All Saints Episcopal Church, Hilton Head Island, SC
Reflections from some 2011 Mission Team Members:
Fred Finn,
Linda Lanier, Caroline McVitty
Linda Lanier
I was blessed to participate in this year’s Vacation
Bible School week at “our church” in Barahona, Dominican Republic. I call
this little church and school, which is actually named, Iglesia Episcopal
Domenicana (Communicana Anglicana) La Redencion, “our church” because we
at All Saints have devoted much of our time and money to this precious
little place. We share “our church” with the Diocese of Clearwater,
Florida which shares our commitment to the Episcopal Diocese of the
Dominican Republic. As we all know, foreign missions have been an
important mission of the Episcopal Church since its founding.
The Dominican Republic is located on the hot, beautiful,
lush island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antilles, site of Columbus’
second landing in the Americas in 1493. His house and fort are still
standing, along with the oldest cathedral in the Americas, in Santo
Domingo. This being 2011, there is also a Hard Rock Cafe not far from the
cathedral. Our group, which consisted of Arthur and Caroline McVitty, Fred
Finn, Michael Wolstencraft, and me, arrived in Santo Domingo from Miami
around mid-day on Saturday, June 18th. I felt somewhat explorer-like as
our All Saints group travelled from Santo Domingo west to Barahona in a
van provided by the Diocese - about a four hour trip. We bumped along
until a flat tire held us up for a few minutes not far from our
destination. We pulled into an automotive shop and as our driver worked on
the tire I was delighted by the gas station chickens which were pecking
around the piles of discarded tires. Chickens and goats share the roads
and the lanes with the banana trucks and the family-laden Vespas. How do
they get so many people on one little scooter? After the amazingly quick
stop for the tire repair, we arrived at the Hotel Costa Larimar, a two
star resort hotel on the Caribbean in Barahona which has seen better days.
Mercifully, it is air conditioned, and has occasional hot water. But the
view is tropical paradise and it has a big swimming pool where I could
cool off in the afternoon, after the morning’s Bible School activities. I
had stayed here in 2007 so I knew what to expect.
Our schedule was the same every day Monday through
Friday of our week there - a quick breakfast at the hotel, a short ride to
the La Redencion church/school where Caroline and I conducted Vacation
Bible School while Michael and Arthur worked on hanging doors and other
construction activities there at the church. Fred was in charge of the
roof repair at another small barrio church, Jesus Peregrino. He also
worked with us on VBS as a ‘baby-toter’ and pitcher for the baseball games
during play time. We were set up on tables in the courtyard of the school
which is still under construction. It is cinder block and tile located on
a street in the “middle class” section of Barahona, which seems to be a
mixture of residential and commercial buildings. Across the street is a
funeral home and behind it is the hospital, with private homes around. The
chapel attached to the school building is complete, as is the first floor
of the school building. Mercifully, we were in the covered shaded loggia
area in the front of the school, as there is no air conditioning in these
buildings. But we had two nice bathrooms and plenty of bottled water and I
withstood the heat much better than I expected. (I am glad to note that
VBS had changed little from my own experiences as a little girl in VBS in
Savannah in the late 1950’s where it was just as hot as it was in the
Dominican Republic in 2011). We had about 85 children in attendance and 10
teenage girls who wrote “Staff” on their name tags. They took this
seriously and did a first rate job. The diocese of the DR supplies the
curriculum and our daily lessons were very familiar: Jesus the Good
Shepherd, The Good Samaritan, The Prodigal Son, and the Care of Naaman.
We had crafts and songs and games and the Padre taught the lesson
in the chapel. Although I had some serious communication problems, my
college Spanish having given out long ago, Caroline’s Spanish was more
than adequate and she was our able translator. I know that Caroline
McVitty dislikes discomfort as do I, but she gave 110% with a glad heart.
As an added bonus, the five of us enjoyed each other’s company and I am so
happy to have added them to my circle of friends.
At about 1:00pm we were served a home cooked lunch at
the church prepared by ladies from the church. We had beans and rice and
pork and fried plantains, and delicious local ice cream. After cleaning up
the day’s activities we went back to the hotel to cool off, rest and read
a little, have an early dinner together and prepare for the next day. The
children seemed to have a great time, and hopefully some of the Padre’s
teachings made it through the coloring and singing! I feel that our
primary purpose in being there is to show our continuing interest and hope
for our fellow Episcopalians. The scheduling of crafts and lessons and
singing at Vacation Bible School should not be our first concern.
The images in my mind of Barahona, Angelina and the
other towns which I have visited are images of extremely bright hot
Caribbean colors - pink and red and blue and yellow painted houses and
stores. These people, who are some of the poorest, paint their lives in
these fabulous rich colors. I wonder why that is so? Maybe their lives are
rich in things other than money? The place is noisy, too.
Motorcycles and scooters are everywhere and nobody pays attention
to traffic rules or traffic lights which results in a lot of horn blowing
and yelling! I love this, maybe because it is so quiet in my neighborhood,
a gated community where rules abound and noise ordinances are to be
obeyed.
The people who I have come into contact with in the DR
are kind, generous and affectionate, and, in many instances, very poor. I
think I have been sent there with my All Saints buddies to learn as well
as to teach. This instruction from Jesus was written over the door of my
Sunday School room many years ago in Savannah, “Be Ye Doers of the Word
and Not Hearers Only.” I hope that in my brief week there I was doing the
Word. This is the first time in my life that I can remember giving of
myself totally, in spite of the heat and the occasional hot water and the
unreliable air conditioning, for no other reason than I felt like I was
being called to it. I loved every minute of it.
