Happy Monday! As we begin this post, we are cheering on our brave teammate Emily, who has made a bet that she can finish an entire pizza on her own. I’m obliged to tell you that her opponent is the previously mentioned John Bode (6’6’’). You could say that our team bonding is coming along pretty well. Stay tuned tomorrow for the results of this epic showdown.
On a more serious note, we had a wonderful day of clinic on this fine Monday. The Lord provided a nice rain shower to cool off a land that seems perpetually hot, so from the moment we began worship this morning, we knew today was going to be a good day. Upon arriving at clinic, our team unloaded and set up like the well-oiled machine we have become. We brought our new docs up to speed, and they jumped right in like pros. To say they have personality would be an understatement (we’re looking at you Dr. Walker). Meredith was our MVP of the day, as she rose to the challenge of running the eye station. Even though she had some big shoes to fill (we miss you Brett), she did a great job providing glasses and ministering to her patients. In a nearby station, Abbey and Morgan visited a very different part of the body. When a patient talked about warts and pointed down yonder, they knew they were in trouble. However, they responded like the strong future physicians they are and seized the opportunity to perform a procedure on a very grateful gentleman. Outside, Scott continued his quest to turn the color of a tomato. He singlehandedly ran the children’s ministry, playing with the kiddos in the beating sun like a champ. Throughout the day, we continued evangelizing and praying for all of our patients. Today, most of those who came through the clinic attended the local church and professed faith in Christ. We enjoyed their encouragement, but were also able to have good conversations with several nonbelievers. Our new docs stressed the importance of taking care of our patients both spiritually and physically. As a result, we made an extra effort today to incorporate Gospel-centered conversation into patient care. Upon returning to SCORE, we went about our evening meeting, and Morgan had the opportunity to share her testimony. She was a tough act to follow, but Christina didn’t disappoint and delivered a powerful message on struggle and wrestling with God. This led to small group discussions with an emphasis on vulnerability and resting in God’s perfect plan. As the days wind down, we are savoring these opportunities to love on both our patients and each other. Adios amigos! Hasta manaña!
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Our weekend was packed full of relaxation! After a long week of early mornings and long clinics we were eager to rest. On Saturday, we got an extra hour of sleep – what a blessing! We ventured to Catalina Island via bus, a big boat, then a small boat. The big boat ride was quite a rough ride. Good thing everyone packed their Dramamine. We pit stopped in the actual middle of the ocean to snorkel for a bit. The waves were rough, but the views were beautiful! We got to chase fish, see reefs, and crack lots of Finding Nemo jokes J. The island provided multiple ways for us all to rest. Some played volleyball, some slept in the shade, and some waded in the crystal clear shallow water. The island served us a buffet for lunch and Dr. Bob found a way to make our lunch biblical by passing his freshly caught and cooked snapper down the tables for us all to share. It was a picture-perfect day (see above)! Once returning to SCORE, we continued resting by going to the beach, going to get refreshments at Lilly House, or playing games.
We continued our weekend of rest this morning by waking up later and then walking to the local church right down the road. To some of our surprise, the service was completely in Spanish. Although the lyrics of the songs were in Spanish, we recognized the songs to be popular songs we all were familiar with. It was a neat experience to worship with the congregation singing in two languages. We were even able to take Communion with them as one united church family. The second wave of medical providers arrived this weekend and we have enjoyed welcoming them to crew. We were sad to see Dr. Salser, Dr. Duggar, Dr. Weatherly, Brett, Kyle, Logan, Sarah, Erin, Rebecca, Henrik, and Jose leave us this weekend. They were extremely valuable members of our team and we will miss them dearly. We’re enjoying our last night of relaxation and preparing our bodies, hearts, and minds for the work ahead this week! Please continue to pray alongside us! Buenas noches! As we drove to the clinic this morning, we passed one sugarcane field after another, getting more and more nervous about what awaited us with each bump we rolled over. To our surprise, the community church was spacious, clean, and equipped with good lighting, fans, and a natural breeze. We had a separate building for the eye station, and for once, our evangelism team got to enjoy the comfort of a roof…let me tell ya, it makes a big difference. Before we opened the door, patients filled the church. Thankfully, they were gracious when we informed them that the line was outside (and even took their chairs), but this allowed us to get clinic off to a smooth start. At this point, we could be described as a well-oiled machine. We fell into a familiar rhythm of triaging patients, leading them to medical stations for treatment, then taking them to the pharmacy for meds, and finishing with a stop in evangelism.
