Dearest friends and family,
Sweat squad reporting in for the last time. Yesterday was our last day in clinic and last full day in the Dominican. We can’t believe this journey is coming to an end! God has really outdone Himself. Many of us agree this has been the best mission trip we’ve ever been on, even those who are mission trip veterans. We spent a half-day in clinic before heading to Santo Domingo for the afternoon. We first visited a market with some fairly tenacious vendors. After 45 minutes of haggling for wooden crosses and diligently avoiding eye contact, we then headed to the oldest part of the city to see where Christopher Columbus first landed, the oldest cathedral in the Western Hemisphere (completed in 1512), and a Dominican chocolate factory. We traipsed around European-esque streets and bravely sprinted throughout a pack of very bold and entitled pigeons in the main city square. After dinner at SCORE, we joined for our evening time of sharing, which was particularly long and meaningful. The most dominant theme that emerged was thankfulness. One of our group members shared about the importance of teamwork and what makes a good team great. He has played on many teams throughout his life, but he said truthfully our team these past two weeks is one of the best he’s ever played on. All great teams have a common goal and a common enemy. Our common goal has been to know God and make Him known, all the while glorifying Him. Our common enemy is Satan and the ways in which he engages in spiritual warfare. Because of these commonalities and the same Spirit within us, we’ve made a straight up good team. We are deeply grateful to God for orchestrating this team and allowing us to serve and love one another and the people of the Dominican these past two weeks. May we be quick to remember and slow to forget the ways God has worked in our hearts. Though we won’t miss dysfunctional digestive systems or meals consisting exclusively of carbs, we surely will miss this beautiful country. As someone in our group shared, “Sometimes we just need to hear Good News, not good advice.” This trip has been saturated in all the best parts of life – laughter, friendship, honesty, stories, and most importantly the Good News of Jesus Christ.
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Dearest friends and family,
Yesterday was filled with bright sun and sweet patients, our last full day in clinic. We served in another rural church in which the temperature encroached that of an oven. Though we baked in the heat like cookies on a sheet tray, the day was full of life and truth and joy. We interacted with some very interesting and frankly hysterical patients including an old, old man who was a bit of a hypochondriac. He did have a legitimate sinus infection that we were able to treat, but he also acted out a laundry list of complaints with wildly dramatic hand gestures and hilarious sound effects, almost like a not-so-silent game of charades. I’ll just let you imagine how he described gas and bloating. He was deeply concerned that his hair was “too white,” to which we had to kindly explain that being an 80-year-old just might have something to do with that…who knows. He also animatedly described that when someone scares him when he’s not expecting it, his heart begins to race. Again, we assured him that happens to everyone. Our translator had no idea half of what he was saying and simply put, he was the definition of a riot. Amidst the laughter, we were able to love and serve and pray with him, and ultimately get him the medical help that he legitimately needed. On the other end of the spectrum, several of our patients had stomach pain that we ultimately determined was due to hunger. Medicine can only go so far and though heartbreaking, it is powerful to realize that truth. Though our pharmacy stocked some nutritional supplements that could serve as a temporary solution, the most impactful thing we could do was pray for these patients, that God would provide as only He can. At a certain point, we are limited in our capacity to serve and provide for people, which should not discourage us from serving the children of God, but should rather spur us to fix our eyes on Jesus. During our evening time of sharing, several more team members shared their testimonies & exposed parts of themselves that are raw, complicated, messy. Only when exposed to darkness can we truly understand what light means. We are all so encouraged by their courage and boldness in sharing and hope that their stories stick with us, reminding us of the faithfulness and trustworthiness of God even in the midst of our rebellion. Though the sharing time was heavy and emotional, we ended on a light note with the words of one of our team members – “I’m thankful that all of you are my brothers and sisters in Christ…and traveler’s diarrhea.” What is the strongest bond besides that of the bond of Christ you may ask? The bond of Montezuma’s revenge, bar none. We love you! Pray that our last full day in the Dominican will be filled to the brim with fresh energy, enthusiasm, and strength. Though many of our physical bodies are getting a little weary, pray that our spirits do not! See you soon! Dearest friends and family,
Yesterday was a hard day for your dear sweat squad. For a lot of us, it felt heavy and wearisome in a way that’s difficult to articulate. The reality of ministry and missions is that not every day is perfect. Ministry is not glamorous. It is deeply beautiful but can also be frustrating, draining, and at times seemingly fruitless. We drove about an hour and fifteen minutes away from SCORE and set up clinic in a church in a very rural farmland area. The children were particularly rambunctious and unruly. They demanded that we give them our watches, Bibles, nametags, etc. Patients had to be physically restrained at the door because an orderly line was near impossible to facilitate. Team members at the med stations had difficulty communicating with patients because many of them spoke Creole, not Spanish. The church was giving out clothes and shoes directly adjacent to the evangelism station, so patients were distracted and disengaged during the presentation of the Gospel. We encountered several patients who engaged in Vodoo magic which is difficult for us to understand and approach. We finished clinic exhausted and emotionally drained. Though it was a difficult day overall, once we returned to SCORE and engaged