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

Day 5 - In a Bario

Day 5- Quisqueya Barrio

        Today, we had our furthest drive yet in our hot, bouncy school busses- a little over an hour each way- to Quisqueya barrio.  This is a large "neighborhood" of the city/ province of San Pedro.  Most of the people who live in Quisqueya are Haitian immigrants with very limited incomes and opportunities, so they still need all the services we have been providing.

        I worked in the medical clinic today, where we saw the most patients yet- approximately 90!  We saw babies through senior citizens.  Paul Orton and Shelby Hogan checked blood pressure before the patients saw one of the 3 Dominican doctors who traveled to Quisqueya with us.  Then, Lynn Hogan and I filled the "prescriptions" written by the doctors (mostly over the counter medications which these people struggle to obtain/ afford).  Every patient receives, at a minimum, vitamins and tylenol or ibuprofen.  Then, depending on their diagnosis, we also give them cold/ allergy medications, GI medications, antibiotic/ antifungal creams, and a few more specific medications as prescribed.  Each day, the 2 people filling prescriptions in the "pharmacy" struggle to keep up with all the prescriptions coming in. But also each day, people on other teams (water & VBS) that day come in and help us as it gets close to lunch time.  Dr. Hannah Bowers was one of those people today- she has been such a wealth of knowledge,  information & organization skills this week!  (And she worked in the medical clinic herself Monday and Tuesday). 

         After these hot days of work, we return to Casa Pastoral in La Romana for a delicious dinner prepared by the local staff here.  Then, after dinner each evening, we have gone around our entire group sharing our "highlight of the day."  Well, mine was easy today, and I must share here!  Before we had gotten started seeing patients/ filling prescriptions in the clinic this morning, the room was full of all our Trinity group, as well as 30 or so people waiting to be seen in the clinic. Paul Orton suddenly stood up and led the entire room in singing Happy Birthday to me- in Spanish!  Yes, I just spent my 58th birthday here in the DR!  The Casa Pastoral kitchen staff also had a delicious birthday cake for me after dinner, and Mike gave me a card signed by our entire team, as well as a locally made necklace. It was a great and memorable birthday!

        This week has been very special as all twelve of us seem to have worked together really well!  Whether it is counting pills, organizing the massive amounts of medicine, loading/ unloading busses, helping in the clinic after completing their other team responsibilities, or preparing the water filter systems each night, everyone has pitched in and helped get the work done.  We have felt your prayers, and we have felt God working through us to bring clean water, medical care, and Jesus' love to the people of the Dominican Republic. But as much as we want to be a blessing to the Dominican people, I always come away from this experience feeling like I've RECEIVED the blessing from these special people, and the rest of our group.  

Julie Wills 

        

Day 4 - Batey Lima

Facts and Feelings

Today we went to the Lima Batey (bah-TAY). The bus ride is about 45 minutes each day (so far) but the distance is only about 15-20 miles. Our bus driver, Yuya (or Frank) is an expert at navigating the dirt roads and mud puddles. Today we crossed a concrete bridge barely the width of the bus and the creek was up to the bridge. There's no safety rails, which made it look just like the bridge on the gravel road where Gary is from in Morgan county. The landscape was more hilly and I over heard the comment, "It looks like when you cross the state line into Tennessee, but we are NOT on I-65!"

I rode both trips in the seat with Crystal, who is a 28-yr old Haitian and her role is registration of everyone who comes in to the clinic. We made great use of the iPhone Translate app, taking turns speaking into my phone. "Llama" and "llama" do not mean the same thing haha. She was born in Haiti, and has graduated from school, but cannot attend 'University' because she is Haitian. She wants to be a nurse. 

The stats report for today is:

• 38 water filters installed and all of the families were prayed with by our team, including one woman who stopped them in the street and said, "I know you're out of filters, but will you pray for me?"
• 77 patients seen at the clinic (double yesterday's count). This does not include the children who get anti-parasitic syrup and a dum-dum sucker when we first arrive on site 
• 12 children at VBS in the morning who heard the parable of the lost sheep
• 26 children at VBS in the afternoon who heard the story of Jesus washing the disciples feet. 

At the end of the day we are hot and tired from the 88 degree weather with 68 % humidity. (By comparison, it was 38% humidity in HSV today. I checked.) We enjoy a home cooked meal by TaTa and the sweet kitchen ladies, three times a day. She serves a fresh fruit juice in ice cold gallon jugs on the table each night - mango, passion fruit, lime, cherry. Truly a cup of cold water in the biblical sense.

 But my favorite time of the day is the team meeting after dinner. Because we are a small-ish team, we can each share our favorite thing of the day. It varies from each person and their assignment for the day, clinic, VBS or water filters. We laugh about and respect our strengths and weaknesses (clinic vs. VBS). But the commonality and community we share with one another, the growing together as our entire focus is here and we are not encumbered or distracted by work or school or errands, is most meaningful for me. We are a small piece of the story in this much bigger story of the work here in the DR, and with the three other teams overlapping with us this week. Your story, our story, God's story, coming together in the Republica Dominica!  

Lynn Hogan