June 20-24, a team from Hand of Hope partnered with Service International volunteers for a mission in Kosovo to give free dental and medical care to families in need.

Dr. Mark Ortinau ("Dr. O") led the dental team, which treated 189 patients at SI's new clinic in the heart of Gjakova. The dental clinic is staffed year round with local dental professionals and staff who receive periodic training and encouragement from Dr. O and SI volunteer teams. SI's new facilities in Gjakova provide new and modern workspaces for dentists and their patients and greater storage space for supplies and equipment. The new building also houses SI's International Headquarters.

    

Dr. Ken Corwin and Dr. Paul Diehl led the medical team which included a doctor from Macedonia and four nurses (two from Australia, one from the US, and one US Army military nurse on leave from Germany). During their five-day mission, they traveled to Bercoc, Dujaka, and Liprovic—villages on the outskirts of Gjakova—treating 697 patients and writing 2596 medical prescriptions. Dr. Diehl treated over 400 patients for reading glasses. To give each patient an eye test, he used a customized eye chart—a Gospel tract printed in Albanian!

    

On this team of 18 volunteers, two came from Washington State—Pastor Jerry Dahlke and his daughter Angie. This was Pastor Dahlke's eighth mission to Kosovo. He says, "I love helping people . . . and when we go in to help people through medical and dental missions and JUMP Kids Camps, we are showing the people of Kosovo what it really means to be a Christian, showing them God's love."

All total, 886 patients received free medical or dental care and, best of all, they learned that there are people in faraway places who care about them and will travel halfway around the world to bring them help and hope.

DID YOU KNOW?
Service International European Headquarters is within a ten-hour drive to: Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia and Romania. Just add four hours more to reach Istanbul, Moldova and Italy!

CLICK HERE to view a complete list of Service International's upcoming mission trips to Kosovo and other parts of the world.