September 2022 Dominican Republic
This first trip of September 2022 into the Dominican Republic was a true blessing. God manifested me using my mouth much more than my hands! Once again, I learned to rely on him rather than myself.
Matthew 21:22
To explain how mind blowing this trip was I have to describe to you where I was currently in my life....
The summer from hell
I took a trip of a lifetime to Zambia. We Did you miss my journaling? Well, I worked for 2 weeks while in Zambia. We were audited. The week before I was supposed to be gone the clinics were closed. We had to gut everything and throw away all the old items to create new inventory and a formulary. Lots of dental items no longer if any value. It was deflating. I felt defeated. Things were out of my control.
We returned to catch up on all the madness. Was here 2 weeks and then my uncle died within 24 hours of sepsis. It has been a rough road these last 3 months. The next day Kaylee went to college out of state. Don’t know if I really felt sad that she was gone. I was sad because my uncle died. I didn’t really get to grieve her leaving. She is having a blast. She goes thru her up and down too.
What I thought was this was going to be a mission trip with my husband and I. It is the first trip without Kaylee. On the inside I didn’t want to go by myself. God knew differently. Eugene pulled out of the trip 3 days before we were supposed to leave. He couldn’t help it. I still don’t know why it is this way but Gods will be done.
FLEXIBILITY
I went around prior to this trip telling everyone to be flexible. I was happy as I could be with the preparations; God has provided everything. We were on pause for mission trips to Haiti. (2 trips canceled). We are still on pause for that nation. Please continue to pray for them. God has made a way for us to still treat Haitians but this time in the Dominican. All of the supplies materials and donations that we left in Haiti are still there. Sterilization pot, instruments, supplies we (people) has it all figured out but God said no for now. May heart is grieved about that but as always God provides.
God provides
Guess what? God provided this trip and so much more such that we are lacking nothing. Because of the work done in Haiti, and the wonderful people I served with; things were already in place. The inventory list, the triage questions, the how to guide, medications list and what we needed. Suitcases that had been packed and unpacked. Lol.
I thought I was lacking instruments. I absolutely was not. The previous suitcases had extraction instruments. My job was required to get rid of older equipment and some brand new supplies. My heart grieved over that in the summer. However, all things work to the good of them who serve the Lord. We had more than enough of what was discarded to make up bags for restorative procedures and extraction items. I always bring handpieces home so we had those. A few trips back a friend raised money for dental chairs. So we no longer had to put together the blue boxes that were unstable. A dental cart with compressor in a suitcase had already been donated from previous trips. We had cavitrons, curing lights. The list goes on and on.
I was Fully funded before we even started this trip. This was a result of your generosity. Thank you for allowing the lord to use you. I am actually over funded. God willing I will be able to return on the next trip in March of 23.
Doctor stool (USE IT!)
My friend Kelly reminded me before I went that I have an issue. I don’t sit down on the mission field. Im like a bull in a glass house . No one wants to leave any stone unturned or undone. My friend and leader AARON looked at the chair on the first day. He said, “You are not using that chair today are you?” I was using it as an equipment rest. Lol. Quickly I was warned…. Ok ok ok. Y’all funded it and I used it. I kept my tail in that seat and worked. No swollen feet for me the entire trip Praise the Lord. Thankful for that gift.
My hands however are swollen today. Thank God they didn’t swell like this prior to being home. Please keep me in prayer. My heart is happy. More on the trip tomorrow. If you want to help for the next trip the wish list has been updated and is in my bio.
Autoclave
The autoclave was given as a blessing from an office I cover in. It was given to me the week we left. I didn’t understand why but I was so excited to receive the precious gift. I’m thinking Lord; I cant fly that back and forth. Turns out a missionary couple here in the DR (one who happens to be a dentist) has been praying to start a dental and medical clinic. I had the opportunity to meet her before we flew out the morning before we left. After speaking with her today I’m certain she prayed for the autoclave and that’s why it was given.
Oh and wait… there is more… the autoclave is in perfect shape. It was only leaking and another branch of the vine knew exactly how to fix it with a replacement part. This all happened within the last 48 hours of us leaving. The team made a box for the autoclave. I’m going to attach a picture. All of it worked wonderfully just as God said. It was meant to be. A true blessing it was and will be. (Now I won’t say some instrument bags didn’t get fried in the process but after a few test runs we were cooking!
