Muy Bueno

So we are still here and doing well, although it has been awhile since I have updated. Yesterday was the hardest day of work yet with the hot weather and tough manual labor. We mixed cement, which isn’t done the way we do it in America, painted a huge, metal gate, and hauled cement and cement blocks around in the humid air. Luckily, it was my 23rd birthday yesterday, so the hard work kept my mind off of the fact that I am almost to my quarter life.
Today we got to have the day off and go into the mountains of Dominican and see the nature and hike to a waterfall. It was gorgeous and we could truly see God’s amazing work in every rock and flower. It’s amazing to see the contrast of the lifestyles in the mountains as opposed to the ones in Los Alcarrizos. There is still some poverty, but there are many more huge homes and vacation homes. It was a new perspective for all of us, since our group had the special treat of seeing this new area of the Dominican Republic. The hike itself was intense and one that no one has really experienced before. I stayed back at the first fall, but many others in our group shared their photos and experiences with us.
It’s so hard to believe that we have only a couple of days left here in this truly amazing place. We are all finding it to be a very bitter-sweet feeling as we begin to prepare to return back to our everyday lives. We miss home and our families, but at the same time this experience has done some amazing work in our lives and the last days have flown by. We ask for your prayers as we begin that transition and prepare our hearts to part from this place physically. However, it will always hold a special part of our hearts.

The Previous Two Days

Yesterday we got to spend time in relaxing and fellowship. We went to church a few blocks down and worshiped in the native language. It was really awesome, especially because there were many worship songs we sing in our own church back home, but obviously in English. The pastor talked about the Lord’s Prayer and asking for God’s Will. We all truly enjoyed the service.

Today, we returned to work at Pedro’s house and finished it up. Many of us are covered in multiple colors of bright paint. We put up walls, painted, cemented a front walk, put in smoother, cement floors and made the place look much better than it did before. Pedro is so very grateful for our accomplishments and can’t wait to move back in the neighborhood. It was truly a blessing to fix his house and create a better living situation for someone so humble as he. The before picture of his house is on the previous blog posting; above is the finished product.

We also returned to the kitchen work for awhile, putting together more rebar and working more on the wall. We will continue working there for much of the rest of the week.

Thanks to all of you out there who are reading this and praying for our safety, health and growth on this journey of ours. We also ask that you pray for this country (Dominican Republic) as it is a country in much need. It has truly become a very special passion in my heart as well as many others on the team!

Renovations

Today we headed into the streets of Los Alcarrizos to begin work on a house for a man named Pedro. It’s falling apart and he was unable to live in it anymore and was forced to live about 3 hours away from his house. We worked on floors, painting inside walls and making cement. It was fun to walk back to camp for lunch, as we were handing out candy to the kids and watching them get such great joy from something so small.
Apparently we have brought Michigan’s rain with us here, because the Dominicans have told us that it has been very dry here and we have brought them rain from up north.
We spent last night doing devotions and talking about our individual experiences. Everyone is really getting a lot out of the experiences here. It’s really cool to see everyday from so many points of view. The “newbies”, Chris, Sherry and Kendra are doing amazing and are absolutely loving it here.
We are having an amazing time. Many of us are praying that we don’t see any spiders…
(To the right is a picture of the house we began renovating today before we started. Hopefully we can get an after picture up here soon!)

Arrived and bueno

Our team arrived into Los Alcarrizos yesterday around 3:30 or so. We caught the plane from Miami to Santo Domingo around noon and got in around 2.
Everyone is doing great and is out working on the kitchen as I write. I however, am sick, so I stayed back to refresh and get ready to work the rest of the week.
We had an opportunity to look around the community last night after we got in. It really gave us a new look at how things are here:

3 Days!!!

Yep, that's right. 3 days until we start making our way to the Dominican Republic. It's hard to believe that the year, months, weeks and days have gone by so quickly. God has truly done some amazing work in our team and in providing for us all along the way. We have made our team's total funds and so much more in order for us to send more funds down for donations and building products for the kitchen.
We simply ask for your prayers as we are heading there, while there, and as we return home in the end as we work to adjust back to life. Pray for safety, traveling mercies and team growth, not only as a team, but as individuals too.
Keep updated with this site! We'll do our best to keep you updated with stories and pictures daily as we're down there.

19 Days!

Our team leaves to Santo Domingo in 19 days! Hard to believe that April is already here and the trip is looming around the corner!
We ask you all for prayers on our trip and in preparation of it. Pray for health of our team members before and during. Prayer for direction is always great too. We appreciate all the financial and spiritual support!

Let me know if you're interested in:
~July 4th art show concession stand. We'd be raising money for the Dominican kitchen and other ministries around the area (HELPS, West Shore Pregnancy Center, etc...). We're looking for at least 6 people who would like to help out with this!

~June 20-21ish. Gus Macker concession stand. Do we want to pursue this fund raising opportunity? It's a lot of work, but fun if everyone works together well, and there are enough people to work it. If you are interested in this, please let me know! Funds would be raised for area ministries!