March 21: Update from DR Mission Team

These are obviously serious and unimaginable times for all of us, and I wanted to give a quick update regarding La Romana, DR, and also on plans for our DR Mission Team:

• please watch the short video below with all updates and details

• please pray for so many of our DR Mission Team medical volunteers who are working on the front lines and sacrificing so much for the rest of us.

• our DR Mission Team Experience event, celebrating 30 years of the DRMT, has been rescheduled from April 4 to May 30. New deadlines for selling ads and collecting auction items will be announced as we reassess the Covid-19 situation and get past these couple of weeks of staying at home, isolation, etc.

• we are still praying for our summer trips to take place June 26 to July 11, pending what transpires over the next month or two. More details to follow.

• please pray for our friends and loved ones in the DR! They are also on mandatory shutdown and facing many serious health and financial challenges related to this crisis. Moises Sifren, the CEO of El Buen Samaritano Hospital, posted more details and it is shared below.

• to support the teachers and staff at the Joe Hartman School, we are sending money now from our sponsors ahead of schedule (usually delivered to the school in July during our trip) to help these faithful servants through this very difficult time.

Update from El Buen Samaritano Hospital and Maranatha Mission in La Romana, DR:

The coronavirus have changed the word, this includes our country, so far we have about 100 cases and five people who died from it. All of the cases are from people who came from overseas.

Our government declared, 25 day of a national emergency, starting on Tuesday the 17th of March, because of the coronavirus.

The situation in DR is serious , 90% of the businesses Bar restaurant will be close for this period of time.

So far only the public hospital who belong to the government are receiving the patient infected with coronavirus.

We hope most of all the Dominicans follow the Quarantine, if so this probably will get out of control.

We are doing our best to explain to people the danger of getting the coronavirus.

All of the hospitals in La Romana have a total of about 890 beds, if things get out of control and 1500 people get very sick, the private hospitals do not have enough beds to take care of all the patients, that’s why the quarantine it’s so important now.

The entire country do not have enough hospital beds to take care of patients if coronavirus get out of control.

For now things are under control because we do not have too many people infected and less than five people have died.

Our job now it’s preparing the hospital to receive patient with coronavirus if the government need us to do it.

Now we do not have the test of coronavirus and the adequate clothing for medical personnel to care for patients with Coronavirus.

But we are working with companies in Santo Domingo on getting the test for coronavirus and the adequate clothing for medical personnel to care for patients with Coronavirus.

Our responsibility and priority is:

1) Help our Government and the World to keep people safe not getting infected by coronavirus.

2) Have our Hospital ready to admit; take care of patients with coronavirus.

3) Keep our medical personnel, staff and visitors safe why taking care of the patient with coronavirus.

DR are praying because we know God have control of everything , praying for God mercy for the whole world, so we hope the coronavirus will be over soon.

Moises.