We saw a mix of patients, some with well-cared for chronic illness and others with little access to medical care. Alex and Eliz stole the show when a gentleman came in with a gnarly gash on his leg. Under the direction of Dr. Duggar, they debrided the wound like champs, while all of us other med students ooh’d and ahh’d from a distance. The other MVPs of the day were Chris, Sarah, and Henrik, who spent the entire day outside (please note Chris’s glow in the photo above to get an idea of just how strong the sun was today). They played lots of soccer, but most importantly, had the opportunity to share Jesus with several of their players. Ultimately, five kids accepted Jesus. Praise the Lord! Per usual, Brett never stopped sharing the Gospel in his eye station. Not only does he provide glasses so his patients can see the physical world, but he helps them to see that they are loved by the Creator and opens their eyes to the love of Christ. For your slightly gross trinket of the day, Amanda and Meredith took a trip down the road to becoming ENTs. I can sum up their experience in one word: earwax. We’ll leave you with that to ponder. We are looking forward to a relaxing day at Catalina Island tomorrow! Hasta la proxima vez! By day 4 we had hoped to call ourselves early risers, but I have to say…we aren’t quite there yet. Once again, 6:15 came bright and early, but we enjoyed our time of morning worship and went down for breakfast feeling refreshed and ready to begin the day. The village we traveled to today was a bit more rural than we had seen earlier this week, and I think most of our jaws dropped when the bus came to a screeching halt. Thankfully, we were looking out the wrong window at the shambles of an old church, but the current church still proved to be our biggest space challenge thus far.
A steady stream of patients poured into the church, numbering over 100 by the time the day came to a close. We saw a lot of flu-like symptoms and received several reports of parasites in places you probably don’t want to hear too much about. Also, shout out to our future OBGYNs for taking care of some cases behind the curtain and providing patients with both privacy and a comprehensive exam. At one point, a trailer pulled up to the front door, unloading a large troupe of children for our pediatricians to examine. The voices of patients speaking Creole, Spanish, and English melded together in what could only be described as chaos, but we like to think it was organized chaos and everyone received the care they needed. On the evangelism front, several team members invested in deep conversations about their faith. Amanda used the evangicube (picture a rubix cube with illustrations from the Bible) to share the story of Christ. She then asked if Malaney was ready to accept Jesus as her savior, and she exclaimed that she was, praying to receive Christ and entering into a community of believers. In perhaps the highlight of the day, we got to see the pure joy of a child who has just met her Maker and received the gift of eternal life. In the eye station, a 16-year-old girl accepted the Lord, and Brett spoke to her about the importance of sharing the good news with her friends. Much to our surprise, she returned that afternoon with a group of her friends. Although they weren’t having any vision problems, Brett checked both their eyes and their hearts, eagerly seizing an unexpected opportunity to share the good news of Christ. This evening, we returned to SCORE for a special treat. The members of the SCORE team prepared a fabulous Argentinian barbeque, complete with enough meat to fill up even the boys on our team. We heard the testimonies of three local pastors and brothers in Christ. Their stories both encouraged us and gave us an opportunity to learn more about the Dominican culture and approach to Christianity. We wrapped up the evening with singing, sharing, teaching, and small groups. We hope to finish the week strong tomorrow and are looking forward to some sunshine and rest on Saturday! Today was our first full day of clinic, and it was not without its obstacles! Upon arriving at the next village, we found an unfinished church building, complete with rebar sticking out of the ground and a pit deeper than our tallest team member…shoutout to John Bode (6’6”). It was a bit steamy today, but we learned we could weather the heat with the best of ‘em. We rotated amongst the same stations, ensuring that each medical student had the opportunity to work with a physician in their first two days. Throughout the course of the day, 130 patients passed through our clinic, eager to receive both the physical and spiritual care the Lord used us to provide.
