Road Trip to Compassion...

April 21, 2015 at 1:09am

Most days here in DR are an adventure and those of you who have spent time with us here would totally agree. Well this past Saturday was a family adventure day....of service. I'll be honest, I started the morning off a bit grumpy mostly because I was overwhelmed by all of the "mom duties" I had to conquer before leaving the house, but also partly because of the time consuming preparation that needs to be done for a day such as this. You see, this type of adventure most likely entails some inconvenience. And by that I mean packing everything you may need throughout your adventure right down to a fat roll of toilet paper. No kidding! You MAY find a bathroom, but you MOST LIKELY won't find a seat on your toilet, and Lord knows the chances of finding ANY kind of paper to "finish the job" is like seeing a cat here. Period. And don't forget to pack the sandwiches because after heading out of the city you surely ain't gonna find the Golden Arches on every corner. Truth is, living a life of missions here at times can be pretty difficult. Dealing with the many inconveniences and the poverty, it isn't easy. So I'm trying to DO better and to BE better at supporting Eli as we serve here in missions, and God is helping me.

As we were in the van backing down our little dead end street, Eli asked his usual question, "Who's going to pray?" I of course was then nominated. I prayed not only for God to be with us and for His protection on us as we were going to be traveling quite far, but also for us, as a family, to have more compassion for others.

Our first stop was to see how the guys were coming along on the work for Ruddy's home. Let me fill you in a little on our dear friend Ruddy. Ruddy is a single mother of three young girls. She has helped our whole family in our home for four years. She is one of the most patient, kindest, giving, selfless, and hard-working people we know. And let's just say that if God had not blessed our family with Ruddy, we would not have survived here this long! I'm not joking! She is a lifesaver! Not long ago Ruddy had to make a move with her girls, including her 7 month old baby, to a home that was in such terrible condition, it was bringing sickness upon them. No bathroom, no kitchen, and only dirt for floors.

So now I want to share how great our God is! Some time ago Eli and I had expressed to each other how we really wished God would somehow provide a way to help Ruddy and her girls out. Not only because of all she has selflessly given of herself to help our family, but because we wanted her to have more for her and her girls. We talked about how awesome it would be if a team would be willing to come through Work & Witness to build her a new little home. And as time went on it was only a dream we had...until Tri Unity Christian School from Grand Rapids, Michigan came to assist with that need. Praise God, this wonderful group of teenagers came to give of themselves for a week to help out such a deserving person in need. Isn't God good? So now our DR W&W construction team is working on finishing up this project, this dream.

After leaving the worksite of Ruddy's new home, we made a 3 1/2 hour trip which included driving up a mountain on roads in such bad shape they make the Michigan roads some people back home complain about look like "streets of Gold." Our first stop at the top of the mountain was at the Nazarene Child Development Center in Rancho Arriba. There we talked with the Pastors about distributing medicine and "The Shoes That Grow" that we had delivered. These are AMAZING shoes that grow 5 sizes and last up to 5 years and were invented by a friend of Eli's he had met in Nicaragua. To learn more about these shoes, you can check out becauseinternational.org.

From there we stopped by the home of a lady who has been completely blind since she was 11 months old. We, along with the pastors, delivered a Care Kit full of medicine, beans, toys, and school supplies which were donated by a previous team. This single Lady does all of the cooking and cleaning for her home all while caring for her teenage daughter! She also runs a little store on her front porch! What an inspiration to us! (Sure wish I would have taken a picture of her for you, sorry!).

The 2nd to the last stop was one I was really looking forward to. We planned to ride along with the Pastors in their SUV across a river. Yes, drive right through the river to get to the other side where an 11 year old boy lives with his father. Remember this is an adventure! Esteban was sleepy, was overdue for a good nap, and it was getting late in the afternoon. I was hoping he would have been sleeping by that time and then I could leave him in the van to sleep as Eli's Mom would stay with him. And I was thinking that probably would have been a better and more safe idea, him not riding across a river with us to go into a poor area where I would most likely freak at him touching anything "dirty." But he wasn't sleeping and guess who became a tad bit grumpy again? Yup, I did it again. I allowed myself to get the attitude of "Man it's so hard living here, why do we do this?" Shame on me because what we were about to experience, was a very humbling and blessed opportunity. Thank the Lord for not letting me always get my way, because I wouldn't have changed a thing now and I loved knowing Elianny and Esteban both shared in this experience of "compassion" with us.

This 11 year old boy's name is Raphael. He lives with his father. His mother abandoned him years ago. When he was 12 months old he had a fall/head injury which his family says caused him to be dependent on a walker and wheelchair. Eli had visited him before with a team but this was my first time meeting him. As we walked up near his home I saw this frail, very malnourished young boy slowly walking towards us with his walker. He was not wearing any pants and he wasn't wearing any shoes. He was barefoot. And it was clear he had not bathed for days. But even with all of this, the very first thing I noticed was his adorable face and his huge smile as we entered their property.

