Day 5 - Monday

Written Tuesday, February 23, 2010 12:30 am

A day mostly for the kids.
Morning devotions were led by Paul – 1 Timothy 6

The first stop this morning was the marketplace. The marketplace is a few square blocks where vendors sell their wares in the streets. It's quite the experience for a beginner. The streets are packed with people buying and selling everything. Many times their goods are just laid out on the street. The sellers are barking as you walk buy and it seems like total chaos. Part of the fun is seeing what they are selling. Piles of old shoes (good luck finding a match) or hundreds of old tv remote controls. Otherwise all types of produce, food, clothes or anything else you could imagine. We didn't spend long there but were able to hand out many tracts.

Next stop was the school near the rehab center which is for special needs kids. They wear uniforms and are very polite and patient. They sang a number of songs for us. Each one of us (including Jaimee) gave a devotion or encouragement. We used their globe to show where Wisconsin is located. They sometimes don't seem to believe us when we tell them that we can walk on the lakes during the winter. We left them with children's bibles and the gift packets from Wayside and they served us a snack before leaving. Always hospitable, respectful and polite.

We then walked over to the rehab center and loaded up the small white rehab truck. I doubt you've ever seen a truck so small but it does the job. The entire team walked throughout the area around rehab for an hour or so blessing people with food, children's bibles for the kids and tracts. Like most of the area around Azua, this area is quite poor by anyone's standards.

The team then headed back for a late lunch at Ricardo's. What's newsworthy about this was part of the menu. In the DR nothing is wasted. And as chickens are everywhere, nearly everything is consumed. That includes the feet; cooked with sauce, of course. While Ricardo and his wife Carmen knew this wouldn't be typical American fare they offered us a sample. Paul, of course, had no problem accepting the challenge and Jim followed. Shawn reluctantly gave in not wanting Jim to get the best of him. Thank goodness seconds were not offered.

After lunch the team loaded up with equipment and supplies for the remainder of the day. The first stop was a school about 10 miles southwest of Azua. About 100 kids from about ages 3-8 were waiting for us on benches outside under their canopy behind the church. They were all beautifully dressed with all the girls wearing their typical beads and ribbons in their braided hair. They sang songs and answered the questions of the leader for us. We were very impressed with their patience and love for Jesus. Each of the team gave a brief message of encouragement. One continues to be amazed at how you can travel for miles on rough roads through rugged country and over narrow bridges, find a village that appears to be in need of everything needed to survive (by our standards) and come across such a beautiful group of kids waiting for our arrival. You need to ask: just who is supporting who? We gave every kid a children's bible and every family a package of food.

The night's activity was showing the Jesus film and the salvation sketch with worship, preaching and prayer. The area was not too far from the last stop near where Carmen's church is located. The team set things up in the park, got the music going and then set out to canvas the area. They passed out tracks and told people about the service. They had a good turnout. It's always difficult to judge and counts are not done but the park was full with no extra room. Many kids were there so we showed the children's version of the film again. Ray, Dan, Jim and Shawn gave a message.

The night in the park ended on an unexpected note. As a team the decision was made not to be specific in this blog. What will be said here is that the Wisconsin contingent of the team experienced something of note for the first time. Forces of evil are present and preaching the Word of God makes these forces angry. Spiritual warfare, while not always seen, is real. They would ask that you talk to one of the team members personally so they can tell the whole story. They would be glad to fill you in.

A late night snack of empanadas and juice and a team meeting ended the evening.