Just a ways down the street, Sarah, who has been heading up the children’s ministry, approached local school teachers about sharing in their classrooms. After a short time of fellowship and teaching, the teachers requested medical care for their students. Rather than parading 25 small children through the clinic, Sarah summoned help from Dr. Weatherly, and he headed to the school. Child after child came in with a rash on their head. Although I will not attempt a detailed description, trust me…several of us students made career choices and will no longer be considering dermatology. Thankfully, it was nothing a little shampoo couldn’t clear up, and the kids should be fungus free in no time! Meanwhile, Alex and Kat, members of our children’s team for the day, began forming relationships with the other children and enquiring about their relationships with the Lord. Several students expressed that although they were familiar with Christianity, they did not consider themselves worthy of salvation. Alex took the opportunity to share his own story and some of his past transgressions, emphasizing that God sent Jesus to pay for the sins of all. They went back to discussing basketball and Lebron in all his glory shortly thereafter, but our hope is that the Lord will use this encounter as a stepping stone on their paths to one day knowing the Lord. In perhaps the most surprising turn of events, our fearless leader Christina succumbed to the elements. If you know anything about Christina, you know there aren’t many things that can take her down. Thankfully, she is on the road to recovery (or so we hope), and we look forward to her taking charge again tomorrow. Meanwhile, several of our floaters rose to the challenge and filled in the gaps, ensuring clinic ran smoothly for the remainder of the afternoon. We saw everything from lipomas, to lacerations, to Leishmaniosis. Our surgeons in training had the time of their lives, throwing their first sutures, draining abscesses, and injecting medications. Most importantly, two people prayed to receive Christ in our evangelism station. Praise the Lord! Until tomorrow…adios!! (as you can tell…our Spanish is coming along swimmingly) Our first day of clinic was a success!
Even though most of us went to bed pretty early for medical students, 6:15 came bright and early. We started the day with worship and breakfast and then did a quick orientation before heading to La Cubana. Having built a relationship with this village on prior trips, the setup flowed smoothly, and the people came eager for treatment. Despite lots of sunshine and very little space, the church we set up camp in was filled with joy and provided for a smooth first day. It gave us the opportunity to get our feet wet in a place where patients were both respectful and glad to receive care (whether we students were qualified to provide it or not). Christina and Dr. Bob headed up our clinic flow—organizing suitcases, meds, and lots of people with a smile on their faces. We set up seven medical stations, each equipped with a couple of medical students and a physician. The doctors gave students free reign with the history and physical and then swooped in behind to give their feedback and provide the actual treatments (which we haven’t quite mastered). Other stations included triage, optometry, children’s ministry, and a pharmacy, filled with all kinds of medications. Had you seen us parading through the airport, many suitcases in hand, you may have thought we were moving to the DR, but in reality, treating ailments of all kinds with limited supplies proved a challenge. Shout-out to our resident pharmacist Kameron for making all of that happen. Although several students and providers had the opportunity to share the Gospel, the true evangelizers weathered the heat outside in the evangelism station. Bobby and his team spent the day asking villagers about their spiritual well-being and spreading the love of Christ. We encountered people in all different walks of their spiritual lives. One gentleman sat down, and when asked if he was a Christian, said that he was not, but proclaimed that he was ready to become one. Another man approached the evangelism station with his daughter and proved particularly unruly. Not long after, the daughter parked her father under a tree and returned to the station to accept Christ. From her we learned that it is possible to overcome all kinds of obstacles to grow in your faith. We are looking forward to another full day tomorrow and can’t wait to see what the Lord will do! Hey! Just wanted to let y'all know that the team made it safely to the Dominican Republic.