Our dentist friend in the DR allowed us to leave other items we need to leave. We left the autoclave and an inventory the same inventory it took us 3 trips to build in Haiti has already been restored in 1 trip! As I stated earlier, nothing grieved me more about the situation in Haiti than leaving equipment that no one can use. God provided a dentist in the DR that can use the equipment while we are not there. Now if it’s meant , it will be and it’s all Because of you all allowing God to use you. We were able to fly it one way at half price!!! Note to self, the next time you need to fly and autoclave leave it open so people can see inside it. TSA was very interested in it in both the USA and the DR. The
Clap when you land
Arriving in the DR was a smooth flight. Guess who left her meds on the table at home for flying. Just me and the team and Jesus this time. I had trouble sleeping the night before. So many things were rushing thru my mind. Who am I going to room with? Will I sit on the plane by myself? What challenges will we face? Is everyone who is left going yo be able to go? Is it going be a tropical storm or a hurricane? How are we going to go this Lord? Very similar to the way I question my life and try and plan things. Boy do I get upset when things don’t go to plan.
I said goodbye to the family about 3 am on last Saturday morning. I shed a tear but I was happy. I was still anticipating that my feet may not touch the ground in the DR. I did not want to build up an expectation and God say no.
Well when the wheels touched down on the tarmac in Santiago, the entire plane started clapping. It was as if we had won a national soccer game. Then I remembered the book Clap when you land. It is a book about a flight that did not land in the DR as expected some years ago. The people on the plane were clapping and thankful. They did not take the landing for granted. Don’t we take it for granted here in USA. What else do
we assume or take for granted here? My list is long, my heart is light and full. I’m thankful for Gods covering and salvation.
Lee
During the layover in Miami, I would finally get to meet my new friend Lee. Lee is a servant of the Lord with an amazing gift of bringing people together and speaking and writing. I felt like I was meeting a super star. She has authored books and is a speaker nationally. She works for live global. The partners and friend we met during this trip would not have been possible if Lee and Alicia were not obedient to the Lord. God will always work it out. God sees our hearts he had worked this entire thing out before we even knew about it.
Jonathan
Wouldn’t you know it the entire time I was sitting on the tarmac I was trying to reset my password for the smiles4jesus Facebook page and Instagram page. I wanted to be able to update you all and journal daily and post. I posted as much as I could but as I sit here on the plane for the return back my head is clear and I can let it all flow on this notepad in my phone. Lol. I’m not a techy person, me and computers do not get along. ….. and that brings me to Jonathan.
Is another new friend from live global who has a heart for Jesus. We hit it off from the start. He actually took pictures, and filmed the entire trip. IT is his God given gift and he is using it for the Lord. He is on the mission field full time. Upon our initial meeting I instantly wanted to know how he was on the mission field full time. He later took the time to explain that all friends of live global raise their funds for mission and living. I’m going to miss my new friends but my heart is full knowing they are on the mission field for Jesus. I pray that God willing our paths will cross again.
Saturday we arrived, went thru TSA which was an adventure within itself. Try communicating with the little Spanish we have to say this is an autoclave. 17 bags, a guitar and Jesus! Alicia looked at me and said friend we are here. I. Could. Not. Believe. It.
Let’s Go Jesus!
We went to the grocery store; imagine a Target or a Wal mart. It had everything. We thought people would be stocking up on water or non perishables but they were not. The power load sheds and it happens when you least expect it. All goods are in smaller quantities and just a little more expensive. We were only there for 6 days but we all must of been hungry. Never go shopping hungry. I did get a chocolate Milka bar which was excellent. By the time we left there it was getting dark. Around the mountain for 2 hours we went. It was a roller coaster at night. Aaron and Lee are excellent drivers by the way. They handled the roads like champs. I was looking down and started to get whoozy and I do not get car sick. There were bikes an motorcycle everywhere. I was grateful to be in the atmosphere.
We stayed in Tangerine. We got checked in it was already later in the evening or at least it felt like it. Traveling since 3 am and arriving later at night is not for the faint at heart. Church was the next day and we would start meeting new friends and scoping out space etc.
