Making Connections in the Dominican Republic through Missions
~Submitted by Cassidy Tigchelaar, HDCH Staff & EduDeo Co-Impact Mission Trip Chaperone
This year I was so glad to have the opportunity to chaperone my second group of HDCH students on their EduDeo Co-Impact trip to the Dominican Republic. Over March break, our principal Mr. Todd, Margarita Todd, Joel Knight and I took 26 HDCH students to Santo Domingo, the capital city of the Dominican Republic.
On our work days, we split into two groups and headed to two different local Christian schools, La Esparanza (which means “Hope”) and Espacio De Gracia (which means “Space of Grace”). Our students were challenged to make connections with Dominican students in grades K-12 despite the language barrier. What may have initially seemed like an impossible and awkward task quickly morphed into lively games of dominoes, colourful block tower building, hilarious dance lessons, and some pretty intense rounds of 3 on 3 basketball.
In addition to making connections, HD students were assigned some pretty hefty construction projects to improve the building facilities in these schools. The group at Espacio De Gracia was tasked with hand mixing mortar and laying block walls to add a fourth story of classrooms to the school. It should be mentioned that this project included much lugging of supplies up three flights of stairs, as well as an innovative pulley system! The group at La Esparanza was charged with the beginning stages of the construction of a set of concrete stairs up to the second floor. This project was derailed slightly by the discovery of an old septic tank under the existing walls which needed to be removed for safety. The team adapted quickly and moved into demolition mode to assist in tearing down the block wall over the tank so that it could be properly removed or filled in.
Throughout the trip, I was continually amazed by the patience and the enthusiasm of our students in all situations. It was such a joy to watch our students approach these tasks with confidence, eagerness, and a humble attitude of gratitude to our hosts in the Dominican Republic!
Following our return to school, Mr. Todd sat down with some of the students from the trip to hear some of their reflections of their time together:
What was the most fun part of being there in the Dominican?
“I think just interacting with all of the kids there was pretty cool. We don’t speak the same language but could still interact with them and communicate with them through games and stuff, it was pretty fun.”
- Aidan Lammers
“My favourite part was playing with the kids and going to the beach on the last day. We played mostly baseball with our kids. We played with a juicebox that was all crumpled up [instead of a ball]. They just used their hands [as a bat].”
- Blake Welmers
“[I really liked] hanging out with the students at the schools because they have a lot of joy and they can just have fun with each other and that was really great. They just welcomed us into their school and were just so excited that we were there and that was really great to experience.” - Aleah Brand
“I really liked hanging out with the kids, especially the Kindergarteners. I also really enjoyed the [physical] work because I don’t usually do work like that so I thought it was a cool experience.”
- Seanna Groombridge
What is one big takeaway or lesson that you learned from this experience?
“I learned to be grateful for what we have because down there they don’t have as much as we do but they are still grateful for what they have. I think that we could be a little more [like that] here in Canada.”
- Aidan Lammers
“I also think that I should be more grateful for what I have here, and the material things that I own”. - Blake Welmers
“I think that being in the Dominican helped me remember that my joy doesn’t lay in the material things but with connections and with people ….. Realizing that I don’t need material things, I just need community and I think that was really cool.”Aleah Brand
“I agree, just to be more grateful because even though some of them had so little they were still so happy and very friendly to one another and they were not afraid to talk to people regardless of the language barrier.”
- Seanna Groombridge
How did this experience help you to grow in your faith?
“I think that seeing God working through everybody down there was pretty cool to see. The church service was also super awesome, very different from here, but you could just see God working through all of them.”
- Aidan Lammers
“I think that [the trip] helped to remind me that I need to bring more joy into my faith because I feel like [my faith] is a lot of pondering and reflecting on my life right now but going to the Dominican reminded me to bring joy back into my faith so that I can have lots of fun because I have a God who loves me.”
- Aleah Brand
...“I don’t need material things, I just need community!”
“I think the church in the Dominican had an impact on [my faith] because they don’t have much there but the environment is so energetic and joyful.”
- Blake Welmers
“It helped me to recognize different ways that I can see God; through the work, through the people, and their church was really nice because it was very loud and everyone was engaged and everyone knew each other. It was also cool to see the people [on the praise team] would switch instruments [throughout the service] which means that they are all versatile and engaged in the service.” - Seanna Groombridge
Special thanks to these four students for sitting down and sharing their insights on the trip. Mr. Todd said it well when he spoke of all 26 students who came on the trip; “You guys were amazing ambassadors for the school, for your families, and also for the Lord.”
OF GOD’S GOODNESS
