posted by Byron, who is sad to be leaving the Dominican Republic soon.

We have been blessed to have the Freeman Family here this week - Matt, Chris, Zach, and Kaili. Having a family in the house rather than a group of young adults provides a different environment, but Zach and Kaili have been seeing and experiencing a different life here through the ministry and it has been awesome to see things from their perspective. The last two afternoons we took kids from chichigua to the beach and to the park. For American kids, even the poor ones, its nothing to be able to go to the park or even the beach if they live nearby. For the kids in chichigua, they were absolutely thrilled just at the mention of it. When we drove back into the village this afternoon to pick up the younger kids to take them to the park, they were all waiting for us. Not only that, but they were all dressed up! Usually, when we see these kids in the village, they are wearing just underwear, sometimes pants, and if you're lucky a shirt. Well all the kids had on all three plus shoes. But even beyond that, the clothes they had on were clean and even in some cases, matching. For them, this was a big deal! Then, the excitment of the kids as we loaded them into the truck and drove out of the village.

I was again humbled by the things I take for granted in life and how something simple like this can truly bless these children.