By SANDRA THAMES / Community Columnist

When a co-worker at Anesthesia Services asked Dena Dixon Bedsole to go on a mission trip to Kenya through an organization called Kenya Relief, she really thought that the thought of leaving her husband and children would change her mind, but that was not the case.

Kenya Relief is a group supplying ministry and medical relief through their efforts to spread Christs’ love.

After spending $600 for six IM injections at the UAB Travelers Clinic, she posted on Facebook her desire to make this trip.

Within 12 hours of her posting, she had a donation of more than $5,000 for her trip. Bedsole said she looked at her husband, Russell, and said “God says go,” and go she did.

On the morning of Aug. 7, 2013, the international airport in Nairobi, Kenya had burned to the ground. No one knew whether it was a terrorist attack.

“I was so scared,” said Bedsole “But with someone else footing my bill, I felt an obligation to go.”

Through lots of stress, tears and prayers, the entire team finally boarded the plane. Twenty-plus hours later, the group had flown from Atlanta to Amsterdam and then Nairobi. From Nairobi there was a seven-hour drive to Migori, Kenya.

Over the next ten days, Bedsole, acting as a CRNA in surgery, assisted with 34 surgeries. The interaction with the children, the lifestyle and the economy all tugged at her heartstrings.

When asked if the mission trip was successful Bedsole replied, “A goal is never fully accomplished because the lines are too long and we can’t help everyone who needs to be helped. But we were very successful in providing care for those that were seen.”

Bedsole serves the Lord daily by raising her children according to his standards.

“I can’t fulfill their every desire and then expect them to function in the world alone. I want my kids to earn their way, be independent and to not expect handouts,” she said.

A former THS cheerleader and grad, Bedsole is also a graduate of the University of West Alabama. She also attended the Samford School of Nursing, and by 2007 had her BSN, MSN and post-grad degree in anesthesia.

Bedsole, husband Russell, son Brooks, 5, and daughter Willa Kathryn, 3, attend Westwood Baptist in Alabaster.