Back in the DR

Posted by Brian

Well beth and i are back in the Dominican. After an extended absence we were finally able to return. Everything went well in the states this summer. Bethany was able to have some surgery there which was a enormous relief to us and our families. A hospital that has a missions department was able to accomidate her. She had her tonsils out and another minor corrective surgery to here sinuses. It was truly a blessing to have the surgery in the states since our insurance only covers emergencies out of the Dominican Republic. God really provided in everyway.
We are so excited to be back. Yesterday we went and saw Pancho Mateo. We missed the Children so much. It was great to see them. We have some great plans for them this year. Our work will start this week with registering the children for our activities. This is more difficult than it sounds because many of the parents don't have the information we need like birthdate and full name. Keep in mind many of these children have no birth certificate.
The villages we work in look much different than when we left because the sugar cane cutting season has started. Many of the villages are surrounded by sugar cane that is 7 or 8 feet tall and slowly it is all coming down. This is a big job and it is done completely with machetes. There are many new faces in the area as migrant workers have come to help with the harvest. Some of these men have come from Haiti and others are from other parts of the Dominican, but they are still of haitian descent. This is a labor intensive job that pays little, less than 3 dollars a day in some instances, so it is left to Haitians to do.
Please pray for our health and for the children. also pray for the island because it is hurricane season and a hit from a hurricane can cause massive destruction and loss of life.

the second time

Hey ya'll

I am offically in love! I just got back from the Dominican Republic for the second time this year. It was an amazing trip just like last time. The people on this trip, Sharla, Abbye, Kelly, Allison, Jason, my Dad, Don, Kate, and Scott, made this trip an unforgetable experiance. It was so cool going into Chichgua (is that how you spell it?) and some of the kids remembered me and remembered that I helped paint their church last time. Even though hanging with the younger kids was challenging at times it was so worth it. Everytime Im with them I grow as a person and I enjoy every minute that Im there. This boy in the pic was my fav throughout the week in Chichgua. His name is Alfred and just the most adorable ever. All week he would never let me go, so we kinda bonded! (My left arm is really strong now 'cause he was not the smallest kid in the bunch) but that’s ok, he was awesome and I wanted to bring this one home too!An awesome thing for me to get to experiance was taking the boys to the water park. To me going to a water park can be a normal thing but to them it was a first. It was awesome to see how excited the boys were everytime they got off a ride like it was the best thing in the world. Its great to see how the Lord provides for everything and it was cool that I could be a part of the trip again. Thanks to Sharla and Makarios for everything they do and providing these life changing experiances. What yall do is absoultely amazing! I so cant wait to go back because I dont think I can live without going back and seeing thoes precious faces!! I love it down there and this trip was life changing and awesome!!!!!
~jen~

baseball camp and the water park

posted by sharla, santiago, d.r.

this is day 5 of our 8 day trip. you've heard this before, but it's true again - we have a great group and they're doing an awesome job! we spent three days in the villages of chichigua and los algodones (literally, "the kite" and "the cottons"). we were planning to do a baseball camp in chichigua, but the field was being used to weigh sugar cane, so we threw everyone in the back of the pickup and drove 15 minutes down the dirt road to los algodones. Jay Tucker and Jason Weems led the drills, and after working on skills each day, we played a game against the kids from los algodones. these are kids that normally play baseball with sticks and rocks. Jay brought gloves, balls, bats, batting helmits, and even catcher's equipment! the kids had a blast! we were also able to share the gospel with them and talk about parallels between baseball and life.

during the baseball camp, Allison Lynch, who has been here three times now, led a program for the younger kids. Kelly Mack and Abbye Metcalf rotated between baseball and the kids' program, and Jen, Jay's daughter, worked with the little ones as well. they'll have to tell you more about it, but apparently the word "chaos" was at times appropriate. but the kids had a blast and settled down for the lesson and coloring pages on the 7 days of creation.

on the last day, we took our team of 12 boys (ages 8-13) to a nearby waterpark. this is a park mainly built for tourists, and I can assure you, these kids had never been to anything like it. they had a blast after they got over their fear of the big water slides! we all had a great time with them. the only low point was hearing dominicans at the park ask why we were with "those haitian kids." they also got a lot of "you don't belong here" looks. but I think we noticed more than the kids did, and they were too busy having a blast to care. it was sad to have to say goodbye at the end of the week.

we're now in Santiago. Jay and Allison had to leave today to get back to work, so I just got back from taking them to the airport. we've been joined by my friend and Makarios board member, Kate, and her boyfriend Scott, along with my boyfriend, Don. we're all headed up to Ruben's farm, which is always a great time, and then we'll go from there to a waterfall in Jarabacoa. I love it here!

thanks for your prayers! we've been blessed with great weather, safety, and health, for which we are very grateful.