Let the rebuilding begin!

Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor, as with a shield.
- Psalm 5:12

This verse accurately captures this past mission trip to Dominica. From the beginning to the end, we experienced the Lord's favor surrounding us like a shield. We were overweight both going and coming back, but we did not pay a single dollar in overweight charges. In fact, one agent told the other agent, "Put her weight as 50lbs and add the extra on to someone else who is underweight" Who does that? Only the Lord!!!

Each day ended with a gorgeous sunset

The first blessing was our accommodation. When we first arrived in Dominica last year Father Charles graciously allowed us to camp out in his church's parish hall, even though he had never heard about our organisation. When he saw the kind of work we were doing, and the amount of relief we brought to people in need all over Dominica, he told us we could stay there for as long as we wanted. However, the parish hall was one of the few buildings close to town that was still intact after Maria, so when business started to resume, the requests started coming in for the rental of parish hall for events. At a time when loans still have to be paid, these requests could not be ignored. Father Charles was not willing to put us out, but in our absence, the parish hall was rented to groups who needed the space for various functions. When we returned to Dominica for this trip, the families who had been staying in the building next to the parish hall had moved out, so we were able to move our belongings over there. We now have a secure building to use as our base, and we don't have to worry about the parish losing income because of our presence there.

Parish Hall being used for a fancy government function

The next blessing came in the form of the contractor who came to help in the rebuilding efforts. I  described him as our very own Mc Gyver, because of his ability to use whatever materials were available at hand to solve whatever challenges were presented. When there was no ladder at the home of the lady whose roof he was to repair, he built one out of scraps of wood which were in her yard. When the handle of the saw came off, he repaired it using galvanize nails and wood. His work ethic was amazing, as he worked tirelessly with two unskilled Dominicans to mount up the roof for an elderly widow in just two days. She was so elated with her new roof, as many builders had told her they could not do it without power tools, and it was impossible for her to get electricity until she repaired her roof.

Laying the lumber which served as rafters

The finished product!

He also performed the mammoth task of single-handedly tidying up the storage area we had been using to sort supplies that we shipped up prior to distribution. This was something I had left undone after my last trip, because I had simply ran out of time. When he took almost the entire day to do it, I realised that I was being very ambitious to think I could have done it on my own, so I really thank God for sending Devin to lend a helping hand.

Cherise helping by riding the cart to the rubbish heap

Devin was also able to help put up the ceiling for the pastor's residence in a church which has been a major source of support to us during our time of ministry in Dominica. At this time, skilled construction workers are very much in high demand, and time is of essence as the rainy season is fast approaching, so they appreciated every hour of assistance we were able to render. He was also able to put up half of a ceiling for another elderly lady after church on Sunday. They had to stop due to fading light, but the guys who were helping were also trained while they worked, so they are capable of finishing the other side of the ceiling on their own.

Miss Patsy is so relieved that she no
longer has to run out of her bedroom to shelter
if the rain starts falling in the middle of the night

At the beginning of every day we had a draft schedule of what we hoped to accomplish, but we kept flexible in case things didn't work out according to plan. Every single time this happened, the end result was much better than our initial plan. Like the Sunday when we were supposed to go by Beverly for lunch, but we ended up reaching for dinner instead because we wanted to put up Miss Patsy's ceiling and we needed to do that in daylight. By the time we got to Beverly's house it was dark, and she had packaged out our food because her generator stopped working. She was troubled because she had material to print for her class which started at 8am the next day. I put Mc Gyver on the job and within half an hour, the generator was back up and running!

So thankful for Devin's skill set on this trip!

Dr. Cherisse Ratiram was a tremendous blessing to the neonatal department at the Princess Margaret Hospital. She works as a junior doctor in San Fernando General Hospital, but when she reported to the neonatal department in Dominica's hospital, she found herself to be one of the more experienced doctors there, as the neonatologist was on leave. She brought a great deal of support to the department with her expertise and advice, and was able to introduce them to free online resources they did not know existed. Her presence there enabled the dedicated staff there to share the burden of care to someone who came in with a fresh perspective, and she was blessed as well as she heard their stories and saw how they persevered in the midst of the struggles they were facing.

Dr. Cherisse and the staff at the neonatal department

One afternoon I went into town to collect the certificate permitting Cherisse to practise medicine in Dominica. I was not given a suitable envelope for the certificate, so I visited the office of our good friends Jan from IOM - an international organization that has been a great source of support to us in providing building materials and non-food items for distribution. He gave me an envelope for the certificate, and while we were chatting he shared of their struggle to find local labour to build the homes that they already have the material and funding for. When I told him about all that our contractor was able to do in the short time he was there, he offered to provide the materials and funding if we could source the labour! Since the construction industry is a bit slow at present, Devin is going to see how many of his colleagues he can rally to go to Dominica to help provide shelter for as many families as possible before the start of the next hurricane season.

Jan and Devin discussing building plans

Not only did Jan suggest this partnership, but he also asked us to help him distribute some kitchen sets with pots and pans, and hygiene kits with soap and flashlights, and blankets and mosquito nets which had been taking up space in their warehouse. We were very happy to take these off his hands, as these were items that our local ministry partners had been asking for, but we had not been in a position to provide. The same guys who helped Devin fix the roof were very ready and willing to help load the truck to move over 600 boxes of supplies, and 20 heavy loads of blankets and mosquito nets, so they could get into the hands of the persons who needed it the most.

Thanks to our hardworking Dominican partners - many hands
make light work

While many communities close to town have received power, there are still many families who will not be able to get electricity for a while. Their homes need to pass an electrical inspection before they are reconnected to the grid, and for many families who are still living under the shelter of tarpaulins, unless they get assistance from an external agency, this is a remote possibility. We went into one such community to distribute solar lamps to families who may not be able to receive power anytime soon. It was heart rending to see some of the conditions that these people have been living in for months, and will continue to live in unless they receive help. At least we were able to give them some lights, which we hope would help them to keep hope alive.

This family lost their entire house, but
they still find reasons to smile

Once more we were able to partner with Feed the Soul outreach to homeless persons on the streets of Roseau. The first person we met said he did not have the words to express how much it meant to him to know that someone cared. He asked for prayer, and when we were finished praying, he had tears in his eyes. He was touched by the reminder that God did not bring his this far to leave him, and that God could use him to reach people that we could never reach. Another man responded to the groups' invitation to attend a crusade at their church. After the message, he responded to the altar call. There was much rejoicing among the angels in heaven that night!

Remember to pray for Kelvin, that
God would use him in a mighty way

For me, the highlight of this trip happened on the evening before Devin and Cherisse's return to Trinidad. God used the people and experiences of this trip to minister to Devin, and this prompted him to make a decision to fully commit his life to Christ. After hearing a message about the significance of baptism on Sunday morning, he indicated a desire to get baptized before returning home. Thankfully I knew a pastor who is more biblical than traditional in his doctrine, and he was willing to baptize Devin the evening before he went back to Trinidad. It was a beautiful sight to behold - a young man fully committing his life to Christ, getting baptized in a beach at sunset.

He has decided to follow Jesus - no turning back!

God truly took charge of every single aspect of this trip, supplying our every need, providing transport whenever we needed it, prompting people to cook nutritious meals for us so we didn't have to live on tinned food, orchestrating great conversations and making divine connections that will last for eternity. Such is the greatness of the God we serve.

That feeling that you get when you see God do exceedingly
abundantly above all you can ask or imagine