Today we were awakened by thunder, lightning, and heavy rain. We were a little concerned as today was supposed to be our free day, but we just went with the flow and let God take control. After breakfast and time alone with God, we were told that the skies were likely clearer on Catalina Island, so we took off to the dock. We drove an hour to a beautiful dock with many big boats, and we boarded our vessel for the day. We received bright orange life jackets and took off for the island. The ride to the island led us to a better understanding of how we should have faith like Jesus commanded of the disciples when they were in the boat in Mark 4. Due to the previous night’s storms, the sea was choppy, and we experienced a rough trip to our island destination. After 45 minutes, we finally made it to the island, and we were reminded that the God we serve is the one whom both the winds and seas obey, and He is always in control. Catalina Island was beautiful, and we greatly enjoyed our time there. We snorkeled, walked in the sand, and relaxed in the sun. We were fed a wonderful meal on the island and enjoyed time together as a group. We had a smoother return ride to our dock, and then returned to the SCORE facilities.
After dinner, we spent time singing praise to God, and we went around the group sharing our thoughts about what we enjoyed this week and how God moved through the team. We want to continue to grow even more as a group even when we return to the States, and hope to bring prayer into our daily lives together at school. We continue to ask for your prayers that the seeds we planted in the Dominican will be watered and that we will be able to further our mission at UAB. Please also pray for safe travels for our group Saturday as we will be returning to Atlanta and then Birmingham at around 10:30 tomorrow night. We are so thankful for a wonderful week and appreciate your prayers and support throughout. This morning began a little later than others- we were able to catch up on much needed sleep! We headed out for our last clinic day with all of our supplies in hand, and our hearts ready to serve. The place we served today was not as poverty-stricken as those we saw at the dump yesterday. Clinic was set up in the church as usual, and before we began, we were informed by one of the translators who grew up in this village of the prevalence of witchcraft in the community. Problems such as arthritis, low back pain, and ankle pain were seen today, reminding us of how similar these patients are to the ones we treat at home.
One group was able to go an hour outside of the community to serve the mother of one of the SCORE missionaries who had five strokes, making her unable to travel to the clinic. The people in the community were extremely kind and thankful for our willingness to serve. Out of all of the places we have served, we encountered the most unbelievers in this setting. Most of those who did not claim to be Christian stated that they were, “not ready.” This disheartened some of the team because we tried to convey the message that Jesus loves each person, no matter the sin and the imperfections that are present. Although we were not able to see the fruit of the seed planted, we have faith that the Lord will soften the hearts of the people we met, enfolding them in His love. Once we returned to SCORE after the day at the clinic, we were fed an Argentine BBQ, prepared by the pastor of the church we served at today. The money given for this meal went to the pastor and other missionaries who work to spread the Gospel in the DR. Two pastors shared their testimonies at the dinner, and we finished the time with a delicious dessert! Next, we headed to devotional where we were able to listen to more testimonies, praise the Lord through song, and learn about His word. Small group discussions then occurred, and we were able to grow closer to our teammates by sharing in His word. Tomorrow, we head to Catalina Island to relax and reflect on the trip before we return home. Thank you for your continued prayers, and please pray for our safety as we travel home. Today we woke up to the familiar sound of the crow of our neighborhood rooster. We joined together to have a short pre-breakfast devotional and then spent time alone with God. We left from the SCORE facilities prepared to visit a hospital in Santo Domingo. Though we did drive through Santo Domingo (safely thanks to the amazing driving skills of our new amigo Nino,) we kept going through the town and past the hospital. Word quickly spread through the bus that this may be the day we had been hearing about and hoping for all week- we were going to the dump! It may be confusing why we would be excited to go to a dump, but we had been hearing about this village and the people there from those who have been on this trip before. When we arrived at our destination, we were in for a completely new experience. This town was built on the edge of the city’s landfill. Children ran through the streets with no shoes, and we knew this place would be one of new opportunities for our group.
