Mission trip to Dominician Republic

So it's been a week and a bit since I got back from the Dominican Republic. I still have to get my photos worked out so they are coming later but here is what we did. There were ten of us from my church, Lakemount Worship Centre that were a part of the team who went to minister in the Dominican Republic. I am excited to share with you what God was doing with our group as we ministered there.

Thursday April 28th

The day we left was the day of the huge wind storm in the Niagara region and God provided provision for us throughout travelling. I was awake and off to the chiropractors office at 7 am and the radio reported the high winds expected for the Toronto area.

It wasn’t until we were at the church that the wind really began to pick up, and by 8:15 we were en route to the Toronto airport. We made it over the Burlington Skyway safely, though afterwards we heard it closed shortly after we passed. Mr. Hampton who took us to the airport and picked us up mentioned that it took him 1 ½ hours to get back to the church afterwards. The timing of the Lord was surely on us! After making it to the airport and shifting luggage a bit for weight, we were ready to go.

The hand of God was also on us on our flight down to the Dominican. Due to the high winds, I thought for sure that the flight would be delayed. We took off on time and we were safe the whole way down despite lots of turbulence (I've flown a lot and it was the worst flight I have ever been on). The captain mentioned that we were going to fly out over the ocean as there were tornadoes predicted for the southern US. No one panicked at all and all the crew seemed to be able to do their job effectively despite having to sit down themselves at least twice during the flight.

When we arrived at the Puerto Plata airport, we collected our bags quickly and then had to go through customs. Duane (the team leader) had mentioned that we had to pay a $10 US tourist fee to get in, but it ended up being included in the price of our flight. He had also mentioned that going through customs and security can be a hassle so we were all praying and Duane especially was operating in discernment and wisdom.

In the end, we had no line ups at the customs and we went through fairly quickly. On top of that, the security officers just waved us all through even though they were there to check random bags. Duane mentioned that it was common that the security officers would just take items because they wanted to. Our bags were filled with some valuable items as we had a lot of medical equipment for Rob and Tina Iannone, the missonaries that we were to be working with for the week.

Afterwards, we met John and Jane Huizinga of The Samaritan Foundation (www.thesamaritanfounationdr.com) and Rob Iannone of Willing Servant Ministries (http://willingservantministries.org). Rob was our guide for the week and he came to pick us up in the "Red Rocket" which was an elevated flat bed truck with padded seats and roof over top. This would be our vehicle for the duration of the trip.

We arrived at our hotel, Sosua by the Sea (www.sosuabythesea.com) and straightaway had a debriefing about the trips events and a introduction to Rob and Tina's mission there called Willing Servant Ministries. We were additionally given a sheet to practice some basic Spanish and the words to learn a Creole song that we were to sing at church the following day. After dinner, the team swam and headed to bed.

Friday April 29th

On Friday morning, we had breakfast and one of our team members stomach wasn't feeling very well so she decided to stay at the hotel for the day. The rest of us continued on with the day with a devotion on the back of the Red Rocket before we headed out for "Church in the Woods" and to tour the villages for the day. We drove through at first on pavement until we picked up our Interpreter, Isachar Alexander at the edge of the road. We then drove up to the hill on a very pothole filled, gravel driveway to the Village of Esperenza and Los Algodones. The trip takes about 11 minutes to complete but the first time seemed like an eternity feeling every bump and every movement in the Red Rocket.

When we arrived at the Village, you see that on the one side are metal shed buildings on dirt floors and on the other side you see a concrete houses row on row in a fenced area with concrete gate entrance labelled Village of Esperenza. The village of Los Algodones (the metal sheds) apparently started as a Sugar Cane company and it seemed that a whole village was built around it even though the sugar cane business is no longer operating. We toured through Los Algodones and you see concrete foundations and rumble; the ground is scattered with garbage everywhere.

These shed's have no windows and are locked with a key even though it wouldn't be hard to take apart the metal to get in. There is an area with open concrete stalls that were apparently the bathrooms. There were no toilets, rather just holes in the ground with garbage surrounding. We visited with one old man who couldn't tell us his exact age but he thought he was around 97 years old. It was mind blowing to many people on the team.

