23 March 2018
Today was our last day in the Dominican Republic and we are all so bummed but trying to soak in every moment of it!! We all had an amazing day today. We started the day by waking up early to see the sunrise on the beach. We then ate breakfast, got ready for the trip, and hopped on the bus to drive to the port, where we got on a pontine boat with another SCORE group to ride to the island. We went snorkeling, jumped off cliffs and relaxed on the beach at Catalina Island. The water was crystal blue!! The highlight of this morning and afternoon was definitely watching Dr. Brewer climb up a ladder to the 15ft cliffs to jump off (Dr. Brewer is 75 – we were all SO impressed). After the beach, we came back to home base to shower, eat dinner, and have an evening of worship and sharing. Reflecting on this trip, we were all so thankful for Dr. Brewer, Henry, Christina, and Bob for making this trip happen. It was so exciting to see how much we all grew clinically, but especially spiritually, and in our friendships with one another. It is our greatest prayer that we would carry these friendships and these lessons on with us as we return home and enter back into our regular routine. Tomorrow morning, we will be packing up the suitcases and driving to the airport. We fly out of Santo Domingo at 2:00p! Thank you again for following us this week and for supporting us. Much love, The Team
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Today was our final day in clinic and we are all so sad that our clinic days have come to an end. We were in a village called La Loma (which means ‘the hill’). As we mentioned in our last post, this village is especially known for their huge presence of witchcraft and devil worshipping. The church we served in has been the sole beacon in the community since 1992. The pastor who started the church began with four brothers in Christ. It was so encouraging to see the Lord’s presence in the church and see how faithful the Lord has been throughout the years.
Clinically, we all progressed significantly, and Dr. Sam did much more supervising than physically extracting. Although we were all worn out from the long days, we are all so blessed with God’s presence and the length the Lord has stretched us this week. After clinics, we returned to SCORE and were surprised with a catered Argentinian barbeque hosted by the local pastors, followed by a time of sharing of testimonies from the pastors. Afterwards we celebrated Forrest’s 24 birthday with cupcakes and had our usual group bible study. We then split up into our devotional groups, and we are now playing games, specifically “Salad Bowl,” in the common room. Tomorrow is our free day!! And we are heading out to Catalina Island early in the morning. We’ll be snorkeling, swimming, and spending time on the beach! Photos to come :) Thanks for following us along our journey! Hello everyone!
Today we were in a small village called Consuelo (which ironically means ‘to comfort’). We started the mornings with our usual morning worship and prayers, then loaded up the van after breakfast and headed out. This morning, we saw so many kids!! It was disheartening to see all the decayed and broken teeth at such a young age but thankfully, we were able to extract their teeth without many tears (PRAISE THE LORD). The highlight of this afternoon was a young lady named Naomi who received Christ even before Elisabeth and Henry were finished sharing the gospel. The holy spirit was so present today, it even moved Elisabeth to tears. Thank you so much for all your prayers and support. We cherish all of them and love you all dearly!! We are all gathered around the table right now, eating fresh made pizza (a weekly event put on by SCORE) and fellowshipping together. Tomorrow we head out to our last village La Loma which is known for their witchcraft, which celebrates the conquering of Christ by witches. Please pray that we would be a light to the people in the community and that we would be able to share God’s love through dentistry, and through our actions and words. Much love! 20 March 2018 Today was our second day in clinic!! After a 6:15 morning worship session and breakfast following at 6:45 AM, we packed up the van with our material and headed to the small Dominican village of Fillipino St. Pedro. There were several highlights of the day. Brigitte, Cassidy, Kelsey, and Viviana completed their first extractions and injections. Some of our team members experienced God’s presence after praying for anxious patients and witnessed the pain relief in their eyes. Two villagers sought prayer to accept Christ into their lives. Lastly, the pastor of the church we served in expressed extreme gratitude for the service we provided and the love of Christ we were able to share. We got back to SCORE around 4:30, ate dinner at 5:30, and had worship and a bible study led by our very own, Dr. Bob Nelson. We are currently huddling around a table playing a card game called “Phase 10.” Tomorrow we are headed to the Emanuel House in Quisqueya, Dominican Republic to serve the Lord for our 3rd day. Prayers for the health and strength of our team, as well as our ability to shine Jesus’s light to all the Dominican people. Also, additional prayers would also be appreciated, because we are going to a more prominent non-believing community. Thanks for checking in! We will check-in again tomorrow. 19 March 2018 Hello friends and family! Our first day in clinic was a success!! We woke up at 6:15a for group devotions. After breakfast, we loaded the vans and set out for Buena Vista. Throughout the day, we extracted over 50 teeth, cleaned over 25 mouths, and shared the gospel with many people from the community. Several highlights of the day were:
Please pray that our team would have strength and energy to serve the community, that we would all have patience and love, and that we would exude Christ in everything that we do. Thanks for following! We’ll post again tomorrow! Hello from the Dominican Republic!
We all arrived safely with all our luggage without a hiccup yesterday – praise God! Today was our first full day at SCORE! We began the day attending a local church in the morning, with many of us experiencing our first service in complete Spanish. After church, we had some downtime, and a group of girls got together to bond and make bracelets. We ate lunch around noon, and then walked next door to the SCORE’s medical clinic to practice setting up the mobile dental chairs for our first day of clinic tomorrow. Our puzzle skills were put to use, considering these chairs were made out of huge plastic puzzle pieces. Shortly after this, we enjoyed the rest of the day at the beach! We practiced our Spanish by repeating, “No tengo dinero (no money)” and “No gracias (no thank you)” to all the beach vendors. We got back from the beach around 6 o’clock, ate dinner, and then attended a worship service led by Morgan and Kelsey. Four of our teammates, Claire, Elizabeth Anne, Brigitte, and Daniel shared their testimonies, and then we reviewed clinic flow for tomorrow. We then split up into our devotional groups and participated in our first Bible study of the week. We discussed Ephesians 4:10-20 and set our minds on unifying the body of Christ this week. We are now currently by the pool in SCORE practicing mandibular nerve blocks with plastic coffee stirrers before our long day in clinic tomorrow in a small village called Buena Vista. We’ll update the blog regularly as the week progresses. Thanks for keeping up with us! Adios! |
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