Surprise Phone Call

The impact North Ridge Church has had globally extends beyond the couple weeks that we have spent in the Dominican Republic.  The way the love of God has been shown to others still resonates two years later.

This past Wednesday night my family got a very unexpected phone call.  The first time the phone rang there was no one on the other end.  The second time we got a call there was a very odd number on the caller id.

I answered the phone.  On the other side, in very broken English I hear, “Juhn, Juhn.  Anita, Anita.  Como estas?”  It’s the family that North Ridge built a house for in 2010.   For the next 10 to 15 minutes I had the chance to talk in very broken Spanish to three other family members as well.  I talked to 14 year old Juan Carlos.  I talked with 10 year old sweet Francesca.  And I got to talk to the person I probably developed the closest relationship with while I was in the Dominican – the oldest sibling, Robin.

I found out Juan Carlos and Francesca are doing well in school.  Also, Francesca doesn’t have a boyfriend.  I found out Robin has a job now and is close to finishing up school.  Their entire family is in good health, including Anita’s husband who has been having health concerns since we were working on their house.  I naturally assumed they were in Barahona making the call.  I was wrong.  To help put this in perspective, having a phone in the batey is a luxury – using that phone to call internationally is crazy.  They were all huddled around one another right in their own home in the middle of batey 9.  The commotion on the other side of the phone was apparent.  I had trouble understanding what people were saying because of the background chatter.

The most memorable and humbling part of our conversation was when Anita asked about my family.  When I told her my family was well she said over and over again, “Gloria Dios, gloria Dios, gloria Dios!” – which means glory to God.  Talk about rearranging my outlook.  Living with limited electricity, in a home with 14 others, and with the constant anxiety of not knowing if her family will have all the things they need to survive she cares about my family.  That is the love of Christ.  It knows no ethnicity.  It knows no nationality.  It knows no language. It knows no limitations.  It transcends any barrier we perceive.  That is why we travel across borders to build houses or why someone would use limited phone minutes just to see how my family is doing.