After seeing Los Algodones, we walked into the Village of Esperenza. At first you see the school and the medical clinic as you walk in through the gates. There was a church just behind the medical clinic which was where we attended on Sunday. Further beyond, there are lush green rolling hills and approximately 100 concrete block homes in rows that have been built within the village already. The roads are made of gravel but a concrete swale has been put in to facilitate run-off and water used by the villagers to flow downhill. Touring the village, it didn't take long for the children to start following us and taking us all hand in hand.

After visiting the village we drove back down the hill to go to the "Church in the Woods". We were told that the service started at 7:30 in the morning and goes until lunch time. The service was nestled around a podium amongst the trees. There were tarps that were strung from tree to tree to cover the people from the rain as well as tarps on the ground for the people to sit on.

As we came in, we took our shoes off and men sat in one area and the ladies in other areas with their children. The service was full of Haitian people thus the service was in Creole which is a French based language. The service was very free in the Spirit in that different people spoke, one at a time as God was leading them. At one point, a man came up to the lady at the pulpit; we were unsure as to what was going on but Duane mentioned later that this man was saved during this time.

We sat for a while listening and observing the people not knowing what they were talking about. There were many children there. There was a lady beside me who had a toddler; she was very cute and seemed to stay nearby even though she could go walking around. The lady had brought some soup with noodles, I assumed for lunch, and the little girl had taken the lid off and was trying to get into it. Now thinking of what Ethan would do to the soup I touched the woman to alert her. She promptly smacked her and put the lid back on. The girl didn't cry at all.

At one part of the service, it started to rain and many of the ladies moved over into the area that was covered with the tarps. Here I observed more kids. I noticed two of them had some sores on their legs just has Rob had told us. I guess you’re never prepared for things until you see it for your own eyes. This was the biggest thing that my eyes had been opened to; the lack of medical care available here. Small things left untreated become huge sores. It has a way of absolutely breaking your heart.

We were then introduced to the church and asked to sing a song. Isachar lead us in singing the Creole song that Rob had taught us the night before called "Satan banm pase", which is translated as Satan get out of my way. We then sang a song in English, "I've got the joy, joy, joy down in my heart" which was a familiar as they sing it in Spanish as well.

Afterward, Frankie shared her testimony with the church as Isachar interpreted. She shared about her love for the people of the Dominican Republic (this was her 3rd time there) and how they are worshipping the same God there as we worshipped at home. They are our family in Christ!

We stayed for a short while longer but Satan was intervening. It was at this point that some of the girls were having stomach trouble as Ashley had in the morning. The bathroom was only a whole in the ground, which wasn't quite going to be pleasant. Duane prayed in the back of the Red Rocket for health for the team and God showed up again. The girls were able to hold on until we made it to the restaurant and were very thankful for toilets and no one was sick for the rest of the trip. Satan get out of the way is right.

We stopped for lunch at a local restaurant. It was the only local foods we ate while on the trip and in my opinion was the best food we had as well. There was a rice dish with cilantro and a local pea, a very savoury tasting chicken, fried plaintains and cucumber salad. So good and it only cost $5 US each.

After lunch, we were off to visit some more villages that had been completed by The Samaritan Foundation. We first stopped outside of Accension Village. Rob talked about this village as we stopped briefly on the side of the road, it was nestled on a hill. Further along the same road at the very top of the hill was the Village of Paradiso. We stopped at Paradiso and greeted the doctor before he left for the day. This doctor serves all 5 medical clinics on different days as well as his own medical practice.

After saying goodbye, we went inside the medical clinic where Tina (Rob's wife) was waiting for us. She showed us around the medical clinic and answered any questions we had. We also meet Claire. Claire was from England but is a missionary in the Dominican for 8 months of the year helping Tina with the medical clinic. It is amazing to see the people who live lives poured out for God.

While we were at the clinic, a boy came inside and ran to Duane. You could see so much joy on both of their faces as they hugged each other. The boy's name was Gorgie and was 7 years old, Duane had first met him 3 years ago on his first trip to the Dominican Republic. It was the first moment of tears for me to see the impact we can have on the lives of so many people here.

The village of Paradiso was very similar to the one in the Village of Esperenza but had more Dominicans in the village (opposed to Haitians) and was also more established. Some of the homes had fences in their small yards to contain plants or chickens and some of the houses had been decorated with painted murals. The nursery school had been built by our church in a previous trip.

