Mission Trip Report Day Seven:

After a long and exhausting day at the clinic yesterday, we came back to the hotel for dinner. Afterward I learned about an incident at Bombita, where they treated a woman with a bite from a recluse spider. It was several days old and the effects of necrosis from the venom had spread to a diameter of about 4 inches. The doctor was able to clear away all of the dead, infected, and damaged skin (debriding) and then treated the wound with antibiotics so the patient will probably have a full recovery.

Today was a whirlwind of activities in the morning and an afternoon of relaxation. We set up a clinic at the local Sosua public school and saw all of the students there, providing a brief EENT exam (Eyes, Ears, Nose, and Throat) as well as screening them for significant and potential health problems (as best we could). One of my memorable patients was Ivan Castillo, an eleven-year-old who loves to play baseball, and is the catcher on his team. He mentioned that his shoulder was sore from throwing the ball and, as a former catcher (recreational softball), I could understand his problem. Every time the pitcher throws the baseball toward home plate, if it isn’t hit by the batter, it is caught and thrown back. The catcher throws the ball almost as many times as the pitcher, yet if the pitcher get tired he is pulled for a reliever; not always so for a catcher. I encouraged him to tell his coach about his arm and to ask his coach to help him learn proper throwing mechanics, just like he would for a pitcher. I hope that someday I will be watching a MLB baseball game and hear the announcers commenting on “the young catching phenom from the Dominican Republic, Ivan Castillo”.

Of course there were many other students that I saw today, some of the little girls as naturally beautiful as any magazine or runway model, and some of the little boys as handsome and composed as any TV reporter. Another favorite was Yorelvis, who was so full of giggles and mischievous smiles, I know he is “that student” that gives teachers grey hairs, and will someday be a great stand-up comedian.

After we saw the students, we were able to see some of the teachers as well. We dispensed lots of pain relievers – ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and naproxen; with the explanation these were to relieve pain from headaches, backaches, and students. They laughed and agreed that yes, this would be a great aid for them. Now I know what to get for my sister, the Middle School teacher in the Fulton County school system for Christmas… please try to act surprised when you get a care package of Aleve and Tylenol from me Betsy.

After lunch we were free to do some exploring and while some went horseback riding, and some went snorkeling, I went to Puerto Plata to go shopping with about nine others. It was fun to be with my new friends and to explore a little. We went to a Supermercado that was like a Super Wal-Mart, with both groceries and general merchandise. I was able to buy souvenirs and mementos of my journey and a few gifts to bring back to the states.

Tomorrow, we will meet as a group one last time to debrief, and then finish packing and head to the airport for our flight home. It will be hard to say good bye to my new dear friends as I head to the gate for the Atlanta-bound flight, while they all head to Orlando. I will miss them, and I will look forward to a reunion a year from now as we gather to do this again. God has done, is doing, and will continue to do a great thing here, in the people of Sosua, Bombita, Redemption, and Puerto Plata through the efforts of New Missions. He has also done a great work in me.

Mission Trip Report Day Six:

Today was a day that solidified why I was to be here on this mission trip. We had split our medical team in two, sending half to the clinic we were at yesterday and the balance to the New Mission School in Bombita, about 10-15 minutes away by vehicle. I was on the team that was at the clinic. We arrived just after nine and were beginning to set up to receive patient at ten (although as we rolled into the compound in our “safari trucks” there was already a crowd of over thirty patients gathered and waiting under the tent in the worship area).

I had a table assigned to me for the supplies I would need for triage and treatment, and was just getting ready to set them out when a commotion at the front door caught my attention. A young lady, doubled over in pain was whisked into the clinic being supported on both sides by two men, and accompanied by at least one other woman. She was in obvious distress and was quickly taken to one of the doctor’s exam rooms and placed on the table. Presuming this to be a trauma related incident, I immediately went to the room and offered to help the doctor.

