Dr. Mark Woolf at the 843 Johnson I Medical Clinic
Meet Dr. Mark Woolf
Mark Woolf, an orthopedic surgeon with an extensive medical career, has served consistently with Faith In Practice since 2006 as a mission team leader and lead surgeon on over 25 surgical mission teams. Upon retirement in 2023, Dr. Woolf decided to transition his clinical skills and continue providing patient care in Guatemala by serving with medical clinic missions. This transition has enabled Dr. Woolf to continue serving the patients of Guatemala while also expanding his impact within Faith In Practice. Dr. Woolf continues to serve as a board member and sits on several Faith In Practice committees as well.
“When I started going with Faith In Practice,” Dr. Woolf explains, “I was interested in changing my practice into arthroplasty and doing hip and knee [replacements].” He describes how gratifying it was to work alongside an accomplished surgeon such as Dr. Brian Parsley, who is heavily involved in the arthroplasty world. Dr. Woolf attributes it to fate and God’s sovereign hand that allowed him to scrub in with the highly skilled orthopedic surgeons Dr. Parsley included in his teams. Dr. Woolf learned skills he was able to utilize not only with other Guatemalan patients but also in his practice at home in Texas.
Dr. Woolf is quick to say he could not have made an impact serving in Guatemala without the support of numerous others. He gives credit to the glory of God, his wife Debbie, and his mission team members over the years, all of whom have enabled him to share his skills and provide much-needed care to the patients of Guatemala. Dr. Woolf describes his Faith In Practice journey as one of repeatedly stepping out in faith and saying “yes” when called to do so. By following God’s guidance, Dr. Woolf has created a ripple effect throughout Faith In Practice over the past 20 years that is still growing. He transitioned the leadership of his former surgery mission team over to the skilled hands of Dr. Josh McSpadden, and in 2026 Dr. Nathan Haile will join in leading this group. “Seeing these young guys moving into leadership has been amazing,” says Dr. Woolf. He reports that seeing the leadership transition, and having former Faith In Practice CEO, Linda McCarty, serve as the clergy for the team were the two highlights of his experience with the 840 Woolf/McSpadden Surgery mission in February 2025.
Recently, Dr. Woolf entered a new chapter in his professional life. “We don’t say retired,” Dr. Woolf quips, “That’s a fatal disease; I’ve been repurposing since July 2023.” Instead of seeing his professional retirement as the end of his service with Faith In Practice, it created an opportunity to continue serving Guatemalan patients in a different way. He now has time to travel to Guatemala to serve on Medical Clinic teams, and Dr. Woolf has joined several, including the 843 Johnson I Medical Clinic team that served in Totonicapán, Guatemala in late February 2025. “God didn’t leave us to sit around,” Dr. Woolf says. “The repurposing thing, we kid about it, but it’s real and it’s a blessing to be a part of it and this mission.”
When describing his medical clinic experiences, Dr. Woolf reports initially feeling somewhat apprehensive that, “the cobwebs wouldn’t get dusted off,” because evaluating general orthopedic patients had not been part of his day-to-day in recent years. He happily explained that the clinical knowledge easily came to life. “I knew what to do with the patients, and I was really amazed at how interesting it was [to see patients in a village setting], and I totally enjoyed it.” Additionally, Dr. Woolf says, “The chemistry on the Johnson team was incredible, and we were able to see patients who really had urgent problems.” He said even though he was no longer performing surgery, it was gratifying to know there were skilled Faith In Practice surgeons on upcoming missions who could heal these patients, and he was part of the healing journey for many patients.
Patients he examined and treated during medical clinic missions were referred to Faith In Practice missions such as the Hope In Motion and Cahill/Dawson surgery teams. These patients received life-changing surgeries shortly after their evaluation in the medical clinic. “Being able to streamline the patients’ experience to help them get to where they need to be was great,” Dr. Woolf explains. He continued by saying, “Now that we have Insight [patient management database], that’s really exciting as well. We were seeing the patients – really simple, quick note, physical exam. We put their x-rays right into Insight, then their disposition is also in [Insight]. When that patient shows up at the Obras or Reu [HHG] or another clinic…their x-rays are not lost, the patient is in the system…this is just huge.”
In addition to sharing stories from his recent volunteer missions, Dr. Woolf reflected on his spiritual journey over the past 20 years. He quoted Matthew 25:40, and he also referred to John 14 saying, “Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these.” He relates both passages to Faith In Practice and the work Joe and Vera Wiatt started. “That’s the FIP story,” says Dr. Woolf. “It started out with just a few people 30 years ago. And now it’s touching thousands of lives a year. Now we’re doing surgical cases, VIA/CRYO, midwife training, Casa de Fe. It just goes on and on. There’s so much more to Faith In Practice.”
“I really thought when I went into retirement, I would miss doing surgery because it was such a thing to identify with for me. But I got taught a lesson during the medical clinic.” Dr. Woolf explains, “You can have an impact in God’s economy – He just has a different scale.” He concluded by saying, “to have the humility to respect the patients, and their time, and to put yourselves in their shoes with some empathy and recognize that you can help” is the blessing that continues to be the Faith In Practice experience for Dr. Mark Woolf.
Faith In Practice encourages all Medical Clinic mission teams to include an orthopedic specialist to evaluate and treat patients with musculoskeletal concerns. Having a medical provider skilled at evaluating these conditions allows Medical Clinics to provide comprehensive patient care throughout the mission week.
If you’re passionate about volunteering, we invite you to explore exciting opportunities at www.faithinpractice.org/volunteer and discover the various impactful roles available. Join us in making a difference in Guatemala!
