Day 2 - The Day of Four Church Services

Dungannon has a thriving church community. Each teen selected and attended a service at one of the four local churches: United Methodist, Catholic, Freewill Baptist and First Baptist. All the church services were well received and there were a great number of comments about the Freewill Baptist.

After services, we put on our hiking shoes and bathing suits and headed for The Falls, a local watering hole featuring a 100 foot waterfall.  The teens had a great time getting wet and hiking.  This year, half of the group decided to hike a 2.7 mile trail from a trail head up to the falls.  There were a great many obstacles requiring the teens to climb over trees and negotiate rocks and boulders in the trails.  There was also a section of the trail that was overgrown and a short search party was dispatched to locate the proper trail. With the group linked up, the hike continued.  At the end of the hike, everyone met at The Falls for a cool swim below the thundering falls. Since this is a favorite of the locals, we joined in with 4 families for an afternoon of fun.

This evening was the first time we started to learn about the work sites. There appears to be a lot of great jobs in an around Dungannon and out in other rural areas. In the morning, teams will be assigned and the work will begin in earnest.

(Written by Clifton Poole)

Dungannon! Traveling.

Loading up on Friday evening at St. Anne's

Clifton writes:

The start of our Dungannon Mission trip always begins with a grand caravan.  All of the churches met at St Timothy's and actually departed relatively close to on time around 8:30 am.  This year there are a total of 63 missioners, from four Region V churches:  St Anne's, St Timothy's, St Thomas' and Holy Cross.

After the group pictures were taken and goodbyes said, we hit the road heading west... Dungannon, VA or bust! If you did not know, we are heading to a region of the country where many immigrants settled. According to Ancestry.com, 13% of Dungannon residents report German ancestry, and 10% report Irish.

The travel was uneventful.  We negotiated  Interstate 66 and found ourselves in southbound traffic on Interstate 81 in about 90 minutes. The further south our caravan traveled, the bolder the colors of nature became.  The greens of the trees were brighter and the sky blue shown vividly, without a hint of cloud.

Our first rest stop was just south of the Interstate 81 turnoff.  We stopped for an extended lunch in Christiansburg, VA at 12 noon.  Last year we had an extended - extended stop.  Instead of eating near the highway, we spent an additional hour driving into downtown Blacksburg, VA.  (Blame it on poor GPS management.)  After lunch and a short thunderstorm, we arrived at Abingdon, VA in 90 minutes and began our rural road driving into the town of Dungannon.

Girls at the Grill

All the church groups arrived within 30 minutes of each other and by 3 pm, the Dungannon Development Center was a buzz of activity.  The biggest activity is locating the prime bunk spot.  That accomplished, we started the task of unpacking the vehicles and storing gear.

For the first two days the teens prepare meals.  This first evening was the traditional hot dogs and hamburger grill where we encourage them to work the grill (for some, for the first time). This year, the meat were accompanied by baked beans and fresh garden salad.  After dinner, we got down to the preppin' for the business of the week.

Anyone want watermelon?

Suitcases

I was pretty pleased with my packing for the DR trip this year. I pared down the number of pants and shirts I took, choosing to rinse out light-weight clothes rather than pack a pair of pants per day. I had a bunch of supplies for VBS and the Friday goody bags, a few gifts and a pair of shoes I knew I would leave behind. The bag weighed well under the 50 lb. limit set by the airline. I was looking forward to a really light bag on the way home.

Packing up to go home should have been a snap! I knew my swim suit would be wet from a morning snorkeling and had a plastic bag for that. I had a couple things to leave with Lilian - the rest of my sunblock, some bracelets for the girls, a battery-operated fan for Gabby. What I hadn't really thought about were the box of dominoes, 6 lbs of coffee, three bottles of vanilla and three jars of jam (passion-fruit, cashew-fruit and mango).  With a little trepidation I shoved my bag onto the scale at the airline counter... 48.7 lbs, ten pounds MORE than what the suitcase weighed on the trip down.

