Epilogue 2018

Final 2018 Post

After a final breakfast, prayers, hugs, and good-byes were exchanged with Pablo and Ruth. Genesis drove the team back to Santo Domingo for the 3:10 flight to Atlanta. They stopped at the usual tourist-trap market to barter with the vendors and 15 minutes along the ocean to view the beauty of the water and city one final time.

The final 24 hours is always bitter-sweet. Emotions range with the individual and the number of years served has a significant impact on that. While the home-coming to loved ones is looked forward to, the friendships that are being left until another year (or maybe not until eternity) will be missed. There's the memories and emotions of the past week; not so much what was done but with who and for whom it was done. It's always about the people. It's always about Jesus. A particular Jesus Film or ministry stop may be forgotten but not the certain little boy, elderly lady, or disabled man. There's no forgetting the people we served with that so humbly showed what faith is really like.

This was a very good team. Coherence and unity are critical in the mission field and this team was with one purpose and exercised much grace. While many were strangers at the beginning the bonds were formed quickly because the focus was Christ. Much was done this week. No trip to the beach and very few (if any) siestas. Rarely back to the hotel before 11pm and going again at 7am.

As with the Church body as a whole, this small team functioned using the gifts the Holy Spirit has blessed each individual. It may have been the soothing and healing touch of massaging crippled fingers or jumping rope with children. It may have been preaching the hope that is found with following Jesus or the physical energy needed to pour concrete for a new church floor. It may have been identifying a potentially life-threatening medical situation and putting into motion the events to see it through to a cure or blessing a family with enough food for the next few days. It may have been giving a disabled boy a bed so he doesn't have to sleep on a pile of clothes or showing a film under a bright moon on a dusty street in the middle of nowhere that depicts the life, death, and resurrection of the One we strive to serve.

The team is back to their normal lives now. It doesn't take long for the old routine to kick in. And while the reality of life in the U.S. may seem to overwhelm or at least shade one's faith to some degree, the team can hope to be inspired and blessed because of their experiences in the DR. Mission work should change a person. It should refocus the priorities in life and allow a person to see the world with a Biblical mindset. Believers want to share their hope and faith for the coming glory; not just with strangers in the DR but with friends and family here in the U.S. where it seems it may be needed the most.

In being forthright with our finances, following is a list of our major expenditures. No dollar amounts are given so as to protect the privacy of our ministry partners. As the needs far outweigh the funds available, prayer and discernment is used by the team prior to distribution. All monies are left in the DR as the team members raise their own funds for transportation, meals, and lodging.

Expenditures
- 6 church building projects (roofs, block walls, or concrete floors).
- 800 adult bibles
- 1500 children's bible story books
- 825# of beans, rice, and oil divided into 264 family-sized bags
- 1300 gospel tracts
- 3 yearly on-going feeding programs
- money to the team's church for fencing (Azua Mission International - AMI)
- money to another large church building project
- keyboard for a church
- speaker system for a church
- Love Offerings to our ministry partners for their services (translating, cooking, cleaning, vehicle usage)
- French-Creole Bibles for Pablo and Ruth in Haiti
- smaller price-tag items such as personal healthcare, equipment for the disabled, mattresses, medical needs, etc.

Ministry Events
- Jesus Film - 5 nightly showings with messages and worship
- Men's and Women's prison
- Special Needs School
- Compassion International School
- Disabled Center
- Marketplace
- Estebania (Wilfrido) feeding program
- Radio program
- Project 4 (Nelson's) feeding program
- Los Cartones - sweet rice feeding
- AMI - sweet rice feeding
- Joel's high school
- Heavenly Fire Church - preached
- Center for the Blind

2018 Cast of Characters

US Team:
Paul Flunker: Construction/factory worker; Appleton, WI - 14 yrs.
Dan Natzke: Dairy Farmer; Greenleaf, WI - 13 yrs.
Shawn Eckstein: Crop Consultant; Reedsville, WI - 11 yrs.
Christina Robokoff: Retired teacher; Green Bay, WI - 7 yrs.
Dean Meinholz: Dairy Farmer; Arlington, WI - 3 yrs.
Kim Meinholz: Nurse; Arlington, WI - 3 yrs.
Mike Brennan: Retired Police Officer; McFarland, WI - 2 yrs.
Crystal Schenian: Occupational Therapist; Reedsville, WI - 1 yr.
Sheila Olson: Occupational Therapist; Reno, NV - 1 yr.
Molly McGinn: Student; Green Bay, WI - 1 yr.

DR Team:
Pablo/Ruth: Cooks from Puerto Rico, missionaries to Haiti
Natanael: Clothing shop owner; interpreter, main DR liaison, preacher
Genesis: Bus driver; driver, preacher
Wilfrido (Miguelina): Dentist; pastor, community leader at Haitian village in Estebania
Anderson:  (Julian Joaquin) Pastor
Daniel: English teacher; translator
Joel: School Superintendent; translator, preacher
Nelson's: Husband and Wife (Nelson and Areceli Concepcion) Pastors at Project Four
Daimler: Driver, helper
Alan: Translator, helper
Sandi: Pastor, helper
Cesar (El Jefe): Construction boss