Experience the power of joining together with others from McDowell in stretching your faith in new and challenging ways. The people and beauty of the Dominican Republic will steal your heart. The primary focus of our D.R. Mission Team is to build relationships with the people of Hoyo Oscuro, a small mountain village, loving them with no strings attached. We do that through area-specific activities, building projects, agricultural development, a community baseball game, home visits, and spending time with the children of the community.

CostThe 2017 Dominican Republic Mission Trip cost is $1,800. This includes airfare, two nights in a hotel, all meals except air travel days, project costs, Food for the Hungry guides, and transportation.

Trip ItineraryThe 2017 D.R. Mission Team will leave the morning of Saturday, July 15, traveling to Santo Domingo and staying in a hotel that evening. The next morning the team will drive to the village of Hoyo Oscuro, which is on the outskirts of Santo Domingo. We will unpack and meet the community leaders that we will serve alongside. We will stay in the village from Sunday, July 16 through Friday morning July 21. Friday evening the team will stay in a hotel in Santo Domingo and debrief before returning home on Saturday.

2017 McDowell

Dominican Republic

Mission Trip

July 15-22

AccommodationsOther than the two nights spent in the hotel, the D.R. Mission Team will sleep in bunk beds in the village’s elementary school. The meals are prepared by the women of the community, made with fresh fruit, vegetables, rice, beans and meat. There is no air conditioning or running water at the school. We use water from a nearby well for showering purposes. Toilets are not connected to a water source.

Application and PaymentApply by contacting Joe Webb at joe@mcdowell.church. Joe will direct you to the Online application form. Each application will be reviewed and approved until the trip is full.

Upon completed registration, payments can be made Online or by check for you or your entire party in 3 installments. The cost of the trip is tax deductible and therefore any money received is non-refundable.

First Installment $200 per person • Due: March 5, 2017

Second Installment $800.00 per person • Due: April 2, 2017

Final Payment $800 per person • Due: May 7, 2017

Total Cost: $1,800 per personQuestions? Contact joe@mcdowell.church

What to Expect on our trip to the Dominican Republic... 1. Food for the Hungry, (FH), works very hard to make our trip a success. Carlos Nunez will be our FH trip liaison. Carlos is a former FH sponsor child who, after graduating from the program, was hired by FH. He is a great help to our team and has a heart for communities like Hoyo Oscuro.

2. We will have 4-5 translators helping our team while in Hoyo Oscuro. They will be a significant help in communicating with the people of the village.

3. At the beginning of the trip, the FH staff will give a briefing about Hoyo Oscuro. This will give our team an opportunity to ask questions about the community and to understand what life is like for people in Hoyo Oscuro.

4. Our home for the week in Hoyo Oscuro is the community school campus. There are four buildings: one for the men, one for the women, one as our cafeteria and the bathroom building.

5. The food we eat is prepared by the women of the community. The food is purchased from a grocery store and delivered to the village by FH staff. Every year, the team remarks about how good the food is.

6. There is electricity at the school. It cannot be counted on to be working all of the time. We encourage you to bring battery powered fans, flashlights and extra batteries.

7. There is no running water at the school. The team takes bucket showers out of a 50 gallon drum in the bathroom building. Our toilets are not connected to a water source so they are flushed by using water from the water drum. No paper tissue or products are allowed in the toilets. The bathroom building is cleaned daily by the women of the community.

8. Our drinking water is bottled and purified. Each team member is encouraged to fill their own water bottle each morning and throughout the day. Team members are also encouraged to use powdered Gatorade or other powdered hydrating mixes.

9. The beds we will be sleeping on are twin sized bunk beds. In the past team members have brought twin sized or twin extra long sized sheets for their beds, and they have fit just fine. You also need to bring your own pillow.

10. You must wear long pants or long ankle length skirts while we are out in the community. This is to honor and respect the culture of the Dominican people. While we are on the school “campus” we can wear shorts.

11. Each day we will go over the day’s events during morning devotions. Please pay attention to what is scheduled for each day.

12. The key word of the week is flexibility. We will begin each day with a plan. However those plans could change throughout the day due to weather, pressing needs or unexpected situations. We encourage our team to be ready for change and be prepared to see God work in the unexpected.

13. Do not give children of the village food or drink, toys or individual presents. Giving them these things can cause unintended fights and hurt feelings. We will bring gifts and give them out as instructed by the FH staff. 14. Please bring a mosquito net. You can order one online or purchase one at REI.

15. Never go anywhere in the village without another team member. Always go with others.