Valentine's Day at the Refugee Camp

Today is Valentine's Day.  The day we associate with love.  My Valentine's Day this year did not include chocolates, a fancy dinner out...or really anything romantic at all.  Instead I had the opportunity to share the love of God with the precious children of a Dominican refugee camp.

When we left the apartment at 9am I had no idea what my day had in store.  We met up with the group from Corazon del Siervo, an amazing ministry here in Santo Domingo.  The group going today consisted of Diane and Fran (a husband and wife team who run the ministry), Marcella (a Peruvian woman who recently moved to Santo Domingo), Jimmy and Cynthia (a couple from Kansas city who also had their three adorable children with them), and then myself, Aunt Lori and her two boys.  We piled into the their van and drove about a half hour outside of the city to the camp.  

The camp is centered around a former TB infirmary.  After the TB outbreak had died out the infirmary stood abandoned for decades.  Several years ago (I was never quite able to get details on exactly how long) a storm came through that displaced many people from their homes.  The homeless broke into the infirmary and began living there.  It has now developed into something of a small city with hundreds of people living inside.  The infirmary is full (often 12 or 13 people live in one small room) and there are also many shanties built up around it, lining the dirty road.  The poverty here is extreme.  There is no underground sewage system and food is precious.  Diane gave us a tour of the camp, showed us the church they had built for the people there and explained the living conditions to us.  We met and prayed with the pastor.  Then we got to work making sandwiches for all the kids.  We got an assembly line going and made a ton of sandwiches...then I went to help pass them out to the kids.  There were so many hungry children that we had to tear the sandwiches in half to have enough to go around.  We tried to get the kids to all sit and wait as we passed them out....but by the end I was just surrounded by children all reaching out for food.   Diane told us later that we had fed 300 people today!

After I finished passing out food some of the little girls pulled me outside to play.  They taught me a patty-cake game.  Before I knew it I was surrounded by a crowd of children (probably around 30)...they all wanted to jump in and take turns playing.  Then we played a game where we all stood in a circle and had to count (in Spanish) around the circle but skip any number that had an eight in it (my ability to count in Spanish was really tested).  I had such a great time with these amazing kids!  They were so loving, joyful and welcoming even in the midst of such harsh circumstances!  They really blessed my heart.  I got to laugh with them and hug them (there was one little girl who just wanted to hug me and hold my hand the whole time).  What a humbling experience.  I have so much to be thankful for...may I never take any of it for granted!

Corazon Del Siervo also does a lot of ministering to widows.  So after the we left the refugee camp we headed back into the city and had a ministry time with a group of widows.  Jimmy shared his testimony then we prayed with some of the widows and passed out fruit for them.  We also gave a white rose to each of the widows as a way to bless them on Valentine's Day.  I could tell it meant a lot to them.  Jimmy and Cynthia's youngest daughter fell asleep on my lap during this ministry time -- what a cutie!

So, that was Valentine's Day 2013 for me.  I'm still processing everything I experienced today...today I felt such a mixing of sadness, joy and compassion.  One thing I know...I am so blessed (myself and everyone I now).  I truly believe that we have been blessed to be a blessing.  I am praying that God will impress upon my heart (and yours too) the most effective ways to bring blessing and healing to this broken world.

Happy Valentine's Day (show some love)!  :-)

For info on Corazon Del Siervo visit:  http://www.corazondelsiervo.org/home