Medical Mission Trips

In addition to his medical practice in Winter Haven, Florida, Dr. Fisher has volunteered his surgery skills on medical mission trips abroad since 1996.

In 1996, Dr. Fisher volunteered for his first medical mission trip performing hip replacement surgeries in Kiev, Ukraine with the Operation Blessing International team and local surgeons. Operation Blessing’s Flying Hospital has surgical suites and recovery facilities on board an L-1011 airplane. On the Kiev mission trip, the surgery suites on the plane were used for eye and dental surgery, so Dr. Fisher operated at the city’s orthopedic hospital. The Flying Hospital is a non-denominational organization dedicated to provide humanitarian relief. For more information about Operation Blessing International see http://community.ob.org.

In August, 1998, Dr. Fisher and his family participated in a medical mission trip to Quito, Ecuador with the Lakeview Temple of Indianapolis, Indiana, on the invitation of the Reverend Tom Rakoczy. Reverend Rakoczy was Dr. Fisher’s Youth Pastor during college and he also performed Dr. Fisher’s wedding. Dr. Fisher and Reverend Rakoczy are shown here catching their breath during clinic set up at 10,000 feet in the Aticucho Barrio on the slope of a volcano. Outside the church where the medical team set up a temporary medical and dental clinic, the crowd gathers.

In January, 2002, the day the peace treaty ended Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war, Dr. Fisher arrived in the capital city of Freetown to perform surgery on war victims. Surgeries were performed aboard the Anastasis, a ship in the Mercy Ships fleet. Sierra Leone, the poorest country in the world, is located in West Africa. Much of the turmoil in Sierra Leone involved mining diamonds known as conflict diamonds or blood diamonds. For more information about Mercy Ships see www.mercyships.org. This organization is funded by corporate and individual sponsors.

In September, 2003, Dr. Fisher volunteered his services with Victory Church in Lakeland, Florida to treat patients in Ibarra, Ecuador. He is shown here at the Centro Christiano de Ibarra Church where the medical team set up makeshift cubicles using black plastic sheeting. Dr. Fisher is shown with Chelsea Vegter who translated a patient’s medical history. The other photo shows the local and foreign volunteers in front of the church. Dr. Fisher is in the back row in the middle. The team treated 1,577 patients at four locations. More information about Victory Church can be found at www.victorylakeland.org.

In May 2006, Dr. Fisher volunteered to work on a medical/building mission trip to Cochabamba, Bolivia with Victory Church of Lakeland. Dr. Fisher and Dr. Van Doren of Lakeland, Florida, are shown here in front of the Christ of the Concordia landmark statue near Cochabamba, Bolivia. More information about Victory Church can be found at www.victorylakeland.org.