This trip was quite different from the rest. For most of a year we knew that Aschille's wife would need heart surgery. She went to the Dominican Republic in September (2023) to have a heart stent put in. Apparently this did not solve the problem. Now she received approval to go back to the DR to have 3 new valves installed. There was enough uncertainty about the cost of the surgery, the timing of the surgery, how to pay for the surgery, that I decided last minute to take a trip and surprise her at the hospital.
My daughter, Chelsie, who is in her second year of a Spanish program in Costa Rica, was the perfect travel partner to navigate the language barrier. A former employee of mine, Adrian, has family in Santo Domingo. They graciously received us and gave us their time to travel to Santiago.
In our 28 hours in the Dominican Republic we were also able to take in a baseball game!
The differences between Haiti and the DR were striking to me. It almost felt like I was in the States (except no-one spoke English).
We surprised Aschille's wife,at the house she was staying in, drove to the hospital and made a deposit so they would take her in to perform the surgery.
We saw the Lugo family tire business and returned to the airport. Thank you so much to the Lugo family and Chelsie for making this trip possible!!
Praise God for His continued hand of protection and blessing over the work of IOCH
(Instruments OF Christ Haiti)
