Doctor’s “Life-Changing” Mission Trips Serve as Inspiration

World Human­i­tar­i­an Day shines a light on the hun­dreds of thou­sands of vol­un­teers, pro­fes­sion­als, and cri­sis-affect­ed peo­ple who deliv­er urgent health­care, shel­ter, food, pro­tec­tion, water, and much more. In hon­or of this day, we con­nect­ed with QMG Gyne­col­o­gist Dr. Deb­o­rah Woodard to learn how her heart was drawn to mis­sion work and how the expe­ri­ence has impact­ed her per­son­al­ly and pro­fes­sion­al­ly as a physi­cian in our community.

It was in 2010 when Dr. Deb­o­rah Woodard took her first mis­sion trip to Hon­duras, an expe­ri­ence she calls ​“life-chang­ing.” From that moment, she was com­mit­ted to future trips to do her part to help peo­ple around the globe.

“I do mis­sion work that involves both Chris­t­ian min­istry and med­i­cine. My faith in Christ and His com­mand to go and share the gospel to all the nations and to help is what inspired me to go on my first mis­sion trip and con­tin­ues to fuel my pas­sion for mis­sions,” she said.

Beyond Hon­duras, Dr. Woodard has also been to Haiti, Guatemala, and India. She and her fam­i­ly have been many times, and they often take teams of indi­vid­u­als from Quin­cy and oth­er cities. They serve in what­ev­er capac­i­ty is need­ed. Their work has includ­ed serv­ing in rur­al med­ical clin­ics, dis­trib­ut­ing food, surgery, deliv­er­ing babies, con­duct­ing vaca­tion Bible schools, per­form­ing school phys­i­cals, pro­vid­ing edu­ca­tion on hygiene and first aid, build­ing hous­es and doing home repairs, pray­ing with peo­ple, and preach­ing and teach­ing in local churches.

On each trip she takes, Dr. Woodard is inspired by the peo­ple she encoun­ters. Peo­ple, who despite their hard­ships, show strength and optimism.

“From my time in the mis­sion field, I have so many sto­ries of peo­ple who have touched my heart. One is of an elder­ly lady who had 10 chil­dren, four of whom had died in ear­ly child­hood,” Dr. Woodard shared. ​“She lived in a small one-room hut with dirt floors in Hon­duras, but she had the biggest smile and ten­der heart. She loved Jesus and wel­comed us into her home. Her faith tru­ly inspired me. She dis­played such beau­ti­ful humil­i­ty and joy despite her dif­fi­cult life circumstances.”

Some of her expe­ri­ences have been dif­fi­cult, includ­ing an inci­dent dur­ing her time in Haiti. There was a mas­sive trau­ma inci­dent from a truck acci­dent where peo­ple who were injured and dying came to her and her mis­sion team for aid.

“Despite the tragedy, I was so inspired by how the Hait­ian peo­ple came from the vil­lages to help us care for the injured and dying in any way they could,” she recalled. ​“It was a beau­ti­ful dis­play of com­mu­ni­ty in a severe­ly impov­er­ished coun­try with often lit­tle hope. It is still a very emo­tion­al mem­o­ry for our team, but I know that God had us there at just the right time to do what we could and remind us all of the fragili­ty of life and the urgency of know­ing Christ.”

The oppor­tu­ni­ty to go and serve has been hum­bling for Dr. Woodard. For her, mis­sion work is a way to care for oth­ers who are in great need.

“I have seen peo­ple die right in front of me because they did not have access to basic human needs like clean water, food, or health­care. Being able to help in a small way is very reward­ing and life-chang­ing,” she said.

Her trips have also shown her what a gift her cho­sen career is and what is tru­ly impor­tant in life.

“It is hum­bling, and reminds me of the des­per­ate need to know Christ in a dying world, and how we can use the gifts he has giv­en us to care for oth­ers. It has made me more patient and com­pas­sion­ate. I am so incred­i­bly grate­ful to be able to go and serve. My fam­i­ly and I lived and served in India for a three-month trip with one of the mis­sions, and that expe­ri­ence strength­ened my con­vic­tion that mon­ey and mate­r­i­al com­forts don’t real­ly mat­ter, but peo­ple do,” she said.

Dr. Woodard takes about two mis­sion trips a year. She and her hus­band, Chris, are head­ed to Guatemala in Sep­tem­ber and India in Jan­u­ary. For them, it’s an oppor­tu­ni­ty to share the love of Christ, meet des­per­ate needs, and encour­age the long-term mis­sion­ar­ies in those countries.