Dr. Harris has recently joined the adjunct faculty of the University of Texas Dental Branch in Houston to share some of his dental experience with a new generation of dentists. After several years of planning, he has added 4-6 teaching days each month to his schedule, while maintaining his busy practice in Temple. One of his first assignments will involve the supervision of 4th year students in their restorative operatories, where he will help them perfect their crown and bridge skills before they graduate and take on practices of their own.

No stranger to teaching, Dr. Harris is a frequent contributor to local dental society and advanced dentistry study clubs. One of his favorite teaching assigments is a marriage class at Grace Bible Church in Killeen. Most of the couples have at least one spouse serving in the U.S. Army, and they face unique challenges with deployments, frequent re-locations and separations, and dangerous assignments. Dr. Harris and his wife Carol treasure their new friendships with these young couples who serve our country with such courage and pride!

“If You Have Done it Unto the Least of These”

What would you do if you could not afford medical
care, dental care or food to feed your hungry family?
Serving Him volunteers traveled to San Raymundo,
Guatemala in April 2011, bringing some welcome
assistance for some of the poorest people in Central
America.

Dr. Harris made his third trip to Guatemala with
the ministry organization Serving Him, along with 53 other team members who brought
medical and dental care, food, and stoves as tangible examples of God’s love. Members of
the team included dentists and physicians from Dallas, Texarkana, and Temple, Texas; one
dentist came from Nebraska! Assisting the medical/dental teams were a variety of other
volunteers, including Dr. Harris’ wife Carol, daughter Leslie, son‐in‐law Stephen Watson
and dental assistant Kim Cooper.

Dr. Harris worked in the dental clinic three
full days, and enjoyed one day of traveling in the
remote areas with a “stove team.” Many of the
indigenous people of Guatemala cook over open fires
inside their small homes of tin and plastic. This
results in poor health for the families, wastes
valuable wood resources and creates a burn hazard.
Serving Him volunteers installed over 50 stoves
during the week, providing safe and efficient cooking
for the families who received them. A number of organizations have targeted the open‐fire
cooking issue in Guatemala, so there are a variety of stoves available. For more information
on the type of stoves that Serving Him volunteers install, visit Helps International
(http://www.helpsintl.org.)

Stephen Watson was deeply
impressed by the poverty he witnessed as
he traveled each day with the children’s
ministry team and the stove installation
teams to visit families who live high in the
mountains surrounding San Raymundo.
Guatemala is home to the Maya, indigenous
people who have lived in Central America
and Southern Mexico for 4,000 years. Each
village has its own patterns for textiles, and
the traditional wrap skirts and brightlyembroidered
tops are worn by women of all
ages, from tiny girls to the oldest grandmothers. But their brightly colored clothes
provide a stark contrast to their dismal living
conditions, with little food in the dry season and
open‐fire cooking as the norm. The children’s
ministry team enjoyed bringing laughter and fun,
and most importantly bringing the Good News of
Jesus Christ! Stephen’s team included a translator,
Antonio, and three students from Grace Bible
Church: Natalie Arauco, Joel Shepherd and Nathan
Shepherd. Carol and Leslie Harris also worked on
the children’s team; this was their second trip to Guatemala. The team painted faces, sang
songs, and presented Bible stories in four different locations during the week, accompanied
by a local pastor and his family. Fun!

Back in San Raymundo, under the guidance of Dr. Cam
Nelson of the Cooper Clinic, Serving Him partnered with a
local church to provide a health fair with a variety of
services: dental screenings and education, cholesterol, blood
sugar and blood pressure evaluations, and general medical
screenings. Assistant Kim Cooper stayed busy examining patients, utilizing a folding patio lounger for the dental
chair! Patients whose screenings indicated health
concerns were referred to the medical/dental clinic where Serving Him volunteers could
follow up with the appropriate treatment. Over 200 people visited the 1st Annual Serving
Him health fair!

Team members all left pieces of their hearts in
beautiful Guatemala, and came home with a renewed
sense of humility and gratitude for the blessings of home
and family. Plans are already underway for a return trip to
focus on discipleship for local pastors and the translators,
whose passion for the gospel and their love for their
people and country inspired everyone who worked with
them.

Many times during the week, our Guatemalan
friends tried to express their gratitude. But in the end, the
Serving Him team members were the ones who received
the biggest blessing.

“Thank you for sharing your beautiful people and country with us!
Hasta la proxima vez!”

For more information on Serving Him, please visit their website:
www.servinghim.org

Dr. Harris, his wife Carol and daughters Laura and Leslie traveled to Guatemala in April 2010 with Serving Him International, a medical/dental ministry group that also has ongoing projects in Romania and Moldova.

After arriving in San Raymundo, the team quickly got busy setting up the clinics and begin seeing patients within 12 hours. Patients lined up outside the hospital at dawn, hoping to get a number and be among those who got an appointment with the physicians or dentists.

Dr. Harris worked with the dental team each day providing emergency services and restorations to a variety of men, women and children who could not afford to see a dentist otherwise. Each patient paid $7 for all the care they received! Carol assisted Dr. Harris at the dental chair, and also worked at a variety of other jobs, including sterilizing instruments, distributing vitamins and medicine at the pharmacy, and performing skits in the children’s program. Leslie quickly found her niche in the children’s ministry with singing, dancing, crafts, puppet shows and face painting. The children followed her around like the Pied Piper! Laura utilized her nursing skills in the busy hospital, caring for the post-operative patients.

One unique feature of the Serving Him ministry is the installation of stoves in the homes of the indigenous people, who commonly cook over dangerous open fires inside their small homes. Descendents of the Mayas, many live in dire poverty in the mountains outside of the city. The most common income source is hand-made firecracker factories in their kitchens! For a small fee, the families can purchase a stove kit, which the teams built in about one hour. The stove was invented by some resourceful American friends to conserve natural resources and provide a safe and healthy method of cooking. The stove includes a vent pipe, which sends the smoke out the roof instead of retaining it inside the house! All the Harrises enjoyed their days out on the stove teams, making friends with the beautiful Guatemalan people and leaving them a lasting gift.

Laura and Dr. Harris were veterans on the trip; they first visited San Raymundo in 2007 when Laura was still a nursing student. While this was their first trip to Guatamala, Carol and Leslie have both enjoyed mission trips to other parts of the world, including Ukraine, Honduras and Mexico.