Church doesn’t begin right away,
anyway, but it is a wonderful experience. They
have tambourines and drums as accompaniements and sing with their hearts. Everyone seems to know the tunes. I try my best to fit in all the syllables of the words, whether speaking or singing,
but I can never figure out which ones they skip. Short phrases I do fine with, but the long
sentences, they always finish several syllables ahead. Padre Alfredo is the priest here, and they have a full complement of crucifer/server, torch bearers and gospel bearer. Children don’t receive the Eucharist until
age 12. There aren’t many men
present, however men read both the Old Testament and Epistle lessons, though the introduction is by a woman acolyte who also acts as a LEM, handling the chalice. Not everyone comes up for
communion. Announcements are at the end
of the service. Children begin to line
up at the front of the aisle. Suddenly
Bob is beckoning Tar and me up to the front.
I am caught off-guard. We are
asked to bless the children who have come forward. I am not sure what to say, because I want to
speak in Spanish, but my Spanish is incredibly limited.
I decide quickly to just ask their name, tell them mine, and then, as I
make the sign of the cross on their forehead, I just say “La Paz del Dio” which
I very much hope is the right way to say “the Peace of God.” They smile tentatively and (I think)
appreciate it. I suspect they are wondering why we are doing the blessing because to the best of my understanding, nothing has been said so far as to who we are. Before we are through the
children, adults come up to join the line.
I stand up from the terrazzo step of the chancel on which I’ve been
sitting to finish the blessings. I am so
appreciative of, actually, overwhelmed by, these few minutes to look into these eyes and to have this privilege. I return to my pew with my heart full. Then Alfredo blesses a new baby, says
birthday blessings over one of the men who has been providing music. A few more announcements and then Bob speaks
for a few minutes. Now he identifies us. He invites anyone
interested to come up for healing prayers after the service. Quite a few people come up for a variety of
prayers. Bob shares the prayers with Tar
and me, as we pray in both Spanish (him) and English (us).
At the end, Bob says a special prayer for Laurie. Some of the little girls come up together and
lay their hands on Laurie without being prompted. I have tears in my eyes with Bob’s prayer and
seeing the children. Then Tar says a
prayer of thanksgiving for the ministry of Ellen and Bob in the DR as they are
about to transition to retirement back in the States.
It has been quite a full morning in terms of taking it all in. We arrived at the church at 8:30 and somehow it has gotten to be 11:00 and time has pretty much flown by. But it is time to go, so we get on the road. This barrio is so poor. It is so hard to figure out how anyone here can afford anything, and yet women are outside their homes (huts, hovels, whatever), frying, steaming, stewing in these big, multi-purpose cooking pots. No one would choose this life and they would obviously not be here if they really had a choice, but these people make the best of it. For those who come to church, it is truly a refuge and a source of hope in an otherwise very challenging world, a world that you and I would never know how to cope in.
We go back and check out of our hotel. There is confusion about the bill, but it gets straightened out. Then, we head back towards Santo Domingo. Barahona is only about a hour from the Haitian border. On the way back, we stop in Bani at the Church of the Transfiguration and meet the priest, Melquilla. Her smile is infectious. She is in charge of four congregations and three schools. She previously had one large congregation. We happen to be at Tranfiguration on the day when the Gospel is about the Transfiguration, so they celebrated that in this church earlier. This church has two distinct groups of people that it serves - a richer group which own businesses in Santo Domingo, and, on the other side, literally, a poor barrio. Very different needs and perspectives. There is a school here, but only up through sixth grade. The city recently built a public school which has drawn a lot of students away. Public schools are free; private are not. Enrollment is down to about 90. But the public school only goes up to eighth grade, so the church is thinking about offering a high school. The way many of the church schools operate is to have two shifts, a morning and an afternoon, in order to share space. We take Melquilla to lunch. Another Pollo Rey. Another not great lunch.
