Sunday June 17th

Today was filled with many interesting experiences for our group. This morning we woke up and headed to the first church service, which was held outside of the home of one of the church members. The setup was simple. A tarp for the ceiling, benches and lawn chairs for seats, and a small group of  intruments to provide the music. About 50 or 60 people from the community gathered for a prayer service to come against attacks from the devil. Specifically, one of the daughters of this family is involved in a lesbian relationship and her parents and family asked the church to stand with them in prayer against Satan. Even though we didn’t understand many of the words to the worship songs or any of the testimonies given, we still fully participated because we prayed in English as they prayed in Spanish and Creole. We know God can understand all of those languages! We had a wonderful experience and we believe that prayer changes things. This is one part of our trip where there are no pictures, out of respect for the family.

After the service ended we went back to the hotel to change and eat some lunch. We gathered our water shoes and towels and made our way to the waterfall! When we got there we walked up a stone trail which led us to the waterfall. Once we reached the top we went straight into the water, the water was nice and cold and the view was absolutely beautiful! Before we left we had some time to climb up into the water and take a ton of pictures too. We made our way back down the trail, loaded up into the bus and headed to the beach. When we got out of the bus we were all so surprised to see the beach completely covered in pebble stones instead of sand, and the water was so blue! Some people in the group ran right into the water and started swimming while others stayed on the beach and looked for unique rocks to keep. We spent some time there and then drove back to the hotel to get ready for the evening service.

When we got to the school we all took our seats in the church and waited for it to begin. It was much easier to understand this service, because they supplied each of us with a headset to wear so that Patti could translate what Moise and the others were saying. Watching how the people worshipped was something we will never forget! It is clear that the members of  Ebenezer church have a true passion and joy in Christ. With every song that played everyone raised their voices and praise rang out. Each person there was so on fire for God, it was contagious! Our group put together a song to sing during the church service. Even though it was in English, most of the church body caught on and sang along. There was also some clapping and dancing. Teresa and Randy also shared their testimony to the congregation about perserverance and how God has blessed their lives. We are so thankful to have this experience and have the opportunity not only for us to bless these people but for them to bless us as well. Adios amigos! 

  Kelcey, McKenna and Sydney Allen

2 Peter 6:13

         

Trail to Waterfall

Waterfall

Don and Patti

Our group enjoying the water!

This is the quickest way to cool off!

The Beach!

A live Starfish

Men's Dance Team

Brittany with the Brass Quintet

Ladies Dance Team

Randy sharing his testimony

June 16 Saturday

This is Abi and Brittany today.  We continued digging more of the foundations for the new Creole church in the morining. After lunch we painted some more pictures on the walls and finished others at the school.  All the ladies are learning part of a new dance, we are begining to learn ´Mighty to Save´ in Spanish. We have a very very amazing dance teacher, named Daniela, who has confidence in all of us.  We are going to attempt to dance at CCC when we return to the States. It has rained several times and we enjoyed every bit of the down pours except that it became very muggy afterwards. We all have at least attempted to converse with the people here. Abi was able to translate her first  Spanish conversation with the new friend she has made and it turns out that her new friend is also teaching Brittany how to play trombone. While the others were painting in the music room, Brittany and I were painting with the men in the dining room and we got to stand on the tables to paint the ceiling. While Brittany was practicing with Colson and the rest of the band I got to listen to them play some very cool songs. Colson is our friend who we have met on several occasions. I have been able to learn more Spanish from listening to the people here and from the many conversations I have attempted. As a group, I think we are becoming more like a big family rather than just close friends. We have been having an amazing time and look forward to having some more fun tomorrow. Hasta luego, mis amigos!

Abi Roth and Brittany Karcher

This is Carolyn... I had a very interesting bartering experience for Larimar Rocks  at the curb in front of our hotel. He spoke no English and I speak no Spanish, but I got some rocks and he got some $$$.

Hotel yes, we are at a hotel- it´s nice and has air conditioning for most of us!!! They have a resturant too.For breakfast we have lots of great fruit-pineapples, papyas, and mangos, and watermelons, and limes- we usually eat at 8 then off to dig in the trenches for the  foundation for a new church  then back at 12 to shower and eat a nice lunch. After lunch we go to the school for painting and such till almost 8 then we have our supper.

Happy Fathers day!!! We will be going to church at a members home then we will come back for our lunch;then we get to go to the nearby waterfalls to play and relax in the cold water and  enjoy the beach. In the evening we will back to church for the evening service. !!!c u later!!!