Sunday
Uncle Akalema (Sunday morning)
Wouldn’t you know that Sunday morning I was up early like a kid in the candy store. I could not wait to see how God was going to move. I was going to be on time to breakfast! I was super early. Had read my Bible study for the day I was ready… and then I said let me study my communication Spanish. So I grabbed one of two books I packed out of my backpack. I had the opportunity to find my old Spanish books in the side room when cleaning out my home right before I left.
I speak baby Spanish. I have learned dental words over the years. I took classes all the way to Spanish 5. I understand it a lot better than I can speak it. I have not practiced my conjugations as I should. So I’m flipping thru the book and the handwriting looks familiar. I’m like this looks like my uncles handwriting but this can’t be. Well, I flipped the page and in it was a booklet. Some written letters dated from 1997 where a test was being taken. There it was clear as day. AKALEMA PHERRIBO.
My uncle that died on august 11th, 2022 of this year was showing up in the DR. I still miss my uncle. I was late to breakfast. I closed the book and I cried my eyes out. My eyes were red, my head was hurting. everyone could tell something was wrong. I couldn’t get the words out. Grief comes in waves but I have the peace of the Lord. Lee looks at me as we are sitting at breakfast and says “is there anything I can do to help you?” I told her to just pray. She did. I did. I cried some more and then the tears stopped for that day.
Same God, Same praise, one heart
Church was at Pastor Charlie’s. We arrived we sat among the people and listened to awesome praise. I do believe it was in Creole and then in Spanish as well. I sat to a young lady who went to the church.
Then our leader AARON AND ALICIA got up to lead us in worship prior to the message. The first song Aaron played and Alicia sang they knew in their own languages. We all were singing in our own language. We knew we were connected in worship. I remember the first time this happened in Haiti with them. I thought I wouldn’t ever witness it again but I have been blessed to witness it twice. Worship was awesome in 3 languages. I can’t wait to do it again.
Lee got up and talked about our gifts and how we should edify them to glorify God. She introduced us to the church. Jonathan got up and delivered the word and man did he ever! The entire service from beginning to end just aligned. We all know this was the Holy Spirit. When I asked later if they had talked prior they said no.
After church the young lady I was sitting beside put her hand out to me. I tried my best to communicate. She spoke creole. All I could say was I love you. I know she felt my heart.
We prepped that night to go and work at pastor Charlie’s on Monday. We were trying to seek an answer on whether or not we should try to go out. Hearts were willing and ready. Aaron went to get his guitar so we could worship and came back with a note. Advising we should not go out from our hotel rooms until 10 am. Well we prayed for an answer and we got one. It wasn’t what anyone wanted. I was bummed. But we were all open to leaving after 10am on Monday.
Hurricane Fiona
Monday blues
Fiona go away.
Rain rain go away. Wind go away. We were delayed until 10am. We packed our lunches has awesome fellowship over coffee that morning. I came down ready to go except the storm was causing another delay.
Well early that morning, the power cut out twice. I woke up. I looked out over the balcony it appeared to be raining but not bad. Then I got up to use the bathroom and opened the bathroom window. It was WIND AND RAIN. Lauria and I were still ready. We took all of our stuff down to the cafeteria ready to load up. We walk up and everyone is standing there. No one wants to say what we all know on the inside. At first, I thought we were still talking about only a delay. Aaron was like Katrina this isn’t the worst of it. This storm is moving slow….. ok God. We gonna sit right here. The ocean came all the way up we saw no more beach. The trees were swaying. We were safe. I was thankful. But what about our friends and their homes? God took care of them too as he always has and will do when we leave.
At the hotel we stay until tomorrow morning. 1 day at one site and then we have to travel to another site. A whole day short. I am sad but God is in control of all things.
Ok God but this cuts one day off our entire mission trip. Sad face and poked out lip from me. Looking at the wind and the rain. We all gathered together throughout the day. We got to talk and know each other better as a team. We were all able to learn about one another. That is what God wanted and i am so grateful for that time.
Tuesday morning
Only one day. We only had 1 day at Pastor Charlie’s church. We only agreed to see 30 patients per day. As a team we were led to get up early. Go earlier and set up for clinic (knowing we would have to tear it all down and do it again in a different space the next day). Our items had not yet come out of the bags. We had to sort and then set up. A team of 7; only 2 who work in the dental field full time. God provided.
