Teacher Team/Haitian School Board in the DR - Big City Time

Hola!!  Each day we plan what we will do (at home & here too) & some days it goes as we have planned, while other days we know that God has a different plan.  We knew when we got picked up at the airport on Wednesday that the plans we made were being modified to blend together with what God had in place.  Such an exciting adventure to walk with Jesus!

We spent the last two days in the capitol city of Santo Domingo.  On the way there (it was a four hour drive to get thereJ) we stopped at two public schools to tour & let the Haitian school board men get a look at what the schools were like.   At the second school, we were able to be a part of a teacher inservice and collaborate together (Americans, Dominicans, and Haitians).  It was definitely a divine appointment.  We stayed the night in a hotel & then had an exciting day shopping in the market, seeing the historical sights, & riding the subway.  This was a special treat for the Haitian men as most of them have never been to a big city or ridden on a subway. 

We returned back to Barahona to the MP school & had a delicious meal of salad, rice, beans, & fish.  After our meal, Nicole shared a devotion and read from Matthew 14, when the little boy brought his 2 fish & 5 loaves of bread to Jesus & Jesus multiplied his gift to feed the thousands.  That is all He asks of us---to bring what little we have to give & He will increase it for His glory & purpose.

We miss our families & pray all is well at home with everyone.  I want to wish my son Nathan, a very happy 18^th birthday today.   Hope you have had a great day celebrating—I think you are wonderful!! 

Thank you everyone for your prayers!

Teacher Team/Haitian School Board in the DR - What a Day!!!

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24 hours in Barahona and it feels like we are home.  Our day (all 17 of us~ the Haitian school board and our ladies) was full of exactly what God planned.  His ways truly are higher than ours.  We were able to meet with the leadership of our Ebenezer School, followed by a meeting with the teachers of the school and wrapped up with a meeting of the parents’ association.  We were all able to share thoughts, ideas and visions for the schools both here and in Haiti.  What a gift to have 3 countries’ school systems represented and to learn from each.   After lunch, the American crew was able to spend a few hours with a small group of students from the school playing games and even slid in a small English lesson.  We had so much fun!  There are not enough words to describe the joy of a child.  It is universal and makes us want to press on and do all we can to enrich their lives through education. 

Mission Possible is in the process of building a Creole church here and it was overwhelming to pull up tonight and see a physical sanctuary where I personally had walked on a small patch of dirt several years ago.  The small tears were ones of overwhelming joy at the persistence of the followers of Christ here in the Dominican.  

Pulling into our “home” after our walk through of the Creole church, we were greeted with praise and worship from our sanctuary.  We had the honor of participating in an evening prayer service, which was held in both Creole and Spanish.     

Closing out our day with a fabulous meal of beans, rice and chicken was perfection.  The next few days will be an adventure for us all as we stop at several schools for tours on our way to Santa Domingo where we will be touring with the school board and spending the night.  Saturday we will explore a bit more and then head back “home.”  We will update you on our journey Saturday night~ until then!

                 Dominican, Haitian, and American Educators all together

                 The Creole church - almost ready to be used.

Teacher Team/Haitian School Board in the DR

Everyone arrived last night - American Teachers and Haitian School Board.  We had a wonderful meal prepared by people from Ebenezer Church and we are currently in our first meetings of the trip.  (See photos below).  We started the morning off with a tour of the school and we are now meeting with school administrators so that our Haitian leaders can learn from them and the excellent structure of our school here in Barahona. 

God is in control of this trip and we have already had to adjust our plan and be open to his.  As we traveled on the bus from the capitol to Barahona, we learned that school was cancelled for today and tomorrow.  Our plan had been to observe the school here today and visit other area schools tomorrow.  Immediately we discovered that our plans would need adjusted.  Earlier in our travels as we circled the Miami airport waiting for the ok to land, I had prayed "God please let us land here.  It would be so much easier"  He answered that prayer and then I wrote the following in my journal.  "God I give you this trip.  You are in control.  The details are yours - detour or no detour, You lead the way."  He is definitely leading the way and we have adjusted our schedule and continue on.  We are in meetings this morning, will have time to spend with children this afternoon, visiting other schools outside the area tomorrow and maybe take school pictures on Monday.  But even with this adjustment God is in control and he may have something different than plan B ahead.  We yield to him and hold on to the fact that He is the great I AM.

Pray for all that he has prepared for us to learn.  Our God is God yesterday, today and forever.

2014 Photos/Pastor's Seminar 4

We will keep our last blog short.  We finished up our pictures in the morning then traveled up to Lahatte, our poorest school.  It's eye opening seeing the school and village.  We all left humbled and changed.  In the evening we packed up and got ready to head home.  We miss you all and look forward to seeing you soon. Prayers for our travels would be welcomed. :)

2014 Photos/Pastor's Seminar 3

Today we took on MPCA Primary, our largest school with nearly 450 students.  Things went smooth though and we will be going back to MPCA tomorrow to get a few absent student pictures.  When we returned we witnessed the closing ceremonies for the pastors seminar.  All the pastors prayed over us and thanked us for coming.  It was truly a humbling experience.

2014 Photos/Pastor's Seminar 2

Today we traveled up to Chardene to take pictures of the primary students.  Also, Teresa and Jean were able to see their sponsor children.  After the photos we were able to play and sing songs with the students.  Once we returned back to the mission center we got to enjoy the pastors seminar.  Danny and Franklin have been doing a great job leading the pastors seminar.  Thanks for all the prayers. Hope you're all doing well.  Hope you enjoy the pictures below.

2014 Photos/Pastor's Seminar 1

Sorry for the delay!  Everything has been going great this week.  Saturday night the team made it in safe and enjoyed the spicy spaghetti dinner.  On Sunday we joined the Haitians at church and spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready to take photos for the sponsorships.  On Monday we hiked up to Dupin for our first set of photos.  The school looked great and the kids were very friendly.  Later in the afternoon we took photos of high school students at Chardene Secondary.  Overall it was a very productive day.  That night the pastors from South Carolina joined us (Herb, Danny, Franklin).  Today went for another hike only this time up to Degeance.  Photos went well there too.  It was fun watching the kids play and seeing their village.  After lunch we drove down to MPCA to photograph their high school students.  Before we started, Joe and Tom enjoyed a quick game of soccer with the Haitian.  They both agreed the Haitians were very good for their age (Tom would like to recruit them for back in Ohio).  Teresa, Sandy, Jean, and Darren cheered them on.  After the photos, we came back to the mission center to witness hundreds of Pastors singing and praising God.  We are excited to see God continue to move this week with both teams.  More to come tomorrow!  Keep the prayers coming. God Bless.