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Andi, our mission team leader, says that you go on a
mission for one reason, but often find out that you are there for a different
reason. I went to the Dominican Republic to help bring Vacation Bible School to
nearly 300 children. No doubt that my type-A
personality
and training as a research scientist contributed to my success in being able to
organize, count and re-count supplies. But perhaps my greater contribution has
been in sharing this story with you. I hope that you have enjoyed reading my
journal and I hope that it is, at a minimum, an adequate accounting of our
experiences in the DR so that you too can feel as if you met these gentle
people. Our mission was to bring Vacation Bible School to the children of
Santiago and Mao, which we did. But we were only the messengers. The message
was of our Lord Jesus Christ and was facilitated by all of the kind and generous
parishioners from St. Mary Magdalene and St. Peter’s Cathedral who contributed
money and/or supplies to this cause. Clearly, we couldn’t have pulled this off
without their support.
Now that it is October and a couple of months have passed since our trip to the DR in July, I wanted to update you with some of the progress that has been made. This is a good (but subtle) reminder that our mission in the DR is not just for the one week that we are physically “in country” but continues throughout the year. Here’s a summary of the good work that has occurred since our return in July:
Spanish Bibles – Parishioners from St. Mary Magdalene and St. Peter’s Cathedral sponsored two cases of Spanish Bibles (40 Bibles total), to be given to Dominican children. We took pictures of parishioners, which we pasted on the inside cover of the Bibles, and also included a salutation (in Spanish, of course!) and the donor’s name. Much to my disappointment, we were not able to physically carry the Bibles with us in the supply suitcases, due to airline baggage weight restrictions (remember, we are talking 40 Bibles here!). So, we were forced to come up with a “Plan B” on getting them there – which was to send them via “Agape” which makes regular trips to the DR from the Sarasota/Bradenton airport. I must confess that this was a personal disappointment for me, because I had certainly anticipated seeing the joy that the children would have in receiving their Bibles. In retrospect, this was quite selfish – as the point is really that the children receive the Bibles, NOT that I am able to personally observe the transaction! So, my human frailty aside, I am happy to report that the two cases of Spanish Bibles were sent, via Agape, and are now in the hands of the Dominicans! In addition, we decided to purchase and send two more cases of Bibles (now on back order), using additional funds that we collected – WHAT A BLESSING! Just imagine the importance of a Bible, in their language, to the Dominican children! It may be the only book that they own.
The Hogar – Things are moving along at the Hogar!
The Bishop released funds to purchase the remaining furniture and they had the
dedication in September. Karen
reports
that “Happy,” the Hogar mascot, is indeed new-and-improved (I’ll say!), and has
learned a few manners. Karen welcomes support for her work at the Hogar.
Contributions can be sent to “Carroll Mission Contributions – Diocese of SW
Florida, 7313 Merchant Ct., Sarasota, FL 34240.
Health – No signs of malaria from any of the team members, although we remain ineligible to donate blood for one year. My digestive system is back to its old tricks, and I still marvel about how great I felt the whole week that I was in the DR. I suspect that someone may have removed the black pepper from the kitchen, following my proclamation to the group that I have an intolerance to it, just to be sure that it wasn’t accidentally introduced into our food. (There were several salt shakers hanging around, but no black pepper in sight.) Since my return, I have also heard that plantains are quite beneficial (and clearly there was no shortage of them in our DR diet!). So, I now occasionally toss a couple of plantains into my shopping cart at the grocery store. Rick cooks them up for me on the grill, with a little cheese. Absolutely delicious! Look for recipes on the Internet – just search on “plantain recipes.”
State of mind – No doubt that my week in the DR has changed the way I see things. One afternoon, after we had finished VBS for the day, I went into the church office to use the Internet to read my e-mail from work. Much to my surprise, I couldn’t get the computer to boot up. I asked the secretary about it, and she pointed up to the electric fixture on the ceiling. Oh yeah, no electricity! I chuckled to myself as I headed back over to have lunch. Things are definitely different in the DR. I can’t imagine having daily rolling blackouts back home. How would we ever manage? Well, now we know that we can. The “Mission Incredible 8” team members all joked that the next time we lose power, likely due to one of our Florida storms – No Problem! I’ve also reflected on the number of “God Moments” that we experienced during our week. Is it possible that I just noticed them more – because I was so completely incapable of controlling things that I didn’t try and control them at all? Is it possible that I just let things unfold and thus, was more open to the possibility of God guiding us?
Deacon Kathy has commented that as Americans, we always seem to want just a little bit more than we currently have. You know, the thought that we will be happy if we could just have “X.” The feeling that everything would be great if we could just have “Y,” or if we could just make a little bit more money, or just have a little bit bigger house, or a little bit better car. Sound familiar? Well, I can tell you that I have seen happiness first hand, from people who barely have a house, don’t have a car, and make practically no money at all. And yet I have rarely experienced such hospitality that I felt the night that we visited Ada’s home, sat on her concrete floor, sang from a song book using a flashlight, and were served a Dixie cup of soda and crackers! Rarely have I felt so welcomed! Makes me feel rather silly about the times that friends have stopped by our home and I felt embarrassed that our house wasn’t in perfect order (Oh, if only I had vacuumed this morning!) or didn’t have some extremely-pleasing refreshment to serve them. In reflection, our friends probably stopped by to see us – not to investigate the cleanliness of our home or inventory our fridge!
What about next year? Yes, I would like to go back next year. Sheree says that next year she is bringing one outfit to wear and that the rest of her suitcase will be filled with “gadgets” – potentially some kind of water-heating device and an apparatus to extract water easily from the giant water bottle that sets on the kitchen counter. My pool raft served me well, and I must confess that I have since spent several hours floating in our pool and remembering our time in the DR. My husband, Rick, now refers to the raft as my “bed.” What about the “unmentionables?” Yup, I’d love to go back next year with a broader size selection. Ladies – if you have any bras in extremely good condition that, for whatever reason, you don’t wear any more, please consider donating them to the cause. I can think of a lot of additional things that I would like to bring with me. Sheree and Smith discovered a large store in Santiago that sold a lot of the craft supplies that we toted with us this year. That may change our approach a bit in that the supply bags could be filled with other items and we could bring money to buy the craft supplies (e.g., paper, scissors, etc., which weigh a ton!) on-site. I’d also like to work on my Spanish for next year, as I’d really like to be able to communicate with the little ones better.
In the meantime, count your blessings; check out the link for the Hogar (to keep tabs on the good work that Karen is doing); look for updates on the church in Mao – the last thing that we heard is that they were trying to raise $15,000 to purchase property to build a church (as opposed to having it in the middle of that banana plantation!); think of Olga whenever you hear Celine Dion’s “Theme from the Titanic,” and say a prayer for the people of the Dominican Republic – especially when you hear that a hurricane or tropical storm is headed their way …
Again, thanks to all of the kind and generous folks from St. Mary Magdalene and St. Peter’s Cathedral who supported the Team in our mission. Your generosity does make a difference in God’s world! Dios te bendiga! (God bless you!)
Gail McGarry MacAulay