There are things that came home which don't weigh anything, though, and they're far more durable than the glass jars of jam or the vanilla that the TSA folks had to open my bag to inspect. The bonds of friendship between team members, the stories shared with family the minute they met us at the baggage claim, the facebook friend requests from the Cristo Salvador teens, the digital photos you will see if you click here.

I credit the Holy Spirit with the success of DR Mission 2011. We so often pack her without paying enough attention to whether she goes in the suitcase or carry-on bag. I really take her presence for granted. So here's one last thank you to that member of the Trinity - in the name of the Father, and the Son and especially the Holy Spirit, who will never put your suitcase over the weight limit! Amen.

I lift up my eyes...

View from the camp

...to the HILLS! From where will my help come? Psalm 121: 1

Away we went to the mountains on Saturday. The Dominican Republic is mountainous and has several waterfalls. There is an ecotourism industry, especially around the town of Jarabacoa. So, to get to know the country a little better, we headed to the mountains and a waterfall.

Rosanna pitches during an impromptu baseball game

Tomasina! Eleven years later!

The bus had 30 seats and we added some folks from Cristo Salvador to the mission team for the ride. Padre Hipólito, his wife Dulcina, daughter Natty, 3 grandchildren and 4 of our teen friends came along. The first stop was the diocesan camp. Similar in use and feel to our Shrine Mont, it is located about 10 minutes drive from Jarabacoa. Memories flooded back for Jim and me as we saw the buildings we'd stayed in 11 years ago. The dining area has been screened in, there is a nice walkway between there and the dorm building. But the fence footings Jim placed with the help of kids now graduated from college are still there. Weekend visitors were moving into the rooms we had painted all those years ago. The mattress covers Kay and I sewed are long gone but, Tomasina, the kitchen manager, is still there! I walked over to the little house and asked the woman inside if she had a 10-year-old son. She said, "No, I have an 11-year-old son." I'm sure she was worried about why I was asking. "I was here the night he was born," I told her. With smiles and hugs we remembered details of that visit, so many years ago, my first mission trip to the DR.

Jack on the bridge to Jimenoa

After a tour of the school and church on the site, we got into the bus again and headed to Salto Jimenoa. Suspension bridges and rocky paths led to a spectacular waterfall. While we got wet in the spray, a rock climbing group let themselves over the edge. We waved and admired their adventurous spirits.

Back in Santiago, some of us got off the bus at the Monument, toured there and walked back to the hotel through the city. We could see the hills that Margel used as inspiration for the mural, there was a wedding at the cathedral, a quinceañera photo shoot at the park, some friendly folks on the street and one last trip to La Sirena.

At the waterfall

Saturday, a day to ponder the work done this week, pack the bags for our leave-taking of Santiago, start to dread the good-bye scene at the church, enjoy the beauty of God's creation.

As is our tradition, we met on the roof patio for our evening meeting. The full moon rose next to the monument as we shared impressions of the day. We're subdued. A job well done. Goodbyes to be said. Do you suppose the fireworks display launched as we finished was God's exclamation point to our mission here?

A "quince" photo shoot

Loaves & Fishes

Oh, Friday comes so fast! Work today was finishing the murals, mounting fans - both ceiling and heat extractor, packing goodie bags, and surviving the Friday crowd at VBS.

Margel finishing up

The murals look GREAT. The yellow room mural is now labeled "Santa Ana y San Tomás." Margel, Claude and various other mission artists have done a fabulous job - better than any of us could have imagined!



The heat extractor fan involved beating a hole through a concrete wall and removing a section of iron rebar with a hacksaw! Bob and Jim were prime in that effort... and succeeded, as you can tell by the photos. The ladies who cook will be grateful for a long time.

This fan required a hole to be broken through the concrete wall.

