Friday

Our final morning typically takes place in a joint devotion with Azua WYAM. As they moved back to the house on the hill overlooking the bay it was a wonderful and peaceful time of reflection listening to worship music with the gentle Carribean breeze flowing onto the patio. Such beauty in such a poor country. Rodney (the director) shared his vision and those that didn't know him previously were amazed at his faith and devotion.

A DR mission trip isn't complete without a trip to Project Four (El Quatro) where the Nelson's have a ministry that includes a feeding program funded by the team. They have about 350 kids in their care. The team listened to the kids sing praise songs, a few members gave messages, we helped with the feeding program, played with the kids, and prayed over the ministry. Like so many visits to these villages, heartbreaking stories were heard but so also were the victories for Christ.

Upon returning to Nathaniel's the team gave attention to cleaning up the garage for tonight's pizza party. They then went to visit the Center for the Blind. Living in Azua is hard enough but being disabled or blind compounds this difficulty because of traffic, gutters, and uneven sidewalks. Their faith and determination to not allow their disability to defeat them is astounding. In fact, they are learning how to do sign language to help the deaf! The team blessed them with audio bibles before we left.

A quick stop to bless a child sized wheelchair to a girl with cerebral palsy was next. This was the girl who the team met a few years ago while being carried and cared for by her younger brother; incredible love and devotion.

The last night involves all of our ministry partners and their families gathering in Nataniel's garage for pizza, soda, Iris's pineapple upside-down cake, fellowship, introductions, prayer, final messages, worship, hugs, and goodbyes. An emotional night as these people mean so much to us and we understand how much the team means to them; humbling. It may be midnight when the team arrives back to the hotel exhausted but a feeling peace is felt by all. God bless.

Thursday

Typically our morning starts with an hour devotion led by a team member. This time is meant to set our hearts in the right place for the coming hours. As we have a number of new members this year who have asked and it's been some time since he's told it to us, Nathaniel gave his personal testimony.  It's a lengthy but incredible story of God ordained circumstances of a poor Dominican teenager who became a New York City drug dealer and his transformation to the disciple of Jesus he is today.

As there is a fraternity among police officers, our retired Madison cops wanted to visit the police station. Here we got to know the Chief of Police in Azua. We spent some time in the Word with him and asked questions0 and left Bibles. He leads 150 men and women that police an area of over a million people! He is currently short 110 officers. Their only communication is with cell phones and they have 3 trucks (they use motorcycles). The pay is $140/month; imagine.

On the way to the village of LaVeritas we stopped to inspect the progress of a church construction we funded. At the village the team played with the children, passed out tracts, and left Bibles and food. We also visited with a favorite lady of ours who we blessed a few years ago with a new house.

Later that afternoon the ladies and Dan visited a women's prison in the city of Bani which is about 45 minutes away. It was an emotionally powerful time as testimony and messages were shared.

Meanwhile, the guys (and Kim) were at the Mission Center. Kim played with and taught the children as the guys picked rocks and garbage from the large yard and later constructed a new bano (toilet) at a nearby house with help from Pastor Anderson and El Hefe.

The Jesus Film was shown in a baseball field near a church the team helped build 3 years ago. At least 150 (mostly kids) were in attendance.

Another late night after our debrief (11pm) but a rewarding day. The combination of heat, emotional fatigue, physical fatigue, long days, and strange food is no match for the satisfaction in preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Azua.

Wednesday

The day started at 7:30 with breakfast at the hotel. The team then travelled to an orphanage where they got hugs from the girls and were given a tour of the facilities. Because a visit to the women's prison in Bani was postponed, the team went to Nataniel's where Sheri and Lois led a devotion based on a prayer that caused individual introspective and how scripture has spoken to them at various times in their lives.

The afternoon was spent in the area near the Mission Center. The team canvassed the neighborhood passing out food and gospel tracts. They got to see first-hand the living conditions that most in this country endure. An example of this would be a house of 11 extended family members sharing 3 beds. Oh, the man of the house is blind.

While canvassing and meeting with the Reyes family (27 in 2016 to 31 in 2017) from last year's trip some of the guys replaced a "bathroom". It used to be a tarp surrounding a hole in the ground. They upgraded it to a tin enclosure with a door and roof over a hole in the ground.

Supper was hosted by Pastor Anderson, his wife, and 6 children. Their new house is only half complete but they are so proud of it (they used to share 2 rooms). The team enjoyed a delicious meal of beans and rice, salad, chicken, juice, and an awesome plantain casserole.

A trip back to Nataniel's, a quick supper and loading the truck for tonight's film was next. Wilfredo took us to an isolated village a distance up into the hills where we showed the Jesus Film to a nice crowd. The team shared messages and music and hugs followed. Another late night but well worth it.

Team health is good and spirits are high as we crest the mid-point of this year's trip. Emotions can be high and tears have been shed witnessing the plight of those we came to serve but also being humbled by the faith of the believers we come across. The new members are now understanding the greater blessings that come to the supposed "blessers".

