Thursday - March 22, 2007

The last few weeks have been busy ones, as I started the drama ministry, we hosted the men’s soccer team from Indiana Wesleyan University for a soccer clinic for the children in Los Perez, and I traveled (by myself!) across the country to La Romana on the southern coast of the island to work with a group from my church – Northeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky!

On February, March 26, I taught my first drama class to 20 students in third through fifth grade, and we had a great time! Each class meeting has had 15 to 20 students, and I have a core group of 10 girls who come regularly – they even asked if the class could meet every day! So far our classes have been focusing on movement and teamwork as I am trying to prepare the students to learn a ten-minute mime presentation called The Redeemer that I am hoping a team from YWAM will be able to come and teach to them either this week or next week so that we can present it to the church in April.

The IWU Soccer Team was here from Friday, March 2, to Friday, March 9, and while they were here, they ran a two-day soccer clinic and played in games against local Dominican and Haitian teams, and they even traveled to the capitol, Santo Domingo, to play the Dominican National team! The team left the Dominican with a record of 1-2, but they played well in each game, and they kept their focus on serving and showing others the love of Christ.

I shared with the team before they left that prior to watching them play, I did not think I had ever watched a whole soccer game, and I was impressed by how physically demanding the game is. For those who may not know, a soccer field is longer than a football field (since there are no endzones, only a goal), and there is constant motion by the players up and down and across the field as they work together to score a goal. I was also impressed by how much they communicated with one another on the field. They not only encouraged one another, but they also watched out for one another and called out warnings to let a player know what was best for him to do or if there was a player from the other team approaching him that he could not see. When this happened, they called out “man on,” and this told the player with the ball that there was an imminent threat to his game. Additionally, the team members also were trained to listen for and respond to the voices of their teammates and their coach.

As I sat there watching and listening to them play, I could not help but wonder what would happen in the body of Christ if we were to apply these principles of communication to our lives as Christians. What if we were more encouraging of one another? What if we were not afraid to call out to a brother or sister in Christ when we saw him or her going down a path that we believed would lead to heartache or possibly lead away from Christ? What if we trained ourselves to listen to the voices of our “teammates” and our “Coach” so that we could hear their encouragement, directions, or warnings? How different would our lives be if we lived this way?

This team clearly led lives that were different from the norm for many. On and off the field, they encouraged one another, prayed together, spent time getting to truly know one another, and were transparent with one another. This was not a team that kept secrets or had members who tried to do everything by themselves. My prayer for them as they left was that they would continue to live their lives in this way, and my prayer for myself was that I would not forget the lessons I learned from them about what it means to live a Christian life.

The same day the IWU team left for the States, I left for La Romana. I was a little nervous to be traveling the country by myself, but I had relatively clear directions, money, my passport, my cell phone, someone waiting for me on the other end, and many prayers being lifted up on my behalf, so I figured I could handle just about anything that might come up on the trip! It was a long one – five hours total – consisting of two bus rides and a taxi ride in the capitol from the bus station to the “parada," which is a bus stop, where I caught the bus to La Romana, but it was relatively uneventful, and I had plenty of opportunities to practice my Spanish! The team from Northeast encountered a few problems, though, and was delayed for close to five hours! When we were all finally in La Romana everyone was more than a little bit tired!

Since our first day was a Saturday, things were kind of low-key as the doctors and some of the nurses began to prepare for the dental and surgical clinics that were to be the focus of the week, and those who were not setting up began the process of painting the labor and delivery room in the medical clinic of the center where our clinics were being held. It took two days to prep and paint the room that had been a dark institutional green, and now it is a pale yellow with Winnie the Pooh decorations that make it much more warm and welcoming.

During the surgical clinic, I spent most of my time talking to the patients, many of whom were children, and translating for the doctors and nurses. There were a few times when I could not completely understand everything a patient was trying to communicate to me, but each time Rick or Suzanne, the full-time missionaries in La Romana with whom the group had gone to work, would be there to help. These were times when I experienced God clearly providing not only for me but also for the patients. He knew I was in a situation I could not handle alone and that the patient needed to be clearly understood, and He made sure to take care of all our needs!

On Wednesday, I went with the dentist to a rehabilitation clinic and helped her as she worked with children who had cerebral palsy, and this is one day that had a lasting impression on me. Most of the children had never seen a dentist, and though they could not communicate clearly, their fear was clear in their eyes and through a lot of nervous crying. Also, since the children could not support themselves, they each had to be held by an adult throughout the dental exam and whatever procedures were necessary. One mother could not handle holding her daughter through the extraction of two of her teeth, something I do not think I could have done either, and I had the opportunity to pray with and talk to her (in Spanish!) through the procedure. With each patient, the dentist was patient and calm, offering quiet words of comfort and love to each one through what had to be a difficult experience for the children and their parents. Her patience and gentleness were clear examples of Christ to her patients, and I walked away from that day that had been full of fear and crying feeling calmed and strengthened by her example and all I had witnessed.

The next day, as I was preparing to return to Santiago and saying my good-byes to the team members, I was unexpectedly asked to step into the operating room and translate for the anesthesiologist and surgeon! The patient had been given a spinal, and they wanted to be sure she was ready for the procedure, so I put on a mask and cap and went in. Two days prior I had scrubbed in to watch a surgery but had only lasted a few minutes before I felt queasy and needed to leave, so this time, I focused my attention on the patient and did not watch any of the operation! After they started operating, I asked if I could stay and talk to her while they worked because I imagined that if I had been in a similar situation, I would want someone to stay with me with whom I could communicate. I have also had a spinal done for a minor surgery, and I remember the feelings of fear and confusion I experienced during the procedure. The surgeon said I could stay, so we talked about her children and her job, found out we were the same age and had a few similar circumstances in our lives, and before we knew it, they were almost finished!

When I went to La Romana, I was not sure what the week would hold, other than the opportunity to see one of my best friends and get to know others from Northeast better, and there are many more experiences – big and small – about which I could write, but these two stand out the most to me. Both were times through which I felt God telling me that I was right where He wanted me to be, doing exactly what He wanted me to do at that moment. I also learned lessons that will help me in my ministry in Santiago, and I am grateful for the experiences of the whole week!

This week, we have a team here from Northeast Christian Church in Rockford, Illinois, and we are working on construction of the church in Hato del Yaque and doing activities each day for the children in Guandules, another of our feeding centers. The church and feeding center at Guandules are an excellent example of the power of partnerships between churches in the states and the Dominican. Northeast Christian in IL supports Rafelito, the pastor of the church in Guandules, and one of the US church members (who is also soon to be our newest GO staff member!) has organized another facet of the GO Kids program to sponsor children in the feeding program there. These partnerships have benefitted the church significantly, which in turn strengthens Rafelito’s work in the community. What was once the site of a pool hall and place where prostitution occurred is now the site of a growing church that provides spiritual as well as physical nourishment for the people of the community. What an amazing testimony to the power of God and what happens when His people work together to fulfill His purposes!

I miss all of you and look forward to hearing from you and seeing you again soon!

Con el amor de Jesucristo,
Catherine