Reflections and Lessons Learned From My Recent Missions Trip To The Dominican Republic (The Good, BaD, and Ugly)
Have you ever been on a Missions Trip? Have you ever been to another country to serve their local communities? How did it impact you? What did it reveal about you? What was your personal AAR (After Action Review)? This is mine. Maybe you can discover new things about yourself from the things I learned about me. Here are some of my awkward & embarrassing lessons from my most recent Missions Trip to the Dominican Republic (DR).
My family just returned from the DR with a group of 50 other adults and high school teens from our church. Many of the teens & adults had never been out of the state before.
We made our “patrol base” in the mid-size city of Puerto Plata. Population around 300,000. We would leave each morning from our hotel on 3 separate “wah-wahs” (mini-buses) and zig & zag through Puerto Plata into the smaller, rural villages of the DR. What made it such an adventure traveling in the DR was that their stop signs, double yellow lines in the road & stop lights were all just “suggestions” (lol). Little 2-stroke motorcycles & scooters dominated the roads with cars and the occasional dump trucks & semi-trucks filling in any gaps. Imagine that every other scooter & motorcycle had 3 - 4 people on it. Seriously. There would be entire families on a motorcycle zipping effortlessly in & out of traffic. There was also the occasional man driving a motorcycle carrying a 6’ - 8’ ladder, a large propane tank or some variety of kitchen appliance.
The Dominicans were friendly, warm, loving & accepting. It was such a blessing serving so many kids, families & communities.
Here are the AAR questions our Pastor asked each of us upon “ENDEX” of the mission.
1.) What fears did you come to the DR with & how have you overcome them?
a.) I was honestly concerned with how the humidity was going to affect/impact my experience. No seriously. Have you ever been in an environment that you feel sucks the life out of you? A classroom? An office? A cubicle? Really hot weather? Really cold weather? A dark room? A bright room?
We lived in Fayetteville North Carolina for 23 years. Yes, there are some absolutely beautiful parts of NC. It was also hot & very humid for 23 years, almost year round. You would take a shower before leaving your house & by the time you went outside to get in your car, you’d already need another shower. It would get so hot & humid in the summer that we rarely wanted to leave our house.
On top of the heat & humidity, we were in a business cult almost the entire time we were in NC. The connection between the thick temperature and the toxic relationships was very real for us.
b.) So, how did I do? Not very good, to be honest. Each day I had to suck it up & I also did some good old whining & complaining. I was disappointed in my lack of self-management even after the past 4 years of working on my Emotional Intelligence (“EQ”). I let the heat, humidity, and how I connected that type of climate with previous toxic relationships get the best of me on multiple occasions.
2.) What did you learn from the Dominican culture that you can take home & apply to your life?
The Dominicans had such soft, humble, joyful, accepting hearts, it made me reevaluate my “challenge” adapting to the heat & humidity.
Much of the DR we witnessed was a third world country. Many living in a 10 foot by 10 foot cinder block shack with a tin roof. I want to learn how to be content & thankful for what I have and concern myself less with what I don’t have.
Many Dominicans would simply sit on their porch with their family or play a game of Dominoes with their neighbors on the side of the road. They enjoyed each other. I want to be more intentional at enjoying the relationships in my life.
3.) What challenges do Dominicans face that you should be thankful for that you don’t have?
There are many Dominicans living below the poverty level. I can only imagine how difficult it is to provide for their families.
4.) What was the most impactful part of this trip in your life & what lessons did you learn?
How selfish I am.
How not as holy as Pastor James I am.
How big & strong my comfort zone is.
How much I have that I’m not grateful for.
How distracted I am on a regular basis.
How revealing serving others is.
5.) What would you do differently the next time you come?
Help plan.
Help create systems.
Help communicate the entire process.
Train the leaders to lead more effectively.
Do personality assessment & training & spiritual gifts assessment with high school kids.
Help teach effective conflict resolution skills to the American team.
6.) How can you better support & encourage one or more team members next time?
Next time I would plan on genuinely asking one or more people on the team how they’re doing before, during & after each daily service project. This will give me an opportunity to show intentional care and concern for my team members while providing reprieve from thinking about how I’m doing.
7.) Action items
a.) I need to schedule time to reflect on the trip so I can maximize the trip and the corresponding life lessons.
b.) Create a Thankfulness journal so I can increase my awareness of what I’m thankful for and also hopefully act as an antidote for some of my selfishness.
c.) Reflect on and answer the following questions that a high school student asked me:
i.) How do I want my life to turn out?
ii.) Define, in writing, what a “strong man” is to me.
iii.) Define, in writing, what a “good father” is to me.
d.) Smile more and pay attention to the responses & reactions I get.
I hope some of my lessons and reflections added value to you and provided an environment for you to do your own reflection not only on my responses but also on some of the questions. Life’s too short to remain the same. Be the best version of you. What lessons can you learn and apply through the eyes of another culture?
