Tuesday June 26, 2012

We have not posted to the blog until today because we have been very busy. So far we have done a lot! Our first night here we had dinner and settled in to our temporary home. The conditions are not as bad as what people believed they were going to be. It's almost like going to summer camp! We have a nice little kitchen and we have had a couple Dominican meals made by Manny and his mother. Also, Emillie's friend Carlota prepared a wonderful pasta dinner for us. The sleeping arrangements are very comfortable. We are all on bunk beds and there is a fantastic cross breeze. The weather has been great so far, and the "cold" showers are actually very refreshing and enjoyable.

arriving in the DR

girl's room before we unpacked

Our schedule for the week:
SUNDAY: AM- church
                   PM- lunch, beach, church, dinner

MONDAY- THURSDAY: AM- work at worksite for new Creole church
                                            12-2 lunch break and rest time

                                            PM- paint at the school 

**WEDNESDAY: we are going out to a restaurant for dinner!

FRIDAY: AM-work at the school (painting and fixing it up)

                 PM- beach and waterfall!!

SATUARDAY: we leave


Sunday, we woke up and went to a lively Creole church service. We weren't aware until the night before that we were giving a "presentation". We decided to sing 'Every Move I Make'. They loved it! Olivia also sang 'Here I am Lord'. It was really neat because the congregation knew the words in Spanish and began to sing along. They even made us sing again when we went back for the service that night. After church and lunch we got to spend the afternoon at the beach. It was gorgeous and the clouds kept us from getting too much sun. When we returned back to the school we got dressed for church and attended a very joyous service. They were celebrating their third anniversary and had many special performances. Manny had preached in the morning, but since it was in Spanish we did not understand it. At the second service our group all got headphones to wear and Emilie translated the sermon for us into a mic. Manny spoke really well, and everybody agreed they loved his message! We took a ton of pictures with the children of the congregation and they loved to play with the cameras. At about 9 o'clock we went up to our quarters and ate dinner, had devotion, and got a good night's rest for our first day of work.

our group at the beach

Monday we all woke up and ate breakfast. At around 9 o'clock we left for the worksite. When we arrived there we found out what we were to be doing for the week. We are going to be digging holes for the church's foundation. It's a hard job, but we all got right to work and everyone worked beyond their potential. It was evident that we were all pushing ourselves and God was working through us. The time flew by and it was 12 before we knew it. When we returned to the school we got cleaned up for lunch. Manny had made a wonderful Dominican meal. We got to rest till about 3 o'clock and then we all got dressed to go back out and go across the street to a smaller building that belongs to the school. When we got there we began to paint one wall and sand another, so that we could eventually paint that one also. The adorable local children were intrigued. We got the play with them and they even helped us paint! Jake and David played a game with the children in the street. We had our first, and hopefully only, injury of the trip when Jake hit McKenna in the head with a softball. McKenna had many worried children surround her, so she had to let them all know she was fine. At about 6 o'clock we cleaned up and went back up for our nightly routine of showers, dinner, devotion, relaxing, and bed.

When we woke up today we were all feeling rather sore. We had a good breakfast, but we were all very tired. When we arrived at the worksite we began to pick up where we left off yesterday. Everybody was dragging, but we all worked to the best of our ability. It was awesome to see such great teamwork. The time, once again, flew on by and it began to rain right before 12 o'clock so we came back a little early and had a great lunch that Manny and his mother prepared. We are getting ready to go back out and work across the street. We are all excited to get to interact with the kids again!!

The time is flying by, but we will make sure we post everyday from now on. It's hard to believe we are half way done with the work on the new church. Stay tuned to hear more from the Sea Island group in the DR!

Parents,
You can be very proud of your young adults.  They survived twelve hours in a van crowded together with each other and luggage and there was not one complaint.  They were awesome at both church services, singing and participating in hugs afterwards.  And, at work, as Megan just said, they have proved themselves to be a mission from the Lord.  They have worked hard and worked together with no complaints or whines.  They have also tried new foods, although some of them are not too fond of Dominican beef and hotdogs.  The chicken and rice deals have been big hits.  We'll post more tomorrow but now its off to paint the preschool building.  And yes, it's hot but they're drinking a lot water.