 

The site for the new Creole church!



Making good progress on the trenches!



 

Break time!!



This massive rock took the workers a while to break apart!



Abi with her finished guitar.in the music room.

This trench was deep enough, all have to be 3 feet deep.



Dance class in the church!

 



June 15 Friday

On the tenth day of our trip, we keep experiencing more new things that God has in store for us. Yesterday, we were able to hang out with Pastor Moise and his wife, Ruth, while everyone else was traveling and then sitting stationary in a bus due to riots. We got to experience just what we have been digging for the past ten days. Moise and Ruth took us to a service at the Creole church. It was absolutely amazing. It was a totoally differnt type of worship than we´ve ever have seen before. Its even different from the Spanish church too. It takes place in a little shack in the batey, where only 20 people are supposed to fit but some how 60 to 100 do. They shout out their prayers and sing with such passion its amazing. It was really cool that through all of the jumbled mess of everyone praying at the same time, God can understand  and answer the prayer of each and every individual there. This experience gave us more motivation to work through our sore muscles and the heat to dig deeper and deeper to help make the foundation for the new church. We even learned some Creole because of this too... ‘Jesus renmen ou’.Along with digging today, everyone but us two and Patti got to experience the Mission Possible School, Ebenezer, for the first time. We unloaded tons of school supplies and got to work painting murals and scripture on the wall for the students to read every day of their school year. We got to go up on the roof and look at God’s beauty from the mountains, to the ocean, to the smiles on childrens’ faces. Many of us played baseball, with a can and a stick, out in the street in front of the school. I speak for everyone when I say that this is one of the most fun things we’ve done in a long time. It was really cool for us to see everyone communicating with a language barrier. We’re going to continue getting to know the Dominicans tomorrow with a dance ministry. We’ll be learning a dance from the Dominican dance team at church to the Spanish version of the song ‘Mighty to Save.’ More digging and painting is in store for us too. Please keep praying for our safety and that God will use us in even more amazing ways! Adios!

Marisa Burkett and Mackenzie Lyon

p.s. Marisa here! Hi Mom, Dad, Megan, Brett, Alyson, and Alexa. Thank you for the cards from home and I miss you all very much. Dont have to much fun with out me while I’m gone! I’m praying for you all and can’t wait to see you soon. HAPPY EARLY FATHERS DAY! Love you all!!

p.p.s. It’s Mackenzie! Hey to my crazy family back home! I miss you all, so can you come visit me instead of me coming home so that I can stay here longer? Praying for all of you and hope you’re having tons of fun in exciting Findlay, Ohio! Happy early Fathers Day, Dad! I love you!

Dominican crew chalked lines for trenches

Everyone is ready to dig!

Our job is to connect the pits that the Gateway crew dug.

Dominican Brass Quintet



Brittany practicing for the worship service Sunday night.

Local Transportation with Batey homes in the background.

Enjoying a game of stickball in the street!



Abi painting one of the pictures for the school!



The local kids love to have their pictures taken with us Americanas!



Community Christian Center group...travel and arrival

Teresa Roth.... Our trip started off at 1am when we met at the church in Upper Sandusky to leave for Detroit. Once we arrived at the airport, the employees were very helpful with getting the luggage tagged and loaded for the plane. The flights to the Domonican went smoothly. After we arrived in country, we had a bit of an adventure going through customs, getting our visitor cards  and getting the luggage loaded. God really put the people we needed in the exact places we needed them.

We are very blessed to be here and to have the  opportunity to serve. The people are very nice and the scenery is beautiful!! Abi and I have never flown before or be on a missions trip. The Lord really showed me how small the world is. On our first flight to Miami, Abi and I were seated close to each other, but on opposite sides of the plane. Abi was a little scared about flying since she is afraid of heights. God placed a wonderful lady right beside her who talked to her and kept her engaged throughout the entire flight. After we landed and before leaving the plane, I found out I knew this lady. Her son is a doctor at the physicians office where I work and I had seen her entering the office to visit him. We are very excited to see what is in store for us today.

Carolyn Kelley... After no sleep, we made it through. We had a great 4 hour bus ride to Barahona arriving at 10pm. After a very large meal we went to bed. We were up at 7am, were provided a great breakfast and will be working at the church digging trenches 3 ft deep... be praying for me and my back..Adios!

We will post pictures and write more later, so check back!!

The team arriving in Santo Domingo!

After our long trip, the hotel gave us a feast for supper!

Thursday... back home!

