Guest Blogger John A. Novotny

This will make my 7th "medical" mission trip, having been to Nicaragua twice (2010 & 2011), Guatemala (2012), Kenya (2013), Haiti (2014) and Nepal (2015).  I have also been on as many Church mission trips prior to these medical ones, through the Federated Church in Columbus, NE, with the youth. The Federated Church has been very instrumental with supporting our medical missions in terms of financial, materials & supplies, and spiritually. 


Each trip is unique, even if repeated. Team members change, facilities change, needs change each time.  People sometimes indicate that they would love to go on a trip like this, but don't have any medical skills. I am not medically trained, I am business trained with a farm background.  The need for non-medical support staff is key to enabling the medical staff to perform their tasks. Just ask any medical person you know that has gone on a mission trip. If you ever think you would like to try a trip, let us know.




Many blogs reference the changes we can make in the underserved, and all of that is very true. In addition, any trip like this can help change your own point of views about life and priorities.




I have been asked to be what we call a "MacGyver" on this trip, which is basically a "fix-it" or "gopher" function.  I will also be coordinating many of the logistics of getting the team for week #2 there.  By my count, there are 10 team members there for week #1 (April 15-22), and 29 team members for week #2.  There are 6 members that will be there both weeks, making a total of 33 different people spanning the two weeks. We generally work harder and longer on a mission trip than we do at our regular jobs, so it is far from a vacation.  We will come back both exhausted and refreshed, if there is such a thing. However,Haiti shares the same island as the Dominican Republic, and the two countries together make up what is called "Hispaniola", which was so named by Christopher Columbus in 1492 on his voyage. By topography, it is a beautiful place, much like any Caribbean island. So we will be in a tropical island setting, but surrounded by the effects of a long-term unstable political situation and poverty.  But the smiles on the people we serve, help on get past this dichotomy. The smile on my daughter Giana's face from a prior mission trip we went on, is special too.