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The VandeLinde Family
Ryan, Erin, Micah, Josiah
& Analise
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Brisas del Mar:
Medically Making a Difference
Brisas del Mar is a neighborhood located just outside the city of La Romana in the eastern part of the Dominican Republic. It has become a popular place to live for families with
limitedfinancial resources due to the “country-style” living, affordable lots of land and very economic houses/apartments for rent. Therefore, thousands of Dominicans and Haitians have made Brisas del Mar their home.
However, Brisas del Mar is not the ideal neighborhood to live in. The roads are all unpaved and have large potholes, making
transportation very difficult. There is no running
water throughout the neighborhood and electricity comes and goes as it wishes. Most of the houses are made of plywood and pieces of tin and have concrete or dirt floors. Needless to say, the people of Brisas del Mar live very
modestly. These living conditions are certainly not ideal and make life in Brisas del Mar very difficult.
Several years ago God introduced EDCM to a group of Christian Americans from South Carolina that had a heart for the people of Brisas del Mar. They had already taken numerous short-term mission trips to this neighborhood and had begun offering much needed medical care when possible. However, this great group of Americans wanted to make a bigger difference and had a vision to offer good, affordable and consistent medical care to the great people of Brisas del Mar. The group also wanted to do all of this in the name of Jesus Christ and begin using this medical care as an evangelistic outreach.
the great group of South Caroliners decided to partner with EDCM to help fulfill this great vision. One
of the first steps we made was to hire Euri Fabian Cordero to be the lead doctor/minister of this new ministry. Euri is
a
disciple of the La Romana Christian Church and has been working with EDCM since 2004.
We have watched Euri mature physically, emotionally and spiritually throughout the years all the way through medical school where he received his degree to practice medicine in the Dominican Republic. Euri has a great heart for the Lord and for medicine, which is why he was the natural choice for this position.
Since July 2016, Euri has been working hard alongside Fatima Altagracia, a registered nurse, to provide quality and consistent medical care to the people of Brisas del Mar. Dividing the large neighborhood into four zones, Fatima personally visits over 70 patients regularly in their homes, providing all the necessary medicines free of charge. Many of the patients have diabetes and require insulin or other medicines to maintain their blood sugar. Due to the poor living conditions, many skin problems are seen, diagnosed and healed.
Euri and Fatima have an ongoing list of patients that need surgery and have partnered with the Buen Samaritano Hosiptal, which offers these surgeries several times a year for a very affordable cost. Also, the great group of Americans from South Carolina visit Brisas del Mar several times of year taking with them doctors, dentists, pharmacists, dermatologists, ophthalmologists, etc..and holding an Operativo Medico, which is a one week intensive Medical Outreach. During these weeks, the American team sees dozens (in not hundreds) of patients and as a chance to preach the gospel of Jesus to each and every person that enters the doors.
We praise God for the great people from South Carolina for the vision they had for the neighborhood of Brisas del Mar. We thank God for providing Euri and Fatima, who have a passion to provide good, quality medical care to these great people. And we thank God that EDCM has the opportunity to partner with so many different people in order to make a difference in a place that just needs a little bit of help.
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Website & Facebook
Check out our website and follow us on Facebook.
Facebook: Eastern Dominican Christian Mission
Twitter: #EDCMmissions
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Contact Information
Ryan & Erin VandeLinde
Email: ryanvandelinde(at)hotmail.com
Cell: 1-809-707-3069
1-540-798-7865
Mail and Donations to:
Eastern Dominican Christian Mission
PO Box 20136
Roanoke, VA 24018
*for all financial donations
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Micah’s Minute
This is my favorite picture from our vacation. Study the license plate closely….enough said.
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