Hello Hello!
It is with a sad heart that I say today was the final full day in the Dominican Republic. After a long week working on patients, today we got to have a fun day together as a team. A few of us started the day off watching the sunrise on the beach across from the SCORE complex…and wow was it beautiful. Next, we all had a fun little swab time with the Covid testers, and luckily we are all returning to the US tomorrow since all tests were negative (though some of us mayyy have questioned whether having to stay would’ve been the worst thing). After a yummy breakfast per usual, we set out for our embarkment. We drove to an area of the island where we boarded a boat to take us to Catalina Island for an amazing beach day. The color of the water here is ice, ice blue. We had such a fun time getting to see the beauty of this area from the water, and we even enjoyed some cliff jumping and snorkeling. After snorkeling, we went to the beach and spent a relaxing afternoon full of naps, pineapple drinks, and just enjoying being together in such a beautiful place. We have had the absolute best trip serving the people here, and we personally love every single person we have gotten to spend this week with. Thank you to everyone for following along with the blog, it has been fun keeping you guys updated on our adventures. Please pray for our safe travels and that we will continue to be able to spread the light of the Lord as we return to the United States. We are so thankful for this experience and will never forget the people we have encountered this week in the Dominican. Until next time, everyone! P.S. special shout out to the chefs for killer meals all week and an especially fabulous bread pudding tonight! I know my dad would have loved it as much as we did (not to brag but he and I are kinddd of bread pudding connoisseurs). And on that final, last, sorely sad, not excited, don’t make us leave, ok guess we have to go note… Signing off, Hal and Sar <3
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Hi loyal readers!
Our hearts are so full writing this because we’ve finished our four days of serving patients and ministering to them. We’ve seen our Spanish improve thanks to our amazing translators; they have been such an important aspect of this trip. We quite literally could not have done it without them porque no hablo español. It is honestly incredible how self-sufficient the students on this trip have become over the course of a few days. Our fellow dentists have trained us well, and we are now ready to embark on patients in the USA. Ha kidding, but maybe?? Not only have we picked up on so much dentistry & optometry for Kimmie and Sam but we’ve found ways to comfort our patients and ask about their spiritual needs. It’s opened our eyes to how the Lord has provided these professions as platforms for ministry, and how we can point others to the reality of Christ in our regular workflow. In the clinics we had an evangelism pitstop for patients before they were treated, and we saw many people who knew parts of the gospel but hadn’t committed to follow Jesus. Today, Tyler was able to have a conversation with a man and lead him to Christ, and there were so many other conversations that planted seeds with these people that will be watered after we leave. It’s also super encouraging to think that some of us may be able to come back and serve these people again! Tomorrow, we’re excited to spend the day together debriefing our experience, resting, and enjoying this beautiful place before we head home. We’re having a great time writing these blogs for y’all tbh. Thanks for reading along (mom..), Hal and Sar We’re back again!!
The Lord and the coffee he created have been so faithful to restore our energy and get us through our first 3 days of clinics! It was a wild day, complete with Nolan exploding through a plastic chair while trying to check a filling and Zoie running her own pediatrics extraction practice in the corner. Every day, we see our team becoming more efficient at setup and dentistry/optometry, which allows us to bring more of our attention to the spiritual needs of our patients. It’s been so cool to experience the Holy Spirit moving our team to pray for patients and hear their story, even when it’s right after we’ve yanked a molar. This trip can for sure wear you out, but we are thankful for all of the discipleship that CMMA is giving us through our quiet times, small groups, and mini-sermons at night. Those aspects of the trip have rounded out our spiritual perspective on the services we’re able to provide, and helped us to envision the transition back to being regular ole students in Birmingham. So many of us will be returning home with an outlook to be a light to our classmates & patients and a desire to keep seeking the Lord. Please pray that we’d be able to serve our patients and each other wholeheartedly tomorrow on our last day of clinics. Still can’t roll our Rs, Sar and Hal Welcome back to the blog, everyone!
We just finished up day 3 in the Dominican Republic, and let us tell you…it was very special. We started our morning at 6am with prayer and worship before we set out for the day in a remote town. We boarded the buses, and the bus drivers very impressively drove us off road to our area of work. We had a long, successful day of ministering to many people and helping relieve the pain in their mouths. One of the cutest parts of the day was when Dr. Park asked a little girl if she had any feeling in her gums after she had been administered Lidocaine, and she responded “You are very good doctor, because I can’t feel anything.” This was a very special community of people we were able to serve, and we are increasingly more thankful as the days go on that each person on this trip chose to come. The work ethic and compassion that this group of people exhibits is truly inspiring. The Lord is working in everyone here, and it is a blessing to be surrounded by people so adamantly serving others. To wrap up this blog, once again, shout out to each doctor on this trip and our 4th year, Cody. They have patiently watched us pull a tooth for twice as long as it would take them and have showed us so so many skills. They are kind and eager to help us learn how to do things that we have absolutely no idea how to do. If you are a family member of any of them, thank you for sharing them with us students this week. They have been such a blessing to us and to the communities we have been serving. With that final note, we will say see you tomorrow! Thank you for your continued prayers, we love you. Hal and Sar ¡Bendiciones para ti!
Can’t you tell our Spanish is vastly improving?! We’re here writing this to you after a 12+ hour day and after running our first dental and optometry clinic! Our day starts real early with a group devotional and worship, and then we load up and drive out to the communities we’re working in. Today, we were in a school and were able to care for teachers and students and their families. In the dental sector, there were people working on cleanings, pulling teeth, and even a few brave souls restoring cavities with fillings. A lot students had their first opportunities to do composite restorations (including ya girls, Hal and Sar) or pull teeth, and we are all so thankful for the incredible dentists here for being patient and pouring into us throughout the day. Our optometrists were hard at work as well, providing many people with prescription glasses. Lastly, our groups of evangelists had the opportunity to pray over the people before their dental procedures. To say that the Lord’s presence and blessings were felt today would be an understatement. We are having the greatest time building relationships and sharing the gospel. Hearing stories tonight from teammates of how they are already seeing God at work is inspiring and motivating us to be bold this week. Thank you for your continued prayers as we venture into the great unknown of 3 more days of clinic!! Hasta mañana, Halle y Sarah Hello hello family and friends!
Sarah and Halle here to bring the latest update for our official first day in the Dominican Republic. It was a lovely little start to the morning with an incredible breakfast by the SCORE chefs (but let’s be real…every meal is incredible.) Don’t worry, we are without a doubt very well fed over here. After breakfast, we boarded our trusty vans to head into the town to church. It was a great service and powerful to witness believers from an entirely different background singing their hearts out to our God. We practiced our Spanish on some kids who would put up with us and a few of us even learned some dental phrases on the ride back to SCORE! Today was about preparing to set up and run the clinics tomorrow and coming together as a team. Everyone caught some sun as we got to enjoy the nearby beach before we did one more devo as a team & met in our discipleship groups. Everyone is doing well and there are mixed feelings of excitement and nerves for treating patients tomorrow, but we are thankful to the Lord for this opportunity and are trusting that He will show up in big ways. We are very excited for the spiritual encounters that the Lord will provide us with in the coming days, and are even hoping to share some of our quirky humor with the kind people of the Dominican Republic. Until tomorrow, our dear friends. Signing off, Hal and Sar Our Dental Team has arrived safely at the Score International Compound in the Dominican Republic.
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