Y’all!!! Do you remember when I went to haiti the first time with me and kaylee with kids sitting on stacked books in chairs? She was my assistant then with no experience. If God could do it then I had no doubt he would do it again. He did just that and amplified it. EVERY. PERSON. ON THE. TEAM. WAS A DENTAL EXPERT. I feel led to talk about each one of them.
Lauria she’s my side kick; my work spouse. I always come back from these trips telling her she should go. She always said she would go but timing just wasn’t right. Well this trip came up quickly. I mentioned it to her and all of a sudden it was time. Are you serious? Yes ! In reality, Lauria is a ball of sunshine. She is full
If so much energy. Aaron and Alicia were sooo open to her going; she joined after our tickets were purchased. It was a God thing. I could not wait to see how this trip was going to change her. She is already so centered and balanced. Well! We have one more experience to add to our adventures. god is so good! She was a rock star. You will hear more about her later.
Aaron, Teresa, Tayloir, Alicia, Lee they all helped with dental. Johnathon captured all of this on FILM! I have never liked to be in front of a camera but there were moments I would never see or only experience once. He is truly blessed with his gift. They all put on gloves at some point to help assist. They set up; turned over chairs; after the first few patients Jeremy and Tayloir knew what I needed. Who does that in less than 4 hours? It is a process and they rocked it!!!
Aaron and Jeremy were my sterilization techs. Joe gave them a crash course on the autoclave. I gave them a crash course on our instrument soak process. Yes some bags were a flavor of crispy the first load but they did it yall and we survived. No one was harmed during the process. The second and third day they were professionals at it. I LOVE THEM ALL SO MUCH! I tried to explain that they don’t realize how much they did considering that they are not in the dental field every day. I was able to see God work thru them in processes that take months for people to learn sometimes. You can’t tell me God isn’t real.
Teresa, Tayloir and Daphney ( a second year Med student) ran triage and medication management. They also attended to ailments that your donations for medications provided.
Clinic on Tuesday
God showed up and showed out. I will praise the outcome. He allowed us 2 days of work in 1 day. Everything was moving soooo fast. Each person played their own part. Praises 40 patients served…
Now, I had no clue that would be the outcome. Try and follow this…..We just kept working thru the bumps. First bump: we arrived. Ground too wet so we walked all the equipment in. All 17 bags, but when the vine works together that was only about 2 bags a piece.
Bump 2: No power. No worries; we had no clue if the power would come on. Set it all up anyway! We have head lights. We will do what we can.
Power came on after about 45 mins and we took an hour to set up. Great Lord let’s get to work. Power would come in and go out intermittently. That also meant humidity and no air movement.
Bump 3: the dental cart. The one we paid extra money to get there; was not turning on. Lauria had spotted fuses. The fuse had blown in transport. ( note to self: get Joe to check the unit it’s beat up pretty bad)
Aaron and Jeremy tried…. They changed the fuse. The machine turned on; but everything was really low. Aaron says turn the lights out. It does pick up but not strong enough to run anything. (Katrina is sweating at this point!) Aaron says put it to the side maybe it just needs to build pressure. So I chose to move on. If God is saying no; don’t question it just move on. Be still and know that I am God.
Cavitron we can only find one foot pedal. Jeremy to the rescue. Him and Aaron have a radar. I would ask for something they would find it. I even asked Aaron to look thru tons of burs for one in particular and he found them! These things are no small feats. I needed to keep working. God showed it to them and we kept going.
Kids… there were kids at the church. Oral hygiene instructions. The story of God yea! Examine the teeth and put on Fluoride.
Next up….adults. Jeremy got one cavitron working. Lauria started her day and I started with extractions. Y’all know the story about my wrists and extractions…. Well guess what God allowed alot of…extractions. Not just any extractions but wisdom teeth on constricted jaw lines. This means there is no space for the roots to drop down. Go Jesus! I can do those but I don’t do those anymore… or so I thought. Ok God I see you. You are working now. In the middle of an extraction and the dental cart comes on! Jeremy and Aaron had prayed the machine worked twice. They promise they didn’t do anything other than pray. I see 2 patients for restorative. The rest extractions or cleanings. God was faithful. Coincidentally we can’t plug everything in at one time. So we had to chose what to plug in but once everything else stopped working it didn’t matter.