There is a presidential election here in May. The current ruling party is the PLD (can't remember what it stands for). Their colors are purple and gold - very regal. The current president, Fernandez, has served the allowed two terms, so he has to go. Their candidate is a man named Danilo. His name and face are everywhere. There is a rally for him this day in Bani. In fact, he is even ohere and we see his tricked out cadillac go by as we are dining al fresca at Pollo Rey. You have never seen so many crazy political fans waving flags from vans, mini-busses, motorcycles and scooters, you name it. And the bass booming music! There are trailers with nothing but speakers that would seem capable of reverberating buildings into rubble if they hit the right harmonic, not to mention the din of honking horns. And as we hit the highway again, there are flotillas of cars all decorated with vinyl coverings (looking like paint jobs) for Danilo. I cannot even imagine the money being poured into this campaign. There are a number of other candidates, including a previous president known for his corruption, Papa. If only this money were being put to a use that actually helped people out of the overwhelming poverty and unemployment. There are some infrastructur projects that have come out of this campaign, which are basically (in a more jaundiced view of things) a pork barrel way of getting votes.
After lunch, we go to Melquilla's larger church, people-wise, El Carreton. This long, skinny community is very rural. It stretches along either side of a road, which is paved farther than it used to be, thanks to the election campaign. Behind it on either side are fields with a few cows grazing or banana trees or other crops. Melquilla gives us an idea of what other crops come from this area, including tomatoes and green beans. We stop at the little blue church. It's much smaller physically than Transfiguration, but larger and more active in terms of parishioners. It has a very cute, child-like mural on the wall behind the altar. I can't figure out how they keep these buildings so free of bugs, nests and cobwebs when the cinder blocks have openings in them and there are lots of open air windows and other opportunities. Especially when there are fields all around. They must constantly dust wooden pews in this country. Some of the altars do have plastic cloths over them to keep dirt or whatever off of the fair linens. Again, we are welcomed by some of the parishioners. And Bob points out that Melquilla does not have the key to the church, the Senior Warden or other parishioners do. Lay involvment is so important in these congregations, especially considering that the priests all serve at least two congregations, and many of them do not have cars to travel back and forth, includ Melquilla. She pays someone from Tranfiguration a little bit of money to transport her. We then drive up the hill to th school. This community has been visited by our sister congregations in the Southeast Convocation of the Diocese. The setting for the school is really nice, as the view out of the louvered windows is over the tops of the banana trees to the mountains. A light breeze riffles through the big, bright green leaves. The classrooms are so bright and airy. But even though the building is almost new, it already has a major plumbing issue thanks to the contractor. The diocese has used him for years, even though he keeps making major mistakes. It doesn't seem to make much sense. It will need to be fixed at his expense. On the outside, the building is a cheery cantaloupe color on the bottom and cream on the top, sort of reminiscent of a dreamsicle. A nearby house is that same color, probably not coincidentally. It is the house of the older lady, a member of the church, who gave the land for the school. There is a really interesting tree next to the school. At some point, years ago, it must have fallen or been blown over. But then, the tree was not resigned to die. It simply decided to orient itself upwards towards the heavens and continued to grow. Now it makes for a very gnarly bench in the shade and a unique tree. Perhaps something to ponder. And besides that, on the other side of the tree, as we walk around, there is a big hollow space, and as we into carefully, suddenly, there is a comb and beak and two fearful, blinking eyes and a whole lot of feathers looking back at us. It is a nesting hen, sitting on eggs. We quietly take non-flash pictures and leave her in peace. The vista from the hillside is muy linda, very beautiful.
