April 6, 2008

March started off with my trip to La Romana to work with the team from Northeast Christian Church in Louisville, and it was a great trip! This month, I have also been continuing to work with my drama classes to prepare for our “obra del colegio” – or “school play” – which is scheduled for Saturday, April 12!

Our first night in La Romana, we had the opportunity to have dinner in the homes of some of the church members, and I was the translator for my group! We were able to share a wonderful meal and get to know the family and all about their lives - the pastor actually had to call our host to tell him it was time to bring us back to the church, as we had stayed longer than was planned! The picture to the left is of our group and the family we visited.

While in La Romana, I worked with the dental team translating and organizing the list of patients. We worked in four different locations – screening patients at the rehabilitation clinic we were at last year, as well as at a school for the physically and mentally challenged, and those patients came to see our dentist at a state of the art dental clinic at Hogar del Niños that we were able to use, which was an incredible blessing! We also screened and saw patients at the dental clinic in Centro Mutualista, the center where the church Northeast partners with is located. Through it all, in four days, our dentist screened over 200 patients for treatment, and with the dentists from the clinics at Hogar del Niños and Centro Mutualista treated over 100 patients!

Priscilla is the same dentist I worked with last year, and I shared with the team this year, that the patience and love she shows - her specialty is working with physically and mentally challenged children - remind me of how God is with us. Many of these children cannot understand what is happening to them, and all they can see is their fear - not knowing what Priscilla is doing and that it is for their best, which is much like us when we are in a challenging situation and all we can see is our fear - not knowing what God is doing, but it is always for our best.

Hogar del Niños is an incredible organization, which first began as a school, but has become much more! There are over 1500 students at the school, which educates students from pre-primary through 11th grade (next year they will include 12th grade), but the services they offer do not stop there. There is also the dental clinic with three full-time dentists, a school for the deaf, a computer lab with 50 computers, a library that could be compared to any school library in the states (these pictures show what I hope and pray will become a reality at our school!), a day-care/nursery with over 200 beds, a full-time pediatrician, two full-time psychologists, a pharmacy, a large cafeteria that feeds the students three times a day, and a beautiful playground area that includes a full-size basketball/volleyball court!

Beyond the services they offer, our time at Hogar del Niños was inspiring to me for many reasons. We were able to work with a staff of dentists and assistants who truly wanted to help as many children as possible – they even scheduled follow-up visits with several of our patients and gave them medicine from the school’s pharmacy! On a regular basis, this clinic treats students from the school, from the surrounding community, and from the Bateys – the sugar cane fields that surround La Romana, which are some of the poorest areas in the country. We were also able to spend time with the Administrator, who shared the history of the school and their intention to do more than just educate. She was also very interested in my work in Santiago with our school, and she gave me some ideas to help find support!

The one thing our team noticed, however, was that even though Hogar del Niños does wonderful things and addresses the intellectual, emotional, and physical needs of their students, the one thing that was missing was addressing their spiritual needs. After discussing this as a team, we decided to be more open about why we were there, and on our second day at the clinic, we brought the director a copy of the book Heaven by Randy Alcorn (in Spanish), and crosses for everyone we worked with that one of the small groups at Northeast had made. We prayed with the patients before the day started, and we also prayed at our mealtimes with the staff, during which we ate the same meal as the students, which was better than any cafeteria food I have ever had! It was difficult to leave at the end of the second day, as we all felt we had shared a truly special time at this special place.

Once I returned to Santiago, I began working to prepare my drama class students for our “obra”! We learned to work together as a team – the picture to the left is of the Thursday afternoon class doing an activity called the “Human Knot,” which is a great lesson in communication and cooperation! We also began blocking the scenes – the picture to the right is of the Tuesday morning class preparing to present the parable of the “Lost Sheep.” The students in third and fourth grade will present the parables of the “Lost Coin,” the “Lost Sheep,” and the “Prodigal Son” – and the students in fifth through eighth grade will present three scenes from Romeo and Juliet! These will all be presented the evening of April 12 at 7 pm – please be praying for us! This week we will be putting the final pieces together – including costumes and props, and having our final dress rehearsal the morning of the 12th!

While putting these scenes together has been fun, it has also been challenging, and one of the things I realized through all of this is that God is continuing to teach me that only He is in control. This month, my devotions, which come from a devotional a dear friend sent me called Sisterhood of Faith, have all been guiding me to put my trust in God, be sure to spend time with Him, and let Him lead me. This book is full of stories of women, past and present, who have responded to God’s call in their lives, and their stories are inspiring and humbling. A verse that I have been encouraged by from one of these devotions is Ephesians 3:16, “From His glorious, unlimited resources God will give you mighty inner strength through His Holy Spirit.” I know that if I depend on my own strength to do what God is leading me to do, I am not truly doing what He wants – He wants us to do what He is leading us to do and to depend on His strength to get it done – in this way the glory is His, which is one of our purposes in this life – to glorify and honor Him. Please join me in my prayer that the dramas we present will do just that – glorify and honor God.

On April 22, I will be leaving the DR to come to the states for a short three-week visit – first in Atlanta, then in Louisville, and finally in Virginia before traveling back to Atlanta to fly back to the DR on May 13. Please pray for safe travel and for God’s blessings on my time!

Your love, encouragement, and support are blessings from God!

Con el Amor de Jesucristo,
Catherine