Dedication of Life and Property

By Mark & Donna Thompson

As we pulled up to the port of Santo Antonio do Iça, Donna and I eagerly scanned the crowds to see if we recognized any faces. Four years ago, we left Brazil as short-term missionaries and now we were returning for a two-week construction trip.

A few weeks earlier we met Bruce and Karleen Johnson, of Construction for Worldwide Evangelism. CWE sent men and women to build an addition to the Amazonas Baptist Hospital. This new facility accommodates 30 inpatients with separate men's, women's and pediatric wards, an ICU, a labor room and a huge sterilizing/central supply room.

Learning of two cancellations on the construction team, Donna and I decided to go. We had only three weeks to get visas, pack our bags with donated hospital supplies and Portuguese Bibles, and drive to Florida to leave our children with my parents.

There was great excitement as 21 men and women gathered in the Miami airport and started getting acquainted. The trip went smoothly from Miami to Bogota, Colombia, then to Leticia to board the river boat that would take us 250 miles to the hospital.

Much needed to be completed before the February 14 dedication. For 10 days men worked long hours hanging doors, wiring outlets and lights, painting the building, and constructing a 10,000 gallon water tank. Women cooked, cleaned and laundered. I spent most mornings in surgery with Dr. Jack Sorg, one of the founders of the hospital.

The morning of the dedication I swept the floor and carried out trash, praising God for the hundreds of people saved in the past 12 years through medical evangelism. I also praised Him for the beautiful building He provided through the efforts of over 100 CWE volunteers.

By 9 a.m. hundreds had gathered on the front lawn of the Amazonas Baptist Hospital to witness the dedication. Pastors and local church members praised God. After a final prayer came the grand tour of the hospital's new wing. As we said our farewells at the hospital, Donna and I promised to return as soon as possible.

Missions was heavily emphasized at Montrose Baptist Church where I grew up. I have many memories of missionary slide presentations and curios from foreign lands. I also enjoyed reading missionary stories and dreamed of becoming a missionary pilot until I realized I cannot even look down in a car without getting sick. But I still wanted to be a missionary, and eventually my interests turned to medicine.

When my sisters Mary Ann and Christine became medical missionaries, I experienced missions first hand. In Togo, West Africa, I did research on river blindness, helped with the construction of the Karolyn Kempton Memorial Hospital, and helped run the lab two different times.

While in medical school I visited the Amazonas Baptist Hospital where Mary Ann worked. During family practice training, I was debating between going to Togo or Amazonas. Mary Ann wrote about a half-price airline special to Brazil. That's hard for any missionary to turn down! She also wrote about a nurse who impressed her more than any other short-termer. I booked a flight for Brazil, and now I will let that short-termer give her story.

Unlike Mark, missions was not in my plans even though I also was saved at an early age. During youth retreats and summer camps I told God I was willing to do whatever He wanted, tacking on "even if You want me to be a missionary." After completing my schooling, I became the nurse at Shepherd's Home in Union Grove, Wisconsin. Following two short-term missions trips, I changed my prayer to: "Please let it be missions for my life." Contacting ABWE I accepted the opportunity to work at the Amazonas Baptist Hospital for a year. That was when Mark came to visit.

We were married in 1995, attended Candidate classes in 1996, and are eager to return to Brazil to serve the Lord in medical evangelism.

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