Equipment failure. The only piece of equipment we had that did not fail this week was one cavitron and our hands and mouths. Everything else was by hand. We worked a 10-12 hour day by the time it was all over.
Equipment failure. God never fails. I was frustrated. Maybe it wasn’t meant to do what I thought we should do. Pivot and keep going…. We were exhausted but happy and full. We debrief and decided to be more intentional about the gospel since we were moving so fast trying to make up for the lost day.
Wednesday morning 3am
Uh oh. Hands throbbing. Aching so bad that they woke me up out of my sleep. Look at my knuckles they are swollen. Large gloves for the rest of the trip. I asked for prayer. I asked for scripture from you for encouragement. Thank you for that.
migraine
The dreaded migraine was approaching I could feel it. Took medicine for the migraine. Could not find any ibuprofen or Tylenol.
My hands were hurting so badly that I couldn’t go back to sleep. I pray. Ok God. Let’s read the word.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Finally fell asleep only to wake up the next morning and it’s worse. Now my knee wants to hurt in the back where I threw it out of joint. I’m devastated. What use am I without my gift? Eugene and Kelly Greene are going to be mad. I have overdone myself, but my feet aren’t swollen. What is really going on?
I go to breakfast. I eat. Jeremy brings me medicine. I’m moving my hands opening and closing them to get blood flow. They are aching like I over exercised or something. I’m trying. It’s not kicking in. I pray. I grabbed my items; ready to go to work.
We rode to the new site. We need to set up. That’s great surely these meds will kick in by then. They don’t want to bend without hurting. The joints are hurting. For those of you who know me; you know my back hurts all the time. My hands were hurting sooo bad that my back felt great.
We get to the site by driving thru the country side. We pass a batey filled with Haitian people. We take a bumpy slide up the mountainside and we land in the community of Pastor Pedro.
We are welcomed with open arms and allowed to use their clinic. They have power, they have fans, separate rooms. Ok God. Let’s go! But wait my hands are still hurting. Ok Katrina let’s worship. I put the worship music on; the first song that comes on is Breathe. Well, I was breathing praising and crying all at the same time. The Holy Spirit was in the room. That was the only way I was comforted. I had to settle knowing that I was not going to do anything that day without him allowing it.
Oral health care is very important but expensive. Needless to say; we are blessed here in the United States even if you think you don’t have everything you need.
The teeth I saw had little to nothing to grab on to. They were all the same way literally. A few extractions were a yes; there were more no’s than yes’. This meant I had to manually clean teeth. More use of my hands. I was able to talk with each patient and share the story of the gospel. I had no choice and I had lots of time. We got to talk back and forth about how to share the story. My hands were not moving fast at all. I got to talk to non believers. I got to talk to a patient who believed that he had to be perfect before accepting Christ. I felt bad because I wasn’t able to use my gift of hands. God allowed me to use my mouth and my hands to praise and talk about him all day. I love these people in the Dominican. God loves us. His greatest gift was sending his son; nothing compares to that.
We tried the dental cart again. It didn’t work. I wanted it to work; I willed it to work. It did not. I almost twisted all the knobs off and threw it into the wall. I was frustrated. (Transparency).
We saw patients. Shared the gospel. We also went to Pastor Pedro’s home. It was a blessing. Thank you to those who provided gifts from the wish list. They were well received with lots of laughter and joy!
When we debriefed that night turns out the story and the projector was not working well. I had no clue. I was in the first room. God used me to share the word and gods love that day (aching fingers and all). Jeremy and teresa made me eat and drink and take meds. I was focused on praise and patients.
Thursday
The last day
We stopped at Pastor Predestins store. He has it in the DR and uses the funds to help sustain his orphanage in Haiti. What an awesome concept. God is really working here.
My hands were still aching. Aaron tried the dental unit at the hotel turns out it works. We need a generator to pull enough power. Well, don’t even take it to the field leave it here at the hotel. Aaron says it was whizzing everywhere ….lol. Aaron says do you think we should buy one today? Absolutely not. If God wanted us to have one we would of figured it out before today. Lesson learned let’s focus on that next time and let’s do what we can do this time. I am done with that unit for this trip. Lol.
