Hospital-ity: Serving Christ with Cement

Dominican Republic Post #2

Continuing my blogging about our recent missions trip to the DR.

Hospital El Buen Samaritano.  The Good Samaritan Hospital.  It was founded by Jean Luc Phanord and those working with him with the vision of ministering to the poor Haitian population that lived around La Romana, DR, working in the sugarcane fields.  It first opened in 1997 as little more than a clinic.  With money and teams from churches and groups in the U.S. it has grown to become one of the best hospitals on the island, and it continues to be focused on its mission to minister to the poor Haitian population.   In my five years of working there, I have been amazed to see the growth and changes to this hospital and have been encouraged to work on the construction.  When I arrived in 2009 the hospital was two stories and we found ourselves working on building a new Emergency Room entrance.

We moved rock, lugged bags of cement and helped build forms for the columns.  I remember how hard it was to picture what it would be like when it was done, and like many construction projects, at the beginning it looked smaller than it would when it was finished.  This picture on the left shows the view that first day when I stepped off the bus and surveyed what would become the new emergency room entrance in another couple of years.  At the end of the week, the beginnings of the columns had appeared and the walls were starting to go up.  It had been hard work but was exciting to see things taking shape.  Returning in 2010 brought my first real taste of watching something we had worked on really advance.  We stepped off the bus to see things really moved forward.  Now the entrance was much closer to completion.

This was the year that I met my friend Vladimir (or Bladamir) and, although we could barely communicate across the language barrier, we began a friendship as we pulled wires together to wire the outlets and lights for the new ER entrance.  This picture on the right shows the view that second year.  This shows the exciting dynamic of watching the project come alive before our very eyes.  It is just one of the wonderful aspects of returning each year to see what has happened.  It is now 2013 and I have just returned from my fifth trip. This next picture shows a current picture of the entrance.    The ER entrance is now fully functional and beautiful.

The old roof is now the third floor and we have spent the last two years pulling supplies up to the third floor to help finish the walls and rooms on that floor.  They hope to have at least half of that floor done and ready for patients by December of this year.  If they do, it will be exciting should the Lord allow me to return in January of 2014.   At the top of this post is a picture of the entire hospital that I took this year, showing the progress that has been made. It is so exciting to play even a small part in building this hospital which represents hope and help to so many.  If you have not engaged in a missions trip, I encourage you to add this experience.  It is a great way to start to see the world the way Jesus does and to move your heart beyond the often small and petty concerns that can consume us.  Just yesterday I found myself getting frustrated because I could not find a couple of products that I wanted (not needed) at Hannaford.  God rebuked me immediately as he brought to mind the trip I just returned from.  I so easily slide from thankfulness to complaining.  I need to serve Christ more and sacrifice for others more to make sure that I don't begin to creep back onto the throne of my life and make things about me.  The Good Samaritan Hospital sits as a tangible reminder to me of my need to serve others, especially the truly poor and needy.