The story is told of Abraham Wilson who had a vision of transforming a violent neighborhood in the inner city of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic in
to a peaceful community of hope. After a short visit to the capital city of the D.R., Abraham was saddened by the poverty of the people, the high crime rate and the hopelessness of the youth. He shared his vision of potential international ministry with several people in his suburban church in Lake Zurich, Ill. There was an immediate, enthusiastic response to the needs that Abraham so dramatically articulated. He began to formulate a plan to reach the struggling people of Santo Domingo.Abraham knew that words are cheep and desperate people are individuals with desperate needs. His dream took the form of a school - a training school really, focusing on vocational skills that could help the people help themselves. His vision included farming, carpentry, auto mechanics, and general construction. Every student would learn English, literacy skills, good hygiene, proper cultural etiquette, anger management, and Biblical character qualities. Abraham's mission was to provide hope to the poor of Santo Domingo by meeting their physical needs first, their emotional and spiritual needs second, and their relational needs third.
Abraham was convinced that effective impact was only going to happen when people, like himself, left their comfortable houses around the Lake and settled in the poverty of Hispaniola. One Sunday morning, he announced his plans to move to the Dominican and to establish a training center. He invited anyone to come with him who wanted to commit year to the program. He needed mentors with vocational training, English teachers, Bible instructors, administrators and secretaries. To his surprise and great joy, the congregation responded: 10 people committed to go on the adventure; 100 families formed the centurion support group that raised over $200.000 so that the team could function for th first year without having to worry about expenses and fund-raising; the pastoral staff set aside one day a week to pray for the team and send them notes of encouragement; 15 young people committed to give up their spring break, raise enough money to fly to Santo Domingo. and help the team with a special construction project.
Abraham and the Terrific Ten boarded United Airlines Flight 6713 early on Tuesday morning and after two connecting flights arrived in the sunny capital city shorty after 8:15 pm. Customs was a relative smooth process and only 8 bags were search. Jose, a local pastor and Abraham's main contact in the country, was waiting for them and took them to a local hotel. The rooms were dirty, but no more than the adventurers anticipated. Once everyone was checked in, they enjoyed a simple dinner together and retired for a good night's sleep. Each member of the team expressed their excitement for the events held by Wednesday's sunrise.
Little did they know that Tuesday was the best day that they would experience in Santo Domingo. During the next ten months Abraham's dream filled with clouds of discouragement, pain, theft, betrayal, violence and even death. All eleven members of the team were threatened; five were robed at gun point; three were beat up on the way to the institute. Despite Abraham's efforts to market the institute and provide hope to the people, the Americans were rejected. Only three students responded to Santo Domingo's Institute of Hope.
Abraham met with his team every morning, allowing them to share their feelings, their fears, their frustrations, their victories, and their hope. The sense of collaboration and unity was incredible. The team experienced unity and gained strength from one another. But after eight months, discouragement took its toll. Despite the regular letters sent from Abraham to the church in Illinois, the weekly encouragement notes from America turned into a monthly newsletter. The youth group had to change their plans to visit because of the continued violence in Santo Domingo.
Month ten brought the straw of unbearable weight for the team. The school year was coming to an end and the students were looking forward to a month-long break. Abraham and three of the team members arrived at school early in the morning only to find Maria, one of their three students, curled up in a ball on the front steps. A closer look quickly revealed that Maria had been abused, beaten and stabbed. She was alive but the pool of blood in which she lay indicated that she was beyond help. Abraham held her head in his hands, two of the others stroked her hands, and the third sat beside her in disbelief. They all cried bitter tears of grief. Abraham whispered words of hope, prayed sweet words of life, and sang a soft song of peace.
After Maria's death, the other two students were too intimidated to return to school. After discussing the options with the team members, it was decided that they should all return home to Lake Zurich. Because of the various responsibilities, the team left in stages, two members left one week; four the following week; three more flew out the Monday after that; and Abraham drove the final member to the airport on Wednesday morning. Abraham shared with his teammate that he would be returning to the states on Friday, but he never arrived. A short, hand-written postcard to a team member indicated that Abraham had decided to stay in the Dominican Republic.
Abraham did not transform his vision into reality. Was his leadership at fault? Would we have to classify him as a poor leader? What is the measuring stick for effective leadership? Product.... profit.... fruitfulness... growth.... change....?
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