Dominican Republic Mission Trip This Summer

Please pray for the missionaries to the Dominican Republic June 28–July 5. Once again, First Presbyterian will work in the rural village of La Meseta near the Haitian border and partner with Food for the Hungry, which seeks to offer hope in the hard places by providing for the spiritual and physical needs of people worldwide. For one week, our missionaries will live and serve in La Meseta, building latrines, running Vacation Bible School programs, visiting people in their homes, and delivering basic healthcare kits.

Loving Our Neighbors in the Dominican Republic

First Presbyterian has adopted the community of La Meseta in a commitment that joins in the work of Food for the Hungry (FH) to expand the kingdom of God through transformational development. This commitment entails promoting the sponsorship of children from this community, sending mission trip teams every year, financially supporting special projects, and keeping La Meseta and FH staff in prayer until 2010.

Child Sponsorship. First Presbyterian is committing to sponsor 75 children in La Meseta. Sponsored children receive desperately needed school supplies, annual doctor’s visits, and other expenses that may involve the child’s immediate family. The child sponsorship program is a way to provide a “safety net” for the community and shows the community that Jesus Christ cares for their physical needs too.

Mission Trip Teams. Each summer, First Presbyterian sends a mission team to La Meseta. These teams build latrines, put on a Vacation Bible School, and visit with the community members in their homes. Mission teams are a fantastic way to gain an understanding of the problems that arise from rural poverty, and to for our church to build a stronger relationship with our sisters and brothers in the Dominican Republic.

Special Projects. Clean, safe water is a scarcity for this community. Our commitment to La Meseta includes three different water systems so the community doesn’t have to receive their water from a river that is infected with water-born diseases. Once the water systems are complete, there is construction work to be done on the local church and school.

Why is FPC adopting La Meseta?

Missions is about more than going or doing. FPC’s adoption of La Meseta is a way for our entire church community to bless and love an entire community in the Dominican Republic. We do this so that—through the love and care of FPC—a village in the DR may know the transforming power of Jesus Christ. Those who have been to La Meseta encourage and invite you to experience God’s Kingdom through the work FPC and Food for the hungry will be doing in La Meseta through 2010.

How can you get involved?

There are so many ways you can love our neighbors in the Dominican Republic; most of the ways are small for us (adopt a child for less than a dollar a day) but make a huge difference in the lives of the people of La Meseta:
 Sponsor a child. For only $28 dollars a month you can change the life of a child forever. Develop a relationship with a family through letters and prayer.
 Provide curriculum. Bible studies, Sunday School books for children, any Spanish Bible study curriculum is appreciated!
 Donate supplies. School supplies for the kids, Neosporin, soap, shampoo, sewing kits, Band-Aids, toothbrushes, and paste!
 Encourage the church. Write letters and pray regularly for Isaac, the pastor in La Meseta, and send books and study guides.
 Mission trips. Every summer there will be a trip going to La Meseta, Dominican Republic. See La Meseta for yourself!
 Help with annual events. Volunteer to help with publicity events about First Presbyterian Church’s relationship with La Meseta.
 Big projects. If you have construction or plumbing expertise, La Meseta certainly could use your help.

What is La Meseta like?

In the rolling hills, on the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, 150 families live by farming little plots of land behind their homes. The trees are full of mangoes, the ground is full of yucca yet the groan of a hungry stomach is never far. The dilapidated and unfinished elementary school building serves as a reminder to the village that they are forgotten by their government. The broken well down the road reminds them of the children they have lost from diseases in the river. Yet since Food for the Hungry and FPC started coming, the local government has started repairing the school and new latrines have reduced the number of deaths from diseases in the river. Hope is being restored, the local church is growing, love is changing lives.

What is Food for the Hungry?

Food for the Hungry is an international relief and development organization that answers God’s call to meet the physical and spiritual needs of the poor in more than 45 countries. In developing countries on nearly every continent, Food for the Hungry works with churches, leaders, and families to provide the resources they need to help their communities become self-sustaining.