Spring Ministry Update

March was a busy and exciting month! My good friend Cassie came down with a team to serve alongside us. She has been visiting and serving with us for years, and she is now in her final semester of nursing school. I am so proud of her!

During their week here, we conducted elderly visits, hosted mobile medical clinics, and visited the Missionaries of Charity. One exciting new opportunity during their visit was testing out many pairs of donated eyeglasses from Good Shepherd. The glasses come through Global Vision 2020 and include a kit that helps us determine a patient's prescription before fitting lenses into frames. We are still working through a few challenges with the process, but it has been wonderful to begin offering our patients the gift of better vision.

In March, my friends in San Juan also surprised me with a birthday party! I felt incredibly loved and appreciated. I was completely shocked. We enjoyed desserts at my house before going out to dinner together. The following day, the patients at the clinic in Rosa la Piedra, sang "Happy Birthday" to me.

At the beginning of April, my roommates, Sam and Terry, who work with Solid Rock International, came down to visit. I met them on the other side of the island to help with another organization's first medical clinic. The organization, Reys of Tomorrow, was founded by Reynoldo Lopez and his wife, Jhilaris Lopez. It was a lot of fun to spend the weekend with them and to see how other organizations operate their mobile medical clinics. Later that week, Sam and Terry were also able to join us for our clinic in Rosa la Piedra and serve alongside us in the mountains.

Later in April, we welcomed another small team. Most of the team members had served with us before, and they were absolute rockstars! They participated in mobile medical clinics, elderly visits, and went to visit the construction site of our new mission home. Even though they were a small team, they were able to accomplish a lot.

The highlight of the spring was having my family come down to visit me at the end of April. It is difficult to put into words how much it meant to introduce them to the people and places that are so important to me.

Our plan was to split the trip between ministry and vacation, but things did not quite go as expected. Their trip began with a missed flight due to weather, delaying their arrival by a day. When they finally arrived at my house in San Juan, we discovered that there was no running water. My house normally has reliable water and electricity, so this was very unusual. However, during the three days they stayed with me, the water never returned. They got the full Dominican experience of carrying and using buckets of water!

They were also able to join me for a clinic day in Rosa la Piedra, working alongside me in the mountains. After spending time in Elias Piña and San Juan, we traveled to Casa de Campo, where a friend graciously allowed us to rent a beautiful vacation property. We had a wonderful time together.

As soon as my family left, we had only a few days to prepare for our annual team from St. Francis University. This year's visit was especially challenging because the group consisted of 20 people, and our mission house is not yet complete. We spent several days making preparations, and somehow, I thought it was a good idea to fit an Ed Sheeran concert into the middle of all that! The night before the team arrived, we traveled to the capital for the concert. It was a wonderful evening and a great opportunity to spend time with my good friends LeeAnn and Olivia, who had flown in to help us with the team.

This year, the team stayed at the clinic in the mountains. Half of the group slept in the house, while the other half stayed downstairs in the clinic's basement. Despite the early mornings, long drives, hot clinic days, large patient loads, and even vehicle troubles, this team never complained! They worked incredibly hard throughout the week and were able to serve hundreds of patients—medical, dental, and animal! It was great getting to see familiar faces and to get to know new ones during the week!

One of our biggest projects this year was hosting Vacation Bible School in Rosa la Piedra. We have never attempted anything this large before, and to be honest, I am still recovering from it! I have many wonderful memories of VBS from my own childhood, and I loved the opportunity to share that experience with the children here.I want to sincerely thank everyone who donated supplies from our Amazon wishlist, especially since it was created at the very last minute. I am also grateful to my home church, St. Pius X, for sending down their extra VBS materials. Without your generosity, this event would not have been possible.

Our two doctors, Angelito and Arturo, graciously volunteered their time to help make the event a success. The children absolutely loved Vacation Bible School and were already asking when we would do it again!

Looking Ahead

June will bring another team serving alongside us, and at the end of July I will be flying home to spend some time with my family. I am looking forward to both opportunities and all that God has in store in the months ahead.

Thank you all for your continued prayers, encouragement, and support. None of this ministry would be possible without you.