Our family had brought a gift of super hero figurines for Raphael. When Lanny presented the gift to him he just smiled and smiled and kept looking at it. It brings tears to my eyes as I think of him now because I really don't think he even knew what to do with the gift. As if he had never opened a gift so he wan't sure what to do with it. Well, Esteban helped him out a little with that one! So we opened the gift and pulled out the toys for him to play with. He kept looking and looking at them and began to play just a little, as he continued to smile. But what you cannot see in the photos below of Raphael are the many gnats flying around his face and in his mouth. To know this sweet boy was living like this just broke my heart. But you want to know what really touched my heart and made it happy? It was looking over and seeing my not only handsome, but tender-hearted husband at Raphael's filthy feet, fitting him for The Shoe That Grows. Whether he realized it or not, Eli was showing our children and I a great example of humility and compassion. And now I laugh out loud a little because I'm picturing our sweet little Esteban, there he was with his LOVE for shoes just watching Papi and I'm sure wanting so badly to demonstrate how to walk in those Shoes That Grow! :)

We then walked over to where Raphael sleeps. There was a little room off the side of the house with only a bed in it, held up by rocks. His room was not even inside of his father's house. He always sleeps alone, outside of the house, in the little room built of wood. We had also brought a mosquito net which our dear friend Bruce Beatty had left for him to hang over his bed so he would have more protection from the mosquitoes as he slept. Pastor and Eli hung that, we talked a little more with Raphael's Grandma and father, prayed with them, and then left to drive back across the river to where the W&W van was.

After driving through the river we jumped back in the van and headed to the church to finish up some things. I decided after Esteban had been chasing dirty chickens and touching who knows what dirty things as we were visiting on the other side of the river, that it was a good time to clean and change him. Time to decontaminate. :) As I was working on doing that Eli pulls off to the side of the road and guess what? Yup, 7 young baseball players who had just finished a game totally hopped in the van with us! And the grumpy in me was like, "Seriously!?! I'm trying to change the baby and we have a lot of personal stuff in here! Hello!?!" Shame on the grumpy me again, letting the inconvenience of helping others out steel my compassion because actually it was kind of cool and now I wish we would have all taken a group selfie together! Only in DR! Remember, adventure, it's always an adventure here!

We made one last stop for the night before leaving back to Santo Domingo. This stop was to make a quick visit to a young girl named Tata. She is nine years old and we wanted her to have a pair of The Shoes That Grow along with a Care Kit to share with her family. You will see a picture of her and Elianny below. We then encountered a few teenagers who Eli thought we needed to give something to. Eli always cracks me up because we can be anywhere doing anything and he won't hesitate to ask, "do we have anything we can give to this person?" Like WalMart or CVS operate within the van or something. I was like, "well we have these chocolate covered OREOs." So we gave them those, and they were happy! Lanny, not so happy! :) She was not too happy with us for giving our chocolate covered OREOs away but I explained to her that we could always buy more, but most likely they have never even had them before. (And remember OREOs don't taste as good here in DR :) ). All was good and we then started our trip back home.

During our ride home, as all was quiet and calm and the kids were fast asleep, Eli and I had some time to talk. I apologized for allowing myself to be grumpy. But I told him of how I didn't understand why if we are to be in missions, why do I get so frustrated with difficulties and inconveniences. Why can't I be happy to serve all of the time? He gave me some real words of wisdom, "Being in missions is a sacrifice. No one in missions loves to sacrifice and serve others all of the time. Loving it and loving anything for that matter, is a choice."

I learned a lot from that trip and I hope God continues to help me to be better. You see, serving God and others isn't always easy. It is a sacrifice, in many ways. There is so much need in this broken world and people need Jesus. The only way they will come to know Him is if we are His hands and feet. These days I have been thinking a lot about how much God loves me. When I fail Him so many times, especially with my stinky and ungrateful attitude, how can He still love me the same? Why would He want to use me here in DR? It blows my mind. His love for me and for you is far beyond our comprehension. If God can use a grump like me, he can use anyone! That's the beauty of the Lord. He can use us all for His glory, if we allow Him to.

As I laid my head on my pillow that night, all I could think of was little Raphael, picturing him all alone, in his little wooden room, on the side of his father's house, in the dark. My heart cried at this thought and the thought of what life for him must be like from day to day. Maybe just sitting on the property, possibly with no friends to play and interact with, and how he most likely will never experience even the simple things in life your children and our children have experienced and have so innocently taken for granted . My heart ached for him because I pictured if this was one of my children. We are so blessed. Our children are so blessed. Please keep little Raphael in your prayers. He needs therapy for his legs, he needs nutrition, he needs an education. But most importantly he needs love. He needs Jesus.

Thank you Lord for teaching me more of Your compassion.

God bless you all!