection and meaning doesn’t come from endless amounts of things, it comes from each other. These children were able to take anything and create music and fun.”
“On one of the first days, when I was sorting through T-shirts and supplies we were giving away, there was a group of kids sitting near me who had waited all day without, like us, phones and books, and I thought ‘I bet they would love to color.” Anna retrieved art supplies from her room and distributed them to the children. “One of the girls was drawing microscopes and plant cells and labeling them … so proud of what she was doing. And I thought, ‘That was something I complained about in middle school.’”
Debbie Pflager of Waynesboro said she was “privileged to accompany Dr. Bob” on her third mission trip. “While the trip and work were physically challenging, the rewards were great. Being in a third-world country gives you perspective on our lives and is a humbling experience. The people were so gracious, generous, and thankful and I hope we made a difference in their lives.”
Kim Reed is a veteran of five or six mission trips. As an engineer, she has little dental experience; however, she handles sterilization, logistics and finances (managing all of the team expenses), according to Zimmerman.
“Dr. Bob would share stories about his mission trips during my appointments and I decided I wanted a place in the adventure. Since that time, I have accompanied Dr. Bob to India, Tanzania and Honduras.
“The most recent trip to Tanzania gave me an excellent opportunity to interact with about 40 of the street boys by telling (through a translator) the story of Zaccheus. My main connection point was that Jesus saw worth in a man that everyone else rejected, that Jesus offered love and salvation to him, and that Zaccheus was changed by knowing Jesus. In the same manner, as we meet the physical needs of these boys, we also represent Christ as we love them and see them as valuable young men.”
Donna Dietrich, of Atlanta and formerly of Waynesboro, has participated in more than 15 mission trips with Zimmernan since 2008, “because I felt a calling to help people and a pull to Africa.
“In the process of giving back and helping others, there’s no measure to how much I’ve received in return. I’m planning to go again, without hesitation.”
“Your mission field can be far. It can be close, helping a next door neighbor or a person on the street,” Dietrich added. “Just look around. There are people to help. You just have to keep your eyes open.”
