Dustin's Dream is gearing up for the fifth annual mission trip to the Heart of Love Clinic in Guatemala City in June with a Night at the Naturals fundraiser on May 3.
The nonprofit, which focuses on medical missions, is planning to take 17 people, including several doctors, nurses and a dentist to Guatemala City on June 1 through 8, according to Deondra Chamberlain, Dustin's mother. The Night at Naturals fundraiser will help the organization cover the cost of medicine needed for the trip, she said.
Dustin's Dream is a nonprofit founded to honor the vision of Dustin Chamberlain, who was tragically killed in a home invasion in December 2011. At the time of his death, Dustin was studying at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, with the hope of becoming a missionary doctor.
Since the nonprofit was established by Dustin's friends and family, it has raised money to build and then expand the Heart of Love Clinic and continues to support half the clinic's operating costs in partnership with Life of Hope Ministry of Joplin, Mo. Dr. Layla Chanquin serves as the director for the clinic along with her husband Pastor Saul Perez.
The clinic, which serves about 800 patients a month, is located in a settlement that has grown around the largest garbage dump in the world. The approximately 10,000 people who live in the settlement make a living scavenging what they find in the trash brought from other parts of the city. As a result, many patients suffer from respiratory problems, infected wounds and chronic diseases.
After the seventh annual Dustin's Heavenly Birthday Party event at Camp Siloam in December, the nonprofit also started supporting Time of Rescue. The street ministry delivers health care, helps kids escape abusive situations and gangs, and provides burials for kids who are killed.
In February, Dustin's father Don Chamberlain led the first men's group on a trip to Guatemala City for a site visit. The group, which included members of the Orchard View Church in Colcord, Okla., was able to visit 10 homes and deliver groceries, pour concrete floors in two homes, participate in preparing meals for people in the settlement and work at the clinic, Deondra Chamberlain said.
During the trip, the group also visited Xenocoj to tour the location where Perez would like to build a rehab home for homeless drug addicts. Before construction begins on the rehab home, Perez would like to build a church at the location, she said. After the group toured the property and returned home, Greg Baskins, pastor of Orchard View Church, helped raise more than $10,800 to purchase the land, she said.
The June trip will be the largest yet, Deondra Chamberlain said. The team will be working at the Heart of Love Clinic, traveling to a mobile clinic, doing home visits and delivering groceries to those living in settlements in addition to having daily children's ministry activities and participating in settlement feedings.
If at least 200 tickets are sold for the May 3 Naturals game at Arvest Ballpark through Dustin's Dream, then the nonprofit will get 50 percent of the proceeds, Chamberlain said. The nonprofit will also get to throw out the first pitch, get a VIP tour, have their name on a banner on the field and have video clips on the screen.
In order to count towards the fundraiser, tickets must be purchased through Dustin's Dream. Ticket sales will continue through April 19 and tickets are available online at dustinsdream.net or from any Dustin's Dream Foundation board member.
More information about Dustin's Dream is also available on the website at dustinsdream.net.
General News on 04/14/2019