Julie

Thursday, June 21

 We have had such an amazing time this week. The Lord has reminded us that we are both at different times the student and the teacher during this trip. We are also a powerful witness to all those around us, just  as they have been to us. All the team members have gotten to see such a great spiritual transformation all around us. We are very humble to be able to have this experience through our Lord Jesus Christ to be present in every moment of every day. We hope and pray that our healing ministry continues to expand and grow through our private walk and also within our fellowship at Community Christian Center so that within this change many people will be able to be healed.

            Many of the people we´ve encountered here have the same problems and dificulties just like others do around the world.  We see many changes occuring spiritually in the Lord´s vast and diverse vineyard.  One of the ways that the Lord spoke to us was through 2 Peter 1, verses 1 through 10 which says that we must make our election sure in everything.  That means we should not only believe in everything God shows us, but that we must have absolute certainty in everything that the Lord tells us will happen.

            The two of us met a young boy at the school that we had chosen to sponsor through Mission Possible.  He just finished 1st grade and his name is Carlos Gonzales.  His favorite class is math and he is the oldest in his family.  He has a younger brother and sister who are five and two years old. While talking to him, he told us that God lives in the mountains, but we will hope and pray that one day the Lord lives in his heart

like he should. We also pray that throughout the coming years, we will be able to afford to continue sponsoring him as well.

            We both have had so many great experiences within the 30 years that we have been married.  Life is so great and so rich when we have the Creator God, His son Jesus and the Holy Spirit in our lives as well as our three childrens’ lives.  We ask that everyone reading this will pray for peace around the world by the example that Jesus Christ set before us.

Love to all,

Vicki and Tom Hill

Devotions leader



Devotion time!




Enjoying enening devotions





Squeaky!!!




Psalma 100: 1




One student at Ebenezer drew some of the pictures we used for murals.




Another of the student's drawings




Keyboard mural in the music room




Our hotel where we stayed.



Vicki touching up our last mural.



I am the vine, you are the branches




Flaco was our taxi driver while we were here.





We enjoyed food at a local pizzeria on our last day here.



Wednesday, June 20

We had a late start this morning with an 8:30  breakfast. We left the hotel at 9:30 for the school to paint. Two group members continued to paint the murals while everyone else went across the street to the new pre-school, that is still under construction, where we painted the second floor landing. Vicki is drawing a mural on the second floor hallway. We will post pictures of it tomorrow, but it says ¨I am the vine, you are the branches¨ and has a large grape vine and leaves.  Others were repairing murals on the first floor. At 12:30 we returned to the hotel to a lunch that consisted of chicken noodle soup, ham and cheese sandwiches, and Cesar Salad. After lunch we drove through several country bateys, past several sugar cane fields, and drove through Barahona´s open market. We are just finishing up at the school and will be returning to the hotel for supper and a shower. I am extremely happy and proud how everyone has gotten along and how great the young people have been throughout this mission trip. God is good.

                                                                                                           

Don Spiegel

McKenna, Kelcey, and Sydney with Engember

Don patching the wall that we sanded.

Brittany sharing a friendship bracelet with Colson

Sugar cane fields

Poor Sydney was so tired, she could not stay awake for evening devotions.

Tom and Vicki with Carlos

Teresa and her helper

Touching up preschool murals

Vicki sketching vine mural

Carolyn touching up words

Tuesday, June 19

We had a

 

Yipee!!! We got to sleep in this morning! After breakfast we went to the school and  some of the women continued to paint the murals on the wall, while the others sanded the outside wall of the preschool across the street to clean off the concrete and morter splatter. After lunch we went to a different school which was  started several years ago, by Alicia, with 9 students and now she has over 100 students between pre-school and 4th grade. We conducted a mini-VBS with the children, which was an awsome experience for them and us. The children appeared to be very happy with the attention that they received. I was blessed by just watching and interacting with the children.

