The trip home was a long and somewhat tedious one, punctuated by a long lay-over in Philadelphia and a slow drive home over treacherous snow and ice covered roads. Only 27 hours after we got up in the Dominican Republic did we arrive back at our homes. But this extended time gave us plenty of opportunity to reevaluate our time in Sierra Prieta and to appreciate the blessings God has bestowed upon us. Blessings of hope, knowledge of him, available jobs, healthy families and nearby medical care.
Having been back home for a few days now I have heard from a number of folks who had followed the blog. The most noticeable response I've received is that this year seemed not as positive an experience as last year. So I thought I'd address my perspective on this issue and maybe shed some more light on how I saw God working.
From the beginning this was a very different trip some of us were returning and some were new to the whole world of short-term missions. The community is a year advanced and even our physical location there had changed. We talked much about suppressing expectations as much as possible but it was a challenge to give up the spacious living quarters at the church in lieu of the somewhat cramped former medical clinic. Though we came to appreciate the option to have services and VBS inside the church building.
In think that the biggest thing this year was that for those of us who had been here before the shock wasn't there. I think that God opened our eyes even more to the real situation of these people. We saw kids with some behavior problems and were able to discern that due to the lack of jobs near-by that they don't have regular parental supervision. So in our partnership with Food for the Hungry we'll(really they will do the mother load of the work) seek ways to develop cottage industries and provide technical training. In this way parents can work closer to home or at home, and have the time and energy to raise and love and discipline their children.
In the home repair we were exposed more clearly to the poverty that exists even in this already poor community. There is a distinction between financial situations seen very clearly in Sierra Prieta. There are a few with very finished homes, bearing stucco walls outside and filled with what we'd consider regular furniture, refrigerators, and even washing machines. On the other end there are places I wouldn't allow as a storage shed next to my house. Places built of limbs and discarded tin with no electricity and a door that hardly closes let alone locks. Homes with discarded shirts covering the windows and holes in the roofs.
Teachers who didn't have a notion that multiple sexual partners might be a bad idea, Kids who had never heard of abstinence or stable families, teens with no place to go but the bar and little hope for life beyond what they saw in their parents, fathers who had abandon their family to simply go and start another, people who are lost with no concept that there is a personal God who desires to know them and loves them, people who rely on a couple of sticks made into a cross planted in their yard, people who wear charms to ward off evil spirits. This is what we saw and I think we saw it more clearly. Sierra Prieta needs some help, that's why we are there. We came to help make a difference where a difference is needed, even welcomed.
We saw Sierra Prieta even more for what it is. It is a poor community filled with people working hard to survive. A few have prospered but many are almost desperate. We saw hope in those same situations. Edward, the FH community liaison is already formulating plans to train people to make yogurt and cheese in their homes so they don't have to travel so far for jobs. In the school we were able to speak clearly about God's plan for one woman and one man to be together for life. In home visits we were able to share with a number of people that we came because of the love God has shown to us and we wanted to share that with others. We had evening services where a family that we've been building a relationship with from the first time we set foot in the community showed up and heard a clear presentation of the Gospel. We saw a man who none of us could ever remember seeing before get up early to see us off on Saturday morning, he seemed to be a little choked up that we were leaving. We saw sponsored children venture out up to a mile on a dark night to bring drawings and hugs and greetings to their sponsors on the evening before we left.
God is at work in this place and we are honored and blessed to be a part of it. Join us, in praying, sponsoring children and giving. It is a dark place but the light has already begun to shine and it will not be held back! (1 John 2:8)
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