DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – The acts of kindness Jesus performed as He shared the gospel inspired Gene Smith, administrative pastor at First Baptist Church, De Soto, and his wife, Kristi, to lead international mission trips to the Dominican Republic.
“Meeting needs goes hand in hand with sharing the gospel,” Smith said. “My wife speaks Spanish, so we wanted to go to a Spanish speaking country.”
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – Robin Patton (right), a member at First Baptist Church, De Soto, uses flippers at an eyeglass fitter station here to assist a man with glasses selection. (Photo courtesy of FBC De Soto)
“We started looking at different opportunities,” he said, “and we looked at Vision 3:16. My wife and I took a mission trip to Mexico to see how it worked. We were excited to see how the eyeglass clinics worked, and we decided to buy supplies and to go to the Dominican Republic.”
The Smiths contacted Maranatha Missionary Baptist Church in La Romans, Dominican Republic, with pastor Savenit Polo. “We took two trips to the Dominican Republic,” Smith continued, “one in March and one at the end of June.”
The Maranatha Church is primarily Haitian refugees, according to Smith, and they speak Spanish and Creole.
“We set up our eyeglass clinics in stations,” he said. “We used five stations in each clinic. We registered them at the first station, then they moved on to the wall chart, then to the autorefractor which measures prescriptions, then to the fitters to match the glasses to the prescription and finally to the evangelism station. Spanish and Creole are spoken, and the pastor follows up with them.”
According to Smith, the clinics were held in different bateyes. He described a batey as a small community in a sugar cane plantation. The community is primarily made of Haitians who cut down the sugar cane.
“Those living on the batey are extremely poor,” he said, “and they have no resources.”
Megan Mahue, member of FBC De Soto and one of 12 team members for the June trip, agreed that where they ministered was a poor area.
“To watch the smile on their face when they were fitted with glasses and could finally see,” she said, “it was God’s grace. One of the older ladies said she just wanted to be able to read her Bible.”
Mahue worked at the fitting station. “When they left me,” she added, “they moved on to the evangelism station. But I always asked if I could pray for them. They were shocked that someone wanted to pray for them and hold their hand.”
Mahue was emotional as she described how she felt working in the clinic. “When I sat across from them,” she said, “I had overwhelming feelings of love for them. That’s not me, that’s not human, it was God working through me.”
In addition to the eyeglass clinic, Mahue said they worked with children and packed 50 food bags to aid the Maranatha ministry.
“It was so much fun to work with the children,” she said. “I took a Polaroid camera and took photos of the children. After we printed them out, the children made foam frames for them. It was the first time many of them had seen a photo of themselves. We also played games and gave them packs with pencils, a coloring book (with verses translated by Kristi Smith into Spanish), sunglasses and other gifts. I was more blessed than those we were serving.”
Smith tallied the final numbers for the two trips: In March, with nine team members, the team saw 246 people and gave away 154 prescription glasses and readers, there were 14 people who accepted Christ. On the second trip in June, the church took 12 team members, who saw 408 people and gave away 540 pairs of glasses; 34 put their faith in Christ.
“It is amazing what God has given us to do,” Smith said. “He has made available thousands of eyeglasses for us to give away. The Maranatha church has a long history of planting churches and assisting pastors. Pastor Polo is interested in other teams coming and staying in the Mission House that they have available.”
Smith is willing to share more information about his contact in the Dominican Republic. His contact information is gene@fbcdesoto.com; 314-420-9010.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – The mission team from First Baptist Church, De Soto, stands for a picture with Pastor Savenit Polo from Maranatha Missionary Baptist Church in La Romana, Dominican Republic. (Photos courtesy of FBC De Soto)