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Venezuela Missions - Meet the
Volunteers & Staff
We'll start with Daniel, since he's our son! He's 20, just got his Private Pilot's License and his dream is to become a mission pilot. Here he appears to be displaying a large ant, or "cepe" as they are called in the jungles of Bolivia where I served as a Student Missionary when I was Daniel's age. Daniel plans to spent about 5 months learning all he can about mission aviation, volunteering wherever needed around the Adventist Medical Aviation compound and participating in the hands-on portion of Union College's International Rescue and Relief program (IRR). He went down envisioning being available to fix, clean, organize, carry, whatever - spending long hard days working in the hot equatorial sun and sleeping on boards in little huts. Lately he's been frustrated at having to run around from one place to another spending hours translating for the doctors, workers at the building projects and babysitting the kids while the group runs errands in nearby Santa Elena. But he'll eventually get his share of physical activities! And he's more than happy to translate when the group takes him on excursions - jungle hikes, a three-day trip to Angel Falls, a canoe trip down a jungle river, and other treks! By June 28 he plans to return to California, save up funds, and continue his flight training, as well as whatever other preparation he needs before returning to the mission field.
Next we have Michael Duehrssen, director of the IRR program. Dr. Mike is an accomplished downhill skier, rock climber and has scaled many of the world’s highest peaks. Born with an adventurous spirit, Mike is now helping others harness their desire for adventure to be used for the Lord. A graduate of Loma Linda University with a degree in medicine, his specialty is emergency medicine. He was instrumental in developing Wilderness Way Adventures in Colorado, where students learn search and rescue, wilderness survival, rock climbing, and a whole lot more! This is his third trip to Venezuela, and he's really excited about providing hands-on training for young people in tropical medicine, travel medicine, emergency and rural care, public health and much more. Dr. Mike's life has been filled with extreme adventure and amazing miracles.
His wife Susan and daughters Madeline & Adrianna must like adventure and serving others, as they often seem to be with Dr. Mike wherever he goes! Click
here to
read Mike's account
Looks like Madeline found
And Adrianna doesn't look
Doctor Chuck Franklin is also part of the IRR team. The only thing I know about him is that Daniel says he's an excellent photographer!
Bob Norton (left) has been flying the mission plane in south Venezuela since 2002. Among many other jobs, he also keeps busy fixing broken things. Dr. Brent Hildebrand from the IRR team carefully studies the bike's innards.
Brent's wife Carol and daughter Tessa are in Venezuela with him as well. They have a son also . . . where is he anyway? Daniel, are you keeping an eye on those kids while the grownups are gone?
Oh, here's Brenty!
Michael Hoppe is the only IRR student this year, so he gets the full attention of the teaching staff! Next year they hope to have 25 students, so things should be busier then!
Corrie Sample is serving as a Student Missionary this year, with plans to stay on and take part in the IRR program next year. She's involved in a variety of projects - providing care for patients as they arrive on the plane, seeing that their needs are met while in the hospital, and assisting in village clinics. Corrie's dream has always been to do medical work in places where none is available, so she's very excited to be here and have the opportunity to do so. She will also be helping with interior and exterior design of the IRR buildings on the compound. Her family has served as missionaries in Pohnpei, Micronesia and Papua New Guinea. They currently reside in Nebraska, having lived previously lived in Oregon, Washington and Alaska. Corrie's entire family has a passion for missions, and if you were to meet them in person, they would amaze you with dozens of thrilling mission stories! |