We began to do an assessment, checking pulse, blood pressure, and other vital signs. We were hindered by the fact that the young woman was Haitian and spoke Creole. One of her male friends that had helped her get to the clinic spoke enough Spanish to translate for the Doctor who is bilingual in English and Spanish. Apparently this pain had been low grade for several days, possibly even a week, but had gotten acutely severe this morning. Through a series of exams it was concluded that she most likely had an ectopic pregnancy or other reproductive organ issue. We gave her a shot for pain and I was able to start an I.V. and push some fluids to combat the dehydration and blood loss. We called a taxi and paid the driver to take her to the hospital in Puerto Plata. The doctor wrote out a detailed assessment and treatment summary and gave it to the driver. She, her friends, and the I.V. bottle, sped off.

In reflection, we did what we could with what we had, and hopefully saved her life. When I compare how the event went contrasted to what would have happened if she were in Roswell, and had walked into a fire station, I am reminded of how blessed we are in the U.S., and how desperate the need for better health care is here.

Comparatively, the rest of the day was mundane and routine. I am reminded of the sarcastic comment, “Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?” My ever-present God-sent interpreter Dorcas, and I saw men, women, and children – lots of children – with colds, headaches, backaches, fevers, and other similar issues. We tried to give each one a good assessment, lots of love, some over-the-counter medicine, and a Dum-Dum lollipop. I referred several of them to the doctors for further assessment. Most importantly we tried to show these patients that there is a God who loves them, who cares for them and who has a special plan for their life. Dorcas, sweet blessed humble servant of God, that she is, was able to share the plan of salvation with several of the patients – augmenting the fabulous job being done by our outreach team. It is our goal that every adult and school age child we encounter hears the gospel presented to them through the drama, and through group presentations, and by personal, individual witnessing.

When we board the plane on Friday and head home, what we leave behind in terms of treated patients will be significant. Most importantly of all however, is what we leave behind in lives that are forever changed and secured for eternity because they now have a personal relationship with Christ. Life for the people we saw this week will probably not get much better. Poverty will most likely be their lot until they die. How important it is then, that they have a hope and a security in the knowledge that there is an eternity that awaits them. They need to know that Jesus will liberate them from the shackles and burdens of this world and will call each of them by name, and say “welcome home.” That is what this week is all about – may I never forget it.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,

Scott

Mission Trip Report Day Five:

After an exhausting day and a later-than-I planned evening writing about the events of yesterday, I finally went to sleep around 11PM. My mind was still reeling from the sights at Redemption Village - of the little children in their uniforms, their parents, and their living conditions. My heart hurts for them, and I pray for extra special blessings upon the teachers and administrators who will still be loving, caring, teaching, nurturing, and sharing the good news of the Gospel, long after the lingering odor of this gringo’s fragrant AXE deodorant has finally subsided.

Today, I got promoted. After being an orderly at the school yesterday and being tasked with the responsibility to herd, hunt, and help, today I was asked to take a seat in the triage area and assess patients. What a might privilege and awesome responsibility. The process went something like this: Greeters would record the patient’s name, their age, and general complaint(s) then give them a number. When it was time, an escort would bring the patient to one of four wonderfully skilled, experienced, and wise nurses, or to me, an old, retired EMT who is much more at home with a sucking chest wound than I am with a snotty-nosed infant with ear aches. Nevertheless, God is good, and provides for all our needs.

My saving grace today came in the body of a blessed saint and a humble servant of God, Dorcas Perez. She was my interpreter. She is a wife and mother, a native Dominican who immigrated to the U.S. as a young teenage girl, and now is a wise woman of God who oozes the love of her Lord from her every pore - not in a syrupy/sappy way, but with a calm and gentle-but-insistent desire for everyone to have a personal walk with Jesus. While I would be writing my notes on the patient, Dorcas would be talking with them about their relationship with Christ and explaining the plan of salvation using the colored beads on her special bracelet. With her every word and deed she radiates Christ.

