This past November, as the wheels of a JetBlue airliner left the runway at JFK International Airport, Donna Coughlin-Argeroplos breathed a sigh of relief as she settled into her seat for the three and a half hour flight she was taking to the Dominican Republic with over a dozen fellow congregants of the Genesis Church Dominican Republic Mission Team.
On this trip, Donna, a retired teacher and librarian at the Mill Neck School for the Deaf, was now realizing her four-year vision of creating and building a children’s library at a school in San Marcos, which is financed by the Genesis Church in Medford, New York.
“This was my fourth trip going to the DR with the mission teams, and the excitement was more than ever, knowing that I was going to see the teachers and work with the students again. And this year was extra special for me because it was the year that the vision of setting up the library was going to become a reality! I was looking forward to the upcoming week and excited about the possibilities it would bring,” said Donna.
The Genesis Church DR Team started their work in San Marcos 23 years ago. The relationship began with Genesis Church’s head pastor, Roger Blackmore, and a pastor in the San Marcos community. The DR team travels to the Dominican Republic twice a year, and over these two decades, their work has evolved greatly.
A book is a gift you can open again and again
Garrison Keillor
It began with building a Christian church and school called the ‘Fundacion Fuente de Esperanza’, whose name translates to ‘Fountain of Hope’. The school itself serves 400 students and their families, and the students are individually sponsored by the congregants of the Genesis Church, as well as a church in Florida.
Each year, new projects are added to improve the school and the church. The team works to help the local community surrounding the school by building individual homes for those in need, establishing another local community church, and bringing a clinic, medicines, and medical professionals to care for the families. People will wait for hours for this care. In the past, the team has also installed water filtration systems in the neediest of areas.
Through this sponsorship program, daily meals are provided for the students, and food distribution for the families is available in the summer when the school is closed; in addition, the program provides educational materials and funds for teacher salaries.
Upon the Genesis DR Team’s arrival in Puerto Plata, the over 200 pounds of books that were checked in on the JetBlue flight from New York were brought to the Fundacion Fuente de Esperanza’s school. Over 400 children’s books published in Spanish in various genres were donated, as well as over $600 for future additions to the library.
“As a retired school librarian,” said Donna, “I was always drawn to children’s books. When I first came to the school four years ago, I noticed that a small closet had a sign, ‘Biblioteca’. It was a storage place for old books and materials. The idea for something new was planted then. Fundraising was done in the church community and through social media. Throughout the years, the vision became a reality.”
Over the next week, Donna and the DR Mission Team worked together alongside the students of the school, labelling and organizing the books. A larger room was cleaned out. Painted shelves were installed, and the space for the new library was created! The books were organized on the shelves in baskets by genre, and a simple checkout system was instituted.
The students were thrilled when the books were brought into their classrooms for a preview, and especially when they saw the library. The teachers were also excited about what the library could offer the students and made suggestions as to what books in other subject areas they would like to have for the future.
Upon her return home to New York, Donna reflected upon the week’s experience in San Marcos, commenting, “It was extremely rewarding to see the outpouring of support for the project. Prior to the mission, books showed up on my doorstep in New York every day! To see the progress from the first thought four years ago to seeing it become a reality was truly inspiring. I am grateful for the leadership of Pastor Roger Blackmore and Pastor Charlotte Pendleton, for the generosity and kindness of my local community, and for the work done by the Genesis DR team to turn this vision into reality. The most extraordinary part was seeing the faces of the children as they saw the library and looked at the new books. That, indeed, was priceless.”
For more information about Genesis LI local and international ministries: www.genesisli.com
