Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

This is a blog (posted with permission) by one of the attending families of our Dominican Republic mission trip with Steven Baldwin and his family.

August 9 – August 13, 2010

Our family mission trip this year was to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. We traveled with a ministry called Food for Orphans, with whom we have recently partnered. During this trip we visited 4 different orphanages and the garbage dump city, being ambassadors of God’s love to the poor orphans.

My husband Tom and I had spent quite a bit of time preparing our children (Parker - 9 yrs, Amy - 11 yrs, and Shannon - 13 yrs) for this trip, telling them to the best of our ability what they could expect, and explaining what it meant to have HIV/AIDS. We had been praying together as a family and knew that the Lord had special ministry for each of them.

Christy & Child

You see, each one of our kids have lost a parent. My daughter Amy had lost her dad to cancer two hours after she was born, and Tom’s children, Parker and Shannon, had lost their mother during the birth of Parker. God has wonderfully blended our families together and we know without a doubt that our children’s testimony is their ministry.

Tom and Child

I have seen extreme poverty in several countries, but it never gets any easier to take in. The orphanages each had their specialty: abandoned children of prostitutes, girls home, boys home, and the hardest of all, the AIDS home. After arriving and seeing the great need, I almost felt foolish that we had brought so many toys but so few practical items. But the Lord reminded me that the poor would be with us always (Matthew 26:11), and that the children needed fun too.

Amy and Child

I was so proud of Parker, Amy, and Shannon. They played with the children, served them meals, comforted them and loved them. We showered these terribly impoverished kids with God’s love, food, and as many toys, crafts, stuffed animals and gifts we could cram in our suitcases!

Parker and Child

We came home broken-hearted for the children all over the world who have never known the love of an earthly father or mother. Yes, God had circumcised our hearts just as we had prayed. He has broken our hearts for the things that break His heart. We are committed to making a difference in the lives of orphans and are willing to follow as the Lord leads us to be advocates on their behalf.

Shannon and Child

God is a Father to the fatherless (Psalm 68:5) and He uses us in their lives as extensions of His love; all of us, not just adults. What a wonderful and humbling honor! If you have never ministered with children you are missing out. No one can minister to kids like other kids. Children add qualities of innocence, purity, and transparency to every mission, and they can easily hear the Father’s voice because they believe they can. We have so much to learn from our children!

Dump Orphans

If you have never taken your kids on a mission trip or done outreach in your community as a family, I encourage you to jump in and get involved. There are opportunities to serve someone at every turn. Teach your children that Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve, (Matthew 20:28) then SHOW them. This lesson will increase their faith exponentially as they see the Father work through them, and they learn that they are in fact valuable tools in advancing His kingdom on the earth.

If you are interested in learning more about our family’s testimony, please see Amazon.com for “Under the Shadow of the Almighty.”

If you would like to learn more about the ministry of Food for Orphans, visit their website at http://www.foodfororphans.org/.

Until All Have Heard,

Cristy

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