There are more than words to describe those individuals who endeavor to give back to a greater cause, enabling an effort of peace to those who are shrouded by chaos, encouraging a movement of change in a world where so many people have been forged by neglect, famine, illness and poverty. These selfless individuals and organizations who give with both hands and heart, offer the most fundamental need of any person, regardless of age or circumstance ... they give hope. As the Executive Director of Children’s Emergency Relief International, Pastor Dearing Garner isn’t new to leading groups who minister around the world. In the ladder part of this past March, he and seven other volunteers from different backgrounds, and different parts of the country joined forces to serve a greater mission, to seek a deeper purpose for the betterment of children living in third–world conditions. “Our mission is to concentrate on the needs of those who have been neglected in life,” says Dearing.
Every year, CERI organizes more than 20 mission trips throughout parts of Southeast Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America. This particular mission was the vision of Dr. David Marks, a private practice doctor in Pulmonary and Critical Care in San Antonio. “Medicine provides a vehicle to provide good will to others,” he says.
Dr. Marks initially found alliance with a local organization, Baptist Child and Family Services, whose main mission is to do adoptive services for children. CERI is its overseas counterpart. “I wanted to go to Nigeria,” he says. “These are children who have nothing, and yet are so happy just to see you and know you care.”
CERI organized the trip to Nigeria with Pastor Dearing, Dr. Marks, and a group of volunteers including Dr. Saul Comacho, MD; Dr. Chris Perkins, a dentist; Bob Bufkin, a nurse; Benny McDonald, a hospital CFO; Matthew Kim, a student; and Eliot Garza, the publisher of NSIDE Magazine. “We all had the same purpose,” says Dr. Marks. “We all wanted to help.”
Dr. Camacho, a family doctor and Director of Matamoros Children’s Home, where he cares and serves orphans and neglected and abused children, says this wasn’t his first mission trip, but it was his first trip to Nigeria. Over the last 23 years, he’s traveled throughout Mexico and other Latin America countries providing medical care to orphans and others in need.
“Getting to know and fellowship with other people who seek to serve the poor and needy children is an awesome experience; I learned that there are people whom God wants to use to deliver his blessings to his children around the world.”
The flight to Abuja, the capitol city of Nigeria took many long hours. Their destination, an orphanage in Otutulu, was hidden in an isolated and inaccessible part of the country, held within quarters without electricity.
“The people live off of the land,” describes Dearing. There are no modern conveniences; no cell phones or computers. The sweltering heat raises over 100 degrees.
In a third–world country, unaware exactly what to expect, the group began on a difficult journey. The morning after their arrival, they set out to Otutulu to the Ministry of Mercy. On their way, they stopped at a local orphanage housing more than 60 babies under the age of five to perform medical screenings. Afterwards, they continued on through a riverbed to the ministry where they would stay for the next week and a half.
“As we pulled up, all the kids ran up to the car so happy. They want to touch you and they’re smiling, waving, screaming. There was tremendous enthusiasm that we were there,” recalls Dr. Marks.
However, amidst the smiles and innocent gazes of children ranging from newborns to young adults, Ministry of Mercy projects in each of their children exactly what their name implies. In the orphanage, 350 child residents are suffering with special needs. Some are throw–away orphans, abandoned by their families, and many are crippled. “If it weren’t for this orphanage, these children would die,” says Dearing.
The doctors saw many children with upper respiratory infections, parasitic diseases, typhoid fever, malaria, skin abscesses, and malnutrition.
“This is extremely hard work,” shares Dr. Marks. “But it’s also very rewarding.”
After providing medical care to all the children at the orphanage; the group opened their doors to the surrounding villages. Hundreds of people filtered in from miles and miles away in hopes of being seen. The two doctors and dentist saw a combined total of 1200 patients and distributed over 500 pounds of medication, totaling more than $10,000.
“With each child, it was such a memorable encounter,” says Dr. Marks.
Chris Perkins was one of the volunteers who expressed how impacted he was to witness the children and teachers deep faith towards God and love for one another, even in the most trying conditions. “I didn’t expect to see the compassion these kids have for one another and to see the love the director and teachers have for the kids. It was just a wonderful experience,” he describes. “God is great!”
Publisher Eliot Garza played with the children in the orphanage, taking hundreds of snapshots of children’s faces that would leave a lasting impact on the lives of so many others. He admits he never could have imagined what he saw or experienced during his time in Nigeria.
“It humbles you completely,” says Eliot. “Nothing can prepare you for what you see. These children are so grateful, and their hearts are so big.”
Pastor Dearing exudes a deep appreciation for the group of men who participated in this mission with both passion and commitment to the cause. “It was an incredible trip,” he says. “We were a team. Each man took on their own responsibilities and we did it together.”
The men were hard pressed every day, and all day long in very adverse conditions, but they managed to stay the course from beginning to end. Matthew Kim, a recent graduate of UTSA, says the experience opened him to witness the hardship other people face around the world.
“Once you go on a mission trip, your entire life is changed,” says Benny Mcdonald, CFO of Cartersville Medical Hospital in Rome, Georgia. “There’s no way that one could see the things we see, experience the experiences we do, or feel the emotions we feel during a mission trip and not be changed.”
While Dr. Marks believes his calling has led him to places across the globe to serve people and help save lives, he clearly states, you don’t have to go to a place like Nigeria to make a difference in this world. “You just have to care about this world and about people,” he emphasizes. He gives as much respect to those who volunteer locally as he does to those who have the opportunity to volunteer around the world.
“The challenge to whoever reads this article is to look at what you can do to make a small sacrifice in your time to go help,” he says with deep conviction. “And you’re going to be so much more fulfilled as a human being.”
In the quiet apparatus of nightfall, there are thousands of children around the world sleeping soundly in their beds, some dreaming of a time when there will be no more tears, no more pangs of hunger, nor illnesses to battle. Yet, comfort will be close–by, for no matter what the future holds, someone is thinking of them, looking at their picture; precious expressions of innocence that remind us all how fragile a life is. Whether across the globe or in a near–by shelter, there are many individuals, “angels on earth” we might call them, who make brave sacrifices in a joint effort to make the world a better place. Regardless of what part of the world we are in, or where our acts of giving extend itself, no one should ever forget the bounty of what it means to be God’s children, for they are the light of the world, and they will not been forgotten.
Since it began in 1999, CERI (Children Emergency Relief International) has completed upward of 125 missions around the world, including in Russia, Eastern Europe, South East Asia, Africa and Latin America
CERI has served in the African countries of Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda. Most recently CERI has begun work in the State of Chiapas, Mexico.
