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DAVID E. BOHNERT
UMCONNECTION CORRESPONDENT

'A life-changing experience.'

That?s the way Steve Hull describes the profound effects on the participants in a Volunteers in Mission trip.

Hull, a member of Westminster UMC, is founder and director of The Least of These Ministries (TLTM). He takes several ecumenical work teams each year to the Dominican Republic, a country on the northeastern side of the Caribbean, to do construction work in villages known as bateys, where Haitian harvesters live in some of the worst poverty imaginable.

The Haitians were brought to the Dominican Republic as indentured servants. They gained their freedom four years ago, but they have very little work and virtually no means to raise money for food and other basic necessities.

Providing a weekly meal of rice and beans for 5,000 people is a continuing ministry, said Hull.

'The Lord has blessed the ministries,' Hull said. 'Every time we have to buy food, the money is there. The Lord takes care of that.'

Five United Methodist churches were represented in the work teams who served in January this year.

The work teams built houses, schools and latrines to improve sanitary conditions. TLTM uses local contractors and labor whenever possible, but there is always plenty for VIM teams to do.

Two years ago, teams started working on a partially built church. The January VIM teams worked on the church, which is now about 95 percent complete, Hull said.

Building spiritual leadership is a challenge, he said, since many of the pastors don?t read or write. TLTM has set up a teaching program to train pastors and hopes eventually to have a missionary live there in an apartment.

Franklin Elize, a Haitian, administers TLTM locally. He learned English and now serves as an interpreter for medical teams and others as well as administrator of the program.

Even though the VIM team members pay $1,200 each for a mission trip, Hull said he sometimes has to organize additional teams to accommodate those who want to go. Another trip is scheduled for July 8-16.

Across the Caribbean, far from the Dominican Republic, is Camoapa, Nicaragua. The Rev. Ray Keene, pastor of William Watters Memorial UMC in Jarrettsville, was part of a VIM trip there last January. They assessed progress on current projects and built latrines to improve sanitary conditions.

'The biggest benefit is meeting the people, developing relationships and finding out that they are just like us,' Keene said. 'Our local people, in some ways, are more foreign to us than the people in Nicaragua who understand what a work ethic is,' he said.

It?s not necessary to know Spanish in order to serve on a VIM team, Keene added. Nicaraguan hosts are fluent in English and accompany the teams.

Southeast of the Dominican Republic is Puerto Rico, where Henry Funk, his wife, Nancy Funk, members of Avon Zion UMC, in Pennsylvania, and Jay Mueller, a member of Chiques UMC in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, lead VIM teams to Marmeyes, Jayuya, Puerto Rico. 'This is the 24th year we have taken a VIM team to Puerto Rico,' Nancy Funk said.

There, the teams work at Camp Corson, a 200-bed children?s camp and retreat center, and Casa Betsan, a nursing home established by United Methodist Women.

The team served more than 500 people and animals including 189 medical patients, 171 dental patients, 114 dogs and cats, and 27 hairdresser appointments. Various people and pharmacies donated medicines and supplies, Funk said.

'We make an effort to have persons immersed in the culture,' Nancy Funk said. 'We hire Puerto Rican cooks, visit schools, farms, homes and churches, and do some sight seeing. It is important for team members to understand the Puerto Rican people and to discover that we do indeed live in a world of ?happy differences.?'

'The value of this mission cannot be measured in dollars,' She added. 'The Christian friends we have gained by living, working and worshiping with them is beyond calculation. We now understand even better that United Methodism is universal, that we all live under the same sun.'

SIDEBAR:
Are you a VIM member?

If you have served on a Volunteers in Mission team, send an e-mail with your name and local church to A list is being created for display, to show how conference members serve in Christ?s name.

MAKE THE CONNECTION:
For a better understanding of the scope of VIM, visit the Web site of Volunteers in Mission for the Northeastern Jurisdiction, UMC: http://www.gbgm-umc.org/umvim-nej/

For a look at the work of The Least of These Ministries, visit http://www.tlotm.org/index.php?pr=Home_Page