Mission to the Dominican Republic: Neyba Team
Sunday
We were up early at 4:00 AM to travel to the Dominican Republic. We hadn’t been back since November 2019, although we had been going regularly since 2010. In 2014, my husband Adam and I lived down there for six months.
We have had the blessing to work with a children’s home in Neyba and participate in medical missions and construction missions. Today we are going back to visit our friends and family that we have been blessed to know for many years.
When we arrived, we were greeted by our Nicaraguan brother Esteban Valle-García. We hadn’t seen him in quite some time, so it was a blessing to catch up with him. We had a wonderful supper catching up.
Monday
That morning, we met up with Robert Ables, Mike Kellett, Ryan Lee, Kyle Gilmore, Esteban, Cessarina, Gerson, and Edihan in the restaurant. It was great to meet Cessarina and Gerson’s baby. We had previously worked with Gerson and Cessarina in Neyba. This is their first baby, and we feel blessed to have been able to spend some time with them on this trip.
After breakfast, we had a devotional and prayer before our two teams split. Mike led the devotional, and Robert and Ryan prayed for each team. Then Robert, Adam, Cessarina, Gerson, Edihan and I headed to Neyba.
Once in Neyba, we arrived at the hotel and met up with our younger brother, Luis Matos. We then went to the children’s home. There we visited with Luis, his wife Brittany, Eduardo, Moraima, Samuel, Manuel, Albert and Lorenza. We were surprised to see only four boys living in the home. But these boys have grown and look very healthy and happy. We were thankful to see that. We visited, drank coffee, and made plans about arranging a beach trip for the children’s home kids.
Our next stop was at the home of Pastor Manuel Aquino. He and his family helped take care of Adam and me while we lived in Neyba. We enjoyed catching up with him and his wife Ondina.
Manuel shared with us how the radio program through One Kingdom has brought many to the church. He explained how it continues to be a great blessing for the community.
Tuesday
We met up with our brother Yodi at an all-boys children’s home that he helps run in Barahona. We visited with Yodi, Pastor Pedro, Yodi’s wife, and two children.
After visiting and Covid testing, we had some great Christ-centered conversations. Adam, Luis, Brittany, and I then headed to see our sweet sister Fatima and her family. Sister Fatima is Manuel Aquino’s cook and housekeeper. She really took care of us when we lived in the Dominican.
Fatima would come by our apartment to check on us, fed us very well, and did our laundry while we lived here. She is one of my favorite people in the whole world. She is such a servant and loves people so much.
Fatima’s husband is ill with renal failure and is on peritoneal dialysis. It was important for Adam and me to visit with her and her family. We had a wonderful time catching up with them. We made plans to see her again tomorrow evening after taking the children’s home kids to the beach.
Adam and I walked back to Hotel Babey and met Robert to just go over our plans for tomorrow. Gerson will be meeting Robert in the morning and will be translating for him for his day with the brothers. Adam and I will be meeting with about 18 of the kids from the children’s home.
We have organized to have food and a beach day with the help of our brother Yodi. These kids have been trapped at home under Covid lockdowns, and their houses have no yard, so we are thankful to be able to take them to the beach. Moraima, Eduardo, Brittany, Luis, and Yodi will be with us also. We are so excited to see all the kids! We are very grateful for this opportunity to spend time with all of them and catch up. It has been a God-blessed time so far.
Monday
Our day started off heading to the children’s home. We did a lot of catching up with the kids that no longer live in the home and those who have aged out.
We told the kids to be thinking about their greatest challenge and their greatest blessing this year. We would discuss this with them before the day ended.
Once we finally arrived, we unloaded the bus and met up with Yodi. He had tables waiting for us near a clear pool of water, which fed into the Caribbean Sea. The kids went swimming, and, not long after, lunch was served.
Yodi sat and spoke with Adam and me about the changes in the children’s home. We discussed our hopes and plans for the future. Then we said goodbye to Yodi and his wife. They had to return to Barahona, because one of the boys in the children’s home there was not feeling well.
Adam and I hung out with all the kids at the beach. We played in the surf, enjoying the beauty and our time with the kids and Luis and Brittany. After much time had passed, we changed clothes, packed up, and headed back to the bus. Most of the kids fell asleep fairly quickly.
After some time had passed, we decided to revisit the earlier question and let each kid answer. A lot of the kids said their greatest challenge was not being able to see friends and family during the pandemic, and some had lost parents as well. It was also interesting to hear that some of their greatest hopes were to have children of their own.
A lot of kids said that today had been their greatest blessing. Adam and I did a little lesson about how the challenges in our life tend to be where we grow the most and where we need to lean into Christ the most.
Adam also encouraged the kids to seek God first in their lives. We reminded them that every good thing in their lives comes from God, and it’s a good thing to focus on the blessings in our lives. Adam reminded the kids that we love them no matter what. This time with the kids was such a blessing—the whole day was just a pleasure to be with them.
We arrived back at the children’s home and said our goodbyes. We went back to the hotel and cleaned up a little bit and headed to Fatima’s for supper.
Thursday
Luis and Brittany joined us for breakfast. We had some really great discussions with them about house church and Bible study, and what that might be like in their lives in Neyba.
We were pleasantly surprised to be visited by Samuel and Gabi (Manuel Aquino’s other children). They came with Gerson and Cessarina, because they knew we were leaving soon. We sat and had some time to catch up with them. We checked out of the hotel, and then Gerson, Cessarina, Robert, Adam, and I loaded up and headed to the capital.
While on the drive, Robert discussed house church with Gerson. We had some great conversations and made it safely to our destination in the capital. It was great to be reunited with the rest of our team.
That evening we met at the hotel restaurant to have a debrief of our time in the Dominican. We each went around the room and shared our experiences for the week. Kyle Gilmore’s story about Prudencio making tea for Mike and his sore throats was really memorable for me. I thought it was so cool that Prudencio knew how to utilize the plants around him for healing.
It was great spending time together and recapping the week’s adventures. We hugged Cessarina and Gerson goodbye and told them we would be praying for them. We thanked them for all their help over the week and said goodbye.
Esteban, Robert, Adam and I met some more in Robert’s room to just discuss Neyba and the children’s home a little bit more. After much discussion, I think we all left feeling hopeful about what God is doing in Neyba. We said our good nights and headed to our rooms to go to bed.
Friday
The alarm woke us early Friday morning at 3:15 am. We got ready and headed downstairs to meet the rest of team for our van to the airport.
Most of us had trouble getting through TSA and customs, but it all got worked out. Once through, we all met at a restaurant and ate together before parting ways. Adam and I flew to Charlotte and the rest of team to Atlanta.
We had some flight delays as well, but eventually we got home. It was a very long day of travel, but it was such a blessing to be able to go on this trip, and it was also a blessing to be home.
Stephanie Ables is the daughter-in-law of One Kingdom Minister Robert Ables.