Medical Missions in the Dominican Republic
Dear Church Family,
I am writing to thank you all for the powerful prayers and generous donations toward my ministry in the Dominican Republic. January 2nd through the 9th, I had the amazing opportunity of interacting with over 200 patients in small villages and orphanages around the Dominican Republic. It was a blessing to be used by God to meet not only the people's spiritual needs, but also their physical ailments as well. It was also a blessing to work with those God has called to full time missions in the Dominican Republic.
To begin, I would like to tell ya’ll about one of my most memorable experiences with a patient. In our first village, my last patient of the day was a 26-year-old woman and her five children. As I've already said, she was only 26. She did not have any major health problems, but she made it clear she wanted five more children (for a total of ten) even though she could barely support the five she had at the moment. Her oldest daughter was 10 and had a hernia repaired 4 years ago, but because of the lack of a skilled surgeon, the young girl now has scar tissue in her abdomen about the size of a golf ball that is starting to cause her pain.
Next was a 7-year-old daughter who could not eat without vomiting, which in the end was leading to malnutrition. The woman's next child was a boy who was 5 years old and had asthma. The little boy at one point was on medicine but the family no longer had the finances to afford the medicine and even if the finances were there, the medicine would not be available to them because of where they lived.
Lastly, the woman had a 2-year-old son and a 4-month-old infant. The infant's main need was dehydration but the 2-year-old had a much more serious condition. The 2-year-old little boy had sickle cell anemia. I held this little boy for about an hour and it just broke my heart. A normal 2-year-old toddler would have been up and running around, barely able to be contained for any amount of time; however, this little boy lay in my arms almost flaccid and sweating profusely. Like his brother, he once was on medicine for his disease, but unfortunately it ran out.
If you do not know about sickle cell anemia, it is very serious and painful. Most children with sickle cell must have their spleen removed by the time they are 4. They must also stay hydrated to help with the disease. Something as simple as water to stay hydrated is not available to this boy. When this boy has a sickle cell crisis and the pain gets severe, there will be nothing to help with the pain. If his spleen becomes enlarged, it will more than likely rupture or burst; he will never have the option of having it removed. To sit there and hold this boy and know all of this just tore my heart to pieces. We have so much to be thankful for here in the states!
I could tell you many more stories about the individual Dominican people I worked with, but I would like this letter to be about praise and thanksgiving! Because of the generous donations that were made, our group was able to take close to 1,000 pounds of medicine for the people of the Dominican Republic. We held clinics in three villages, seeing over 200 patients and giving out over 600 prescriptions that were then filled at our pharmacy with medications that were donated. Each person received vitamins and a pill to kill parasites along with whatever else they needed. I also had the opportunity to pray with 6 individuals who received Jesus Christ into their hearts. Five were children and one was a man in his 70's.
Please continue to pray for the people of the Dominican Republic. The town I stayed in was exactly 180 miles west of the earthquake epicenter in Haiti, so I can imagine that the people of the Dominican have been affected some way or another by that tragedy. Pray that God will soften their hearts. Many people have heard and know the gospel, but they are not willing to change their lifestyles and give their lives to Christ.
Please pray for SCORE International. SCORE is the group of missionaries we worked with. They recently experienced the loss of their music minister. He was only 29 and died quickly of an aneurism. He and his wife Sarah have two young children, a boy who is 3 and a baby who is only 1 month old. His wife Sarah will be returning to SCORE to carry out the work God has called her to do, so please pray for the protection of her children and strength for her.
God is so good! I'm so thankful I had this opportunity. I'm also thankful for such a strong and supportive church family that stood behind me as I prepared for the trip. God has put missions on my heart and medical missions are something I know He has called me to do. Thank you again for all of the prayers and donations!
Thank you & God Bless!
Jenny Hutcherson