Local mission group headed to Dominican Republic

Credit: Regan Hill photo

Beth Deuel and her sons, Bradley, 6, and Jimmy, 10, pay for their Saturday morning yard sale purchases with Storm Mayberry at the old Gordon’s Furniture store on Center St.

By: Bethany Fuller | Statesville Record & Landmark
Published: April 02, 2010

A local mission group organized by Western Avenue Baptist Church will leave all the pastel-colored candies and chocolates behind this Easter to work in an orphanage and in medical clinics in the Dominican Republic.
Once they arrive on the Caribbean island shared with Haiti, the 16 missionaries will divide their time between working in medical clinics, helping the poor and working at the Casa de Luz orphanage near Santo Domingo.
Teenagers and adults from Saint Philip the Apostle Catholic Church and Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church are coming to help out as well.
Local nurse practitioner Malinda Sherrill said the group includes emergency medical technicians, nurse practioners and nurses who will work in clinics in various villages around the country.
"There is just a lot of poor there," she said. "It's very much needed."
It is Sherrill's second trip to the Dominican Republic. Workers at the clinics will distribute much-needed vitamins, antibiotics and other medications to underserved patients.
"I know Malinda, and I really have always wanted to serve a medical mission," said Family Medicine nurse practitioner Marybeth White. "There is so much need there. I'm just really looking forward to working with the children in the medical clinics."
Some of the group members huddled into the old Gordon's Furniture building last week for a yard sale to raise money for Western Avenue Baptist Church's mission work.
In addition to the group going to the Dominican Republic, others from around the Statesville area will travel to Venezuela, Costa Rica and other countries this year.
All the groups need funds to buy medical supplies, clothing, food, baby formula, diapers and other supplies for their field work.
The Gordon family donated some of the leftover furniture for sale, and church members, family and friends brought in the rest.
White said what is left over would go to the Iredell County Habitat for Humanity ReStore.
Sherrill said they want to raise between $2,000 to $3,000. On average, it takes $15 to feed a family of four in the Dominican Republic for a week, she said.
Sherrill said her group was first acquainted with Casa de Luz last year by accident. Casa de Luz's English translation is "House of Light," and group members had asked their bus driver to take them to the lighthouse.
The accident turned out to be a great experience for the group, she said.
"I just love kids," said Storm Mayberry, a 17-year-old junior at Statesville High School. "I've never been on a mission trip before."
Money from the yard sale will also benefit another group from the church that is preparing to go out of the country with Reign Ministries. Teenagers, 13 to 19 years old with an appetite for soccer, can spend five weeks in Costa Rica talking to others about Jesus Christ.
Reign sends teenagers all over the world, including Ireland, Nepal, Ukraine, Romania, China and India, to perform mission work, said Jackie Dahl, whose husband Hank is a missionary with Reign.
"We have missionaries based all over the world," said Dahl.
The teenagers receive training before they enter the mission field, she said.

Local mission group headed to Dominican Republic

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