In just four clinic days this summer, a medical mission team in Guatemala provided care to 895 patients and distributed 635 pairs of eyeglasses. Among those serving were Thomas Bonifield and McKayla Naill, who helped meet a wide range of medical needs.

For Bonifield and Naill, the trip was about more than helping patients. Through medical mission work, both have found opportunities to strengthen their faith, expand their perspectives and develop skills that make them better caregivers for the patients they serve at Kettering Health every day.

Their experiences also reflect Kettering Health’s ongoing commitment to mission opportunities that allow caregivers to serve others while growing personally and professionally.

The trip, coordinated through Ohio-based Caring Partners International, took place in Mixco, a suburb of Guatemala City. Patients moved through vision screenings, primary care evaluations, pharmacy services, chiropractic care and physical therapy, with local volunteers helping guide them through the clinic process.

For Naill, an emergency department nurse at Soin Medical Center, mission work has provided valuable lessons that carry over into her daily work.

Working in a setting with fewer resources has reinforced the importance of observation, assessment and understanding the circumstances surrounding a patient’s health.

“You primarily have what you see, what you feel and what you hear,” Naill said. “So, you get really good at assessments, paying attention to the small details and learning the context of patients. You really learn all the background factors that affect health. Then carrying that back into the emergency room, it’s helpful because health is multifaceted.”

Bonifield, who works in Kettering Health’s retail pharmacy while also serving with Caring Partners International, said mission work has strengthened his ability to connect with people, adapt when resources are limited and grow as a healthcare professional.

“It helps my patient engagement,” Bonifield said. “I’m able to build bridges easier with patients because I’ve practiced building bridges with patients that I have no similarity to. Those ways of just being stretched and taken outside your comfort zone, I think really strengthens the individual clinicians.”

By the end of the week, the team had cared for nearly 1,000 patients, ranging from those needing vision correction to those dealing with chronic conditions, infections and other health concerns.

One patient encounter stood out.

A woman arrived with a severe wound that had never healed after a shaving injury two years earlier. What began as a small cut developed into a significant infection covering much of her lower leg. The patient initially arrived too late to be seen, missed the following clinic day and returned on the mission team’s final day. Caregivers were able to clean and dress the wound, provide extensive wound-care supplies and use a specialized wound wrap that had almost been left behind before the trip.

“We brought it just in case,” Naill said. “And the exact wound wrap that we had was the exact wrap that she could benefit from the most.”

For both caregivers, experiences like that highlight the connection between faith, service and healthcare that first drew them to medical missions.

While the clinical experience is valuable, neither Bonifield nor Naill sees mission work as solely a medical endeavor. Both said their faith is at the center of why they serve and influences how they approach patient care, whether in Guatemala or in Ohio.

For Naill, mission work reflects the same desire that first drew her to nursing: being present for people during some of life’s most difficult moments and caring for them as whole persons. She said mission trips provide opportunities to address physical, emotional and spiritual needs while working alongside local churches that continue supporting patients after the medical team returns home.

Bonifield said the connection between faith and healthcare is one of the reasons he values both mission work and his role at Kettering Health.

“I feel like I’m on mission in a lot of ways, even when I walk into work at Kettering,” Bonifield said.

Both Bonifield and Naill encourage other caregivers to consider a mission trip if the opportunity arises.

“Everybody would benefit from going on a trip to widen their horizon and expand their perspective,” Naill said. “It has helped me be a better nurse, be a better person and view patients differently.”

Kettering Health team members interested in learning more about mission trips can visit the Mission Trips page on the system intranet for information about upcoming trips, funding opportunities and travel requirements.