TLDR: from June 7th to 14th, Fr. Steve and I will join a combined team of 24 missionaries from St. Dunstan’s, St. Mary’s, Good Shepherd (Tomball), and Good Shepherd (Kingwood), to La Romana on our 2025 medical mission trip. Please read on for more.
The “Episcopal & Friends” medical mission to La Romana, Dominican Republic, has been delivering necessary medical services to the Bateyes (sugar cane villages) for over ten years now. Along the way, we strengthened our relationship with El Buen Samaritano, our host missional agency in the area, we developed friendships with many of the local leaders, and we have reached out to the local orphanage. These in addition to serving thousands of villagers throughout the area.
Perhaps the greatest benefit, however, has been to the missionaries themselves and to the faith communities from where they have come. God has blessed the lives of all missionaries who, even years after their mission, still hold a special place in their hearts for the beautiful children and industrious people of this impoverished part of the world. Missions help people become more grateful for the blessings God has given us in our local communities and families. Many of us used to take these blessings for granted, until we encountered the locals at the Bateyes and came face to face with real poverty, perhaps for the first time in our lives.
Another great blessing has been felt at the local level, in the Texas congregations from which our missionaries come. The enthusiasm, newly discovered faith, stories, photos, and testimonials of our missionaries have inspired many sermons, Bible studies, and conversations which have blessed countless people and ministries over the years.
No missionary is ever a solitary entity coming to a faraway country to “save souls for Christ” or “to bring the Gospel to these poor people” or to “do something nice for those in need.” This is outmoded theology. For starters, our job is not to save souls but to befriend people through the sharing of our faith, resources, expertise, smiles, games, vacation Bible school, photographs, words of comfort, joy, and service. Second, the Gospel we bring is already here and has been here for over five hundred years. We go to them because we belong to the human race and, as Christians, God calls us to go places to share our life and experience with others, and to learn from their own life and lived experiences. This is a two-way street. If a missionary sees themselves as doing something for “these people”, but don’t learn anything from them, they may have wasted an opportunity to develop relationships with the people in the villages.
It is tempting to think about this mission as just a medical mission. It is that, but it is also much more. It is in the sense that our doctors wear stethoscopes on their necks, our pharmacy people hand out meds, our dentists pull teeth feet away from where we stand, and our eye care people hand out eyeglasses. But this is much more than a medical mission. This is a perspective-enlarging, faith-deepening, gratitude-enhancing, relationship-making, love-sharing, and new-experience building mission trip. This, as many other missions often are, is as much a gift for the missionaries as it is a gift for the locals.
As Christians, our deepest aspiration is that missions may form and equip people for local ministry at their parish setting and local community. I personally pray that every missionary may be able to ask the following questions upon arrival back in Houston, “Given what I have seen, and what I have learned, and remembering the people I have met, what else do you want from me, Jesus of Nazareth?” The goal is to build on what the missionary has learned through their experience in the mission field.
In just three weeks (6/7-6/14), Fr. Steve and I will join a combined team of 24 missionaries from St. Dunstan’s, St. Mary’s, Good Shepherd (Tomball), and Good Shepherd (Kingwood), to La Romana on our 2025 medical mission trip. I ask that you keep us in your prayers for travel mercies and safety. If any of you would like to contribute towards this mission, please donate to Saint Dunstan’s with a designation “DR Mission”. Pray that upon our return home we may be able to ask, “What next? What do I do now?” May the answer to these questions be found in deeper connections and more involvement in our local communities.
May our Lord continue to bless you,
Fr. Roman+
