Last November, Dr. Glenn Stern traveled with ten other healthcare professionals on a week-long mission trip to Jamaica. Led by the Christian Medical and Dental Association in partnership with Prison Fellowship International, the mission was to share the gospel of Christ in these prisons by providing medical and dental care to inmates. Dr. Stern explained, “I was excited to go on this trip because it was very different from typical mission trips. Typically CMDA sets up clinics in villages and treats people of all ages. Going into prisons was a totally different experience from past trips and really shook up the way that I view people in prison and the concepts of forgiveness and redemption. It was truly a life changing experience.” Also on the team were three physicians, a radiologist, two nurses, a physician’s assistant, two pharmacists, and another dentist. Several other team members helped with logistics and ministry. Dr. Stern was the dental director for the trip. He continued, “I really enjoy going on trips with CMDA and working with other health care professionals from around the country. Everybody on the trip has a different professional and denominational background. You come away from a week like this with new friends and new exposure to things in dentistry and medicine.” The doctor concluded, “Our team worked with the local chapter of Prison Fellowship International, a worldwide ministry founded by Chuck Colson. The Jamaican leaders of Prison Fellowship are doing amazing things in the prisons there, and we were able to complement what they are already doing there. Every single Jamaican inmate that we treated was kind to us and thankful for our presence there. The local prison and government officials were kind and gracious and gave us remarkable freedom to do whatever needed to be done to take care of their people. ” The team was based in Kingston but traveled all over the country. In all the group did clinics at five different prisons. This was Dr. Stern’s third foreign trip with CMDA. Previous missions were in Honduras and Mexico. Since 1965, Legacy Dental Group has served the Van Zandt, Henderson, and Kaufman areas with the latest in dental procedures and state-of-the-art technology. The practicing dentists are comprised of Dr. Ben Bratcher, Dr. Michael Hackney, Dr. Glenn Stern and Dr. Gerard Macy. The office is located at 240 E. Hwy. 243 in Canton. Visit their website at www.cantondental.com. ### If you would like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with the doctors at Legacy Dental Group, please call Myles Pennington at (214) 208-0845 or email myles@spenmar.com.