Dominican Downloads – Do you know your name?

Last week Meredith and I were in the Dominican Republic on a fact finding trip. The purpose of the trip was to find ways that AtG could partner with Servants’ Heart Ministry which has three feeding programs and their mission is to present Christ and break the cycles of poverty. Breaking the cycles of poverty is what we do, so our goal was to find ways that AtG could work with Servants’ Heart to break the cycles of poverty in the Dominican Republic. We came away with some great ideas and will work towards providing hope and healing to those being served but we also came away with some life-changing experiences. The next few posts will be called the Dominican Downloads in which I relay some of the experiences and how that affects our understanding of life.

“The Dominican’s are cheating. They are bringing older boys to play in the little league world series. They doctor their birth certificates and cheat to win!!!” Baseball teams from third world countries stack their line-ups with older kids so that they can win. That has been the accusation for years and I have had no reason to believe that they this wasn’t true. Nearly every year there is an investigation into some kid who is bigger, stronger and faster than the other kids and we demand that justice be served.

Justice? Ha…what a joke. “The Dominicans are cheating.” That phrase almost angers me now. I have learned that there are things in the Dominican that don’t fit into my nicely stacked boxes. According to the United Nations World Food Program, over 50% of children in the Dominican struggle with chronic malnutrition and thousands of children die every day…and we’re worried about a kid being too old to play baseball.

Now I am not advocating cheating or playing older kids, but maybe it’s not that simple. Last week, when it came time to feed the kids, we started calling out names on the roll. Many of the children sat their dumbfounded and didn’t respond. We got to the end of the list and there were still several children waiting to get their food so we began to try and figure out who was who. Because AtG was having a Q & A session with the parents, many of them were present so we asked them “what is your child’s name?” I was blown away – mothers would look at us and say “I don’t know the name – I say come here.”

We began struggling to find out basic information about these kids. Some of the mothers had no idea. They couldn’t tell us their names, how old they were or even the MONTH they were born…”I remember it was hot.” That helps…its always hot in the Dominican. Can you imagine not knowing the basic information about yourself? No name, no birthday, no birth certificate? The worst part is, without a birth certificate, the child will never be able to go to school and they are destined to remain in poverty; another life lost in anonymity.

So how does a kid like this get into the World Series? Some may know their info and cheat, but others go to the courts and get a birth certificate based on what their parent can remember and suddenly a child who has not had a name or birthday is able to play on a world stage, but more importantly they able to go to school. They now have a chance.

For many of us, a part of who we are is wrapped into our names. My middle name is Walter – I was named after my grandfather who was an evangelist and incredible man of God who committed his entire life to spreading the gospel – I feel a responsibility that comes with that name. I recently went to a funeral where a tribute was made to the man’s name because is meant something to be a Morgan. Last spring I found out that the nickname Mary – which I had called Meredith for nearly 25 years, really bothered her. After 25 years I find out she doesn’t like the name? I have a new one which she is fine with…but it took time to get used to, but the point is, names mean things.

I’m not really sure that I have big point to make with this post…just a reality that life isn’t as clearly defined as I think it is. My understanding of the world has been challenged. Reality is that there are thousands of nameless and faceless children who will die of hunger today. How do we respond to that? How do you look that child in the eyes and tell them that Jesus loves them and is calling them by name? That should bother me more than an older kid playing in the Little League World Series. We may ask where is God in all of this, how could He let this happen? I think He may be sitting in heaven, looking down and asking us the same thing – where are you, how can you let this happen?