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For some, it meant relief from a toothache that had become almost unbearable. For others, it meant receiving medical screening or dental care they might otherwise have gone without.
And for the members of First Baptist Church of Monticello who spent Saturday serving their neighbors, it was an opportunity to put their faith into action.
The church hosted a free medical and dental clinic Saturday, August 29, bringing together local volunteers and a team from the Arkansas Baptist State Convention to provide thousands of dollars in care at no cost to patients.
The clinic resulted in an estimated $68,000 worth of dental care, including 206 tooth extractions and 43 dental cleanings. Thirty-two people also received PSA (prostate-specific antigen) screenings.
For Ron Paul, who organized the event for First Baptist, the clinic grew out of a desire to find a new way for the church to meet needs in Monticello and the surrounding area.
First Baptist has spent years participating in community outreach, including back-to-school events offering backpacks, haircuts, physicals and immunizations. As similar programs became more common among churches and organizations throughout the community, Paul said church leaders began looking for another need they could address rather than duplicating efforts already underway.
The answer came from an earlier experience with the Arkansas Baptist State Convention.
Several years ago, Monticello served as a site for a large mission effort that brought volunteers from across Arkansas to the area. Among the projects offered during that event was a medical and dental clinic.
Paul remembered its impact.
"We just kind of pivoted," Paul said. "We said, 'Hey, some people are already doing that. So what's something else that we can do’?’”
The state convention conducts approximately eight to 10 medical and dental clinics each year in communities across Arkansas. After contacting the convention, First Baptist was placed on the schedule and chose a late-August date near the beginning of the school year.
From there, Paul began working to bring the pieces together locally.
The Arkansas Baptist State Convention provided a mobile unit containing dental chairs and other equipment, along with volunteers from around the state. First Baptist supplied the facility and recruited local dentists, hygienists and other volunteers.
The church had an advantage when it came time to find dental professionals. Three dentists are members of the congregation, and local hygienists also stepped forward to help.
By Saturday morning, the need for the clinic was obvious.
People were already lined up at First Baptist by 5 a.m.
Some came from Monticello and nearby communities. Others traveled from Warren, Star City, El Dorado and Arkadelphia. One person traveled approximately three and a half hours to receive care.
Pastor Kelly Jones said some patients had learned about similar clinics elsewhere and were actively searching for the next opportunity to receive treatment.
One patient found the Monticello clinic almost by accident.
Shortly before the event, a man posted in a local Facebook group asking if anyone knew where he could receive emergency dental care. Several people responded that First Baptist would be hosting a free clinic.
Jones did not see the exchange until after Saturday's event. When he went back and looked at the man's profile, he realized he recognized him.
The man had come to the clinic.
Jones later contacted him and confirmed that he had received treatment. The man had been suffering from significant tooth pain and was able to have the troublesome tooth extracted rather than continuing to suffer until he could seek care elsewhere the following week.
"He was very grateful," Jones said.
For Jones, the encounter illustrated exactly what church leaders hoped the clinic would accomplish.
"Our goal was to, obviously, share the gospel with the people," Jones said. "But we want to do good works too, regardless if they respond to the gospel."
Jones said 126 people received dental and medical care during the clinic.
"One hundred twenty-six people were loved through dental and medical care that they deserved," he said. "If we can afford to supply that need or meet that need for them, it was a huge success."
The clinic also included medical services beyond dental treatment.
Thirty-two men received PSA screenings, and representatives from a local health clinic were available to review immunization records and help participants determine whether vaccinations were needed.
The state convention's clinics vary depending on the medical professionals available to volunteer. At some locations, additional services such as mammograms can be offered.
The dental side of Saturday's clinic, however, was particularly busy.
Paul recalled watching one local dentist arrive and immediately begin helping an older woman who was having difficulty positioning her head for an X-ray.
"He just gently worked with her and worked with her," Paul said.
That willingness to help continued throughout the day, he said, as dentists, hygienists and other volunteers worked steadily to care for the patients who had come through the doors.
The clinic was also supported by approximately 16 volunteers associated with the state convention's team and dozens of volunteers from First Baptist.
Paul had worked before the event to make sure word reached people who could benefit. Two weeks before the clinic, he visited Second Baptist Church's food pantry with flyers advertising the event.
The following day, a woman involved with the pantry contacted him to say she had given one of the flyers to a woman who had been dealing with dental pain and was eager for the opportunity to receive treatment.
Those stories are what Paul and Jones say made the months of planning worthwhile.
For the church, however, Saturday's clinic was about more than numbers.
First Baptist partnered with the Arkansas Baptist State Convention with a stated mission of sharing the Christian gospel while serving people's physical needs. By the end of the clinic, Jones said 21 people had made professions of faith.
"The most important out of all of it is we had 21 professions of faith," Paul said. "Twenty-one people came to know the Lord. That's what it's all about."
Jones said the experience also had an impact on the people doing the serving.
During First Baptist's Sunday worship service the following morning, several church members shared testimonies about their experiences volunteering at the clinic.
"It was just an awesome day for our community and for our church," Jones said.
The success has already prompted discussion about bringing the clinic back.
First Baptist would like to host another one, although Jones said church leaders want to allow neighboring communities the opportunity to participate in the state convention's rotation. Warren has previously hosted the clinic, and church leaders hope Monticello could potentially host another in 2028.
For now, Jones said Saturday demonstrated what can happen when churches and volunteers look for needs that aren't already being met and find a way to fill them.
Rather than continue duplicating back-to-school programs that other organizations were already providing, First Baptist wanted to find another place where it could make a difference.
The hundreds of extractions, dozens of cleanings and thousands of dollars in donated care provided one measure of that difference.
The people who walked through the doors seeking relief provided another.
"To see those people who otherwise couldn't have gotten that care get it," Jones said, "it's a win for the kingdom and for the community."
