Day 3

Today we got up bright and early to head to the batay. We loaded up the bus around 8:30 and headed over to Batay 22 with supplies for VBS, water filtration, and the medical clinic. We set up the clinic in the school building and held VBS right outside in the schoolyard. 

Mary, Keith, Mike and I were on the water filtration team for today. We did not have to walk around to each home, as many people gathered around to watch the demonstration of the filters and receive them. We gave out all of the filters to 38 households and 1 to the school before lunchtime. 

After lunch the water filter team split up between the clinic and vbs. I went with VBS, where we played with bubbles and beachballs, did a craft, sang songs and other things while the clinic saw more patients. A few of the girls even braided me and Beth’s hair. 

Our translators were an essential part of today, making sure the people receiving water filters knew how to properly use and care for them, as well as communicating the stories to the kids in VBS. So were the doctors that came with us to see people in the clinic. We left the batay around 4:30 and came back to the mission house for dinner. Today was a great day of Missions!

- Sarah Orton

Day 2

Today our Trinity Dominican Republic team was able to worship with Maranatha Baptist church which is around the corner from the Mission House that we are staying in.   We were given a warm welcome.   Glenn got called to the platform to give a welcome from Trinity to the Maranatha church.  He thanked them for their steadfast work La Romana.  The church worshipped in Haitian creole and Spanish.   The choir sang some hymns very beautifully without musical accompaniment.  The sermon was based on Hebrews 12: 1-2.  The pastor encouraged all to run the race fixing our eyes on Jesus in very clear, but fast Spanish. 

The group then returned to the Mission House for lunch. Some then stayed and prepped for the work tomorrow and some went to the very popular public beach.  We then got together for another delicious meal at the Mission House complete with coconut pie.  We then met for our nightly devotion led by Steve.

Day 1 Recap

Day 1

The arrival of our luggage proved very timely today in that we would not have had enough crafts for the 99 children we had at VBS!  The water filters were in those pieces of luggage as well so we were able to send a team out to distribute water filters to 24 homes in the same batey.  So we hit the ground running this afternoon!

The batay we went to was Las Cejas, which means “the eyebrows” – no one was sure why😊  But we did learn that it was the batay that Moises, the CEO at the hospital, grew up in.  Moises’ sister is one of our translators again this year and she was just a baby when their family left the batay and moved to La Romana.  It was a little surreal to imagine that they lived in the batay just like the children we worked with today.

When we pulled out the VBS supplies and distributed the hygiene kits this afternoon, we were struck by the number of Trinity folks who have made this mission trip possible.  Many of you cut out crafts and donated supplies, our Mission Kids group packed pencil packs, and others of you sewed the hygiene kits.  And your many prayers give us strength to do the work and patience to be flexible when things are not going as planned.  Thank you so much for making it possible for us to help here in the DR in so many ways!

We were also very aware of how much we need our translators.  We can bring some resources and information, but they are the ones who can connect with the people more personally since they speak the same language and they will be here to continue to help long after we leave. 

Tonight, Beth read from I Corinthians 3 about how Paul planted seeds in some hearts, Apollos watered them, but God is the one who made those seeds grow.  We are just a small piece of the process and are so grateful to work with you all at Trinity and our friends here in the DR to plant seeds and water for God’s harvest.

Day 1 Video Recap

Travel Day Recap

After a long day of travel, we are settled into the Mission House and somewhat rested.  Today we are expecting the rest of our luggage from the airport. This morning, we will be sorting through the three bags of Mission supplies that did arrive and trying to pull together enough VBS supplies for an afternoon VBS in one of the bateys.  We will also be organizing the medical closet and preparing for clinics this week.  Finally, we will begin all the prep work on the buckets for our water filters (thankfully all the buckets were waiting for us here).

I am trying something new this year and have created a short video to help share our day with you.  I can't promise that I can pull off a video each day, but we will post a blog entry each night with some pictures.

To our church, families, and friends, I just want to say thank you for making this trip possible.  Your dedication to helping prepare VBS crafts, hygiene kits, and other donations make this trip possible. Your prayers and support are much appreciated and felt by the team.

Travel Day Video

Arrived safely

After traveling all day, I am happy to report that the team has arrived at Casa Pastoral.  We are missing a few bags which we expect to arrive tomorrow so we will be practicing the flexibility that Glenn always preaches to the team during our pre-trip preparations.  I will post some pictures tomorrow, but for now, I am going to go get some rest!

Highlights of Highlights

Today's the last day in the DR! It's bittersweet to think about leaving our new and freshly rekindled friendships, while also very much looking forward to more consistent air conditioning. I will miss our nightly devotions where we reflect on the day and hear about others' days. These have been very impactful times where we wrestle to make meaning of the day's events. There are gratitudes, sadnesses, praises, and humor shared during these times.  The last couple of nights, I've been collecting headlines of each person's highlight of the day. I would like to share some of the highlights of our highlights from this week. 