Next we head to the third of Melquilla's four churches and are we in for a wonderful surprise! It is officially known as The Church of the Holy Name of Jesus. It perhaps ought to be known as the Church of Holy Light. Because it is almost completely open to light and because of what the women (yes women, again) radiate. Once again, such a very poor barrio. People living in places that we probably wouldn't keep garden tools in. To get there, Rafaelito takes a very slow, hairpin turn off of the highway onto first a gravel road that doubles back under the highway by a canal. The hovels on either side are unbelievable - I didn't capture the worst of them in my pictures. The road turns to rutted dirt as we travel on up beyond the other side of the highway. We are into a neighborhood that a tourist would never see. Melquilla has a 4 pm service and they are waiting on her. She directs us where to stop. It is the ruins of a house. Really. Only part of the structure has a roof. There are some posts out front which the women have painted and to which they have nailed large cans. In the cans, they've planted flowers of different kinds. In the covered part of what remains of the building, there are wooden benches. Five women are waiting. There's a bulletin board on the back wall with some notices, like how to set up the altar. The altar is a small table with a white lacy tablecloth on it. There are candles, pottery chalice and patten, bread and wine. They have Melquilla's alb and green stole all ready for her. She dons it with a quick, "Time to go to work!" and flashes one of her smiles. This is exactly what Jesus would have done. In fact, it's exactly what Jesus DID do. One of the younger women has huge rollers in her hair (we've seen a lot of that) and she's embarrassed to have her picture taken, but then she acquiesces. What a wonderful little church. They really do bear the name of Jesus. As we get back in the van, someone makes the suggestion that we stay to have church with them. It's really tempting. Bob would rather us not be on the road after dark. We end up heading back.
It isn't that long of a drive back into Santo Domingo, but we get stuck for a bit in another political rally. This one is for Papa. All of us are ready to be back at the hotel. It's been a long two days of riding in the van and all of us thought the hotel last night was a little bizarre. With Rafaelito's skillful edging through the traffic, we finally get through. After a little rest, we meet to go out for dinner. We walk to a large plaza near the river which has a number interesting restaurant choices. We choose Angelo's and go up to the rooftop. There's a neat wrought-iron railing of grape vines that runs the entire way up. Only on the doorway in front of the wine cellar are there grapes. The furniture on the interior of the restaurant is, well, exuberant? Each dining table and set of chairs is different. All of it is large, heavy framed, sort of like big mirrors, but differently shaped. One is golden with leaopard print, another black with zebra, another is bright red velvet. I suggest we bring back one of the gold and leopard chairs as the bishop's chair for Trinity. It would certainly stand out. Up on the roof it is a gorgeous view, though the sky is cloudy instead of starlit. We opt for a couple of appetizers (a shrimp cocktail, and a seafood mixture - mussels, shrimp, squid) and some pizzas to share. Then Michael orders us some creme brulees. It's a very nice meal. We talk about what we've seen and experienced, what perhaps should be our criteria for deciding on a mission site and what our sense of that is. But we don't make a firm decision. Michael also asks our waiter, Jonathan, how we can be a blessing to him. He is rather taken aback by the question. But then, when he realizes that Michael is perfectly serious, he says that he had to quit high school. So now he is going back to school to try to learn English. After the bill is paid (Michael treats Savannah and me - thank you!), we hold hands and pray and invite Jonathan to join us. Then he also lets us know that he has twin daughters. So I include all of that in the prayer. I think he really appreciates it. And I'm quite sure that none of his previous patrons have ever asked him anything like that. We say good night to the waitstaff and then we stroll back to the hotel. A very good day. Many blessings.
It has been quite a full morning in terms of taking it all in. We arrived at the church at 8:30 and somehow it has gotten to be 11:00 and time has pretty much flown by. But it is time to go, so we get on the road. This barrio is so poor. It is so hard to figure out how anyone here can afford anything, and yet women are outside their homes (huts, hovels, whatever), frying, steaming, stewing in these big, multi-purpose cooking pots. No one would choose this life and they would obviously not be here if they really had a choice, but these people make the best of it. For those who come to church, it is truly a refuge and a source of hope in an otherwise very challenging world, a world that you and I would never know how to cope in.
