La Crescenta Presbyterian Church:Church Mission Team Visits Dominican Republic

For the sixth consecutive year, the La Crescenta Presbyterian Church sent a 31-member mission team to the town of La Romana in the Dominican Republic to do the work of the Lord. The team of 21 teenagers and 10 adults recently set out to continue the construction of a church and to provide medical aide.

Their destination was a slum called Kilometer Six. The name describes its geographic distance from the center of La Romana. The La Crescenta Presbyterian Church was working in conjunction with the Haitian Baptist Church, which ministers to the poor Haitian immigrants that live in Kilometer Six.

Previously, the people there had been worshipping in a shack-like building. Being deeply religious people, an actual church to worship in would be "a beacon of hope in a very poor neighborhood," said Mary Wilson who participated in the mission.

"The neighborhood is filled with drugs and unemployment, and can be a dangerous place," she said.

Despite the grave conditions of the town, the passion and good nature of the people is resilient.

"When they say 'hello, my friend,' they really mean 'hello, my friend' … They hold your hand like a brother or sister … You can feel their passion," said Gavin Wolflick, a PCC student who went on the trip.

At Kilometer Six, the teens worked hard, digging trenches, laying concrete, shoveling gravel, and sifting dirt. They worked side-by-side with the Dominican people, fostering a general sense of well-being and understanding. Wolflick said of the experience, "It's so cool when you forget everything; you see God in action; the energy is so positive. You're stripped down to bare essentials."

The medical team, one doctor and two physician's assistants, went out into sugar cane fields where Haitian migrant workers lived in small villages and administered medical care. The things that make a huge difference in their lives were things as simple as de-worming medication and vitamins.

The medical team also visited a prison in the nearby town of Higuey to treat inmates. Randell Wetzel, a pediatric anesthesiologist at Children's Hospital who was part of the medical team, described the prison as "cramped, horrible, [and] smelly." Many of the prisoners were stricken with "skin sores, open wounds, disease, and hopelessness ... some didn't even know why they were there," he said.