Goodie bags are a mixed blessing. We love to decorate the bags and stuff them with pencils (thank you, Susan Maukenhaupt), stickers (thank you, Perry), bracelets (thank you, Claude), cookies, candies, etc. Then we pray. We pray for another loaves and fishes miracle. We need enough bags for the children who show up on Friday. The kids who have been at the church all week should be sure to leave with one but, the kids who show up on Friday want them, too! Oh, please, Lord.

225 goodie bags!

We did manage to satisfy most of our VBS kids. The oldest ones were willing to let the younger ones get bags and left with smiles.

Finishing up is one of the most difficult things we do all week. Hearts are full of love that has blossomed between the mission team and the Cristo Salvador folks. Hearts break as we realize that this is the moment we say goodbye. Sure, we'll be at church on Sunday but then, we're gone for a year. Remember that old movie Brigadoon? It's like that. Or that guy in Pirates of the Caribbean that comes back for a short time every 10 years. It won't be 10 years before St. Anne's heads back to Cristo Salvador but it feels like it today.

Rock Star Poly

A note from Yanibel

Thank you, St. Anne's family, and St. Thomas, too. Your "on the ground" team couldn't do this without you at home in Virginia. Thank you, from the bottom of our joyful and tearful hearts.

Routines

We've been on the job for three days now. We know who will be at breakfast first who will order fried cheese with breakfast, who will climb into the back seat of the van, who will sit in the front. We know who will pick up paintbrushes and who will look for a screwdriver, who will go shopping with Fr. Hipólito and who will sit down to talk with the kids. We're in the routine.

But...    it's THURSDAY already!!! We haven't packed the goodie bags, we still need to finish the murals, we just got the fans and had to make one more trip to Ochoa this evening, we're just getting to know (or remember) the names of the kids!

Hurry, there's stuff to be done! Slow down, there are moments to savor.

More photos:

Meet Bob, Fr. Hipólito's chauffer! (Note the finger pointing.)

Hands washed, food blessed... LUNCH!

It's pretty tedious, painting the ironwork.

Margel detailing the mural.

Bridget painting in the blue room.

Jacob's ladder!

Miércoles - Just Say Yes!

Dora welcomes her guests

Traditionally, Wednesday is the toughest day of a week-long mission trip. The excitement of arriving, setting up and getting to work is replaced by the challenges of working in a new environment, living with people you generally see for a couple hours and wondering how you're going to get it all finished by the time you have to pack up and leave! Today was that day.



How do you make it past Wednesday? Just say YES!

Gray & Justin switched from rollers to brushes

Say yes when Father Jim says, "Let's go visit Dora before we start work at the children's center!"



Say yes to Chencho when he decides that brushes are the tool of choice for painting the concrete - NOT the rollers that seem to be working so well!

Pablo starts on his mural

Say yes to Pablo when he presents you with a beautiful drawing he's willing to transfer to a classroom wall.



Say yes to the kid who wants a green crayon, not a blue one!

Now, that's a happy child!

Say yes to the proud artist who wants to post a coloring page on the wall!





Say yes when Glennys suggests one more song!

Moses' burning bush(es)

Rock star Glennys

Say yes to a mission trip opportunity - it will change your life.

Peeking from the door

Making a Joyful Noise

 Monday of our 2011 trip was a bit slow... the country had a general strike and we were stuck in the hotel for the most part!



Phil has been helping Lazaro with his website so he got some work done. We combined the Vacation Bible School supplies and started decorating the goodie bags. We spied on a dominoes game happening on the roof below us. It sure felt like a slow start!






Tuesday, though, we hit the ground running.

The rooftop domino game.

Father Hipólito has decided to keep the feeding program open for the children. They were finishing breakfast of chocolate milk and bread when we arrived at Cristo Salvador. What cuties! They were wearing blue polo shirts with a church crest on them. Like all of us, some are morning people and some are not. There were happy smiles and blank stares as we said hello to the kids; but saying hello to the adults was full of nothing but smiles and hugs!


Walking across the street to the children's shelter, we decided what room to decorate with a mural, we reviewed what else might need to be painted in the children's center and we had a fabulous lunch before getting to our afternoon work - VBS!