See paragraph two above and guess what I was inundated with all morning. Yet, with the assistance of Dorcas, I was able to assess and treat several little “ninitos” with de-worming medicine, liquid acetaminophen for teething pains, and ear aches, and liquid cough syrup for their congestion. The reality quickly became that instead of shying away from children, I was actually taking too long with them. Occasionally I would get to assess a teenager or adult, but the wee little ankle-biting crumb-crunchers are now my favorite patients – and not just because every time I gave one of them a Dum-Dum lollipop, I got one for myself.

Never once did I ever forget that it was not my skills, nor my experience that made it possible for me to assess these patients and recommend a course of treatment, or perceive that they might have a greater need and refer them to a clinic Doctor. It was only by the grace of God and the skilled interpreting skills of Dorcas.

Tomorrow I will be at the clinic again. Half of the medical team is going to the village of Bombita, to hold a make-shift clinic in a school similar to what we did at Redemption. I am part of the remnant that will be left behind. I am excited and praying that I am able to provide not just physical assistance, but also spiritual assistance as well.

I can’t really believe that I have been doing this now for five days. Time is flying by so quickly. I know that your prayers have been effective. Although we have had some infirmities amongst our team, they have been relatively minor and treated quickly and effectively by our medical doctors.

Please continue to pray for:

…The entire team as we continue with our mission efforts, and that we would never forget this scripture: “For what shall it profit a man if he should gain the whole world, but lose his soul?” While we are the hands and feet of Jesus the Healer, by providing healthcare and medicine to the meek and lowly, we are also the voice of Jesus the Savior, providing the hope of eternal life to all who would believe.

…The children and adults of Bombita and Sosua, who will receive medical care, spiritual guidance and an opportunity to accept Christ through the efforts of our evangelistic team tomorrow.

…Me, as well as the specific patients that I will see tomorrow. I don’t know who they will be or anything about them other that they will have come to the clinic having some sort of complaint. Whether it is a backache from improper lifting, a runny nose from a cold, a skin rash, or some other malady, pray that I would have the wisdom to diagnose properly and provide help and relief for their malady.

…All of the families of the missionaries in our group from Orlando (and other places) who are trying to survive without their loved one(s) while they are in the Dominican Republic.

Finally, please pray a very special fervent and sincere prayer for the sweetest little angel I ever saw, who looked at me with that telling blank stare and that aloof ignoring-of-the-cacophony-and-chaos-around-us attitude that made me suspicious of her ability to hear “normally.” When she failed to react to a loud hand clap 4” above her head, and snapping fingers at several locations around her head and out of her eyesight, I had to have a doctor look at her. His exam was inconclusive but in general agreement that there was some degree of hearing loss that needed further testing. Sadly, we don’t have anyone with the special skills and equipment to give her a proper assessment with us, so we can only hope and pray that God will soon send an audiologist or someone similar who can diagnose and provide help.

Leaning on the everlasting arms of Jesus,

Scott

Mission Trip Report Day Four:

We were told that today would be the hardest day of the trip, physically, and emotionally, and what we saw did not disappoint. Our task to day was to travel to Redemption School, set up a clinic for the school children and a few of the community residents, provide recreation and games as well as to do some door to door evangelism, inviting the residents to come to the clinic in Sosua tomorrow (Tuesday). This small gesture was sometimes harder than other times. Why? Because it is hard to knock on the front door of a house that doesn’t have one… a front door that is.

It is not hard to imagine the squalor that I saw; I have seen it before – believe it or not, in Houston, Texas, north of the downtown area, between the I-45 and US 59 freeways along West Little York Road. There were houses made of cinderblock and plywood and houses made of stucco and tin. Many of them lacked simple niceties – like the aforementioned front doors, and rain-proof roofs, so it was a surety that they lacked luxuries like bathrooms, running water, electricity, and elegant comforts like mattresses. Unlike the hovels in Houston, however, these “houses”, all 300-500 square feet of each of them were packed tighter together than yachts in the Knoxville marina on the weekend of UT’s homecoming game.

