FH activates helping hands in Hispaniola

Hispaniola (MNN) — God’s Kingdom is full of “unexpected heroes.” In the Caribbean, they call themselves Sweat Hawgs.

This fall, the Sweat Hawgs are teaming up with Food for the Hungry (FH) and Project C.U.R.E. to help poverty-stricken communities on the island of Hispaniola.

“The medical infrastructure is really, really lacking [there], particularly out in the frontier zones of, the DR– which is in the western part–and Haiti, which is the eastern part,” explains FH volunteer Doug Geist.

Geist leads the Sweat Hawgs: a group of short-term missionaries, based in the U.S., that primarily focus on projects involving construction, manual labor, and a lot of sweat.

Helping Hispaniola

Hispaniola’s medical needs vary widely. From the chronic malnutrition of Haiti, to heart disease and diabetes in the Dominican Republic, one thing is certain across the board: Hispaniola’s lacking infrastructure and medical personnel can’t care for everyone without some serious help.

At the end of 2014, the Lord brought FH, Geist, and Project C.U.R.E. together to identify and assist Hispaniola communities with severe medical needs.

“We are going to provide hospital equipment and supplies to three communities: two in the Dominican Republic and one in Haiti,” explains Geist.

This summer, team members from each organization met with hospital leaders and doctors in Hispaniola to take stock of current capabilities and assess the greatest needs.

“Out of that assessment, we determined that three shipping containers were needed–one for each hospital,” Geist says.

Project C.U.R.E.– a group which collects and delivers donated medical supplies to developing nations worldwide– is putting together a final “packing list” based on the needs described at each hospital.

Using that list, Project C.U.R.E. will then fill each container with medical supplies from one of six U.S. warehouses. Geist says the containers will probably be on their way to Hispaniola in about three months.

Pray that as physical needs are met, doors open to share God’s Truth.

“All this happened over a period of six months. I mean, God has just provided step-by-step-by-step, all the way through, providing for this opportunity to better the health in God’s Kingdom in those areas,” shares Geist.

Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at how the Sweat Hawgs began and how your church can help further God’s Kingdom through FH.