"We are so blessed!" DR Mission Team 2026 by the Numbers
- John Powers
- 18 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Over 260 DR Mission Team volunteers from 17 states, representing 33 different churches and dozens of schools, traveled to La Romana, Dominican Republic in 2026 with one purpose . . . serve and love the people of this area well.
This year's trips were, in a word, blessed. Blessed in numbers. And even more blessed in heart, soul, and connections.
Most served one week in 2026, several others spent two weeks, a few were in La Romana serving for three weeks, and a couple of people were in DR for all four weeks. And even one (Londyn Castes) served with the Winter DRMT '26 group, and then spent three months in La Romana this summer!
Specifically, during these four weeks, our mobile medical clinics treated over 2,100 patients in the bateyes and barrios, bringing care to people who have no access to regular healthcare. We distributed food to more than 2,500 homes, making sure families that often go without had plenty of nourishment. We ran several Vacation Bible School and children activities at the Joe Hartman School and in the bateyes, filling courtyards, gazebos, and churches with songs, activities, and the kind of laughter that needs no translation.
And then there were the huge parties . . . four of them, each one a celebration of community and connection. One of those celebrations was a wedding in Batey 50, a joyful reminder that our work in the DR isn't just about service, it's about relationship.
On the construction side, we moved tons of sand, stone, rock, and cement, working alongside our partners on homes, schools, El Buen Samaritano Hospital, and the Centro de Protestis clinic. Every shovel, wheelbarrow, and bucket is a small act of hope for someone's future.
Through it all, we prayed. With patients in our medical clinics, with kids at VBS, with friends at the front door during food distribution . . . we prayed with thousands of people, in English, Spanish, and Creole, and always His Holy Spirit present.
None of this happens without our incredible donors, prayer supporters, partners and friends in La Romana – none of it happens without God going before us. Every patient treated, every home fed, every wall built . . . it's all done to His glory, in Jesus' name.
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