AND just like that it is February already! I feel like I just flew back to the Dominican, but I have already been here for 6 weeks! I was able to spend the whole month of December in Michigan this year. It was wonderful to be able to relax, visit friends and family, and be home for Christmas. Sometimes I forget how much I need to take time for myself!
Since I flew back down to the Dominican right after Christmas, I was able to ring in the New Year here. I spent the evening at Dr. Angel and Yudy’s house with their family. We had a fantastic rooftop dinner followed by fireworks at midnight! It is so wonderful having a second family here.
The first week of January we started out our year with a team from Rockhurst University. They were a fantastic group. They started their week at our preschool in El Chivo by
cleaning, organizing, and getting it ready for the new year! We were able to do 3 medical clinics during the week, and we were all very busy at each of these clinics! We saw a lot of patients each day, brought home a couple of kids to their families,and brought down a couple of kids to spend some time recuperating at the Missionaries of Charity. Rockhurst truly had open hearts to serve, and we appreciated and loved having them work with us!
Our second week of January we were blessed with another group from California. Funny story on how we met. In January of 2019, we had a large group from St. Catherine’s Academy working with us. While we were on our way up the mountain for one of the clinics that week, we saw in the distance a large group of Americans outside of a school building. We did not stop, but we found it a little strange since we do not often find other groups of Americans in Elias Pina. At the end of the week, we were staying at the beach for a night with the leaders that had helped us with our large group from St. Catherine’s Academy. At this very same beach was the group we saw from Elias Pina! We exchanged contact information and began talking about ways that we could work together in the future and perhaps have them work in our medical clinics. Last October they agreed to come and also donated $5,000 dollars to help us complete the bathrooms at our new clinic!!! Check out the pictures on the Clinic Update page!
We worked with this amazing group for 3 days in Rosa La Piedra. We meshed so well together and were able to provide many extra services. We had doctors, nurses, a dentist, a physical therapist, you name it we had it! I think that we all learned a lot from each other! We saw over 150 patients each day.
You know, a lot of people ask me where I see God when I am here, and honestly he is everywhere. I can come up with countless moments during each day. In the patients, children, mountains, and in the silence. Most recently I felt God’s close presence on our very last clinic day. We were all loaded up heading down the mountain, and a lady stopped my truck with a huge smile on her face and a gift of a pillowcase full of avocados. The dentist in our group that week was able to fill in her two front teeth. She looked like a totally different person, and she was showing off her teeth. She was so thankful. When this group returned home they left us with all sorts of goodies! We are so thankful and blessed by them! Our pharmacy is so full right now from their generosity. I spent 2 full days doing an inventory of all of the meds! I have also been spending a lot of time going over patient records from the group.
Our next group comes this weekend! A group of 12 from St. Marys in Pinckney! We are so excited for this group to come work with us!
Many of you know that I moved into a house in San Juan. I share this house with other missionaries who work with another Christian ministry here in San Juan. Since I have been back one of the missionaries has been in the house with me. Her name is Cora, and she is a Nurse Practitioner who has been serving down in the Dominican for more than 20 years now. It has been really nice having another person in the house! We have also been blessed with her friend Holli for a week and Sam and Terry! I have enjoyed getting to know all of them during their time here in the Dominican.
Check out the Clinic of Hope Update page for the most recent updates on our construction progress!
Thank you so much for being a part of my mission support team. Without God and you, I would not be able to accomplish the work that He has placed on my heart.
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