Dr. Wayne Chisholm and his wife, Janine Chisholm, of Monroe, Utah, first traveled to Tonga in 1995 to do dental volunteer work. Thirty-one years later, at age 84, Chisholm has returned to Tonga 17 times, and has also traveled to Kiribati 17 times and Samoa three times to establish a dental clinic, train volunteers, and serve as a missionary.
Elder Brad Smith, a service missionary who co-chairs the church’s dental advisory committee, began visiting the Pacific with Chisholm in 2011 while working at a dental school in Glendale, Arizona. He called Chisholm “a leading figure in improving oral health in the Pacific.”
“I don’t think Wayne ever imagined how many thousands of people would be blessed by his humble beginnings,” Elder Smith said.
For the Chisholms, this service was more than just dental care.
Janine Chisholm, whom her husband called the “heart and soul” of their ministry, passed away two years ago. Her tombstone reads, “Since much has been given to me, I must also give.” Wayne Chisholm said it all comes down to this.
Elder Smith echoed that sentiment.
“We give our hearts to serve others, and we hope that it will be a symbol of a repentant heart as a small gift to the Savior.”
“We’re not sitting around doing nothing.”
Wayne and Janine Chisholm first became aware of the opportunity to serve in Tonga through the Ensign Dental Academy, then called the LDS Dental Academy, while running a dental practice in Monroe. The nonprofit organization sponsored the Chisholms’ first trip to Tonga, where Wayne Chisholm spent one week at the hospital and another week providing volunteer dental services at an elementary school. They knew they had to return the following year.
“We felt loved, which is exactly what it sounds like,” Chisholm said. “We wanted to go back because we felt loved by them.”
He said he never expected his first trip to turn into 31 years of ministry, but now he realizes God’s hand was in it all.
“When I look back on those days, the Lord was just guiding me.”
Chisholm did more than just provide his own dental services. For many years, the Chisholm family worked to establish a dental clinic in Nuku’alofa, Tonga. Apia, Samoa. and Eita in Kiribati, both of whom attend church-owned secondary schools.
To help these clinics thrive, the couple recruited other dentists to volunteer at the clinics for weeks at a time, and Wayne Chisholm trained missionaries and missionary candidates who had returned to their hometowns to work as dental assistants.
In addition, young and senior serving missionaries now support these clinics. In fact, Wayne and Janine Chisholm were called to serve as missionaries in a clinic in Tonga in 2003.
When Elder and Sister Smith began visiting the Pacific, they sought to build self-reliance among the people. They began establishing dental assistant programs in Tonga and Samoa, allowing local people to become certified dental assistants and gain employment with the government.
Wayne Chisholm estimates that each clinic sees 150 to 200 patients each week, which means a total of 200,000 patients have been seen in Tonga since the clinics opened, as well as 100,000 in Samoa and 10,000 in Kiribati, according to the church’s Pacific Newsroom.
“We’re not sitting around doing nothing,” Chisholm said.
blessed with friendship
Mr. and Mrs. Chisholm and Mr. and Mrs. Smith feel that their service has blessed them as much as it has blessed Pacific Islanders.
“Sherry and I, Wayne and Janine, always feel that our small offering has been returned a hundredfold in all kinds of blessings,” Elder Smith said.
One of the benefits of their service is the friendship they form with the people they serve.
Wayne Chisholm said many people who visit the clinic call him “Papa Chis” and some have named their children after him and Janine Chisholm.
Many of the local residents who volunteer at clinics eventually go on to college, do missionary work, and some even become dentists. Chisholm said watching the flowers bloom is rewarding.
“One of the things we tried to emphasize to them was how smart[they are]and that ‘the world is yours. All you have to do is realize you can do it.'”
God is in the details
Wayne Chisholm witnessed miracles “almost every day” during his trip to the Pacific Ocean.
“I learned that (Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ) are in every detail of your life and love you. They love all of their sons and daughters,” he said.
He remembered a miracle.
One of the Kiribati clinic volunteers, a recently returned missionary from Kiribati, contracted scurvy, which is caused by vitamin C deficiency. The disease left the young woman weak and magenta-colored gums hanging over her teeth. In severe cases, Chisholm said, scurvy can lead to death.
Chisholm gave her a vitamin C supplement, and within just a week her gums were pink and healthy again.
“If that’s not a miracle, I’ve never performed a miracle,” he said.
Chisholm also believes the clinic is a great missionary tool. He estimated that 200 people joined the church in Tonga and 100 in Samoa as a direct result of visiting the dental clinic.
Mr. Chisholm will retire from Chisholm Family Dental, which is currently run by his son, in July 2025. However, he still has plans to visit the Pacific Islands and is planning a return trip to Kiribati in early April.