After setting up clinic in the local church, we began to treat patients with a diverse assortment of ailments. There is no doubt God was with us with every patient today. As we have every day, we treated both physical and spiritual aspects of the people’s lives, and we saw results through God in both of these areas. We were able to relieve back pain, provide walking assistance for those with impairments, and give education to help these people continue to improve even more after we left them. After the physical treatments, God worked spiritually in this community, and we were able to share the story of Jesus with many individuals who sought a relationship with Him. Three members of the community accepted Christ into their lives today, which was truly amazing to experience. Our team may be tired, hot and a little mentally drained sometimes, but God has given us encouragement frequently to show that He is alive in this country, and what we are doing is making a difference. He is so good, and we pray that He continues to use us as vessels to share His love to everyone we see. After clinic, we came back to the SCORE facilities, received physical rest and sustenance, and then met again in the evening to worship God as a team. Once again, we were blessed immensely from within our group when two of our own shared their testimonies and told us of the ways God has worked in their lives. Every day of this trip, we are continuing to grow closer as a group through Christ, and we can’t wait to see how this bond strengthens as this week begins to come to a close. Please continue to pray for our efforts, as we have one more day out in the clinic tomorrow. Specifically, pray for God to open the hearts of the patients we will see tomorrow so that we can fill their hearts with the love of Christ. Thank you so much for your support. God is great! Today we woke up and enjoyed a great devotional led by our wonderful Kim Galloway. She got our minds focused on Jesus before we headed out to serve the community of Alemon. In this community, we were able to treat many adults and children. The students were able to learn so much from the amazing clinicians we have with us, and we got many chances to spread the Gospel to the people of the Dominican Republic. We were able to provide relief to many with back pain, shoulder pain, and difficulties walking around their community and working, but we were most excited about the ability we were given to share the good news of Christ with each patient. God is really working in this trip, and we have felt His presence with us every day. Even when we get discouraged with language barriers or when the students lose confidence in the skills we perform, God just keeps coming through and showing how we provide no healing without Him, The Great Physician. It has been really encouraging to see how God has united our group and given us the ability to lift each other up and give each other strength in our treatments and our daily walks with Him.
After a successful day of service, we returned to the SCORE facilities for a little down time. Some groups went for a run or walk while another group spent time in the pool treading water and playing our own new version of pool baseball. We reconvened for dinner, which was followed by some time together singing and sharing. God truly was alive tonight in our group as we were blessed with an amazing testimony from one of our own. We also got to worship with some of the missionaries from SCORE International. These people are doing great works in the Dominican Republic, including a Children’s Support mission and a ministry to end sex trafficking. The different ministries set up after our time worshipping, and we were able to purchase items they had made in order to help support the amazing works they are doing here. We enjoyed brownies and bought bracelets, T-shirts and other crafts. To end the night, we spent time together talking and bonding amongst the group. We will once again be serving the people of the Dominican Republic tomorrow. Your prayers are being felt and we ask for continued prayers for success in our mission for physical and spiritual healing in this country. This day began with our friendly rooster neighbor greeting each of us with a resounding crow. Coffee was quickly reached for as we gathered and started the morning with singing praises, listening to a devotional, and praying over our patients for the day with the providers we were assigned to. Breakfast was then served, and quiet time with the Lord was spent.
Around 8:30, we left SCORE and headed to the nursing home, where we each were assigned to a specific clinician with one or more other students. Two groups went into the nursing home, while the others stayed in the local church to serve those who were unable to leave their rooms to be treated. Each patient in the church setting was sent through triage, where vital signs were taken, and then the patient was assessed if he/she was suitable for physical/occupational therapy treatment. Shoulders, backs, necks, and knees were all treated, and the “Good News” was shared to the patients. For those that already had placed their faith in the Lord, they shared with us their testimonies and how the Lord had worked throughout their lifetime. While one group was treating inside the church, the other two groups taught a group exercise class, similar to Silver Sneakers offered at the YMCA. Simon Says was played, the Hokey Pokey was danced, and Jesus Loves Me was sung! At the end of the session, one of the providers prayed over the group of elderly residents at the nursing home. At 3:30, the group left the area to return to SCORE. A group exercise class was led by our lovely exercise coordinator, and we were able to enjoy a fantastic dinner together after. Devotion occurred, and afterwards, pizza was made by a missionary at SCORE who uses this skill to make money to support himself and his family. Tomorrow we will begin another treatment day, although we have not been informed of where yet. The Lord has been tangibly felt throughout the trip, through the relationships He is forming within our group, as well as being able to see how He works through different cultures. Please continue to pray that the Lord’s presence be felt by all those we are treating, and let us be a vessel for His unconditional love to His people. The group met at the Birmingham Airport, bright and early, on Saturday morning. Going through the airport was a breeze, and we made it safely to the Dominican Republic. Upon arrival, we were taken to SCORE on a bus, and we were able to experience the lack of compliance to traffic rules and regulations; however, our marvelous bus driver safely navigated his way to the facility!
