Harold Mitchell of Pine Bluff was the recent recipient of a humanitarian award presented to him by the Arkansas State Dental Association for a career devoted to bringing dental medicine to far-flung corners of the globe.
Mitchell and his family lived in Pine Bluff from 1964 until 1976, during which time he developed a dental practice.
In 1976 he was appointed as a career missionary dentist by the Baptist Church and soon closed his practice and moved his family to Africa.
The John “Jack” Logan Humanitarian Award is presented annually to an Arkansas dentist who places the welfare and care of others above his or her own needs, according to a press release issued by the Arkansas State Dental Association.
“The award was a total surprise,” Mitchell said. “I did not expect anything like that. I have been back in Pine Bluff for the past 14 years. My career has really added up to being given the chance to serve many people in many different capacities.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Mitchell said that he is a firm believer in the adage that you always receive more than you give.
“We have been blessed beyond measure,” Mitchell said of himself and his family.
Mitchell and his family lived in Tanzania, Rwanda, the Comoros Islands and Madagascar during his tenure as a missionary.
Mitchell credits a mission trip to Puerto Rico in the early 1960s with piquing his interest in service work.
“While I was on leave from the U. S. Army I went to Puerto Rico with some friends to help build a chapel,” Mitchell said. “That 1962 trip was a seed planted. The adventure part appealed to me. We stayed with a young couple. We ate what they ate and lived the simple life that they lived. I was able to see a different side of life.”
Mitchell said that his first assignment as a missionary was temporary.
“I was sent to replace a missionary in Botswana for a year in 1973,” Mitchell said. “Then in 1976 we were appointed career missionaries. Our first post was in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where I taught clinical dentistry.”
Mitchell said that he was the only instructor who had practical dental experience.
“The others were academics,” Mitchell said. “I was able to show the students what I had learned during my years of private practice.”
Mitchell helped to found the International Baptist Church in Dar es Salaam during that time.
“We taught rural medical aides how to extract teeth in Rwanda in the years before the trouble happened there,” Mitchell said in reference to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide that is estimated to have resulted in the deaths of more than 800,000 people.
Mitchell was ordained by First Baptist Church of Pine Bluff in 1994 and served as pastor of Second Baptist Church in Pine Bluff from 2002 until 2006. He is currently prison chaplain at the Randall L. Williams Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction in Pine Bluff.
Drew Toole of Pine Bluff nominated Mitchell for the Logan Award.
**Correction: Harold Mitchell is the name of the award recipient.**