Light in the Darkness: A GHO Mission to Bangkok’s Red Light District
ER nurse Lori Price and dentist Dr. Valerie Preston join host Dr. Mike Chupp to share about their experience co-leading a Global Health Outreach (GHO) mission team to Bangkok’s red light district in 2025, one of the darkest centers of human trafficking in the world. After serving together on previous trips to places like Tanzania and Ecuador, Lori and Valerie reflect on what it looked like to step into such a heavy and broken environment. They discuss trauma-informed care, the reality of spiritual warfare, and the challenge of faithfully planting seeds they may never see grow. Through providing medical and dental care to nearly 300 women in Bangkok, their team witnessed how simple acts of service can open the door to share the hope and love of Christ. This is a powerful conversation about faithfulness in hard places and bringing light into the darkest corners of the world.
You can explore GHO mission opportunities, including an upcoming trip to Bangkok this October, at cmda.org/gho. If this conversation encouraged you – and thank you to so many of you who have written to tell us you listen each week – please share it with a colleague and be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss future episodes. And if you’d like to connect with other believers in healthcare wrestling with these same questions and ethical issues, visit us at cmda.org.
You can still join us in Loveland, Colorado! Registrations can be taken at the door!
We’re incredibly grateful for our sponsors supporting CMDA’s 2026 National Convention. Our Premier Sponsors include Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine and Samaritan’s Purse. Our Diamond Sponsors are Helping Hands for Hospitals International, DLP Capital, the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition USA, Honey Lake Clinic, the Theology, Medicine, and Culture Initiative at Duke Divinity School, the Colson Center, ChenMed, and Blu by Thrivewell. Our Gold Sponsors include Beacon Wealth Consultants, America’s HealthShare, and Capstone Wellness. And our Silver Sponsors are GFA World, the American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. All of these organizations will have booths at the convention, so be sure to stop by, learn more about their work, and connect with their teams. This year’s National Convention is just one week away, April 23–26, in Loveland, Colorado. If you haven’t registered yet, there’s still time. Visit natcon.cmda.org to secure your spot.
The CMDA Learning Center is continuing to grow, and it’s an incredible resource for Christian healthcare professionals. You’ll find content from recent National Conventions, the Faith Prescriptions series, continuing education opportunities from events across the country, and a wide range of courses designed to support both your professional work and your spiritual growth. And here’s the best part. As a CMDA member, you can earn continuing education credits at no cost. To start exploring the full library, visit cmda.org/learn.
Video Podcast:
Meet Our Guest(s):
Dr. Valerie Preston is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Dentistry, where she earned her Doctor of Dental Surgery degree with honors in 1994, following a Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene from The Ohio State University in 1989.
After several years as an associate dentist, she moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, and in 2000 opened her own solo, fee-for-service private practice—built from the ground up—where she has been delivering high-tech, comprehensive dentistry with a strong emphasis on prevention ever since.
Dr. Preston’s passion for serving others began in dental school when she participated in the Dominican Dental Project, providing care in communities with limited access to dentistry. Guided by her faith and a desire to use her God-given gifts to serve, she joined a church dental mission to Mexico in 2000 and, years later, helped establish a dental clinic in Erbil, Iraq in 2015. She was soon introduced to Global Health Outreach, through which she has participated in and now leads international dental mission trips—sharing both dental care and the hope of the Gospel with underserved populations around the world.
In addition to her global mission work, Dr. Preston is committed to serving her own community, volunteering regularly with local outreach programs and dental clinics to provide care for those in need close to home.
Married to her high school sweetheart for 36 years, Dr. Preston is the proud mother of five grown children—one of whom shares her passion for dentistry and is currently in dental school. With over three decades in the dental field, she combines clinical excellence, deep compassion, and a faith-driven purpose, inspiring others to see dentistry as both a profession and a calling.
Website: https://vprestondental.com/ FB: VP Dental: Valerie Preston, DDS, PA IG: https://www.instagram.com/drvaleriepreston/
Lori Price, BSRN, CEN,
Lori is a nurse in a very large and busy emergency department. She writes:
“As a young college student, I was broken and deeply wounded but encountered the love of Jesus at a small Christian College in South Carolina. At that point, I promised to serve the Lord if he could fix me. That was the beginning of my desire to know and serve the Lord with whatever I had. Seizing every opportunity to participate in short term missions allowed me to prioritize my family while continuing to serve. After having obtained both dental hygiene and nursing degrees, I found Global Health Outreach to be well suited for using my skills while reaching out to others. My love for the Lord and missions has continued to grow while serving over a decade with GHO.”