We were then fed a traditional American lunch of ham and cheese sandwiches and PB&J, as well as Lays Chips. Room assignments were made, and the unpacking began. Soon after this, a large group walked the short distance to the beach. Although our seemingly fluorescent white skin caused lots of gaping stares, the Caribbean blue sea and white sand were a lovely welcome from the weather we have been having in Birmingham. After this, we went back to SCORE, ate dinner, and had our first devotional. Everyone slept very well, as exhaustion had set in from the day’s travels. Because today was Sunday, we were able to sleep later than we would on a typical day. We ate a lovely breakfast, and then walked to a church about five minutes away from our residence. The pastor spoke fluent English, as well Spanish, and he generally explained the outline of the service, as well as the sermon he would be preaching (Ecclesiastes 3:1-15). The congregation of locals were very welcoming- greeting each of us with hugs and handshakes. Witnessing the Lord being worshipped in a different language proved impactful to each team member, displaying the omnipotent power of the love of the Lord. After church, we were able to witness two baptisms of women at the church, showing the power and vitality of the Holy Spirit in the Dominican Republic. Next, we ate lunch, and we then had free-time for the rest of the day. A large group of us were able to go to a location a few blocks away, called “The Lily House.” This organization is connected with SCORE Missions, and it specifically helps women who have been victims of sex trafficking. Through this organization, the women are able to learn trade skills to support themselves. Some examples of this include: making jewelry, baking, and running a coffee shop. The rest of the day was spent at the beach or pool, and a short run in the Dominican Republic heat was even done! Dinner was served, and we were then able to worship together. Testimonies were shared, songs were sung, and the workings of the Lord were clearly displayed to all. Tomorrow, Monday, will be our first day of clinic, and we are planning to attend a nursing home. We ask that you pray that the love of God is shown to each person we encounter, and that every patient be healed physically, as well as spiritually. Please continue to pray for safety, patience, and an open heart and mind. 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 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! Hola familia y amigos!
Our last full day in the Dominican. Let's just process that for a second. Thirteen days ago we barely knew each other, didn't know how clinic would go, and didn't know how much the human body could sweat. Now we're used to each other's slight stench, we're clinic masters who helped hundreds of people physically and spiritually, and we've become a CMMA family! What a difference thirteen days can make! Today we were able to sleep in before gouged through morning devotionals. Such a treat since we were exhausted!! Then we headed out to the oldest parts of Santo Domingo for some shopping before lunch. The weather was cloudy with scattered showers, but this made sure no one got sun burnt today! We broke up into small groups of 4-5 people and explored the shops, took pictures, and tried to work out Peso-to-Dollar conversions. We had lunch on our own and met up to all go to one of the oldest Roman Catholic church's in the Western Hemisphere! It was absolutely stunning! The ceilings were probably three or four stories high and had several alcoves each dedicated to a different saint. Then we split up into two groups-- one group explored the fort and the other went to Christopher Columbus' mansion museum. The entire city was full of such history and amazing culture-- and we only saw a small part of it!! We headed back to the SCORE hotel around 3 and finished packing up/organizing our luggage (and making sure each bag was under the weight limit...). Then we all sat down for one last dinner together and one last evening devotional. Most of the people reading this blog are probably the friends and family of many of the people on this trip. For those who are parents and reading this to hear about what your child is doing in the Dominican, I want you to know that you've raised an incredible person. Everyone here has been so amazing, thoughtful, and friendly-- exactly of the kind of healthcare worker I would like to be some day. Everyone here has given this trip their all, has reached out and helped others in need, and has made this trip so impactful! Please pray for our safe travels tomorrow! And we'll see you soon, Alabama!!! :) Our last day of clinic. I have no idea how this day came so quickly. It seems like just yesterday we were figuring out how to take a shower without making the Dominican bathrooms humid (well ok, maybe we never really figured that one out). Everyone was quite tired today from getting up early for two weeks and being in the hot environment for two weeks. But the team pressed on to have a great last clinic day!
