Rafter J Cowboy Church
Rafter J Cowboy Church
Aviation Ministry - Spring 2006
by Jim Phillips
Late in the spring of 2006 Paul Davis of "Air Transport Arm of Christ" ask if I would be available from May 18 - 22 to fly a mission. The semester at Eastfield ender on May 11th and I would be available...so...I informed my flying students, got my chores at the ranch covered and planned for the flight.
This mission was to fly dentists and their assistants and equipment to Tampico, Mexico to provide a free dental clinic for area orphanages. In all, four airplanes and four pilots would be involved in this mission. These four pilots where; Bennie Green, Jim Phillips, Skip Wade and Cliff Milligan. All the equipment for a full clinic was well as the following dental personnel were transported: Dr. James W. Berry (leader of this Mission) Dr. Robert Philips assisted by his wife Stephanie, Debbie Bryant, Trish Perry, and Jayne Stoffel. Dr. Philips and Mrs. Philips flew sown and back with me in the V35B. Dr. Philips is a student pilot (just about ready for the private Pilot check ride) was a great help with copilot duties down and back.
As for the flight...it was fairly routine and uneventful. The weather was perfect all the way down and back with only one small thunder shower off the coast near Corpus on the return Trip. The small storm showed up clearly on our trusty GPS396 and was no factor. Mexican customs and import was especially easy this time due to advance work by Wendell (Jack) Cox which is a missionary worker in Tampico. I have learned to carry all required papers because one never knows what to expect from trip to trip.
>After landing in Tampico on Thursday May 18th we ate supper at a restaurant across from the hotel and threw our personal gear in our rooms. The remainder of the evening was spent setting up the portable clinic. A lot of time was spent sanitizing equipment and facilities. The room to be used was the chapel at the Salvation Army Orphans Home. It was a fairly large room divided into six sections. One section each for the dentist and one section for each of the Hygienist, one for cleaning equipment and one for equipment no in use.
>Friday am the work began, all the children from the Salvation Army Orphanage were seen the first day and did I get an education in triage dentistry! The range of services needed were from a simple cleaning (many were not so simple) to children with an entire set of teeth rotten to the gums. The day was a long day with ebbs and flows of patients. Everyone was glad to simple get back to the hotel, eat supper and turn in. Never having been on a Dental Mission before I knew little to expect other than flying a heavily loaded aircraft of folks and equipment down to Tampico and back (I didn't even meet my passengers until the time of takeoff). Was I in for a surprise! My fellow pilot, Bennie Green and I worked constantly the whole time. Bennie was basically the equipment man (sometimes it took us both, such as replacing large CO2 cylinders) Bennie was also responsible for sanitizing the equipment so that it could be used again. I rarely saw Bennie sitting down. Since I was the only one on the mission who spoke any Spanish, guess who was cast into the role of interpreter! Talk about a "Stretch" There was no choice so I "Rose to the occasion."
The procedure was that the dentist would make a diagnoses and decide what should/could be done for this patient and then proceed accordingly. My duty was to explain this to the patient and get their permission to proceed...this all sounds fairly simple huh? except that my part was all done in Spanish. The other part of my role was more psychological in nature such as providing distracting conversation during difficult procedures...a word of encouragement at the correct moment or making sure the person was aware of all their options. Aftercare was also explained as well as instructions from the dentist to the patient during a procedure such as "Open Wide"..."I'm going to administer an injection for pain"..."Bite on this." etc...
>Some of the saddest cases were the children with teeth so bad that basically nothing could be done in on day which would help them. Suggestions were made for management until the developmental arrival of adult teeth. Distinct differences were obvious between the groups of children from an orphanage which allows very little sugar to those with a policy not limiting sugar...probably a research study there somewhere. Even in these short days some of the children "grabbed your heart". Two little six year old fellows dressed in the jeans and white shirts "Uniform" of their home kept sneaking out on me...as soon as I turned my back to help on of the dentist they would head for the playground. They would go to the far side of the play area and blend in with the rest of the blue jeans and white shirts. I apprehended them when they came back to ask for one of the toy airplanes we were giving away to those who had seen the dentist. We all hugged and had our photo taken. This would be the photo at the top of this page.
It was an inspiration to see these professional people work so hard for those so in need. It was very energy consuming work requiring concentration, positive attitudes, skill and endurance. It sort of reminded me of the good natured sense of humor we all enjoyed in the "Mash" TV shows, everyone appreciated and supported the work of the others. And the strength gained by being in service to the Lord brought us all through.
Sincerely,
Jim Phillips
Please see pictures of this mission trip.
If you would like more information on how to support this ministry please contact Jim Phillips at this emailbox.