On April 11, our small team of volunteers traveled to Gjakova, Kosovo, taking much needed supplies for SI's recently renovated dental clinic there. The day after we arrived, we attended church service at Eternity Church, pastored by Driton Gashi and Astrit Morina. The service was full, and we were glad to see our Kosovar friends and worship with them.

After church, we went to the clinic to set up for the coming week’s work. Over the winter, Memli and Indrit, our local employees, had redesigned and reconstructed the doctors’ room. They installed an elevated floor to cover the plumbing and wiring. The clinic also has a new compressor, vacuum pump and newer (used) equipment. It took us all afternoon to stock the four dental units. Next year the hygiene and x-ray room will be redone.

        

Currently, Dr. Rubik (part time) and Dr. Shpresa (full time) work at the clinic. It was good to have these two Kosovar dentists working with us because we only had one American doctor and hygienist on this trip. It was going to be an interesting week, but we knew that God had a plan and would guide us.

As usual, Monday started out busy, and we had a waiting room full of patients by 8 a.m. It seemed like the more we treated, the more showed up. By the end of the day we had taken care of 74 patients. We had very few problems with the new equipment, and we lost power for only a few hours on Thursday and Friday. With a simple conversion to generators, we were operating again in minutes.

The rest of the week was very busy as well. We saw patients from many of the surrounding villages who had never before seen a dentist. I was amazed. Virtually every tooth in their mouths had decay. Some of them were beyond repair. It was unbelievable that they were not having much pain. We did what we could, but if these kids can get back to the clinic, we can keep them from losing any more teeth.

        

It was a great week. We saw 274 patients and delivered $198,130 in free dental care to the widows, orphans and needy. It is always great to see how God works during these trips. Consider joining me on one of our next trips. You will be richly rewarded and blessed. Just watch what God does in your life.

Our next trips are:

April 24 - May 3, 2009

September 25 - October 4, 2009

Dentists, hygienists, and lay people are needed for these upcoming trips. Please call Service International (636.532.9008) to find out how you can get involved.

God bless you all.

Dr. Mark Ortinau
Dental Director for Service International
Honor God. Help People.