We go back and check out of our hotel. There is confusion about the bill, but it gets straightened out. Then, we head back towards Santo Domingo. Barahona is only about a hour from the Haitian border. On the way back, we stop in Bani at the Church of the Transfiguration and meet the priest, Melquilla. Her smile is infectious. She is in charge of four congregations and three schools. She previously had one large congregation. We happen to be at Tranfiguration on the day when the Gospel is about the Transfiguration, so they celebrated that in this church earlier. This church has two distinct groups of people that it serves - a richer group which own businesses in Santo Domingo, and, on the other side, literally, a poor barrio. Very different needs and perspectives. There is a school here, but only up through sixth grade. The city recently built a public school which has drawn a lot of students away. Public schools are free; private are not. Enrollment is down to about 90. But the public school only goes up to eighth grade, so the church is thinking about offering a high school. The way many of the church schools operate is to have two shifts, a morning and an afternoon, in order to share space. We take Melquilla to lunch. Another Pollo Rey. Another not great lunch.
There is a presidential election here in May. The current ruling party is the PLD (can't remember what it stands for). Their colors are purple and gold - very regal. The current president, Fernandez, has served the allowed two terms, so he has to go. Their candidate is a man named Danilo. His name and face are everywhere. There is a rally for him this day in Bani. In fact, he is even ohere and we see his tricked out cadillac go by as we are dining al fresca at Pollo Rey. You have never seen so many crazy political fans waving flags from vans, mini-busses, motorcycles and scooters, you name it. And the bass booming music! There are trailers with nothing but speakers that would seem capable of reverberating buildings into rubble if they hit the right harmonic, not to mention the din of honking horns. And as we hit the highway again, there are flotillas of cars all decorated with vinyl coverings (looking like paint jobs) for Danilo. I cannot even imagine the money being poured into this campaign. There are a number of other candidates, including a previous president known for his corruption, Papa. If only this money were being put to a use that actually helped people out of the overwhelming poverty and unemployment. There are some infrastructur projects that have come out of this campaign, which are basically (in a more jaundiced view of things) a pork barrel way of getting votes.
After lunch, we go to Melquilla's larger church, people-wise, El Carreton. This long, skinny community is very rural. It stretches along either side of a road, which is paved farther than it used to be, thanks to the election campaign. Behind it on either side are fields with a few cows grazing or banana trees or other crops. Melquilla gives us an idea of what other crops come from this area, including tomatoes and green beans. We stop at the little blue church. It's much smaller physically than Transfiguration, but larger and more active in terms of parishioners. It has a very cute, child-like mural on the wall behind the altar. I can't figure out how they keep these buildings so free of bugs, nests and cobwebs when the cinder blocks have openings in them and there are lots of open air windows and other opportunities. Especially when there are fields all around. They must constantly dust wooden pews in this country. Some of the altars do have plastic cloths over them to keep dirt or whatever off of the fair linens. Again, we are welcomed by some of the parishioners. And Bob points out that Melquilla does not have the key to the church, the Senior Warden or other parishioners do. Lay involvment is so important in these congregations, especially considering that the priests all serve at least two congregations, and many of them do not have cars to travel back and forth, includ Melquilla. She pays someone from Tranfiguration a little bit of money to transport her. We then drive up the hill to th school. This community has been visited by our sister congregations in the Southeast Convocation of the Diocese. The setting for the school is really nice, as the view out of the louvered windows is over the tops of the banana trees to the mountains. A light breeze riffles through the big, bright green leaves. The classrooms are so bright and airy. But even though the building is almost new, it already has a major plumbing issue thanks to the contractor. The diocese has used him for years, even though he keeps making major mistakes. It doesn't seem to make much sense. It will need to be fixed at his expense. On the outside, the building is a cheery cantaloupe color on the bottom and cream on the top, sort of reminiscent of a dreamsicle. A nearby house is that same color, probably not coincidentally. It is the house of the older lady, a member of the church, who gave the land for the school. There is a really interesting tree next to the school. At some point, years ago, it must have fallen or been blown over. But then, the tree was not resigned to die. It simply decided to orient itself upwards towards the heavens and continued to grow. Now it makes for a very gnarly bench in the shade and a unique tree. Perhaps something to ponder. And besides that, on the other side of the tree, as we walk around, there is a big hollow space, and as we into carefully, suddenly, there is a comb and beak and two fearful, blinking eyes and a whole lot of feathers looking back at us. It is a nesting hen, sitting on eggs. We quietly take non-flash pictures and leave her in peace. The vista from the hillside is muy linda, very beautiful.
