Before last August, junior Heaven Rademaker had never been outside the country. That changed when she traveled to the Dominican Republic and experienced the joy of impacting children’s lives in a third world country.
Reademaker’s youth group supports GoMinistries, an organization with six churches in the Dominican Republic. Her youth group landed at one of those locations with the challenge of making a difference.
Their task was to paint a local school, which initially sounded mundane to Rademaker, but they tackled it with all they had.
“It was supposed to take us five days and it ended up only taking two even though we painted a whole school inside and out. Classrooms, hallways, ceilings, we did it all,” Rademaker said.
The time they had leftover was in no way wasted and was spent with children around the town.
Rademaker noted that most children on the streets don’t have homes or an orphanage to seek shelter in and are often on their own. “So we went to some churches where some kids were, played games and kickball, brought chalk and colored on the streets.” Rademaker said.
Interacting with the kids was the most valuable part of Rademakers’ trip. Her clearest memory involved a silent, sulking 3-year-old boy.
“I am a kid magnet, I love them and they love me, but there was this little boy who just did not like me,” Rademaker said. “I was determined to make him like me though, so I had a fanny pack and pulled out my fruit snacks (the kind with the jelly in the middle) and he bit into it and instantly made a funny face followed by a smile.”
That was when she knew she reached his heart and it was more than enough for her.
Another take away from the trip was learning that Rademaker wanted to pursue Spanish due to its benefits such as communicating with more people and the ability to form deeper connections through the language.
“I went to the Dominican Republic to change lives, or make an impact or at least touch hearts,” Rademaker said. “But little did I know I’d have my heart touched as well.”