“A lot of the people also come for spiritual health. So I decided to pray with them during the missions, and I discovered they feel better after we pray,” she said.

 

They asked her for rosaries and holy cards, but she didn’t have any. “I said when I come back next year, I will bring those things. I became inspired to do posters with pictures of the Blessed Mother, the Holy Family and the Lord. And I brought a Bible.”

 

After that, Scarlet decided to try a mission of her own. She began small, just herself, providing dental cleanings at orphanages and little villages. Friends made donations, and two churches near her home in Virginia began to do the same. At the same time, Scarlet became friendly with a patient at the dental office where she works, and she helped Scarlet fill out the paperwork to become a recognized charity. The money she receives from donors covers the cost of her airline tickets and supplies. Sometimes she brings eyeglasses, as well, for adults who need corrective eyewear, and shoes for children in the orphanages she visits. Each mission lasts one week, and she goes four times every year. She enlists the aid of a local dentist in each of the communities and engages in prayer and worship with the people she serves.

 

“It’s very hard for me to explain, but I love the poor. I always feel so attached to the poor, especially the children,” Scarlet said. “I feel like if I’m still healthy and I can do these missions, I want to help. Because I feel like they are a part of my life.”

 

Before she came to the United States, Scarlet was a nurse. Thinking it would be easy to transfer those skills to a job in the U.S., she followed her now ex-husband far from the only home she’d ever known. The reality, she soon understood, was quite different. She’d have to learn English first, and then take two more years of classes to become certified. “I was very sad, because if I knew, I would never have come here,” she said. And then she got a toothache, which led her to the dental practice of Drs. Joe Cusumano and David Stuver. She became a regular patient, and then the nanny to Dr. Cusumano’s children. Six months later, he urged her to study to become a dental assistant. She’s now worked for them for 20 years, and hopes to be joined by Dr. Stuver, who serves on her board, this coming fall on a mission to a new site in Tijuana.

 

One of the hygienists from their office has already gone on a mission trip with Scarlet, as has that hygienist’s sister, who is a nurse. Her Easter trip to Peru has been indefinitely postponed, to her disappointment, because of the coronavirus pandemic. “She’s a special person. Avery giving person,” said David. “She’s a true believer in helping others and has said she was given a gift herself, coming to this country from Guatemala, not speaking English, and having no job. It’s now grown to beyond just dental care, to vision and shoes. And she spreads the message of Christ. It’s really great.”

 

For Scarlet, who has one adult son who also lives in the U.S., it’s all a matter of figuring out what you’re meant to do with what you’ve been given. “I think the Lord has a purpose for me,” she said. “I truly believe that.”