The Wheaton College Women's Basketball Team spent May 9-16 in the Dominican Republic partnering with GO Ministries and serving through construction projects, field day activities for children, assisting with a basketball clinic and playing two basketball games. Kyle Bradley, a 2009 Wheaton College alum, and his wife Dariana work for GO Ministries in the DR and led the trip. Below are reflections from team members during each day of the trip.

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Wednesday, May 10, 2017
 
Today was our first full day in the Dominican Republic, and the team and I were eager to work and explore. We traveled to a construction site in the morning where they were building an outside sitting area for the local Go Ministries church. Later in the day, we played our first basketball game against a professional team. We experienced a sense of unity between our teams despite the language and cultural barriers that clearly came from the love of the game. Afterwards, we headed back to the church where we stayed in Hato Del Yaque (just outside of Santiago) to meet the kids of the neighborhood. While we realized our Spanish was a little rustier than we thought, the kids didn't seem to mind as they just wanted us to be present and play with them.  Although at the end of the day we were exhausted and sweaty, we were encouraged in the way we have already begun to see the Lord's work and goodness in all we have experienced thus far.
 
-Maggie Dansdill
 

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Thursday, May 11, 2017
 
Thursday was an exhausting but uplifting day full of construction in the morning and then a field day with the kids at the church in Hato Del Yaque until dinner time. The construction at La Iglesia Central in Santiago was hard; it consisted of shoveling and clearing out a lot in the back, while another group of players moved dozens and dozens of ribar on to the roof and helped fasten the ribar down with wires. Through these different jobs, we were able to help with just a small part of the exciting expansion that this church is undergoing.
 
Thursday was also a special day because we were given the afternoon to play with the community of children at Hato Del Yaque. After working all morning at La Iglesia Central in different areas of construction, many of us were afraid we wouldn't have enough to give to these kids. But, the pure excitement that the children approached all of us with gave us our answer. These kids who spend their time at this church crave company, attention and love, and we couldn't have been more ready to be the hands and feet of Christ to these kids.
 
-Mel Bremhorst
 

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Friday, May 12, 2017
 
On Friday, we started the day with the same type of construction and then went to the nutrition center in "The Hole" to feed kids their lunch. "The Hole" is an old trash dump that has transformed into one of the toughest neighborhoods of Santiago. After leaving to go eat and take a tour of other GO Ministries facilities, we came back in the afternoon and played with the kids. Although from the outside "The Hole" seemed hopeless, the kids living there somehow found joy. Even though I came to serve them, their joy gave me hope as they reminded me that our joy comes from Christ and Christ alone. Not only that, but it was also a gentle reminder that our trust belongs in Christ, not in our broken world.
 
-Kristi Demski
 

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Saturday, May 13, 2017
 
The first thing we did this morning was get on a bus and head to Santiago to run a basketball clinic for young girls with Dariana. These girls accepted us unconditionally and looked up to us immediately. More importantly than helping them practice basketball skills, I felt like we were able to encourage them and tell them that they were strong and capable, contrary to many cultural messages they receive. Our team was able to show them an example of a group of women who love and encourage each other because of the love that Christ showed us.
 
It was a sharp contrast to the afternoon when we played the Dominican Republic U17 National Team. These girls have been given the opportunity to play basketball at the highest competitive level, but I wonder if they are learning that their identity is found in something much greater than athletics. I wondered what their role models were telling them. I realized that no matter what country or context I'm in, sports are a powerful avenue for telling girls their value lies only in Christ.
 
-Abby Dorman
 

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Sunday, May 14, 2017
 
The hard, emotionally long yet short week all came to an end on Sunday. In the morning, we attended the church service at our host church in Hato Del Yaque. We loved worshipping with the local members in attendance as we alternated singing worship songs in Spanish and English. After hearing the Pastor speak, we packed up to head out to watch Dariana's team play in the professional women's basketball league.
 
From there, we left to head to a resort. As crazy as it might sound, the resort was not something most of us looked forward to. After seeing all the broken places and getting attached to the communities, the last thing I wanted to do was act carefree at this over the top resort we were blessed to have to the chance to go to. Thankfully though, Kyle and Dariana knew the mixed emotions we would have and planned a debrief after a long day of traveling and being on the beach. At night, we all got together and just processed and talked about what we learned and how we were struggling. I found peace in Kyle's advice along with hearing others talk on their perspectives. Spending Sunday night and Monday morning at the resort gave us the platform and next steps we needed to head back to the states.
 
-Devin Kyler

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