in conversations with one another and in our evening time of sharing, worship was particularly powerful and bright points of the day emerged. One woman accepted Christ. We were able to give out ten water filters to families in the community. Team members encouraged one another, pointing out specific ways people were helpful, energetic, and patient throughout the day. Despite heavy days, Christ has already won the battle. He is the author and perfector of our faith. He has given us the body of Christ to lift up one another and remind one another of the goodness of God, even in hard times. We are called to serve people and share the Gospel in His name, but only God can change hearts, redeem sin, and transform lives. Please lift this particular community in your prayers, that disciples will be multiplied and God’s name will be glorified. Just as God brings a fruitful harvest every year in this farming community, we pray that He reaps a spiritual harvest as well. We are thankful for the opportunity to experience a difficult day so that we can be reminded of our own weakness and dependence on an all-knowing God. We only have two days left in this beautiful country and though we’ll be thrilled to return to the land of free, home of the brave, and birthplace of Chick Fil A, we’ll be sad to leave what is turning out to be a pretty powerful trip. Praise God! We love you so much! Dearest friends and family,
The sweat saga continues! We're still waiting on that literal mighty rushing wind, so keep on praying. Yesterday we moved to a new location for clinic that was drastically different than the village near the city dump. We set up in a church in the city of San Pedro, which has about 250,000 people. Much of the city is at sea level, so when it rains, it floods (cue Noah & the ark). It had rained heavily in the morning before we arrived and though it had not flooded much, the clinic was rather empty in the morning. One of our team leaders Dr. Bob was the medical director of SCORE for many years and explained to us that no one was at the clinic because they were afraid of the rain and the possibility of flooding. He said that as the day moved on, they would come. He was certainly right. Though the church didn't flood with rain, it flooded with people as they day went on. A deluge of patient after patient. Including medical and eye patients, we saw over 120 people yesterday. During our lunch break, we were given a tour of the regional hospital. It was certainly very different from American healthcare standards, but we were impressed with the services they can and do provide, including hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, obstetrics and gynecology, emergency care, intensive care, CT and MRI capabilities, laboratory testing, and many others. One of the doctors at the hospital gave us a full tour of the facility and was also the pastor of the church where we held clinic. And we think we're busy. One of the things that has been most notable on this trip thus far is how much it is bathed in prayer. We pray in the morning, when we eat breakfast, while we ride to clinic, before we start clinic, with every patient, all throughout the day in clinic, before lunch, in the evening during and after our time of sharing, before dinner, in small groups after dinner, etc. etc. etc. It has been incredible to watch prayers be answered and to watch God move through prayer. In particular yesterday, one of the students who worked at the eye station shared in the evening about a prayer that was answered so faithfully by God. In the morning, just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong in that station. The case of reading glasses was misplaced, one of the machine parts broke, the line kept getting backed up, patients weren't getting the glasses they needed, and everyone was beginning to become frustrated. During lunch, the group running the station prayed together and regrouped before the afternoon began. They prayed for God to intervene & for the station to run smoothly. And answer their prayer, He did. The case of glasses was miraculously found. Patient after patient received the glasses that were needed. We watched as a tiny elderly woman put on her new readers, visibly amazed and delighted at the results. Glory to God for answered prayer and that He is strong in our weakness. Two of the students worked with a precious woman in clinic yesterday who was a believer and who touched them deeply. Usually we pray for patients, but she ended up praying over them fervently and earnestly. She prayed for blessing over their lives and praised God for His goodness and faithfulness to His children. When asked what she loved about God, the translator could barely keep up with her rapid-fire admiration. We pray that all of us on this trip and everyone reading this blog will feel that way about God consistently. His gift of love & salvation is not casual. It is awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping, breathtaking. This woman gets it. May we embrace her spirit and channel her love! Tomorrow we move to another location for clinic. May He become more while we become less (sweaty). We love you! Thank you again for praying! Dearest friends and family,
Hello from an impressive group of professional sweat-ers! Yesterday was a full day of seeing patients, several playfully violent rounds of the card game Spoons, and another healthy dose of humidity. We completed our second day in clinic in the village by the dump. Tomorrow we move to another location for clinic and though we are sad to leave the people we've met over the past few days, we hope the next location will be a little less sauna-like and channels more of an Antarctica vibe. Despite rainy conditions, we saw over sixty patients in clinic yesterday and more importantly, over the past two days, nine people have prayed to receive Christ. Praise God! In optometry, we saw several patients who couldn't even read the last line of the vision chart without glasses and with their new glasses, they could read every line perfectly. Some of the elderly had fairly severe cataracts and though we didn't have the resources to help them medically, we were able to pray over them and their families, that God would bring healing as only He can do. During our evening time of sharing, several people expressed wonder and awe at the sheer joy Dominican Christians have in their faith. When talking about Jesus in clinic, their faces