Vanessa Galdamez Social Work Tyler Gentry Exercise Science Weston Gentry Molecular and Cellular Biology Zac Gill Accounting Michelle Gomez Gutierrez Finance Henry Gonzalez Public Relations Jessica Grace Early Childhood Education Licensure Rick Grace Bible and Religion Raya Grasham Nursing Carissa Graves Social Work BRETTE DOLLINS Though senior Brette Dollins was invested in the Nursing Department and student life at Harding, part of her heart remained in Ongole, India. Dollins was a nursing major with a medical missions minor. Her love for missions and the medical world was evident in her participation in those programs. She traveled to Zambia with the HIZ program for three months fall of 2012 and to Guatemala with the Medical Evangelism Training program for six weeks from mid-May to June of 2013. Her true passion lay with the Chintipalli family in Ongole, India. In 1998, the Chintapalli family started a program called Welfare of Innocent Neglected Society, a multi-faceted mission run solely by Indian-Christians for the purpose of relieving the basic physical needs of the poor. They had a children's home, preacher school, widow care system and leprosy care program. Dollins thought they lacked most in medical care. She wanted to change that. Dollins had visited India on three mission trips before she entered her senior year in the fall of 2013 during July of 2011, 2012 and 2013. According to sophomore Ryan Dickinson, Dollins was successful in Ongole because of the relationship she had with the Chintapalli family. "Brette kept in touch with the Chintapallis even with her busy nursing schedule during the school year," Dickinson said. "She was constantly updating me on things she had heard were going on in India. The mission work over there is not just for while she in India, but year round." On Dollins' first trip to India, she realized that the people needed Christ more than they needed anything else. She also noticed they desperately needed a clinic. Dollins felt called to help. She began to talk with the Chintapalli family about the possibility of creating a clinic at their mission. On her third trip to India, Dollins was in charge of two medical camps, working in an administrative role. Her desire to be in India longterm grew as she heard stories from patients who had seen Christ through the actions of the workers at the medical camps. "It was everything we wanted and prayed for," Dollins said. "One of the patients was talking and said, 'The government always said they were going to do something like this, but they never did.' He said our medical camp displayed the love of Christ through what we had done for him." Dollins' visits to India reinforced her belief in the need for a medical clinic, and she intended to return to the India in the summer to continue working out plans for the clinic with the Chintipallis. Dollins ultimately wanted to work for a few years in the United States to gain more experience in her field before moving to India. Once in India, she wanted to concentrate on learning the culture and the language for a couple of years before opening a clinic. According to junior Jackson Shamblin, Dollins used her major to help the people in India with their medical needs, and it was a success that he hoped would lead to something bigger for her and the Indian people at WINGS. "Brette has been incredible on the trips to India," Shamblin said. "She is extremely passionate about India, and it is reflected in the way she loves the people over there. She dedicates as much of her time and efforts as possible towards India." God might have placed her heart for service with the people of India, but Dollins showed her love for Christ wherever she went. Her focus was on the people of India, but she also wanted people to know that they could serve wherever they were. Alex Ezell 119
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