Tuesday

The van left at 7:30 today to get us to Nataniel's for breakfast and devotions led by Chris on how God honors the poor (James 2:5).

After breakfast (fruit, sausage, eggs, toast, juice, coffee), the girls stayed to finish packaging food while the guys went to the construction site to help pour concrete for a new church floor. Paul, Dave, Mike, and Dean worked alongside a number of young Dominicans with Cesar in charge. They paid for being in the sun but by the end of the day the new church among the banana trees had a floor.

While the floor was being poured (with wheel barrows), Shawn and Sheri explored the area witnessing, praying with, and passing out gospel tracts using their limited Spanish. As most of rural DR, this is an extremely poor area that survives by subsistence farming. The rest of the team made visits and miscellaneous errands during the afternoon.

Supper was hosted by a local pediatrician who helps at the Mission Center. Her heart is especially close to pregnant teenage girls: an epidemic here. She is heavily involved in many local mission projects and is a big supporter of the team. Dinner is a treat for the team as it's at her house using nice china. We enjoyed tuna, goat, potatoes, avacado, salad, plantain, and fries and she shared with us her thoughts afterwards.

Setup for the Jesus Film didn't get started until after dark. It was in an area we haven't been before which is dominated by Haitian refugees. Many young men were in attendance and the movie was well-received. A few of the team each gave a short message followed by a message in Spanish from Nataniel and another message from the local pastor in French-Creole. Bibles and food was left. Another wonderful night sharing Jesus under the stars.

Monday

Because Sunday was so late Dan let the team sleep in with the van leaving at 8am. Paul led devotions on leading a Christian life.

After breakfast the team loaded up with gospel tracts and headed to the marketplace. In 45 minutes about 500 tracts were handed out to vendors and customers alike. The marketplace is a hectic managerie of produce, household items, consumer goods, and meat (including a goat head and piles of fish in the 90 degree heat covered with flies). Always an adventure and unique look at this culture. Pictures cannot duplicate the sounds and smells

A trip to Pastor Wilfredo's village was next. It's always a treat for the team as he and the children there dance and sing as this is a very special day in their eyes. We support Wilfredo because of his dedication to the orphans and poor Haitians who live here. He is truly a man of God; a dentist/pastor/community leader who makes room in his tiny home for orphans to live with him. After helping serve food, playing with the kids, and hearing Wilfredo's thoughts/ideas about the future we enjoyed lunch in his house. That's when Paul decided to put his head where it didn't belong and ended up with 5 stitches (Paul is not "Dominican sized").

The Mission Center was the next stop to talk to people about future plans to help the disabled. A generous donation of baseball gear brought by Mike and Dave was distributed with Pastor Anderson's help and the guys played ball with the DR boys (with, not against).

Back to the garage for supper and loading the vehicles for the Jesus film that night. It was nearly dark during setup and the attendance very thin at first but halfway through a very attentive crowd was on hand of maybe 40-50. After the team gave the gospel message Nataniel led an altar call with a number of responses. While not a large crowd, the Spirit of the Lord was definitely present and many stayed for some time worshipping and hugging Americanos. We can never under-estimate the power of the gospel and who may respond. It was a very good night and the team was back to the hotel by 10:30 for debrief.

Sunday

Upon arrival in the DR on Saturday afternoon the team got busy immediately and visited the mission building to see the progress and meet with the locals. A short prayer/music service followed. This was a great way for the 5 first-time members to experience our mission right away.

Because of logistical issues with the house we rented in the past, the team is staying at the local hotel. While it does complicate some things slightly, the plus side is that it allows us better sleeping/hygiene conditions.

The base of operations is Nataniel's garage and Shawn led devotions there at 7:30 focusing on what it means to be a true follower of Jesus. After a quick breakfast the men went to witness in the prison while the girls stayed behind to package food. Our retired cops returned with a different perspective.

The team then traveled to the Compassion School to spend time with the kids playing, face painting and learning about the program. Dan, Paul, and Shawn have children here so they were able to spend some time with them also. The team helped with the feeding and delivered ice cream treats. Less than 1% of the over a million Compassion kids world ever get a visit from their sponsor and ours have seen their's for at least 10 years now.

The disabled center was the next stop. We heard their cries and made efforts to better their situations. A message of hope was given. A difficult emotional stop.

That night some went to the church service in Nataniel's garage while the rest showed the Jesus film in a local community. Maybe 100-150 were in attendance. A message focusing on biblical family relationships was give prior to worship music. 

The evening concluded with birthday boy Dan buying ice cream downtown and our daily debrief back at the hotel.

Preface

To inform the reader of this blog: the author needs his sleep. With the busyness of the day and long hours there has not been enough time until now to report on our mission. We have allocated a period now (Tuesday) to correct this situation. The entries may not be as detailed as in the past but we will try to keep our readers and supporters informed to at least some degree. Thank you for your patience.