After leaving the school we stopped at the coffee warehouse and were able to purchase coffee to bring home. The women went back to the church to practice their dance routine that they are going to perform in front of the church body when we get  back home.  While the women practiced their dancing, the men – we few -decided to return to the hotel. Tom decided to catch up on his reading while Don and I took a short walk around town. Don and I rewarded ourselves with some much needed ice cream. After completing supper the group took a short walk around town. We stopped at a local grocery store where some of us bought vanilla and some bought fruit preserves. We stopped for ice cream before returning to the hotel for devotions.  This trip has been an inspiration for me to continue to be aware of God´s blessings on a deeper level. The difficult part is going to be continuing this experience once I get home and back in my comfort zone.

Randy Platt

We had a beautiful sunny day.  Thankfully it did not rain and we were able to work outside at Ebenezer.  We also were able to see the preschool building that has a second and third floor under construction. The classrooms on the first floor are wonderfully painted with murals of  God’s beautiful earth. We will be touching up the paintings on the outside walls tomorrow. This evening all the female members practiced a dance that Daniela, the dance leader at her church, has taught her dance team. She had the guts to actually have the young girls in the front row sit down and make the more mature members of our group do the dance by ourselves while they  watched. Thankfully they were very encouraging and even gave us little hints .  After supper we took a stroll down the street to a market to buy special things to bring home! Vanilla! Don even took us to the ice cream shop. What a treat!  This has been a humbling and encouraging experience.  So many people. So many needs.  But God’s love and strength are at work here.  Vaya con Dios.  Karen Burks



Sanding the wall



The 11x20 foot section of wall we sanded.




Don working????






Psalms 100: 2





Another form of local transportation.



Alicia's school

Map of the DR

Marisa and Daniel







Abi and  Daniel



 

The kids love hand clap games!



 

Students made crosses to remind them of God's love.



 

Patti teaching students



 

We made friendship bracelets for the students.



 

Patti with the school principal Alicia









Our dance team with Daniela

Pausing for a group picture in the sanctuary at the school



Monday June 18th

Today was a little different than what we had planned. A tropical storm has hit our area and it has been raining for the last few days. Instead of digging this morning, we ended up spending the entire day at the school. While I do not miss the hard work that comes with digging, I am a bit disappointed since we were making such great progress in the short time we have been here; plus I know how much this church means to the congregation. At the school we worked on our murals and the men painted the lunch area for the kitchen. I got to sit in on an English class that Mackenzie and Marisa were teaching. This was so much fun!! The students were eager to learn English and it was very entertaining to have some of our group learning Spanish; especially when they started talking about slang. A few members of our group were able to donate some books to the library and Abi and I were introduced to one of the children we will be sponsoring. His name is Wilkins. He is 13, loves karate, and his favorite subject is Math. He was very shy when we met, but I could tell he was happy to meet us. Patti translated for us and we were able to spend some time getting to know each other. The other student we are sponsoring is Sherlyn. She is 6 and we were unable to meet her since she is in Santo Domingo visiting family. Abi and I are looking forward to writing both of our students and getting to know them better. Carolyn spent  the day working with some of the male students. They helped her finish a banner to hang in their church here. As you can see from the picture, they all did a wonderful job! We had another dance rehearsal with Daniela and finished learning the rest of the routine. While we may think we are not all very gifted to dance, we really are doing very well with remembering the movements and working hard to do the best we can.Tomorrow we are going to Ebenezer school in the morning, then to a private school in the afternoon to have a Bible school, and spend time hanging out with the kids! It is going to be a fun day! God continues to show us new things every day and to protect us; especially when we take a wrong turn and end up walking down the road behind ¨ I doctor¨  to get back to where we needed to be. As  a side note, it has actually been cooler here the past few days than it has in the US.

Teresa Roth

Carolyn and her helpers!

English class

Some from our group were learning Spanish.

Abi and Wilkins

Abi, Wilkins, and Teresa

The finished banner

Karen, Patti and Carolyn with Carlota, the school librarian.  We brought some new school books.