TLDR: Our God is a missional God. A common mandate in Scripture is the mandate to “go.” Saint Dunstan’s will join other churches on a mission to Dominican Republic this July. Read on and join us!
As I said in Church this last Sunday, I just participated in a conference call to plan our next mission trip to the Dominican Republic. The dates selected by the team are July 8-15, 2023. We are hoping to bring anywhere between 14 to 20 people from Saint Dunstan’s and another 14 to 20 from Saint Mary’s Episcopal Church in Cypress. Technically, older teenagers are welcome to come with us, but I would feel more comfortable if there is at least one parent present for every teenager attending. There is a requirement that all people attending have updated Safeguarding training. If folks are currently certified but this certification is about to expire, please go ahead and call Dede Johnson, our inhouse trainer, to schedule yourself for recertification online. Please schedule this BEFORE Feb 14th, since the Diocese is planning a system upgrade and recertifying will not be available for a month or more. If not previously certified, you will need to get this done before the trip.
The team is planning to fly via United Airlines, which has direct flights to Santo Domingo. We would prefer it if all team members take the same flight. We will publish the flight numbers very soon, so that everyone can reserve their own flights. The prices have fluctuated, but you can safely assume that you will pay approximately $1,000 dollars per person. Although this flight is a bit expensive, the price of the mission itself will be less than $800 per person, for all expenses: Lodging, food, ground transportation, supplies, etc. In the past, we have reserved all flights in advance, and the church is willing to do the same this year. Please let us know if you want us to handle this reservation for you. If we do so, we expect all balances to be paid by May 1, 2023.
We will be staying in La Romana, a city known for its resorts and beautiful beaches. From there, we will be traveling by bus to the bateys, or sugar workers’ towns. While there, we will have medical clinics, which will include dental care by a local provider. We will also have a family photo project, which has been a favorite for both volunteers and residents of the area for years. We will also distribute personal care items, like ball caps, cosmetic bags, and small bags with personal care items such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, and soap. We will print a list of these personal care items very soon, and we will be doing a campaign to collect these here at the church for at least a month before the trip.
Of course, our only limitation to how many supplies we can bring will be the cost of checked bags. Each bag costs $35, so this cost can add up rather quickly, especially because we are trying to bring all the medications and medical supplies we need for the trip. We may ask each missioner to be judicious in packing their own belongings, and to check an additional bag with our supplies at their cost, as a donation to the villages we will be visiting. You will receive more information about this soon.
If we have a number of Youth attending the mission trip we will plan to include a more active project such as water filter distribution project, construction, or a Vacation Bible School for the children of the area. We are also in need of Spanish speakers to join this mission. Both Father Alvaro and I will be attending, but we can use a few other translators to ensure all missionaries can befriend some of the people in the bateys. This is, after all, one of the major objectives of the mission trip.
We are planning a number of training courses for those willing to attend this mission trip. The first date will be Monday February 27th at St Dunstan’s at around 5:30 pm. We will confirm this time soon. Two additional training courses will be scheduled after that. There is a requirement that all prospective participants commit by no later than March 15, 2023. Please understand that it might be difficult to add members after that date because of all the work that will need to happen before the trip and because the Mission site requires reservations at least three months in advance. If you are interested in joining us. we highly encourage you to send an email to as soon as possible.
Now, if I were you, I would have a few questions: “This is a medical mission, but I am not a medical professional, what exactly would I be doing?” The answer to this question is rather simple. For the purpose of this mission, you will be a medical “professional.” Dr. Brooks and the other physicians will train us to take people’s temperatures, to take blood pressure readings, and to do simple intakes and triage. Additionally, all medications will be taken in large buckets of 5,000 pills. We need a large workforce to subdivide these medications into small pill bottles for distribution at the clinics. And please remember that we will also do the photo project, and most likely, a VBS.
The second question, “Will we be safe?” has a short answer: “Yes,” but this will depend on your ability to follow instructions. La Romana is a large city, filled with tourists and locals. As every big city in Latin America, some street crime is to be expected. The camp itself, however, is very secure, has full electricity, has good WIFI, and it even has air conditioning systems. As long as we all travel together and listen to the organizer’s instructions, we will be safe. In all the years this mission has taken place, they have not had any security concerns.
“Will we have any time for sight seeing and fun?” Yes! We will dedicate Sunday to church and getting to know the community. After this, we will travel to the bateys for clinics and program on Monday-Thursday. On Friday, we will visit tourist sites and spend some quality time at the beautiful beaches. We may even have enough time to buy some souvenirs. We will then head back the following day.
“I have so many more questions!” This is good, please feel free to call Dr. Anderson or myself and we will get you the answers you seek.
May our Lord continue to bless you,
Fr. Roman+
