In 1 John 3:18 we read, “Dear children, let us stop just saying that we love people; Let’s really love them and show it by our actions.” These are words that impact us and encourage us to take full care of the 332 children that God has sent to the PEPE’s of our island, the Dominican Republic. They need our love, but they also need us to help them with everything they need. That’s love in action!
In order to get to know the reality of the children when they are not in PEPE, PEPE VAI was created, an acronym for Child Support Visit, which leads the Missionary-educator and the church to know the needs of the children and their families so as to be able to help them.
One day, Marina, a child of one of our PEPE’s, arrived accompanied by her older sister, when the Missionary-Educator received her at the door, and felt a strong smell of urine, she asked her sister what the reason was. Her sister then said that the little girl had urinated at night while they slept on the cardboard. The surprised missionary-educator then asked: On a cardboard? To which she answered with a sad look.
This worried the missionary-educator very much, to the point that she was led to make a visit through PEPE VAI to confirm the situation. The family was an immigrant and did not open the doors so that their situation would not be noticed by the community.
The PEPE missionary immediately contacted her pastor to find a solution and they got a new mattress for the family. The affection of the church and the care of the PEPE missionary will be engraved in her heart forever. That little girl, who graduated last year, even after leaving PEPE and continuing her studies at another institution, continues to see her beloved missionary-educator with eyes of hope and gratitude.
That’s what PEPE is all about, it’s love in action! We will continue to work so that many other children on our island can receive love in action through PEPE!
Pr. Daniel Cordero – National Coordinator of PEPE of the Dominican Republic
Carmen Ligia – text editing
Traduzido por Marcia Garcia
