We Started Out as Strangers
Julie enjoying the warmth of the Manyaya community.
My trip to the Parish of Bánica in the Dominican Republic, with Commissioned By Christ and the Diocese of Arlington Young Adult Ministry, was one of the most graced-filled experiences I've ever been a part of, and I hope to return next year with the same group. We started out as strangers, our only tie being that we're all young adults from the Arlington Diocese. After this shared experience, we all now have a deeper friendship, and have together strengthened our faith.
Daily we ventured to the remote village of Manyaya, where we connected with folks on a personal level (as much as I could, with my limited knowledge of Spanish). Our group was the first group of Americans to visit Manyaya. The Parish of Bánica priest tries to visit them once a month, but I felt like we descended on their village and were the center of attention all week.
We were there to service the village of Manyaya - we provided the financing and labor to give them: 4 homes changed from dirt to concrete floors, repainted and updated the chapel - including new doors, and built an outhouse where there wasn't one before. The last day we didn't work - we attended Mass with them in their "new" chapel and were the guests of honor at a community feast.
As it turns out, even though we went to Manyaya bearing gifts, we were given something much more valuable in return - the first-hand awareness/confirmation that God is present EVERYWHERE & ALL THE TIME, and He intended for all of us to be there with those villagers. The Mass in the little chapel of Manyaya on that last day was vivid manifestation of the presence of God - there, in a dusty, exposed-to-the-weather, concrete-walled room, He was present, not just in the Eucharist, but in all the joyful faces of the villagers.
Even more, though we all knew God was with us on this mission trip (especially riding next to us in the back of the pickup truck on some dicey terrain), each member of our group was given the gift of experiencing first-hand how God guided our actions, thoughts, and prayers - even in some of the littlest, seemingly insignificant, ways. Everything culminated in God's ultimate goal of amplifying His grace and mercy to touch each person in some amazing way (Americans and villagers alike). Experiencing and recognizing these "God moments" throughout the trip, and realizing that God had some of them in the works for weeks or months or even years before our trip, is something I pray I never forget.
I personally left the Dominican Republic with the feeling of "God, where do I go from here?” In fact, the night before we left Bánica, the priest challenged our group to "love the poor" and not to "hate poverty.” I'm still contemplating how to accomplish this, since poverty in Purcellville/Western Loudoun is not easily obvious to me. Perhaps the poverty here is not so much of material things, but more spiritual...?
by Julie, CBC Missionary to Bánica, Dominican Republic, Feb. 2017
Check out www.banicamission.com and www.commissionedbychrist.org for more information!