DAY FIVE
THREE AMIGOS
Dr. Barry Siller participated on his first Faith in Practice trip in 2001 as a solo gynecologist on a team with ENT doctors and a plastic surgeon. His busy week of clinic and surgery was rewarding but overwhelming and he left questioning whether he would make a return trip. Unbeknownst to him at the time, Drs. Ferdinand Plavidal and Tony Chavez, two of his Houston colleagues, had been working on mission teams in Guatemala with other organizations and were interested in continuing their mission work through Faith in Practice. After Dr. Siller returned home, he was surprised by a call from Dr. Plavidal, suggesting that the three of them team up on the next Faith in Practice trip and pool their talents. Thus was born the trio we have since referred to as “The Three Amigos.”
The team has returned each year to perform surgeries to help improve the lives of women suffering from serious gynecological problems. Dr. Chavez describes his first exposure to medical mission work in Guatemala as so emotionally intense that he doubted he could ever equal the initial feelings again. Now with more than thirty trips under his belt, he says, “Here I am coming back year after year and experiencing the same overwhelming sense of happiness that I felt the first time. I came down initially to help others but came to realize that they were helping me.” Dr. Plavidal says that he “came down to help fix people’s physical problems, but over time I realized that I was actually evangelizing simply by demonstrating God’s love through what we did.” This year the trio was blessed by the addition of a fourth amiga, Dr. Solafa Elshatanoufy, who added the subspecialty of Urogynecology to the abilities of this talented team.
Blessings,
Julie Moorhead
Moorhead Team 857