Well, this is Patti Spiegel today finishing up the Gateway blog but starting another. 

I love how God gives us new chapters in our lives and when we have an ending to one season, there is a new season beginning.  Gateway youth group team was wonderful and it was a priveledge for me to be a part of such an amazing group of teens and see how God has transformed their lives in that short week of their lives. Now this specific chapter has ended for them but each has returned to their individual ‘mission field’ in the United States. They will never be the same after the sights, sounds, and experiences they had last week working together as one team here in Barahona.  The last night as a group here was so special as each person shared how they saw God here in the DR and how God has changed them.  It brought tears and laugher as we shared special moments and fond memories, remembering the difficult jobs they accomplished while here.  God definately stetched each person as they left their comfort zone and did whatever God asked of them.  It was a beautiful thing to see and be a part of.  So, I am ending this blog but starting the next adventure here in Barahona since my local church in Upper Sandusky,  Community Christian Center arrived a few hours after Gateway left.  I am so excited to have my husband, Don and 12 friends join me to continue the work that is continuing here.  Please keep reading this blog and pray for us daily.  I love you all!! Special shout out to my family... I miss you all!

Wednesday

            Hola Los Americanos,

Hopefully nothing drastic has changed in the United States while we were gone. During our weeklong trip we have made a lot of Dominican friends. We have spent a lot of time getting to know these people and sharing our likes and dislikes. Some Dominican teenagers are teaching us how to dance like they do in church.  They are teaching us choreography that connects to a popular church song in their country. We are doing our best to learn the dance despite not being able to communicate with them. We have gotten a lot better and look less and less like white boys who can’t dance. We have had two scheduled dance practices in the last two days and are working hard to learn the dance. In the Bible, it says many times that dancing is a good form of worship.  We are worshiping God by dancing to a song that pleases him. The song is about believing in God and pushing the past out of your mind so you can move on and be better.  This along with lots of digging, painting, teaching and playing is what we have been doing in the Dominican Republic.  Hope to see you soon.

Aaron Starr, Griffin Rath, and Sam McGhee

These past few days have been amazing, there’s nothing else I could really say to describe it. What really has stuck out to me has been the people. The children love to play games and they’re so patient with you when you mess up. I can’t speak much Spanish but we’ve been able to find ways around the language barrier and still be able to get to know each other. Smiles and waves are offered so easily here even when the two people are complete strangers, makes me wish that people in America did that as well. This whole trip could definately top anything I’ve ever done and has been a great learning experience. I’m really hoping I can come back because I love it here and I’m pretty sure everyone else would agree with me. 

Love you Mom and Dad, I’ll see you soon.

Rachel George






We will leave early in the morning, drive four hours to Santo Domingo, leave around 1:30 and then we have a long layover in Miami and should arrive around midnight in Detroit.  Just over 24 until we are back from this great mission trip!

Our awesome cooks for he week Tracy and Ashley

Murals in the computer lab

Mural in the music room

the team the night before we leave

FINISHED!!! all ten holes completed just before the rain started to pour

Tuesday

Today I got to be seven years old again. After spending all morning playing games with the children in the courtyard I got to live out something I have only dreamed about in childhood games of make believe, I became an adventurer. Picture a mountain and down the side is a stream that is made up of mini waterfalls and completely surrounded by a forest, and that is what we got to explore. We climbed up rocks, waded through water, and ducked under giant spider webs guarded by spiders four times the size of any I have ever seen before, and it was amazing. Every new experience I have while I am here just shows me how much God truly loves the world and wants us to enjoy the things he has given us. I also got the chance to spend time talking with three young Dominican men about their lives. Even though I speak practically no Spanish and they spoke hardly any English we fought through it and I truly believe God had a hand in helping us understand what we were trying to say to each other. It’s amazing the relationships God is creating not only between the team members but also between us and the Dominican people. My heart breaks knowing that tomorrow is the last day I will get to be with them, but I know that they have helped to change us and I know someday I will again get the chance to be with these people again. As the last day approaches I just ask for the continued prayers and can’t wait to come home so we can share all of our amazing experiences with everyone!

Kristin Schmidt

Lots of progress on the foundation columns. 7 of 10 done!

Digging

Hauling dirt away from the holes

Emily, Rachel, Monica an dShelby having fun in the waterfalls

A picture after they conquered the hike up the waterfall.

Shelby, Rachel, Kristen, Bekah, Allyson, Hannah, Emily 

David, Griffin,  Tracy

a small section of a long series of waterfalls