lit up with what we could tell was a genuine, deep, & abounding love for the Lord. Please pray that we will be inspired by these people to further our love and devotion to God, both throughout this week and frankly throughout the rest of our lives. God is sovereign and just, but he is also a loving Father, so pray that we find joy in that each and every day. And that our joy will be deeply evident to those around us, both here in the Dominican and back in Birmingham. We've also observed a deep commitment among Dominican Christians to furthering the kingdom of God throughout their sphere of influence. Please also pray that as we return home, we will seek opportunities to further His kingdom and consistently ask ourselves, "What am I doing to glorify God? How am I working to further His kingdom in my sphere of influence?" The missionaries at SCORE also presented to us several other organizations that are working to spread God's love in this region of the Dominican, one of which is called Lily House. Lily House ministers to women who have been sex-trafficked into prostitution, helping them to find new and practical skills to provide for their families. Lily House wants to help re-orient these women's worth on Christ and not on what the world says about them. If you are interested in this ministry, please Google "Lily House SCORE International" for more information about how these women are becoming new creatures in Christ. We hope tomorrow is a day of sweating less & glorifying God more! We love you! Thank you for praying! Dearest friends and family,
Yesterday we successfully completed our first full day in the Dominican and our first day of clinic. We started the day with worship & prayer and then traveled about an hour away from where we're staying. We operated clinic out of a small church building in a village that's next to a city dump -- most of the village members make their living by selling & re-purposing items from the dump. Despite cramped quarters, we managed to set up clinic and with a few cedar planks and some terrycloth robes, it could have been misconstrued as a sauna. Though it was a bit steamy, our first day actually ran pretty smoothly and we saw almost 70 patients. In the midst of babbling babies and pregnant dogs weaving in and out, we set up stations for triage, patient evaluation, pharmacy, optometry, and evangelism and prayer. We saw everything from a 19-day-old baby who was progressing beautifully to an older man who had a very severe wound on his leg that has gradually gotten worse and worse over the past four years. A doctor and two of the medical students even performed a small surgical procedure on an elderly man, removing a fatty benign tumor from his head using local anesthetic. As in most foreign trips, some moments were hilarious and others were incredibly disheartening. One mama told us her baby wasn't eating well while he blissfully and vigorously stuffed cracker after cracker into his mouth, drooling all the while -- we couldn't help but laugh. But in the same room, we helplessly realized that the man with the severe wound could have been healed if intervention had happened earlier, but with our resources and how far the wound had progressed, there was very little we could do medically. Despite frustrations like these and the hyper-emphasis in medicine on "fixing" things and fixing them quickly, we must realize that Jesus is the ultimate and true healer. During our evening time of sharing, one of our team members said that during a patient interaction, she reached a mental block in which she couldn't figure out what to do next medically and figured that was the end of the road with their evaluation of the patient. She then realized there was so much more they could do -- they could pray for her, love her, demonstrate care for her, and most importantly start a dialogue about God and His deep, deep abounding love for her. Please pray that as we see patients this week, we will do our very best to care for their physical health but that we will also prioritize their spiritual health. God is the ultimate healer and we are commanded to call on him boldly and expectantly. We are called to fight for people and to fight for their souls. That is true healing. We are simply the writing utensils God is using to craft the story of His kingdom. Clinic day two will also be at the village by the dump. Check back for updates on our work & how God is moving! We love you and are thankful for your prayers. Dearest friends and family,
Despite a little turbulence & an unusually chatty pilot, we had a smooth and uneventful travel day & are all safely settled in the beautiful (and HUMID) country of the Dominican Republic. For the next two weeks, we will be staying at SCORE International, a nice (and partly air-conditioned -- #praise) facility in the town of Juan Dolio, about 30 minutes from the bustling capital city of Santo Domingo and very close to the beach. Tomorrow we hit the ground running and will be operating clinic out of a church located at a city dump. From what we've heard, the healthcare in this area is particularly poor & we'll likely see people in pretty dire circumstances. Prayers are appreciated that we will walk through the day trying our best to see people as Jesus sees them -- as His beloved children, whom He created with love and for a purpose. During orientation, the medical director of SCORE International reminded us that our main purpose in being here in the Dominican Republic is to help empower Dominican churches, making the bride of Christ seem even more beautiful so that God's Kingdom can be furthered through their impact. Though we are investing two weeks here, pray that we are constantly reminded that these churches and pastors are investing their lives in these communities. Pray that we will have a humble spirit as we approach this week and our work, both medical and evangelical. In summary, we are frizzy-haired, sweaty, and tired, but we are expectant for God to move this week! Pray for the Holy Spirit to be like a mighty rushing wind (and also for a literal mighty rushing wind as it is very hot). Your prayer is crucial in our efforts these next two weeks. P.S. The phone is not currently working so if your loved one has promised to call & has not yet, do not worry -- we are all safe and sound. They will call as soon as it's working. Check back with the blog to stay updated! |
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