Today we travelled to San Pedro to go to a new church plant. It's only been in their community for two months. The people here were much wealthier than previous villages! We saw a lady with an iPad taking pictures and it reminded us of home! While it was a wealthier village, it still had the touches of Dominican poverty that we are used to-- dirt roads, stick fences, trash in the gutters. But the people are always so nice! Our last day in clinic was one of the best! Christina (one of our clinic leaders) made the comment that we have all figured out how to work the clinic so well that she may be out of a job! This was such a huge compliment for our team since our first day seemed like everyone ran around like a chicken without a head! Our best example of how our team worked together was with a patient named Rosa. She came to the clinic today for shoulder pain but the people in triage noticed she was crying harder than expected. When she was passed along to her physician and medical students, the triage person told them how much Rosa was crying. The physician team healed her shoulder pain but they went a step further-- they asked her about her life, her faith, her family, etc to find out why she was so upset before sending her to Evangelism. When she got to Evangelism, she was still crying. One student in Evangelism noticed and dropped everything to be with her in this moment to talk to her and be with her. After talking to her and working her out of her crying state, she accepted Christ as her savior! Rosa's story isn't uncommon in our clinic-- our team works together so well and our team works for the patient as a whole instead of just their clinic needs. They've been such an asset to these communities and they've been exemplifying the wonderful deeds God can do in the world! Tomorrow we travel to Santo Domingo to unleash our touristy side and see what the city has to offer! Prayers for safe travels and that we may find some good souvenirs for our family (hee hee)! Happy hump day!! *insert Geico camel joke here*
Today we travelled far and wide to a place called Honduras. Who knew you could get there without a passport?? (Just kidding! There's a village called Honduras that's not too far. Trust me, there were all kinds of puns about it today) This village was rather quaint but overall it was well taken care of and the people had put a lot of respect and pride into their community. The clinic went off without a hitch! The children had lots of fun today-- you could hear their laughter from inside the church building! A lot of students got to work together today on one case: a man came in with a lesion on his neck that needed to be resected. The physician led two students in doing stitches and another in finishing the wound care! One small mass for medicine, one giant leap for Med student kind! And there was lots of OMT (osteopathic manipulative treatment) done by the DO students! They're such an incredible asset to our clinic and they provide such great relief for the patients! Tomorrow is our last day of clinic. Everyone is starting to get tired from all the hard work we're doing, but no one wants to think about it being our last clinic. It's crazy how fast this time has gone by! We've all learned so much-- medically and spiritually! Tomorrow will be a bittersweet day but we're all excited to have another clinic day! Please pray for our continued care for patients and that we are used for God's plan! Hola familia y amigos!!
