Story by Marj Evans DeCarpio, pictures by SOP team members

Two years ago, when the door to our long-time work in Haiti closed, we prayed that new doors would be opened to the life-changing ministry of Solar Oven Partners (SOP) UMC.  “God has opened not one, not two, but three doors. We are excited to share details about these opportunities as we take the gift of solar cooking to the Dominican Republic, Sierra Leone, and the Navajo people of Arizona,” says Director Marj Evans DeCarpio.

Door #1: The Dominican Republic

When United Methodist Missionaries Gordon and Ardell Graner visited the SOP’s Volga workshop during their itineration in 2014 , they were intrigued with solar cooking.  They wondered if SOP might be a viable program in the Dominican Republic (DR) where they were serving.

In late September, the Graners visited an open house at the Volga workshop again, but this time they shared with supporters how the solar oven partnership with the Inglesia Evangelica Dominicana (IED) church is spreading solar cooking across the Caribbean nation.

Photo: Using the picture collage presented as a gift to Brookings UMC, Gordon Graner describes SOP work in the Dominican Republic. Sixty Brookings members and SOP volunteers dropped by the Volga workshop open house to meet and greet Missionaries Gordy and Ardell Graner!  

Graners told how a July SOP Volunteer-in-Mission (UMVIM) team from the Dakotas—the sixth since August 2015—worked with their Dominican counterparts to distribute 109 ovens at three different sites, including a refugee community of persons of Haitian descent, born in the Dominican Republic and without a home in either country.

Called K-2, the refugee community huddles in the southwest corner of the Dominican Republic, along its border with Haiti. “The seminar reached refugees of Haitian ancestry who had been living in the Dominican Republic, many of whom have been deported from Haiti, having neither Dominican nor Haitian documents,” explains SOP Director Marj Evans-de-Carpio. “They are a people without a country, and are among the most needy.”

About 100 K-2 residents braved the intense heat and humidity during each of the two-day outdoor sessions. Held on the Dominican side of the border, the seminar gave them a chance to help assemble the ovens, learn about solar cooking, cook their favorite foods, and taste the results. Seventy refugee families carried their new ovens home!

A Dakotas VIM team leaves in December for the third 2017 solar oven mission, with a spring trip scheduled for Dominican Republic in March 2-12, 2018.

Photo: Young participants learn oven building from SOP volunteer Scott McKirdy.

What’s especially exciting is that Dominican solar oven work continues between team visits thanks to in-country SOP Director Erasme Figaro, who has presented seminars in three different communities in the province of Samaná, reaching at least 200 people with the message of solar cooking, and distributing 96 ovens. Erasme plans two additional presentations before the December UMVIM teams’ arrival.

Door #2: Sierra Leone

Who could have imagined three years ago that on September 22, 2017, a shipping container loaded with 665 solar ovens would be on its way to Sierra Leone in West Africa!

When South Dakota State football team volunteers loaded the container last month with ovens fabricated in our three workshops, they answered a partnership agreement between SOP and the Sierra Leone Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Milbank United Methodists Roger and Melanie Reiners laid the foundation for the Sierra Leone relationships thanks to their longtime involvement with the Lowell and Ruth Gess UMC Eye Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital. An SOP exploratory team visited Sierra Leone in March 2018. The reception to the team’s demonstrations and training sessions was so positive that SOP received a formal invitation from Sierra Leone’s United Methodist Bishop John Yambasu to help start an in-country program there.

Photo: The March 2017 pilot visit resulted in an invitation from United Methodist Bishop John Yambasu to help start an in-country program in Sierra Leone. The 2018 SOP team is scheduled for mid-April.

The container should arrive by mid-November. “They will be stored and waiting for a SOP mission team expected to travel to Sierra Leone during the second half of April 2018—timed to coincide both with the country’s dry season and to avoid any possible political unrest during national elections scheduled in March and early April,” says Marj.

Picture: A Sierra Leone seminar participant responds to the quality of solar cooked food.

Door #3: The Navajo People of Arizona

Two separate paths brought Solar Oven Partners to Navajo country. First, SOP board member Dave Silbernagel and his wife Renae winter in Arizona. Aware of the area’s abundant sunshine, they saw potential for solar cooking. Dave also dreamed of an in-country solar oven expansion that would be affordable for local church mission and youth teams.

Following up on Dave’s intuition, retired SOP director Rick Jost contacted UM missionary Glen Allen, executive director of Faith Works, an ecumenical group that connects church groups with mission opportunities.

The idea grew and Faith Works helped coordinate an six-person exploratory trip to Arizona in July with 20 ovens for an assembly and teaching session with 20 Navajo families at the invitation of Faith-Works-Flagstaff Area Christian Mission.

Photo: Navajo women from Faith Works-Flagstaff load pots for baking in the Arizona sun.

Charlie Schnabel, veteran mission team member and long-time SOP volunteer, says the enthusiasm of seminar participants within the United States was no different than anywhere else he’s been with the ovens. “The excitement when the cooked foods are taken out of the ovens seems to be much the same whether we are in Haiti, the Dominican Republic or Arizona,” claims Charlie. “The words may be different, but the smiles and emotions exhibited are the same. It seems to be a wonder to behold in their eyes.”

Marj says the SOP Board of Directors, along with the Navajo pastors Dean and Lola Bahe, are in discussions about a future SOP program on the reservation. “It seems that this is the beginning of an ongoing relationship,” says Marj. “The pilot trip resulted in happy, enthused partners all around.”

The need on the reservation is real. Homes are remote and many do not have reliable transportation to purchase propane even if they have the money. “Solar ovens are a very welcome idea!”

What door is opening for you? Take the Next Step with Solar Oven Partners

Join a mission team:

Dominican Republic—March 2-12, 2018; Sierra Leone—mid-to-late April, 2018; Navajo Reservation, Flagstaff, Arizona—to be determined. To discuss these opportunities or to put yourself on a waiting list for future trips, contact SOP Director Marj Evans-de-Carpio at 605-692-3391, sopdir@swiftel.net.

Volunteer at SOP workshops:

Volga, SD, Workshop (oven assembly), contact Rick Jost at 605-692-3391, rjost@brookings.net.

Zeeland, ND, Workshop (reflector production), contact Dave or Renae Silbernagel, 701-391-9468 or 701-425-1382, silbernagel.dave@yahoo.com.

Raymond, SD (bread pan production), contact Gene Bethke, 605-233-0168, gbethke@itctel.com.

Assist with oven accessories:

Sew black baking cloths or pot holders, donate new sets of plastic measuring cups and spoons. For details, please contact Marj at 605-692-3391, sopdir@swiftel.net.

Donate funds:

With an expanding ministry, the need for solar ovens will grow. You can contribute funds on-line at www.solarovenpartnersumc.org; through through your United Methodist Church with gifts to The UMCOR Advance or the Dakotas Advance; or by sending a check to Solar Oven Partners UMC, 910 4th St., Suite G, Brookings, SD 57006-2172.

Consider specifying Solar Oven Partners as an alternative gift this Christmas! Watch for the 2017 Alternative Giving brochure coming soon!