Dr. Robert Doe is an accidental author.

Prior to 2007, he didn't consider penning a tome until he had a moment of clarity while doing charity work overseas.

"I never wanted to write a book," Doe said. "It seemed like the last thing I would ever do. But there was a point in my life when I was transitioning out of the prison work that I was doing, and I was pretty heavily involved in mission at that point with the Kurds in Iraq. I left the prison, and the next day I'm in Iraq for a month, doing teaching and training. The whole time I'm there, I'm thinking, 'What am I going to do for my next job?' And I came back from that trip, wondering, and the first thing I heard when I was praying and the sense I got was to write a book."

Doe finally finished his book, "Redigging Our Fathers' Wells," in early August, and it is available on Amazon.

"Most of this was written back then and then put on the shelf, because when I finished it, I said, 'OK, this is an interesting story, but more for those who are part of it, kind of like a memoir,'" he said. "I want to know that what happened with what we did has had an impact now, so I was waiting for the now. And in the last few years, things have really changed in Lancaster County, and then I knew it was time to release it. The second half of the book is more bringing it up to the current."

Doe will hold an official book release and signing on Saturday, Sept. 20, from 10 a.m. to noon as part of an event at Landisville Camp Meeting, 201 Church St., Landisville. Preregistration is appreciated but not required. Go to https://tinyurl.com/drdoesigning to sign up.

"The overall theme of this book in the beginning is, what about the groups of people that were here in the beginning of Lancaster County?" said Doe, mentioning the Native Americans, Mennonites, and Quakers. "Each of those groups had a dream. Each of those groups felt there was something they were supposed to accomplish, and they were brought out of Europe or wherever they came from on a boat. The idea was they were going to achieve something, and because they were all persecuted and they were Christian, their assumption was they were leaving that persecution. They thought, 'We're coming here and we're going to be able to express fully what we believe God's told us to do.' The book is the story of the different dreams and how they got lost along the way. They got broken, they got diverted. They didn't end up where they felt they were going to end up."

Proceeds will benefit Light of Hope, a community service organization that was created by a group of churches in the city of Lancaster in 2001. "They had a very specific thing in mind, building partnerships and doing community service together," Doe said.

Doe is originally from New England and now resides in Cape Cod. In between, he spent decades in Lancaster County. A family physician by trade, Doe worked in the emergency department at Lancaster General Hospital for 20 years and at an urgent care facility. "I lived here for 35 years and put a lot of my life into these stories," Doe said. "I believe Lancaster County has a very unique place of spiritual history that very few places can mimic." Doe, who also helped build a medical clinic in Kona, Hawaii, said Lancaster County ranks high per capita in donating money to missions and sending people on missions.

Following the book signing and a lunch break, there will be a program called Trauma, Deliverance, and Inner Healing Training from 1 to 5 p.m., which will include book contributors Janet Keller Richards, Abby Abildness, Lloyd Hoover, and Keith Yoder.

"We're going to do some specific teaching and training on trauma," Doe said. "What is the number one issue in the world today? Mental health. And what's at the root of it? Trauma. Look at all the wars, look at the violence, look at the conflict between political parties and almost every nation around the world. And the result of that is the younger generations, Gen Z, Gen Alpha, about 40% have anxiety and depression. We're going to be addressing that. If that could have been solved by the medical system alone, it wouldn't be there, would it? There's got to be more, and the more is looking at the whole person's body and spirit, and that's what we're going to be addressing that afternoon."

Doe wants his book to galvanize the community. "My hope is that many of the people that were involved in these stories back 25 years ago will come together again, as we've all gone separate ways and are doing different things," he said. "Wouldn't it be cool? This event is not only a teaching event, a book signing event, but a celebration of coming back together."