Next we head to the third of Melquilla's four churches and are we in for a wonderful surprise! It is officially known as The Church of the Holy Name of Jesus. It perhaps ought to be known as the Church of Holy Light. Because it is almost completely open to light and because of what the women (yes women, again) radiate. Once again, such a very poor barrio. People living in places that we probably wouldn't keep garden tools in. To get there, Rafaelito takes a very slow, hairpin turn off of the highway onto first a gravel road that doubles back under the highway by a canal. The hovels on either side are unbelievable - I didn't capture the worst of them in my pictures. The road turns to rutted dirt as we travel on up beyond the other side of the highway. We are into a neighborhood that a tourist would never see. Melquilla has a 4 pm service and they are waiting on her. She directs us where to stop. It is the ruins of a house. Really. Only part of the structure has a roof. There are some posts out front which the women have painted and to which they have nailed large cans. In the cans, they've planted flowers of different kinds. In the covered part of what remains of the building, there are wooden benches. Five women are waiting. There's a bulletin board on the back wall with some notices, like how to set up the altar. The altar is a small table with a white lacy tablecloth on it. There are candles, pottery chalice and patten, bread and wine. They have Melquilla's alb and green stole all ready for her. She dons it with a quick, "Time to go to work!" and flashes one of her smiles. This is exactly what Jesus would have done. In fact, it's exactly what Jesus DID do. One of the younger women has huge rollers in her hair (we've seen a lot of that) and she's embarrassed to have her picture taken, but then she acquiesces. What a wonderful little church. They really do bear the name of Jesus. As we get back in the van, someone makes the suggestion that we stay to have church with them. It's really tempting. Bob would rather us not be on the road after dark. We end up heading back.
It isn't that long of a drive back into Santo Domingo, but we get stuck for a bit in another political rally. This one is for Papa. All of us are ready to be back at the hotel. It's been a long two days of riding in the van and all of us thought the hotel last night was a little bizarre. With Rafaelito's skillful edging through the traffic, we finally get through. After a little rest, we meet to go out for dinner. We walk to a large plaza near the river which has a number interesting restaurant choices. We choose Angelo's and go up to the rooftop. There's a neat wrought-iron railing of grape vines that runs the entire way up. Only on the doorway in front of the wine cellar are there grapes. The furniture on the interior of the restaurant is, well, exuberant? Each dining table and set of chairs is different. All of it is large, heavy framed, sort of like big mirrors, but differently shaped. One is golden with leaopard print, another black with zebra, another is bright red velvet. I suggest we bring back one of the gold and leopard chairs as the bishop's chair for Trinity. It would certainly stand out. Up on the roof it is a gorgeous view, though the sky is cloudy instead of starlit. We opt for a couple of appetizers (a shrimp cocktail, and a seafood mixture - mussels, shrimp, squid) and some pizzas to share. Then Michael orders us some creme brulees. It's a very nice meal. We talk about what we've seen and experienced, what perhaps should be our criteria for deciding on a mission site and what our sense of that is. But we don't make a firm decision. Michael also asks our waiter, Jonathan, how we can be a blessing to him. He is rather taken aback by the question. But then, when he realizes that Michael is perfectly serious, he says that he had to quit high school. So now he is going back to school to try to learn English. After the bill is paid (Michael treats Savannah and me - thank you!), we hold hands and pray and invite Jonathan to join us. Then he also lets us know that he has twin daughters. So I include all of that in the prayer. I think he really appreciates it. And I'm quite sure that none of his previous patrons have ever asked him anything like that. We say good night to the waitstaff and then we stroll back to the hotel. A very good day. Many blessings.
Traffic speed bumps – sleeping
policeman – policia acostado
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