Today was a very special day in clinic! We returned to the John 3:16 church (the church we went to on Sunday for worship service). We set up our usual clinic flow but with a surprise: THE CHILDREN'S MINISTRY HAD ROOM TO BE INSIDE OUT OF THE HOT SUN!!!!! PRAISE!!! The kids were laughing all day and you could tell they were just having a blast learning about the gospel! The rest of the clinic ran pretty slow and smoothly! This came as a blessing in disguise since everyone was still exhausted from yesterday's clinic. We've noticed that it's getting easier and easier to set up clinic and break it down after it's done. We've all worked so long as a team that we're the most efficient machine! One notable moment today came from a student whose patient came in complaining of acid reflux (if I recall correctly). The student worked up the patient for this complaint and was about to send them off to the pharmacy station to get their medicines when the patient said something was bothering her in her ear. Being the awesome student they are, she looked in the patients ear and noticed there was a cancerous lesion in her ear canal. At our small clinic, there's nothing we can do to biopsy or treat a cancer lesion. So the patient would have to go to a hospital to have it treated. But the student didn't stop there-- she walked this patient over to the Evangelism station and explained the situation in detail so that she could be prayed for. The students on this trip consistently remind me how great God's love and mercy is and that this experience isn't just about the medicine we're learning-- it's about doing His work and spreading His good news through the gospel. When we arrived back to the SCORE hotel, we had a wonderful dinner and joined the rest of the ministries for SCORE night. This is a night to join the other groups staying in the hotel and to worship and share testimonies. It was wonderful to hear about the other groups share their experiences in the DR and to sing worship with the SCORE leaders!! Afterwards, there were some tables set up for people to buy some local goodies and I'm sure everyone was tempted by the cupcakes and Dominican coffee! Only two more days left in the clinics! My how this time has passed!! Please pray that our last two days are just as incredible as our other days and that we travel safely! And praises to those who were able to be helped in clinic and prayers for those who have yet to be helped! After the very hard, very laborious, and very strained weekend we had (wink wink), it was very tough to get up by 6:15am for devotionals. But luckily we have three amazing musicians to help kick start our coffee in the morning! Shout out to Annabeth, Kevin, and Sarah Young for that!
Today we travelled to a village that's nicknamed "The Dump" and accurately so. This village is located right next to a landfill. The people living here build their "houses" from the remaining trash in the landfill. Many people used tarps and bags to build structures to live in. Although one good storm would probably cause a lot of damage to this village. The village smelled exactly how you would expect a landfill to smell. There was the added bonus of smoke in the air from trash burning not too far away. Every once in an while we'd see wild pigs roaming around (and they were the biggest pigs I'd seen a while!) Clinic ran very smoothly! One thing we noticed immediately is because these people come from so little, they were the most gracious for medicines and the most receptive to hear about the gospel. One student noted that one lady "lit up when I asked if she was a Christian! And she lit up even more-- which I didn't think was possible-- when I said we were brothers and sisters in Christ!" The attitude that these people had was astounding given their destitute living situation. I guess that goes to prove that even when your physical wealth is lacking, when you believe in Christ, you have all the wealth you need! And everyone on the trip embodies this notion! Typically we have an Evangelism station at clinic where patients go to address their spiritual health. However, the students on this trip are addressing spiritual needs right during the medical stations! It's not their "job" for that station but everyone knows it's our "job" as Christians to spread the Gospel and continue His work through our work! It's amazing to see everyone work together for one common goal! Once back at SCORE, we had an amazing dinner and nighttime devotional. Tonight was game four of the NBA finals and we were able to Facebook Live that event! Other people played a card game called Nerst (which turned out to be the most hyped and sweatiest game of solitaire I've played in my life)! Prayers for more amazing days ahead and prayers for our words to speak as God wants them to so we can glorify Him! This morning was the perfect day to observe the Lord's day! The weather was incredible-- not too hot, not too humid, not a rain cloud in sight! Absolutely perfect! We were able to sleep in before grabbing breakfast and then putting on our Sunday best (who knew CMMA could clean up so nice after a week of sweat??) to go to a local church and join them for their worship service. The service was much like ones we see in the states (except in Spanish). We started off with a few announcements, some singing, and then the CMMA group sang "It is well" for the congregation. It was so touching! (I may be a bit biased, but I think CMMA may have a future in the recording studio) Pastor Bobby then gave a beautiful sermon regarding faith and trusting in God before the kids recited a psalm and we sang our final song.
Once back at SCORE, we ate lunch, packed up our scrubs for the upcoming week, and had the afternoon off. Many people went to a local place called Lilly's House. It's an organization that saves women from prostitution and teaches the women to craft, garden, cook, etc. Then they sell the items the women make to raise money for the organization. If you ever get a chance to go, get the chocolate chip ice cream! It's life changing! We ended the day in prayer and prepared for our week ahead! It's hard to believe we only have one more week of serving the Lord here in the DR. Please pray for our safety and health as we hit our halfway mark and prayers for safe travels! |
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