But beyond the architectural anomalies of the village, the more taxing aspect emotionally was the fact that most of these residents didn’t exist. Oh they were there alright, the three-year-old running around in the streets, splashing in the “grey water” (ask a plumber), without a stitch of clothes on, his older brother, possibly five, wearing nothing but his bright yellow underoos, and all of the older boys and girls wearing, most likely one of the two sets of clothing they call their own. In the background, sitting in the doorways and congregated around porches and shade trees, were the parents – few if any of them even close to fifty years of age. I could see them, I could wave at them, I could shout “Buenos Dias!” at them, and I could shake their hands, but legally, they don’t exist.

In the Dominican Republic, as in the United States, there is a rampant problem of illegal immigration from an adjacent country. In the US, it is Mexican immigrants. In the D.R., it is Haitians. In the U.S., if these illegal’s have children; their offspring are immediately American Citizens. In the D.R., if an illegal immigrant has a child, first of all it will have to beat major odds to see six months of age, let alone reach six years, but more significantly, the child is NOT automatically made a Dominican citizen, entitled to all of the services and benefits available from the government. In fact in many cases, no birth certificate is even issued documenting the event, and the fact that they exist, thus they become illegal ghosts (legally) – now there is a costume to work on for next Halloween!

Like the proverbial starfish in the much cited story of the man on the beach (Google “man on a beach with starfish” if you don’t know it), we brought a small respite of hope and health to this community and to the children of Redemption School. Each child received an EENT exam (eyes, ears, nose, and throat) and was given a general cursory once-over for other issues by a nurse. They also received a dose of anti-intestinal worm medicine, and a Dum-Dum lollipop. All in all, a 60 to 90 second process, maybe three minutes if you include the processing and record keeping on the way in, and the hugs on the way out. If there was any suspicion of a medical malady, they were whisked into an audience with one of three doctors on site for further investigation. We saw over 100 children today alone, plus several dozen adults – most, if not all of them, legally invisible illegal immigrants; but each one a starfish on the sand. We may not be able to keep the waves from pushing them back onto the fabled shore, but for a brief moment in time, they were awash in a sea of God’s love, manifested in the stethoscopes, thermometers, bandages, pills, vitamins, and other medicines, as well as the smiles, hugs, and of course Dum-Dum lollipops, from the missionaries that visited them today.

And lest I overlook the rest of our group who were engaged in equally significant “starfish throwing” activities, let me commend the teams that led the children in games, crafts, and other activities, challenged some of the older teens to a game of 3-on-3 basketball, and who went door opening-to-door opening with invitations to come to the clinic. In every activity, with both words and deeds they were also telling these poorer than the poorest of the poor that there is a God who loves them, a Christ who died for their sins and giving them the opportunity to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. That is the real goal of this mission trip. Saving someone from an early death by giving them life-saving medical attention profits them not if we don’t also give them an opportunity for an eternal life in heaven.

Thank you, thank you, to every one of you who has prayed for us. Thank you also to those of you who have forward word of our efforts to others with an exhortation for them to pray for us as well. We have been blessed and protected, and I know that it is the strength of your prayers that keeps us surrounded by guardian angels.

Please pray for:

There was a young boy with an aggressive fungus on his foot that was treated by the doctor today. Also, pray for his sister who was not seen by a doctor, but who was reported to have had the same type fungal problem “all over her body”.

Pray for the medical team and for their health and stamina. They have a long (possibly longer) day tomorrow.

Pray for the ministry teams that are bringing the simple yet powerful message that God is Love, Jesus is Life, and Heaven awaits all who trust in Jesus and believe.

Pray for Redemption School - the teachers, the headmaster, and the students. As they daily live by example, the promise of God, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you”.