Dispatches: Tuesday, March 13

There have been obstacles seemingly every day of late for our team. “Satan just keeps throwing darts,” Dr. Steve said as we endured today’s roadblock — trouble with Dominican customs.

“Is God putting us to the test?” our Haitian missionary Miguel asked after we were reunited at the Santo Domingo airport. “No. God knows we are here to do good.”

And so does the enemy.

It took us longer to clear customs (5 ½ hours) than it took to fly from New York City to Santo Domingo (3 ½ hours). Customs officials went through our 13 duffel bags, nine of which contained medical supplies for the six days of clinics we will hold in Malasi, Haiti. They claimed to be looking for outdated medicines, but then threw down a paperwork gauntlet that took hours to clear.

We could have nearly driven to the Dominican border town of Jimani in the time we were delayed. Instead, we had a long evening drive to the town in which Miguel lives in a Haitian community.

Next stop: Haiti. But we are certain to face more “sleeping policemen,” as speed bumps are called here, on the road to the villages in which we are ministering.

Dominican customs officials opening duffels containing medicine.