This document describes the work of Milton and Debbie Drake, who volunteer their medical and health education skills through Community Service Brigades to provide services in developing nations. The brigades operate medical clinics every six months in Central America and Africa. Their purposes are to deliver needed healthcare, connect churches across borders, and promote spiritual growth for volunteers and recipients. The document encourages readers to consider how they can volunteer their own talents internationally or locally by organizing donations, finding community partners, and taking small steps to make a difference.

1. How God can harness your
medical training, talents and
experiences to serve both locally
and abroad

2. Milton and Debbie Drake
• Boston MA, Northwest Region
• Milton--Internist, Debbie--Health
Education
• Volunteers to Cambodia (15 years) &
Central America (7 years)
Community Service Brigades

3. Clothes and
shoes for
needy
Community Service Brigades
Community Service Brigades
• San Pedro Sula, Honduras
• Guatemala City, Guatemala
• Managua, Nicaragua
• San Salvador, El Salvador
• Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire
• Tijuana, Mexico

4. Purpose
• Deliver needed medical care to our brothers
and sisters in Honduras and to their
surrounding impoverished communities.
• Connect in a meaningful way the churches in
North America and Central America.
• Promote spiritual enrichment for everyone
involved, including bringing others to Christ.
Community Service Brigades

5. Specialized
medical help
Vitamins for
4,000,000
children
Water supply
& gardens for
school and community
ESL Program
Dental Care
Grants for Campus
students
Feed the Hungry
Program
A Small Idea
(Acted Upon)
Medical Clinic
every 6 months

6. Decision to
Volunteer
Who can I invite to join me among my
family, friends and colleagues to
participate?
What talents
connections and
expertise do I have that
will involve other
individuals or
organizations?
How can I be a
local ambassador
for collecting
donations &
supplies?
Where else in the world
can what I have learned
be used and applied?
What have my
Central American
brothers & sisters
taught me about
my own poverty?

7. “When John heard in prison what Jesus was doing, he sent
his disciples to ask him, ‘Are you the one who was to come,
or should we expect someone else?’”
“Then Jesus replied:
‘Go back and report to John what you see and hear: the
blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have
leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised,
and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is
the man who does not fall away on account of me.’”
Matthew 11:2-6
Community Service Brigades

8. Go back and report to your leaders, friends,
colleagues, and fellow disciples what you hear and
see: the blind receive eyeglasses, children receive
preventative dental care and have their diseased
teeth pulled, the unemployed and underemployed
are enrolled in the ESL program to find jobs, the
hungry are given their daily bread, schools receive
clean running water, college students are helped to
preach the good news on campus, and the destitute
and downcast are given hope.
Community Service Brigades

9. John Greenleaf Whittier asked Abraham Lincoln
after hearing a well prepared and well delivered
sermon:
“So was it a great sermon?”
“No,” Lincoln replied. It failed because Dr.
Gurley did not ask us to do something great.”
Community Service Brigades

11. Community Service Brigades
A small idea, acted upon, with God’s help,
has no end.
What small step can I take now
to make a difference?