2022 Medical Mission Trip
/If you have never been on a mission trip before and are interested in what it would be like read this personal reflection by a member of our medical team that went down earlier this month.
I walked through the airport gate, instantly feeling the heat, hearing the language, tasting the air as I began to look to find my way. I soon saw the bright blue shirt – Handfuls of Hope. From that moment, I knew I was about to be a part of something great. I stepped onto a bus full of strangers to me, yet instantly I belonged and we were family.
We first stopped at Mercado, the market. As we entered, I heard “Lady!! Lady!” in every direction and I did my best to acknowledge them all, purchasing coffee and two beautiful wooden glasses from “the sweet Christian lady” everyone recognized. Returning to the bus, we were driven through the streets of Santo Domingo and walked through places of history and importance.
Our next stop was the school and the place we would transform into a place of health and hope. Over the next several hours, tables were moved and chairs were stacked. The pharmacy was set up and the medications and supplies were organized on the black plastic shelves. Within minutes of driving from the school, a bright double rainbow appeared out the windows on the left side of the bus. We all knew the representation of this perfect timing yet Don, our team leader was the one who said it best – “God’s Promises”. He was undoubtedly here.
Every morning Don would bring us together to pray and give God thanks for allowing us to do His work. On the count of three, we would wake the village as we declared “Good Morning Lord!”.
As we arrived, people were already in a line at the gate to enter. They were all waiting for us. For me! From the time the gates opened at 9am until closing at 3pm, that gate was not visible due to the crowds of people. Men, women, children. Young and old. Those who had come alone and those who helped their neighbor. They would each sign in, be handed a piece of paper, given a number, and patiently sat at the picnic tables under shelter from the hot sun until their number was called. Many waited for hours. When their number was called, they would be brought to the nurse and/or doctor. People came for headaches, stomach aches, infections, high blood pressure, rashes, and so much more. There was a little boy with a burn/wound on his foot requiring treatment and wrapping every day (returning the next two days as well). A very sick infant boy was brought in and while there was little we could do medically, he and his mother were given God’s love and heartfelt prayers. Lab tests were performed for urine infections, pregnancy tests, and glucose levels to name a few. The word and promise of God were shared with every person we saw. They would then proceed to the pharmacy for their Ziplock bag of 30 multivitamins and other medication ordered.
At the end of the day, the tables would be moved, the chairs would be stacked and the papers counted. We would return to the bus for the one-hour drive back to the villa. Most of this time the team was quiet – partly from exhaustion, partly for reflection, and partly to pray for strength to do it again the next day. I remember just looking out the window and looking at everything – the streets, the people, the small enclosures that were homes, the woman washing clothes in dirty water in a plastic pink child’s pool with a bar of soap as her husband sat with a baby in a plastic chair, and the two boys running barefoot and laughing as they jumped from a fence. I remember watching the sun slowly set over the hills. I remember hearing God say “Well done”.
Over the three days we held the clinic, we had the opportunity to serve over 1300 people. 1300 of God’s children. God has given all of us gifts. Many say this longing for service is my gift. I believe the gift of the people in the DR was their ability to gift us by allowing us to serve them. They allowed me to use my gift and together we brought glory to our God. We are brought together under that rainbow.
Traci B.
Trip Participant