Josie with one of the kids.

Poly, our rock star guitar-playing priest, will not be with us until Thursday so Martha was song leader of the day. She had the unexpected help of GLENNYS and that made all the difference! A couple rounds of familiar songs had the room ringing with the joyful noise familiar to DR mission veterans.

Pablo is surprised to run into Fr. Jim

With a theme of angels as messengers among us, the first story was of the unusual visitors to Abraham and Sarah who announced the pregnancy of Sarah. We passed out crayons and paper plate angels. The kids set to work and soon we had angels with pipe cleaner halos all over the room!

Just an angel or two!

At Home Again in Santiago

Breakfast at the Hotel Colonial was an opportunity to introduce those new to our team to the hospitality of Lazarus and his staff. Café con leche appeared, passion fruit juice was served. Eggs, toast, fruit and fried cheese were among the choices offered.

I figured that Padre Hipólito would be calling to make sure we were ready for church but we were all pleased to see him walk through the door instead. We climbed into the van,  headed across the river and up the hill to Cristo Salvador. Bridget, Jenni and Margel read, Fr. Jim preached, Fr. Justin and Fr. Jim co-celebrated with Padre Hipólito. The passing of the peace was a round of huge hugs for those team members who were returning and those who were experiencing their first Sunday at Cristo Salvador.

Sunday afternoon was spent at Padre Hipólito's house. We watched the U.S. women win their game against Brazil, welcomed Poly, Lilian and the kids, had a fabulous meal, a couple naps and a tour of the garden.

Believing that one picture is worth 1000 words I'll stop "talking" and share the following photos:

Jenni reading Old Testament

Fr. Justin reading the Gospel

Stairs at the new children's center.

Sean, Bridget and a new friend.

Lots of potential banana bread?

In the garden.

Meatloaf, chicken, rice, vegetable salad, pineapple, avocado... (don't tell Sean's mom it was the best meatloaf he ever ate!)

Getting advice on growing figs.

Jack, Justin, Mary Anne, Bridget and Claude relax on the patio.

Mmmmmm, eggplant!

El Monumento

Checked Bags and Chex Mix

Martha writes:

On Friday afternoon I felt the need to make some Chex Mix. Harris Teeter had their fancy nut mix on sale and I bought a can to throw in. (FYI, if you’re making some of your own, Worcestershire Sauce does not contain gluten!) While the mix was in the oven I filled my suitcase, printed off information sheets for the group, took stuff out of my suitcase, stirred the Chex Mix, searched for my flashlight, decided to pay the $30 for an extra bag so I could carry some kids clothes to be left … you get the picture!

“Do you have plans for that Chex Mix?” asked my husband. “Yup, I’m going to try to carry it with me, otherwise, it’s yours,” said I.

We had the luxury of a late start on Saturday, meeting at Dulles about 9:30 a.m. for our 11:30 flight. When our group of 15 was together, we parceled out the clothes in my second bag, sent the bag home with Aleesha’s folks and then started the check-in process, and a very slow process it was! Finally, we were ready to clear security, grab a cup of coffee and step onto the plane.

DR Mission 2011 was on the way!!

After a lunch of medianoche sandwich, tostones and a great cup of coffee at the Cuban restaurant in the Miami Airport we flew to Santo Domingo where we arrived in a thunderstorm. Immigrations, Customs and then – Bob and Ellen Snow greeted us with the Iglesia Episcopal sign, helped load our bags on the bus, prayed with us and waved us on our way.

This is where the Chex Mix comes in! Claude filled individual baggies from the huge bag I’d lugged through Dulles, Miami and Santo Domingo. Hunger made it “the best Chex Mix ever!”

Midnight arrival at the Hotel Colonial in Santiago, smooth check in there, a little unpacking, a great night’s sleep, alarms set to be at 7:30 breakfast. St. Anne’s is once more On the Road!