Frank is great. 

That's how salesmen work.

I know you don't have a filter, but will you pray with me anyway?

A good dad.

I did enjoy the banana, yeah.

The chicken is pleased by the church.

There were some challenging children- Do you not understand Spanish??

She's got big pee-pee on her. 

I met Maximus Reyes!

Teaching David how to say squeeze.

Family on the motorbike with all the things.

Little kid voice "Bwebwedah" is their name. 

MUY BUENO!!

You've got to encourage the children.

Paul lead a birthday song for Julie.

Chased by cows. 

Water station teach-back.

Listening to Mike's highlight.

Connecting with moms at VBS and the happiness a pencil pouch can cause.

I planned my highlight today.

Duck shirt commentary.

Fanning friends.

Crockets.

What about the focaccia torture?

Is that a hot dog? Are those french fries? That pizza needs some ranch.

It's all on the record.

The dentist was pulling teeth right next to the blood pressure station and the numbers were definitely higher today.

A 2 year old girl won a mango-eating contest.

I pin-balled into the stove.

Celebrating graduations on the walls of homes.

I want to take Eddie home with me.

VBS was like perfecto. 

People wanted to pray with towels on their head and a hand placed on their head during the prayer.

Fun with bubbles. 

A toddler girl urinated in front of the toilet instead of in it. Maybe we should clean her feet?

You missed a spot here on the nail.

Relating to brown Jesus and Avatar Jesus.

Teachers sometimes force-feeding anti-parasite medicine.

Interpreters impressively speak three languages.

Can we pray for you? I've been looking forward to that part. 

We lost Teresa briefly, but then we found her. Which is good, so now we get to come back next year. 

We will probably quickly forget some of the contexts of these quotes, but the camaraderie shared by them will continue. The meanings of these events will persist in our memories of our time together in the DR this week. Thank you to such a great team this week. We are grateful for such a wonderful church that went on this trip with us in hundreds of different ways. We read our letters last night and loved seeing Trinity's encouragement and love. Thank you to our prayer partners this week. Thanks to Him who loves and encourages us all and called us all together.

- Hannah Bowers

Day 6 - Our Last Day in the Bateys

My experience this week feels next to impossible to put into words, but I will do my best. It was my first experience outside of the US as well as my first experience on a mission trip, and I have learned so much about myself and the world. This week has been absolutely filled with love, compassion, learning, laughing, sweat, hard work, humility, and new relationships made. God has been everywhere I look this week. I feel changed in a way that is difficult to describe, but tonight Teresa shared some text from the book she is reading titled "Celebration of Discipline" by Richard J. Foster and the passage relating to service and humility really summed it up perfectly. He writes about how service allows you to see the people you serve in a new light, you can not only see their position in life from a new perspective, but you can see their pain and you can now identify with the outcasts. To sum up our week I asked the team to put our heads together to crunch the numbers and determine the *approximate* number of people served (and other interesting statistics).

 - 145 water filters installed - I did not have the pleasure of working with the water team this week but based off what I have heard from others on the team this seemed to be the most touching mission. The team enters a home and with the help of interpreters demonstrate the use of the water filters, how long they last, etc. and then the team prays with them. Many of them get on their knees and cover their heads to receive the blessing, and one woman told Jessica, "Yes you can pray for me, I have been waiting for this."

 - 125 hygiene kits given away - Estella (one of the mission leaders) rounds up girls in the Batey to provide education/demonstration on use of the kits our church members have made. The kits, if taken care of well, will last the girls up to 2 years.

- 255 patients served in clinic - We learned a lot as a team about teamwork in clinic. We worked together to fill prescriptions and get patients seen/served in a timely manner. They were weighed, had their blood pressures taken, assessed by the doctors and dentist, and waited for their medications to be ready. Our wonderful interpreters (Eddy, Juan Roberto, David, Gilberto, Yuya, Emilio, and Manuel) helped do patient education about medications.

- 233 kids in VBS - Kids received anti-parasitic medication to start the day, followed by a bible story (translated by Estella into Spanish), and a related craft. Estella is a key part of VBS and is fantastic at getting the children in gear. I overheard her speaking to a particularly ornery group of girls who where just staring at her while she gave instructions and after a brief pause with no action from the girls she said, "Do you not understand Spanish?" She's the perfect amount of class and sass.

- almost 800 lbs of luggage - Each team member brought a checked bag with some of their belongings for the week and some extra supplies for the week, as well as a second checked bag full of only supplies for the week. Needless to say, we will be traveling MUCH lighter back home!

- 9 large pizzas - The number of pizzas orders tonight at dinner, which was way too many.

- 3 languages spoken - Several of our wonderful interpreters speak English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole in order to communicate with us and the people in the Bateys. 

- 1800 pounds - The amount of rice we helped distribute in the Bateys.

Many, many thanks to our church family who have been praying for us this week. 

Shelby Hogan