Big Hope Ministries is in the process of raising funds to help support the Buen Samaritan Clinic in Batey 7 in the Dominican Republic. We began this campaign with the goal to raise $150,000 to help with the upkeep of the clinic, salaries for the clinic staff, medicines, and for one US staff person.
Main St. UMC has been deeply involved in loving and serving others in may different ways for many years. Recently the Outreach Committee made the decision to be a partner in a medical outreach ministry in the Dominican Republic. The Good Samaritan Clinic was started many years ago by the Western North Carolina Conference of the UMC. During Covid it was forced to shut down. The clinic has now been re-opened one year and work teams and medical teams are going regularly to supplement the work of a local doctor and nurse that work serving some 5,000 people in a very poor and underserved area.
A medical team in January 2024 saw 720 patients at the clinic and in other villages. A team in February saw 550 patients and dispensed over 1500 prescriptions. Surgeries were also performed. Other teams will be going throughout the year and there are opportunities for people to go on these teams whether they are medical professionals or not. We are currently working on getting Babatunde, our Main St. sponsored doctor in training from Kenya, on a medical team to give him medical experience.
Our prayer is to open this clinic again and provide Christ-centered medical help to more than 10,000 people that are within walking distance. The clinic is the only medical care available for the people living in this region. The Dominicans that reside nearby cannot afford to go into the city for medical care. This clinic will also care for women, children, adolescent girls, and pregnant and lactating mothers. Through the clinic we will provide water, sanitation, and hygiene education (WASH).
The Buen Samaritan Clinic is located in the center of Batey 7 which is home to approximately 5,000 people and shares the grounds with a church which is the focal point for making this clinic successful. We hope to be able to provide medical and the gospel through the church’s use.
Our prayer is that you would join us on this campaign to pledge one dollar a day for 365 days to equal a donation of $365. We are thankful for each of you and your support and for helping spread the word about how God will work through this ministry in the Dominican Republic. We aim to reach our goal of $150,000 by June 2023. We pray that each of you will help us attain this goal.
God Bless!
-John & Donna Bearden
Founders of BIG HOPE Ministries
Donations may be mailed to:
BIG HOPE MINISTRIES
411 South Liberty Street
Waynesboro, GA 30830
GOOD SAMARITAN CLINIC
Jesus said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth,” (Acts 1:8, NIV). Main St. UMC has an opportunity to be a witness of God’s love and power and healing in a very poor part of the world. Thirty years ago, the Western NC Conference of the United Methodist Church built and sponsored a medical clinic in a village in the Dominican Republic that had no running water, electricity or medical care.
The Good Samaritan Clinic has served that village and surrounding villages faithfully. It has also been the center hosting medical mission teams from around our conference. Unfortunately, the clinic closed during the pandemic and because of abandonment and age it has needed a lot of repair to reopen. Main St. is partnering with Wesley Memorial UMC in High Point and other churches to help restore electricity and replace the water system. The water also serves residents in the village. The work has been extensive, but is almost complete. The Outreach Committee from Main St. is pleased that money collected from the Jubilee Fund connected to the Building Campaign was able to assist in this project. Opportunities for individuals to go on mission teams to this area will soon be available.
