A group of six individuals from Tahoe, as well as two dentists from Minneapolis, will be traveling to the Dominican Republic in early October. They are traveling not for a Caribbean vacation with sandy beaches and crystal clear blue waters, but to provide dental care and God's love to children in the mountain city of Jarabacoa.

The team, from The Village Church in Incline Village, will be providing dental education and care to over 200 children from Anija School and The Ark Children's Home; as well as sharing songs, games, drama, crafts, Bible lessons and stories with the children. Both of these facilities are ministries of KidsAlive International. This will be the teams second trip to Jarabacoa providing continuing dental care and God's love.

The dental team is comprised of dental hygienists Jan Talbot and Mary Kay Randall; Renee Taylor and Pastor Dick Randall providing clinic support; and dentists Dr. Lewis Pierce and Dr. Megan Telste. This team will provide dental education, clean teeth, give fluoride treatments, apply dental sealants, restore and extract teeth. Their “make shift portable dental clinic” will be in the basement of a church adjoining the Anija School as well as an unused classroom on the campus.

Last year the team was challenged with the amount of dental care needed by these children which lead to more planned dental mission trips.

The rest of the team — Barbara Brown and Joannie McNulty — will be sharing games, drama, crafts and songs with the children, as well as helping them with English.

The Team greatly appreciates the support of the community with this continuing dental mission. The financial as well as dental equipment and supply donations are making this second trip possible. If you would like to assist, please call The Village Church at 775-831-0784 for more information.