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| Patrick is our First guest writer |
Patrick McCarthy
May 9, 2018
WS Fellows Mission Trip…
Day
One Write-up
Wow.
What a remarkable ~6 days spent in the Dominican Republic. As having been
tasked with unpacking and putting into words the joys and takeaways of our
first day there, that is what the content of this blog post will be about.
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| The view out club bamboo |
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| The crew at club bamboo |
Obviously
with this being our first day doing service work, expectations for the day were
low, not non-existent, but by no means concrete. What become a daily routine
and rhythm for the week, was entered into and begun on Monday. We all rose
between seven and eight in the morning, to be out the door, and in route to
Cielo & the Mission Emmanuel worksite, by 8:30 am.
Our first day at
Mission Emmanuel was comprised almost exclusively, with painting the walls and
ceiling of the Women’s Co-Op building. Found within these walls, on the same
site as the large gymnasium / basketball court, with physical therapy rooms,
dentistry space, educational learning room, and an immunization lab underneath,
women from the community come together to build and develop crafts of all
shapes & kinds, to be sold domestically and abroad.
Furthermore, the
community aspect & building piece of this particular space we were told has
also been life-giving. The women who work in this building entered the program
as ‘mother of such-and-such.’ Now, after years and years of hard work and
interfacing with one another, they identify first and foremost as themselves,
secondly as mother of such-and-such. That is no small thing.
From there, around
two o’clock most days, we would head back to our hotel / resort quarters and
transition into vacation mode. At first I’m sure as you read and process
“vacation” in the same space as the word “mission work,” that can only come
across as jarring and unsettling. To be honest, I think we all felt the same at
first as well. We quickly realized though, that the intentional choice by
Mission Emmanuel to house and furnish their volunteers with quality living
spaces was not a mistake.
Having the space
to relax and decompress, after a full day’s worth of hard work and taxing,
truly exhausting, labor, was crucial. IF that had not been the case, if we as a
group had had to be in the environment that was Cielo 24/7, that would have
been beyond onerous. And the work we would have entered into the subsequent
days, day after day, would have been done at an exceedingly diminished rate. We
would not have been able to engage with nearly as much energy as we were able
to, having been given the chance to rest up & recuperate the late afternoon
/ evening before.
After getting back
to the Fiesta Hotel & Resort, the group broke up into various pockets of
people, with some people reading, others working out, and the majority of
people longing poolside. The evening brought Jim and Alex, coupled with the
rest of the Fellows, to the local Fusion (not entirely sure what that means,
but the spaghetti Bolognese I had for dinner was exquisite) restaurant, not a
three minutes’ walk from the hotel.
After dinner, the
Fellows, minus Jim & Alex, all unpacked our day together in the corner
suite (aka the boissss corner suite – v. groovy development from the fellas
perspective). That was a
productive rendezvous, giving us as a group the space to collect our thoughts,
and make a concerted effort to continue moving forward in a positive frame of
mind, so as to make the most out of time there in the DR.
In conclusion, the
Fiesta Hotel had a ‘Sports Bar,’ (meaning space with a projector and another
mounted flat screen television, sprinkled with low top & high top tables
alike throughout the room), where Tucker and myself watched the second game of
the Boston Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers series. That was casually most
enjoyable for the two of us.
A few final
thoughts regarding the mission & vision of Mission Emmanuel. First and
foremost, the long-term vision of this outfit is beyond good & worthwhile.
The work they are doing is simply put fantastic. They require buy-in from the
community and community members, while also working towards the good, for those
whose lives they come to interact and influence. The leadership team,
especially Jim Sweeney & Emmanuel Corsico, are all absolute fire. They
get it. They get what Mission Emmanuel is all about, and how to continue to
advance the good work that this organization is doing, in advancing the
kingdom.
I cannot stress
enough how blessed of a week this was for all of us, and the impact that it
will have on myself moving forward. Getting prepared (as “prepared” as one can
to serve as a Young Adults in Global Mission volunteer – being a missionary in
the eyes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America) to serve the Lord as a
missionary in South Africa starting middle / end of August, until the end of
next July, I do feel as if this trip had the vibe of a mini- missions lite
trip, and one where I was exposed to so many things that will manifest
themselves in fuller, more ever-present ways while I’m abroad. And for that I
am grateful.
Mission Emmanuel’s
work is good. It is a blessed undertaking and endeavor by all involved. Again,
kudos to Jim and Emmanuel especially. If you ever have the opportunity to peep
what this non-profit is all about for yourself, I highly encourage you to
consider…and then act on that opportunity! And when you see Jim, give him my
best, as Tucker and I rode around in the Jim Mobile, back and forth from Cielo
and Mission Emmanuel and our hotel, the Fiesta, all week long.
God's Peace,
Cheers,
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