Dominican Republic Mission Trip 2013
Last week, approximately 30 students from EAS traveled to the Dominican Republic to be missionaries. We left for the airport on March 22 and arrived back here in the USA on April 2. When we first got to the Dominican Republic, we were greeted by a group of very friendly Dominicans and their leader, Abraham. He led us to our first hotel, called Hotel Roseli, where we stayed for several days. Every morning, a team of workers would head out at 7am to either build the church, do dental work, or do medical work. Leonard Grado headed up the building of the church, Dr. Ruminson, Dr. Simpson, and Dr. Kinzer lead the dentistry team, and Dr. Rice was in charge of the medical team. The church that we built was started on Friday, March 22 and was completed on Thursday the 28th. Once it was finished, we held a dedication ceremony. We also led a time of communion, and Pastor Hager and Pastor Larry both spoke during the dedication. At the end of the ceremony, a slideshow was presented to show all the hard work that we went through that week. The dental team was able to operate on approximately 700-800 patients, and Dr. Rice was able to perform several intense surgeries as well. Every day from Monday to Wednesday, everyone who was on the trip would head to a nearby building to hold VBS for several hundred Dominican children after we quit working at 3:30. We made crafts, played games, sang songs, and did skits for the children. Many of them were starving, so we tried to provide snacks for them as well. After we had finished the church, the team took a 3 hour drive to Grand Paradise resort. We stayed their for the remainder of our trip, and took part in many activities such as kayaking, snorkeling, hiking, mini golfing, ping pong, and even shuffleboard. We went on 2 different excursions. On the first, we went to several different islands by boat to explore caves and jungles that the natives used to live in. In the caves, there was a myriad of things; bats, bees, strange plants, and ancient paintings drawn on the walls by the natives were all there for us too see. On the second excursion, we went on 13 separate zip lines through the mountains, swam in a natural pool by a waterfall, went to the beach, learned about local culture from the tour guides, and then had a nice meal in the local town as the day drew to a close. Sadly, the next morning, we had to fly back to the USA. When we arrived, we were greeted by parents and friends. Thankfully, everyone arrived home safely. We all are very grateful for this opportunity that we were able to have not only because it was fun and a life-changing experience, but because we were able to glorify God in the process.
By: Ben Isenburg
