Thanks for joining us for the second day of surgeries in Antigua. By now, you’re familiar with the mission, but perhaps you have questions about the organizations that make this effort possible. Well, we’re glad you asked!
Faith In Practice is a Texas-based non-profit that has been bridging geographic and cultural divides for thirty years. They collaborate with over 1,100 international and 300 Guatemalan volunteers annually to provide procedures for over 17,000 Guatemalans. Faith in Practice recognizes that healthcare needs extend beyond the operating room. Their model prioritizes community empowerment, capacity building, and education, ensuring long-term sustainability.
Our team was founded in 2002 by Oregon OB/GYN Dr. Jim Stempel and his wife Mary Stempel, a labor and delivery nurse. Their children, Tim, Katie, and Andrew, have all grown up participating in these missions. The team is now led by Jim and Mary’s daughter, Nurse Practitioner Katie Stempel, along with anesthesiologist Dr. Ross Martini.
Our team also has the distinct honor of working alongside Faith in Practice’s first Guatemala-based volunteer medical team led by Dr. Jorge Enrique Méndez. The Méndez team represents a landmark achievement for the organization and we continue our collaboration now in its second year. It’s thanks to the Méndez team that we are able to run a record eight rooms this year.
“Working together gives us more experience and more knowledge and it’s also really fun to meet other people, other professionals—their personalities and the way they interact with patients,” says Dr. Méndez.
Central to our service is Obras Sociales Santo Hermano Pedro, known colloquially as Las Obras, an Antigua-based non-profit sharing the same commitment to serving marginalized communities and those with limited access to affordable healthcare. Founded by Fray Guillermo Bonilla, the hospital is a vital anchor for Faith in Practice.
Obras Sociales and its services and facilities are both modern and beautiful. Built in the 1600s, surviving several earthquakes, has served various functions over the years. Through renovations and expansions, it has become a state-of-the-art medical center standing as a beacon of hope, with its 27 specialty clinics and 8 operating rooms. As you approach the warm yellow building, you can’t help but stop to appreciate its beauty. Inside, peaceful gardens and courtyards provide comfort for patients, families, staff, and volunteers.
“Going to Las Obras just feels like going home,” says Dr. Karen Zink, a Portland-based surgeon and long-time team member. This is true for many of us on the team, some who have served this mission since its inception, many of whom couldn’t even tell you how many years it has been. Part of what makes this team so special is the leadership’s desire to bring a raft of new volunteers to experience this mission each year.
Our veteran volunteers share a unique ability to make new team members feel right at home, gently guiding them through their first days at Las Obras. “If I have questions about certain things, everybody is more than willing to step up,” explains scrub tech and newcomer Jessica Strange, “they’re all very open, friendly, incredibly nice, and very inviting. It’s just been 10 out of 10.”
General Surgeon Dr. Andy Cramer, who has been involved with this team since 2007 says that for him, newcomers are central to bringing the mission into focus, “Us old timers, we’ve been here, we’ve seen it, and then the newcomer comes, they go, ‘Wow! This is so amazing! Tell me about this!’ And then we’re going, well, you’re right. It is amazing!” For Cramer, new team members help him remember the wonder and the beauty of the mission. “They really bring in a critically important element to the whole thing.”
I sat Peggy Olsen, a PACU nurse with nearly three decades of experience, and to ask how her time has been so far with our team. “Everyone here is really, really friendly,” Olsen says, “People have come up to introduce themselves. I felt immediately welcomed.”
Between cases, in the hallway, Jessica Strange smiles and says, “I will probably become a regular and do this every year from now on. You’re stuck with me!”
By the end of the day, we treated forty patients. It’s an incredible achievement, and I was able to witness our team work together, help one another, and throughout it all, have moments of peace and levity.
I’ll end with a prayer from our Worship Book from the Unitarian tradition:
“Go to the world in peace,
have courage,
hold on to what is good,
return no one evil for evil,
strengthen the faint-hearted,
help the suffering,
honor, love, and serve all,
rejoicing in the abundance of creation.”
Peace and good. ✌️👍
