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”.