Dominican Trip

Last summer I had a unique opportunity offered to me: to go on a short term missions trip to the Dominican Republic. Being a relatively introverted person, my first response to this was fear. But as I thought about this during the following weeks, I realized that I would be losing a chance to learn about another culture, meet new people, see a new place, and maybe even be able to help others. So, despite my initial hesistation, during July of 2011, I flew down to the Domican Republic.

Before I went on the trip, my assumptions were that I'd be able to help others. I left the trip wondering if perhaps I had been more changed than those we encountered. This is not because we had an unsuccessful trip. We spent our mornings on the upper floor of the compound with a beautiful view of surrounding country and the rising sun doing devotionals, worshipping, and at least for me, just feeling at perfect peace. We spent our days going to different villages, doing light construction, bringing food and clothing, doing sports clinics, doing Vacation Bible school, and just getting to know the families in the area. We spent our evenings attending church services at different churches in the area, one on a mountaintop, one somewhere on the outskirts of Hato Mayor, and some help on the upper floor of the compound.

For me, this trip removed me from my biggest stress - my job, it took away all communication/distraction devices, and really made me focus on what was important. It is amazing the perspective you gain, when you spend a week with children who don't necessarily have shoes or food at every meal, but when someone gives them a granola bar, before even taking a bite themselves, they offer you one. Also, the way that the people worshipped was life-changing to experience. They were very serious about praying and singing. They prayed with everything they had, with more emotion than most of us ever express to anyone but our closest family or friends, and you could tell that they did not spend the service thinking about work or material items. They just focused on God. The first church we went to ended in a Conga line.

It was a truly unique experience, and something I would recommend. Following is the link to the place we stayed: http://www.meetinggodinmissions.com/