He quietly chuckled as the dust of the motorcycle clouded his eyes, flying off his seat as the driver hit a rut on the gravel road. Water buffalo crossed the road in front of him as Anthony Vizzinia, a dentist from Fort Payne, traveled through mountain villages in the Philippines hosting dental clinics in July.
“I’ve been so blessed. I told myself that it was about time I gave back.”
His little boy smile lit up his face as he experienced the new culture. This trip was Vizzinia’s first missions trip, although by day two of the trip he claimed he would return.
Four years ago, he was fighting testicular cancer, a time in his life that he recalls being a life-or-death situation.
At the age of 37, the cancer spread into his lungs and kidney. After surgery and months of chemotherapy, Vizzinia is completely healed.
“It’s truly a miracle,” he said. “There were even miracles while I was in treatment.”
As his second round of chemo was being administered, he was eating barbecue ribs in the hospital. “I never once got sick,” he recalled.
Now a living testimony of God’s healing power, Vizzinia is determined to spend the rest of his life investing in the lives of others.
Prior to coming to the Philippines, he worked extra hours at his clinic, having to reschedule patient appointments in order to completely shut down the office while he was gone.
Despite the jet lag that accompanies a 13-hour time difference, Vizzinia resumed work just five hours after getting off an airplane in Alabama.
“I want my kids to experience something like this. I want them to be thankful for all that they have,” Vizzinia said.
His heart melted for the children he saw at his Philippine clinics, missing his 8-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son.
“It’s the longest I’ve been away from home,” he said.
The poverty that is so rampant in the Philippines is far different from that of the United States.
When people found out that he would be hosting a free dental clinic, they traveled from surrounding villages to attend. In his free dental clinics, Vizzinia pulled more than 100 teeth and administered basic dental supplies. He also distributed gospel tracts to his patients, many of whom were from spiritist tribes in the heart of the mountains.
“I’ve always wanted to go on a missions trip, and now I know why,” he said.
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