se fue el grupo

posted by Sharla

The last group left yesterday after a tearful goodbye. This was a very hard working and generous group. They had spent some time on their first day at Ruben's farm and he told them about a lady in his neighborhood who has breast cancer. She has four kids and her husband left and they are very poor. She cannot afford the surgery she needs. The teens in the group gave of their own money and were able to provide medicine and food for her family for months. Praise the Lord!

The group held a VBS each morning in Pancho Mateo and it was a smashing success! By the end of the week they had 170 kids and if you've seen the size of the church, you know that was a lot of people to fit into that little building! The kids had a great time and we were so thrilled to see them all memorizing scripture each day. The group had things so planned - the lessons, crafts, games, and songs, and these kids have never had anything like that done for them. It was so special and I know they really appreciated it.

They also build some benches and a podium for one of the churches we work with. They put up a volleyball net and baseketball goals on court in Pancho Mateo. They played soccer against the men's teams in Chichigua and Los Cocos. These are guys that rarely get a chance to play "real" games. They helped teach English classes. They loved on the kids. It was great. They were such a blessing.

There are always more stories to tell, so stay tuned...

the ants go marching

posted by sharla on a very hot day

we have a bit of an ant situation. they apparently love our home and don't mind our ant spray, so we're going to have to take stronger measures to encourage their departure. it seems an exterminator of some sort is in order. in the mean time, we have the fruit and bread hanging from the ceiling and all the snacks in the freezer. have you ever had a frozen gummy bear?

we are in week three of three weeks of groups. it's been awesome, but incredibly busy, as you can tell by the fact that I'm the only one that has blogged in the past three weeks! I stayed back today to run some errands, and after surviving my jaunt around town on a motoconcho, I'm back with some time to blog.

last week's concerts were awesome! there's so much to tell. we had about 300 the first night and 150 the second and God did some amazing things both nights. one of the highlights for me was watching the audience when Josh first started singing songs in Creole. He's fluent in Spanish, but doesn't speak much Creole. A local Haitian pastor had translated his songs into Creole. I watched the faces of the Haitians as he started the first song. At the end of each line, they would smile and nod to each other that he was getting it right. Then we all (Dominicans, Haitians, and Americans) learned the songs and sang along. I'm so glad it was all captured on video. I'll post some pictures when I get back to the states next week.

We have a youth group of 30 here now from Philadelphia. They're doing a Bible club in the mornings in Pancho Mateo, and various work projects in the afternoons in different villages. Today they're putting up basketball goals and a volleyball net in Pancho Mateo and passing out clothing to the families we work with. Yesterday they planted trees, taught English class, and played soccer in Chichigua. They're doing such a great job!

I wanted to follow up on something I had mentioned in the last post. We took the older kids from Chichigua to the beach last week and apparently it was quite a sight when Brian and Bethany went to pick them up. I'll let them blog about that, but the younger kids were sooo sad that they didn't get to go. We all met up at the beach for a few hours and had a blast! And we had swimsuits that fit everyone and they looked great! Thanks you to those of you who donated the swimmies!

As always, your prayers are needed and appreciated!

never a dull moment

posted by Sharla

there's more to post then the 10 minutes that I have right now will allow. It's been a great week and we're keeping very busy. This group is spending most of it's time in a village called Chichigua. They're teaching English classes, working with the kids (particularly with soccer), planting trees, passing out clothes, and building relationships. We look forward to taking the kids to the beach next week. They've never been and they don't own swimsuits, so we collected them in the states to bring down. A huge thanks to those of you who brought them in! I couldn't believe how many new swimsuits we got - these kids have never owned anything new in their lives and I can't wait to see their faces when we bring these to them. It'll also give them something to bathe in. They take bucket baths outside, so they wear clothes to cover up. Now they can use these swimsuits. THANK YOU!

and another big thanks to whomever donated the new Shaq basketball shoes. a little boy named Jeffrito, who has a very rough home life and spends his days begging, now has his first pair of new shoes. he was so excited to receive them, and then in total awe of how the "shaq" lit up when he walked. I wish I could have captured that moment for you. we also gave him some clothes, and some older guys who were hanging around told him he shouldn't put them until he got cleaned up. we were at a lunch stop that doubles as a car wash (where he hangs out begging), so he ran over to the hose, washed himself off, and then put his new clothes on. so precious.

On our first day in Chichigua, a very pregnant lady came in to English class. The next morning, when we had just arrived, she came up with her husband and brand new baby on a motorcycle taxi! She had had the baby at 10pm the night before and she came back, carrying her baby on a motorcycle at 11am the next morning. Can you imagine?

We'd appreciate your prayers for safety and in particular for the worship events on Monday and Tuesday night. For more info, read some of the previous posts.

our neighbors in the DR

posted by Sharla, live and in person from the Dominican Republic

I arrived here yesterday and the group from the Austin Stone Community Church comes in tomorrow night. I spent the day staining some furniture that Will built for us and trying to convince the ants that there are better places for them to spend their time than on my bananas. they're not convinced.

there's a bit of background about the "makarios house" down here in the DR. when we first looked at it, it seemed perfect, but when we went to sign, the owners backed out. over the next month or so, we continued to look for places, but nothing much was available. I asked the realtor to talk to the family who owned this house and find out why they weren't going to rent it out. it was sitting here empty and they now live in the states. we found out that less than a year ago, a neighbor girl was opening their iron gate to the driveway and it came off of it's track and fell on her, breaking her skull and killing her. the family didn't want to rent it out until they had made things right with their neighbors. I asked the realtor to pass on the message of how we would use the house and the kind of work that we do. we also spent a lot of time in prayer. the husband flew down for a day, met with the family, and decided to go ahead and rent it out to us. It is a huge blessing and a clear provision from the Lord.

those same neighbors have a 10 year old son who is deaf. he goes to a special school, but apparently they don't teach sign language. after spending some time with him today, it's apparent that he is eager to communicate. I don't know much sign language, but I have been working on it the past few months, and tomorrow I'm going to go and talk to the parents and see if they're interested in learning it as a family. I'll keep you posted on how it goes. even if they're not interested as a family, I'd still like to try to teach him and his friends some signs so that he can communicate at a basic level. anyone out there who signs who'd like to come down and work with a sweet little boy named Roberto?

thanks as always for your prayers and support. don't forget to write!