We felt it important to leave the word of God and also some oral hygiene prevention. So as soon as we arrive everyone is on the porch. Lauria grabs a translator and starts teaching oral hygiene to everyone.
First Lady Dorca comes and asks me in Spanish if we can pray. She said it’s important to have a clean mouth but we also need clean hearts for the day. I say by all means. Now, what I did not realize at the time was that she wasn’t asking if she could pray. She was asking me to pray after Lauria finished. So that’s what we did. I prayed openly with a translator . In front of all those people. Ok God I see you cause that is definitely out of my element.
I also got on camera y’all! On an open mic to talk about mission work. Again, something I don’t like to do but felt compelled and totally comfortable doing. God is just that great. I exposed my weakness on camera…. I can’t wait to see it.
Jeremy is at it again… he knows today is the last day. He starts sorting all of his hard sterilization work and then we start categorizing what stays what leaves etc. teresa did the same thing. Slowly he packed all day long.
I’m moving thru patients. Took my lunch and my chest starts throbbing. Right in the center. I’m at rest. My chest is throbbing. It’s becoming more and more frequent. I am on a mountainside doing your will Jesus. Lord help! Teresa walks in. Teresa take my blood pressure. First reading 150 something/ 110. Uh. Oh. Teresa takes it again in the other arm bottom number is 107 then eventually 101.
Teresa calls it. Katrina you need to come with me right now. Ok; maybe it will stop. Nope. Kept throbbing. I laid on the table. Fans blowing. Teresa had me lay for 20 mins. Team members rally around me and pray. I’m feeling horrible y’all. Blood pressure is still high. I hear First Lady dorca outside telling the people I’m sick. Telling them to pray and what to pray for specifically. She comes into the room. She places her hand on my head and on my chest and she is praying in the spirit. I understand what she is saying. I feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. Teresa takes my blood pressure and it’s lower than it has been in years. I say ok… Teresa says sit up and let me take it. It raises slightly but not much. Teresa makes me stand up… the same and it’s a little higher but low enough where I can try to work. I know I should not of been shocked but God did that.
I honestly did not know if I was checking out but I knew I was in Gods will and serving him. A lot of stuff goes thru your mind on a mountainside with your team and you don’t know if you are going out or not.
Before I leave First Lady Dorca tells me she could not sleep the night before. She had been praying against an evil presence. She had been praying for our protection. She had told Pastor Pedro and also been praying that morning as well. I had said the opening prayer for the clinic that day. It was going well. We were being attacked by the enemy. She also tells the testimony again at the end of the day when we go to the church.
I will never forget First Lady Dorca on the mountainside praying for me. I have only had one other experience like this. That was my first time in Haiti. God hears prayer. He is all knowing and all powerful.
I saw more patients that afternoon and I did some extractions with the help of God. Nobody but him. My hands hurt. My chest does not hurt. Imagine that.
God is great. He always does his part now I need to mine. Already exercising, gonna drop some pounds. No worries. I have diastolic hypertension and I’m going to the doctor again. I have had images of my heart I will do that again.
This trip God has worked on my patience, my endurance and my ability to wait on him. The flesh is weak but God moves in weakness. He’s a comforter in sadness. I can’t move until he says so. It’s good to have a plan but I need to be willing to totally ditch the plan. Mission trips empower the people that are on the ground to keep running for Jesus. It was a pleasure to serve this week. I thank God for the opportunity. Mission trips are for people that want to see living word without the cloudiness of business and first world issues. I did not concentrate on any first class issues while in Dominican Republic. You should consider it if you have not. There are many ways to participate in mission trips. Some people don’t feel called to go.
We had Haitian translators. It was awesome to see them translate from English to Spanish and then to creole. 3 translations so everyone could understand. I was mostly with Elmond, Elson and Jean. Jean was quite the character. He used to live in the Bronx. Elmond has older children and grandchildren. He is also a pastor. It was a pleasure to meet them. God willing I would love to see them again.
Generator at the door.
Do y’all know the last day; during the last hours of clinic on the last day of clinic….a generator was at the back door. Drop the mic. God is everything.
Do you want to help? Please consider purchasing from our wish list to help us on the March trip. Want to go? We have several mission trips at church in 2023 visit our missions link @crosslinkcares.org
