Monday, August 24th, 2009 was one of the most memorable days of our lives. My wife - Kim, Daughter – Ashley, friend – Carita and I joined Liz McKie for a day in the life of Dove Missions. Our 11 year old, Morgan wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t join us. The day began normally enough when Liz picked us up at our hotel. Little did we know how much that day would affect us!
The first sign that it was going to be a special experience was when we arrived at Dove Missions new club. A small group of boys had collected at the base of the stairs leading up to the second story club. When we pulled up in Liz’s temporary rented vehicle, the look of love and anticipation on the boys’ faces was incredible.Before I go on, let me rewind and give you a little background. This was our second trip to the Dominican Republic. The first was over Spring Break in April 2009. Ending up in the Dominican Republic was, we believe, a bit of a God-thing. We had been looking for a warm place to spend spring break away from the cold, dreary weather we were experiencing in Michigan. My Mom told us we could use her time share through RCI, but a search of every place in the Southern half of the US and in the Caribbean turned up only one possibility … The Dominican Republic. On that trip we fell in love with the Dominican people and the beauty of the Island. One of the key people we met was Santo Polanco, a guide on Sosua Beach. From the moment we met Santos, we felt like we were with an old friend. Santos says he feels like we are the parents he lost many years ago. I told him to be careful – I’m not old enough to have kids his age! Santos took care of us on the beach and made sure we didn’t buy the wrong things from the beach merchants. As we found out, one of the reasons we felt comfortable with and trusted Santos was the fact that he is a Christian. I believe his faith shone through and led us to trust him from the start. On Sosua Beach, we also met three of the cutest little Dominican brothers – Ebbe, Jorge, and Anthony. That relationship began as a result of Morgan’s float. The boys asked (in Spanish with hand gestures to make up for our lack of language skills) if they could play with the float. That turned into a full day of hanging out with them. They wanted nothing more than some loving attention (and maybe a Coke and some candy!) The boys didn’t go to school and spent most of their time at the beach. When we came back to the beach a second time, the boys (especially Ebbe) came running up to Kim and threw themselves into her arms for a hug. They were starving for love.We also took a tour of the country and visited a Dominican school, but while we saw some terrible living conditions and we had some clothes, candy and toiletries to give away, the tour left us feeling more like UN Observers than participants in the fight against the conditions in which these people live. Before we left Puerto Plata at the end of Spring Break, we had already planned our return trip for August 2009. The Dominican people had infected our hearts!
In the months leading up to our August trip, Kim spent hours on line researching our options for doing something besides dozing in the sun to help make a difference in these people’s lives. She was so excited when she came across Dove Missions web site (www.dovemissions.com). She communicated first with Lisa in Minnesota and then initially via email with Liz in Puerto Plata. We were trying to get friends and our Church involved and wanted to find out about the Dominican’s greatest needs … the answer, “everything, they have so little. They need clothes, shoes, toiletries, clean water, sanitary living conditions, … the list goes on and on.” A couple of Liz’s ideas struck home with us. One was gallon zip lock bags filled with toiletries and the other was clothes and shoes for the kids and families involved in Liz’s club.
Our daughter, Morgan, had a great idea. Her 11th birthday party was coming up and she thought it would be good if the kids brought the toiletry-filled bags for our trip rather than presents. So we had a big party with 30 – 35 kids each of whom brought some much-needed toiletries for us to take to Dove Missions.
Our church, Northridge Church in Plymouth, Michigan, also came through in a big way. The head of our Outreach Ministry, Beth Harris, agreed that our request for help was a bit different than many the church gets on a regular basis, so she did some shopping for us and came back with enough flip flops to fill two big suit cases, some baby clothes and tons of other stuff. All in all, we ended up with a total of eight extra suit cases of flip flops, shoes, clothes, toiletries and school supplies for Liz’s Dominican families.
The first day of our second trip was spent back at Sosua Beach. Santos had not seen our three boys – Ebbe, Jorge and Anthony – in a few weeks. But he left on a motor bike with a photo album Ashley had prepared for the boys and went in search of them (the photo album had their pictures in it). A couple of hours later, Ebbe, Jorge and Anthony came flying onto the beach with Santos trailing behind. They wrapped their arms (that looked thinner than in the spring) around Kim in a huge group hug. I was feeling a bit left out by now!! The big surprise – Santos had found the mother and brought her back to the beach too. She is pregnant again and appears to have a problem with gambling and prostitution. Keep her in your prayers!
We spent the next hour outfitting the boys with new clothes and swim suits from Old Navy. Ebbe was particularly happy with his swim suit! To go to school in the Dominican Republic, apparently you must have a uniform (khakis and a light blue polo shirt), so through Santos, we made sure the boys had the necessary uniform items. Most importantly, we spent the day playing, swimming and eating with the boys and their Mom.
