Back in 2015, we shared the story of William “Bill” Powell, a dentist who was named the year’s Outstanding Alabama Baptist State Missions Volunteer. He was honored then for seeing missions as a “way of life.”
He hasn’t stopped. In late July, he went on his 45th missions trip.
“I started going on trips in 1981,” said Powell, a member of Shades Mountain Baptist Church in Vestavia Hills.
He got a phone call from a gum specialist who asked him if he’d ever thought about going to South America to do dental work for people in need. Powell said no but that he’d pray about it. He quickly realized something — he didn’t mean what he said.
‘Empty prayers’
“It hit me that those were empty prayers,” he said. “I had a talk with the Lord, and I called the man back and told him I would go. That was trip number one.”
There have been 44 since, 24 of which have been to Brazil. His most recent was to Peru, where he and a team from a number of churches hosted a medical clinic in the jungle.
Brian Burdette, pastor of Central Baptist Church in Gardendale, said he and his wife, Kelli — a registered nurse and member of the nursing faculty at Samford University — have collectively gone on 20 trips with Powell, and on the most recent trip to Peru, three of their sons went also.
“Missions is his heart; that’s what God put him here to do,” Burdette said. “Dentistry, yes, but God put him here to use dentistry for a purpose.”
Powell has story after story of how he’s seen God work over the years, from helping a boy walk with leg braces for the first time to seeing a man healed miraculously of a spear wound. And they’ve seen people saved as Powell and others have preached. On this most recent trip, with Burdette preaching, around 500 professed new faith in Christ.
“All 45 trips all have their own memories, and nothing can take those away,” Powell said. “I love to tell the stories of what God has done.”
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