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We were fortunate enough to have a great team; and we were sooo lucky that Linda Lanier picked up the reins when Soozi Williams could not make it at the last minute. The children were delightful, the teen assistants were real powerhouses, and the adults were totally gracious. We were delighted that Padre was such a good sport and never left our side. His help in leading the daily Bible lesson for VBS was a real God-send. I gather that the mosquitoes, occasional power outages and inconsistent water availability are standard fare - it was a jolt for me at first, but we all muddled through with good humor. Arthur was busy putting in doors in the new classrooms - until we ran out of doors. He is always great company - just give him a project and put a power tool in his hand.
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Fred Finn
The following paragraph is taken from the medical team
application which will be distributed to all potential team members
applying for the medical trip.
I think it is appropriate in reference to our trip:
"There are many stresses associated
with short term mission work.
First and foremost, nothing will go as planned.
Being flexible is extremely important.
Not having electricity and/or running water at times is very
likely. How will you handle
eating the same food over and over and over again for the whole trip?
Are you a team player with flexibility? These things are imperative
to think about now. The most
important aspect is that you approach this endeavor with a Christian
spirit and a willing servant heart.
Mission work is not about the individual, it is about seeking how
Christ wants you to serve others.
You must feel that Christ wants you to go.
He is not inviting you on a vacation.
He is asking you to be a servant"
A few comments about Vacation Bible School:
Flexibility, as noted above, was immediately necessary due to Soozi having
to cancel from the trip at the last minute.
Linda and Caroline jumped right in and led what I thought was an
excellent VBS. The VBS
accomplished all its aims in fine fashion.
Good interaction with the children, the church leaders, and the
Dominican sub-leaders of the VBS was evident from the start.
We personally gained by being the servants of Christ in this
outreach mission and the Dominican participants appreciated and learned
from us. This is certainly a
case of determining how Christ would want us to serve others and doing it.
Construction
Our aim was to put in doors and windows at the La Redencion School.
My worry was the doors and windows would not be there when we
arrived (See "nothing will go as planned" above).
But, the doors and windows were there.
However, due to some communication mix up, the windows had already
been installed by local Dominicans (nothing goes as planned).
The doors were installed by Arthur
and Michael with the help of two Dominican workers.
The job was well done as the size of the doors did not fit in
exactly with the size of the door openings.
In the end, the door installation was done in a very professional
manner.
A lot of work remains to be done on the second floor of
the school. The Clearwater
Deanery team will be there in July and hopefully will have a large team.
All the rooms need finishing work, scraping, painting, etc.
The bathrooms need to be finished.
Tile remains to be installed on the floor.
Electricals need to be installed.
I asked Hilda (the construction engineer) when the second floor
could be finished. She said it
could be finished in February if all goes well and funds are forthcoming
in a timely manner. As Bob
Stevens (Ex. Dir. of the Dominican Development Group) would say, "have
faith in God and it will happen".
Jesus Peregrino Church
is in the poorest area I have seen in the DR.
Repair work done there was needed at once and repair work to the
Church and school was greatly appreciated by the approximately 100 members
of their Church. All Saints
outreach in maintaining a good Christian place to worship and a school for
study will enable improvements in their lives in the future.
I worked quite a bit with Hilda (engineer and a member
of the parish) in assessing and authorizing repair needs at Jesus
Peregrino in the barrio. Some
monies budgeted at All Saints for DR work was used for these repairs.
Prices were negotiated lower in several instances.
The labor cost for these repairs at Jesus Peregrino will be paid
separately and will not be charged to All Saints. Things that were
accomplished or are planned at Jesus Peregrino:
Sealing of the entire roof which was leaking.
Repairing and painting classroom ceilings which were
damaged by water leaking from the roof.
Repairing and painting other areas of the classrooms
and Church which were in need of repair.
Authorizing the purchase of 4 metal doors where the
present wooden ones were badly damaged by rain, sun, wind, etc.
One door had 20% of its wood missing altogether.
New doors were desperately needed or incoming rain would enter
the second floor and seep through the ceiling into the Jesus Peregrino
Church.
Dominican Orphanage
On Sunday when we returned from Church services, we found approximately
80-90 Dominican children playing and enjoying the pool at our hotel.
It turned out they were from an orphanage near the Haitian border
and get to the pool once per year as a reward at the end of their school
year. The orphanage has been funded by a Christian individual in the USA
for over 30 years. There were
about 8 teenagers from Pennsylvania on a mission trip working at the
orphanage for two weeks who accompanied the orphans to the pool.
It was sad to see so many children without families but heartening
to see Christian outreach efforts of one individual providing an orphanage
to take care of them. One of the men with the group was one of their
orphans in the past and is becoming a priest.
I learned that at age 9, parents have a right in the DR to disavow
their children. Sadly, about 20% of the children in the orphanage are
intellectually challenged. But, I believe the children of the orphanage
are getting a better education than most in the DR. In addition to regular
classes, many of them speak pretty good English they learned in their
school.
Visit to Sagrada Familia (Sacred Family) Church In Santo Domingo
Prior to leaving for home, I had an opportunity to go the the Sagrada
Familia Church in a barrio of Santo Domingo where the All Saints of SC
Mission Medical Team will work next March.
I took pictures, measured rooms, and met with the priest, Father
Nestor. Father Nestor is
80 years old and speaks English very well which will be a plus for the
team visit. Information
was gathered which will help the medical team plan for their visit.
Parishioners there are mainly older and common illnesses are
diabetes, high blood pressure, and dental problems.
They have a school attached to the Church and have about 40
students. Father Nestor has
been requesting a medical team for several years.
The Christian outreach efforts of members of All Saints and other
Episcopal Churches in South Carolina will meet medical needs of hundreds
of folks in and around the Sagrada Familia Church.
Certainly this is a Christian situation where needs of less
fortunate people are recognized and met by our outreach efforts.
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