When you open your heart to mission work, you can never be sure where God might send you — possibly to the jungles of Belize. At least, that is where Central members Alicia & Jeremy Nails found themselves recently. They were part of a medical mission team with Fishers of Men International sent to Camelote which is a village in the Cayo district of Belize. Alicia is a dentist who practices in Decatur and Jeremy is with the North Alabama Industrial Development Association.

   “It was my first mission trip and it was a lot of hard work,” said Alicia. “But it was so much better than I expected. We saw about 900 patients, mainly kids. Most of them had never seen a dentist before.” The team primarily performed tooth extractions, but because they had portable dental units, they were also able to do some fillings and other more complex procedures. “The days were full. We averaged seeing a new patient every 20 minutes.”

One of Alicia’s dental assistants made the trip with them, but Jeremy was also able to step in and assist during busy times. His main job was to sterilize the dental instruments with bleach water.

“We both came back renewed. In Belize, we had no TV, limited internet access, and the showers were usually cold. But you realize how much extra baggage we have at home. We have so much that we don’t even really need.

“We were encouraged to talk to the people about our faith, which was a little hard for me,” said Alicia. “But we did have about 30 or 40 people who made the decision to become a Christian. I realized that all I really needed to tell them was that I was there because I love God and that God loves them. It does get easier to talk about your faith the more you do it.”
Alicia and Jeremy went to Belize with the plan that they might go on a mission trip every five years. But, after experiencing one mission trip, they’ve changed their minds. They are ready to go back next year.