The Lessons of God

This summer was my very first trip to our church and dormitory facility in Quanaminthe, Haiti. I have been wanting to visit there since I started working with G.O. Ministries. We had the youth group from Eastview Christain Church working with us that week. We left Santiago really early that morning to the make the three hour journey to Dajabon. Dajabon is the city where entry into Haiti is possible. On the day that we were there, it was actually market day. Haitians were crossing the border into the Domincan Republic to buy food, water, supplies..anything you can possibly imagine. I was astounded at the masses of people. I had never seen anything like it my life. And if you have ever been to the D.R. you know that the driving it totally disorganized...motorbikes trying to whiz in and out...dogs barking, chickens making a ton of racket...and traffic was pretty much in a grid lock at the border. Once we crossed the border and cleared customs, we made the 2 mile journey to the G.O. facility...which we did by JOGGING! I am not a jogger...I don't like it and I am not a graceful jogger to say the least! But it was very important for us to stay all together, and because we only had a few hours to spend there, we jogged for it! It was hot, sand everywhere, and did I mention that I don't jog? Well, we finally made it to out first stop which is an orphanage that G.O. works with. The day we were there, there were about 30 or so kids. This was my first time ever in an orphanage. And as we were playing with the kids, touring the orphanages, and handing out candy to them right before we left, all I could think of is how I grew up. I had loving parents, a wonderful bedroom to sleep in every night, it was clean, and I just didn't have a care in the world. My eyes constantly filled with tears...to see children so young sleeping on iron cots a thin foam mattress, walls that had holes in it, hardly any toys, it was hot, mosquito are a constant threat(they bring malaria and dengue fever), fighting off the rats.....to be so young and have to grow up at an age where you should be soo carefree! It's heartbreaking in so many ways. Thank God for the work of the Pastors in Haiti and the people of the church there. Thank God for the teams from the U.S. who support our partners there so that the children do have meals to eat everyday, and they get love and attention. Most important of all, the are taught about the Love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.


On July 17th, I returned to a place that has really become my second home in the Dominican Republic, Batey Nueve. It's hard for me to describe in words why I love the Batey's so much. I love the sounds,( the kids calling "Americana, Americana!", the gazillion chickens that crow every morning, the sounds of prayer from the morning bible studies through an open window), and I love the sights, ( the little children running up to me to give me hugs, and to hold my hand, to see the beautiful Haitian women who walk along the dusty, rocky streets selling plantains, avocado, and vegetables, and to see the kids swimming and playing in the water of the irrigation canals.) I have never been to a place where there is so much beauty and so much pain.

This particular week we hosted Warrenville Bible Chapel from Chicago, Illinois. I had the opportunity to work with this team last year and we had a incredible week together. My week with them this year was even better. Warrenville has been coming to work in the Dominican Republic for several years, but this was their first trip to the Batey's. On Thursday morning we headed to Batey Cuchillo (means the Knife in Spanish) to have a medical clinic. Besides being the medical facilitator of the team, I usually treat patients as well. But this week, our pharmacist was ill, so I worked as the resident "pharmacist" for the week. My pharmacy was made up of some of the most awesome young people I know! We had a good day of working hard and having some fun as well! We treated about 350 people that day in clinic. After we were done with the clinic, we went outside and played "pato, pato, ganso" or what we call "duck, duck, goose!" with the kids from the Batey. We had so much fun with them! Below, you can watch the short video with the kids. What a day!
The next day of clinic we went to another area called Batey Cinco. This day of clinic turned out to be a real emotional challenge for me. The word that I would use to describe this day would be DESPERATION which means a recklessness resulting from despair. All the Batey's are poor, but as the morning wore on, I began to sense a real desperation in the people. By that afternoon the people were starting to become really pushy to get into the doors of the pharmacy where all the medicine was being kept. It was like they were afraid all the medicine would be gone before they had an opportunity to get inside. In addition to medicine, we were also handing out soap, shampoo, toothbrushes, tooth paste, and baby formula. As the mother's began to find out we had "leche" (milk), that was when I noticed a sense of agitation to the crowd. They were waiting in long lines to see one of the doctors, it was hot, sun was beating down on their heads, and when they finally get their prescriptions for their medicine, they have to wait in another long line to get their medicine. We saw so about 500 people that day. By mid afternoon, there were some medicines that we had run low on, and we were completely out of toothbrushes and toothpaste. The hardest decision I had to make that day was to decide who received milk and who did not. There simply wasn't enough milk for all the babies. This did not make me a popular person. I will always remember the look on their faces when I had to tell them that we didn't have enough milk for everyone and that the milk we had left was for the really sick babies. Milk makes babies strong, and to have to tell a mother no was one of the hardest things I had to do in a long time. Because babies need the milk to stay healthy...BUT there were so many babies were were mal-nourished and it needed it a lot worse. The milk was the first thing they would ask for. If I had to tell them no about the milk, they would argue with me...like they needed to convince me why thier babies needed it more than the others. It was a real struggle to get them to listen to any other instructions I had to give about the medicines they were recieving for their families. By 4:30 that afternoon, we had run out of vitamins, cold medicines and the milk was gone. As people would leave the pharmacy without certain things that they needed, they would tell other folks on their way out, which made the crowds just barely controllable. We ended up closing the clinic early that day. It was a very emotionally tough day!
July 24, I worked with a construction team from my hometown of Louisville, KY! I spent a fabulous week working construction and VBS with Hikes Point Christian Church. Marisol is like my Dominican mama. She is a awesome lady that cooks all the meals for the teams, for the staff members, heads up our cleaning crew, and raises a family! In the community where we live, G.O. Ministries purchased some property to build her a new house. The house is below street level, so we spent the whole week working on the new foundation. We moved brick,
sand, made cement, knocked down walls, and laid blocks for the new foundation. Later on in the week, we spent a day with the kids in VBS. We sang songs with the kids and the team acted out the story of Peter and Jesus walking on the water. As a surprise for the kids, one of the team members dressed up like a clown and made balloon animals. I am not a huge construction person, but I had a lot of fun playing in the dirt with them that week!

Our busy summer season is over. We hosted 22 teams in 2 and 1/2 months while I was there. It was an awesome experience for me. God continues to teach me many things about myself. I often think to myself..."God, are you done yet?" When am I going to learn all I need to know and when I am going to only have the thoughts and feelings that honor you? When am I going to always do the job right...and be the imitator of You that you want me to be? I want God to continue to mold and shape me...to make me into the duaghter He is proud of. And then here comes the most sobering thought of all ...He will never be done teaching me until I am perfect...and I'll never be perfect til I am in heaven one day!!

I am now in the states. I am preparing for my wedding which is December 29, 2007!! Eric and I are excited as we finish our wedding plans and as he prepares to join the ministy. Please keep us in prayer as we raise more support, and grow the Kingdom for God.