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Host Information
Ramón & Ludis Castro, La Romana Baptist Church

Ramón and his wife, Ludis, have two daughters, Emely and Sorangle. Pastor Ramón gave his life to Christ when he was 14 years old and immediately began to support and participate in the ministries of the church, until the Lord called him to be a full-time pastor. Pastor Ramón has served for 30+ years in pastoral ministry in La Romana, and Ludis is the former administrator of a school they founded for special needs children. Their church is also home to a seminary and an orphanage. Their family is having a generational impact in this area for the gospel.  

They work with churches founded in the Haitian community of their city, and they desire for more churches to be started. The people in their community, and areas close to their founded churches, do not have easy access to healthcare mainly due to lack of documentation or money. There are many nationalities represented since it is a city where many come in search of work. Even with multiple cultures, the people are accessible, humble, full of joy, hard-working, very creative, and diverse.

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[email protected]

Trip Description 

The Dominican Republic is located on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, which it shares with Haiti. The island is full of mountains and beaches, waterfalls and forests, and a moderate tropical climate with year-round warm and humid conditions, making it a top tourist destination in the Caribbean. 

After more than 300 years of Spanish rule, the country declared independence in 1821. Over the next 150 years, there were civil wars, invasions, occupations, presidential assassinations, a military coup, and dictatorships, but the country, since 1978, has maintained a stable representative democracy. 

Hospitals and trained medical personnel are available only in the larger cities. Unsanitary water, inadequate housing and healthcare services, and poor nutrition undermine health conditions among the poor. As a result, infectious and parasitic diseases are common and the infant mortality rate is high.

San Pedro de Macorís, considered the capital of Dominican baseball, is a coastal city of about 200,000, located 45 miles east of the country’s capital, Santo Domingo. With Catholicism as the national religion and an undercurrent of strict legalism and tradition, there is a significant need for an understanding of the grace of Jesus Christ.

The culture here is warm and welcoming, with lively music. Relationships are so important. Baseball is so popular that it influences all aspects of the culture. As you drive through the streets of the city, you'll often see friends and family gathered outside playing dominoes, drinking coffee and talking baseball.

For more country information, click here https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/dominican-republic/

Services Offered 

Our plan is to offer medical, optical, and physical therapy care to this community. Every patient who receives care will hear the gospel from a member of this local church.

Note: This trip is now closed. Thank you for your interest.

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