The following day was Monday – our day planned with Liz. As mentioned before, our day started at Dove Missions club – the second story of a building in a low cost area of Puerto Plata. Liz has spent a lot of time getting the club in shape and it looks great. It is important to describe Liz’s philosophy about interaction with the Dominican people. She wants to connect families with families. It is about meeting and having relationships, not just about giving them “stuff”. When you go out with Liz, she is inviting you into the relationships she has developed with the people of Puerto Plata, not just to “see” their living conditions, but to experience their hope and joy despite the conditions. Then when you help them, you are helping someone you know.
We started the day with an English lesson. It was a hoot seeing how excited the boys were when they got a word right playing the fun games Liz plays with them to learn their words! After that, we had the opportunity to share some of the goodies with the boys … flip flops, toiletries, some clothes … you wouldn’t believe how big these little boys’ feet are. Next time we need some adult large size shoes and flip flops! Some of the boys’ mothers come and hang out while the boys are there, both to hear the lessons and to just be in a safe, fun environment, I think.
Dove missions had bought Domingo’s (in the white striped shirt in the group shot) family a pig and he really wanted us to see it, so after the lessons and the sharing, off we went to Domingo’s neighborhood. We actually stopped first paid a few visits to some of the families with whom Liz has developed a relationship. One was in Playa Oeste (West Beach) which is really not a beach at all. It is a neighborhood along the bay near the major port in Puerto Plata. One the other side of the bay is a power plant and along the shore is not a beach, but is a seawall of rocks and debris. The homes are made of scraps of lumber and sheet metal. There is no plumbing, no running water, no electricity … and the debris is appalling! It is amazing that people live in such conditions. Drugs and prostitution are everywhere … but the real surprise is the hope and love you see on the faces of the families. The children just want to hug you … to take a picture with you … to laugh … it’s infectious and it really makes you reflect on your priorities in life. Why can they be so happy with so little and we are often ungrateful and just want more?
From Playa Oeste we went to Domingo’s neighborhood which is a step up (but not by American standards) and has benefitted from some churches and other missions. We got to meet Domingo’s family and “ChumChumChum”, the pig! Careful … he bites! About this time was when activities deviated from our prior plans … Liz says, “You have to be flexible doing this … you never know what is going to come up.” We had planned to visit a hospital and take some toiletries and baby things to some new moms, but while at Domingo’s house Kim caught part of a discussion between Liz, Domingo and his parents. (Kim had a little Spanish a long time ago). Domingo and his friends, Junior and Jose, needed uniforms (remember the uniforms I mentioned earlier … you have to have them to go to school). So, off to shop for uniforms we went! Turns out, Liz is a very shrewd, thrifty shopper. I think we hit every store in the Puerto Plata metropolitan area before we settled on Khakis, light blue polo shirts, black shoes (you should have seen what shoes the boys were trying to pick out – they thought they were styling, but they were awful – they ended up with some good looking, more practical shoes), socks and white t-shirts. Knowing, we had helped three boys get what they needed to go to school was amazing … and it wasn’t some distant child who we didn’t even know … it was Domingo, Jose and Junior. There were hugs all around.
After shopping, we stopped at Fort San Felipe, a small fort built in 1540. The fort sits across the bay from Playa Oeste, Domingo’s neighborhood and the power plant. From the distance, Playa Oeste almost looks tropical, but your mind doesn’t let you forget the conditions that are just across the water.
We also had the opportunity to stop by one of Puerto Plata’s schools. The kids were all outside at recess (Liz says they seem to always be on recess!) and when we pulled in many of the kids came running for Liz.
Somewhere along the way during this crazy, wonderful day, we squeezed in lunch at a local restaurant where Liz often treats the boys … broiled chicken, rice and beans … it was wonderful and the boys gave their leftovers to a crippled beggar. It was pretty ironic and humbling to see this act of kindness from boys who really have so little. All in all, it was a day we will never forget and we are anxious to return. We have already made plans for next Spring Break and have decided to sponsor Domingo, Jose and Junior. Liz has a program that is a little like World Vision, but on a much smaller, much more personal level. As mentioned earlier, her goal is to connect families, to build relationships, to show Jesus’ love through action and to really provide a future for these families.
Finally, I have to say that all of the area is not impoverished and dirty. There are beautiful beaches and wonderful resorts in the area. We stayed at Lifestyle Haciendas which is one of the nicest resorts we have ever stayed at. We enjoyed wonderful meals and much needed hours of relaxation in the sun, but even then, our new boys (the three at Sosua Beach and our three boys in Puerto Plata) were not far from our thoughts. The love and joy of people of the Dominican Republic is infective. I could go on and on, but probably need to wrap it up other than to thank Northridge Church and Morgan’s friends’ families for helping to bring some much needed help to Dove Missions’ “families”. I started to say, “bring a little joy to these families”, but they already seem to have a joy that is almost inexplicable. We can’t wait to get back!
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