The rest of our tour included a quick stop at the Village of Nazareth, where the church had previously helped build the medical clinic. Afterwards, we continued on to stop at the first village The Samaritan Foundation built in the city of Sosua. This village was finished in 1990 with 25 homes all funded with the founder of The Samaritan Foundation, Elio Madonia. It was interesting to see what has happened to the village over 20 years, many businesses had been built around the village and it looks more like a thriving community. The Samaritan Foundation is now building its 10th village but there wasn’t time to visit them all.




Saturday April 30th

Saturday was an early start to the day so that we could begin working on the houses in the Village of Esperenza. We started our morning with a devotion about obedience to Him where Rob shared his testimony and how he and Tina followed the call of God to come to the Dominican Republic. It was powerful for me for several reasons but I am so thankful that I followed the call to go to the Dominican Republic.

When we arrived at the village, we placed all our things in one of the houses and broke up into groups. Some worked on painting the doors and shutter windows, some were cutting, bending and tying together the rebar for the corners of the houses and the rest of us tied a wire grid to reinforce the concrete when the floor were poured in the houses. The kids followed us all over the village but were not permitted where we were working.

I personally had an older man come along side me as I walked back to the house after a water break and hugged me. I didn't know what he was saying to me but the simple gesture of love and gratitude was universal. We finished tying the wire on two houses and after I finished tying the last wires together the worker said in English, "Good job". I so felt God's presence in these moments.

It was a nice day out and we continued on until lunchtime where we all ate together the lunches that had been made for us by the hotel. After eating lunch, we collected the leftover food and Ashley delivered it to some of the people in Los Algodones. Duane had Ashley handing out the food as she had missed seeing this area the day before on our tour. She mentioned later in our debriefing this was a God moment for her.

After lunch, we travelled 45 minutes through town to go on the cable car ride up Isabela de Torres mountain. We were greeted by some boys handing out flowers to the ladies for money, begging is a normal way of life for them. Inside, Rob was able to get us a local deal so we paid only $6 US ($200 Dominican Pesos) instead of the $10 tourist price. We also knew of two of the girls in the group had a fear of heights but God was giving them the grace to overcome! If they didn't say anything we wouldn't have known they were afraid.

Once we got to the top, which is apparently 800 m up, we saw the huge statue of Jesus at the top. We took a few pictures of us with Jesus and then got a group shot of everyone. We walked around the top, which was filled with gardens all over and was nothing short of beautiful. When we stopped for a moment to rest in a pavilion, we started to sing. Jesus wasn't just there in a physical statue but He was present with us as we sang praises to Him.

We walked back towards the cable car and went in to look for souvenirs. The sales culture there is pushy so I didn't last long and sat with Rob under a tree until the rest of the group came out. We travelled back down the cable car with a breathtaking view of the ocean and no apparent fear left in the group!

The ride back to the hotel was very quiet as everyone was tired after the long day. This trip was hard on my back as it was a long ride but I managed okay. In our debriefing that night, Duane asked us how we encouraged others today. It was a hard when the only things we could think of were the locals encouraging us (ie. hugs and "good job") and not us encouraging them.

Sunday May 1st

Sunday I was up at 5:30 am, rested and wide awake, even though it was still dark outside. Amy was still sleeping so I took my camera and Bible and left when the noise of the air conditioner went on as not to wake her. I went down to the beach taking pictures of the sunrise and reading my Bible; I was in total awe of His creation: the beach, the clouds, the water, the sun. He created it all for us to enjoy. Just when I thought I was filled with Him, a rainbow appeared in the sky and of course, our eyes remember so much more than my high-tech camera could ever capture in that moment.

We left at 9 am for the church in the village of Esperenza. The service had started already and again the men and women were in separate sections. The dress code is pants and shirts for men and ladies had to wear skirts below the knee, a shirt that covers the shoulders and they also wore something on their head. We sat at the back of the church and another missions group came in shortly after. This church had microphones, keyboard and drums with speakers so all could hear quite well! When we came, there was one guy with a microphone talking and he then passed it to someone else. After he spoke for a while he started to lead us to sing. We had an opportunity to sing a song in English as well.

From where I was sitting I watched one woman lean on the pew praying while another woman was singing and dancing! Though it was in a different language, the presence and power of Holy Spirit crosses every boundary.

After church we were taken in to the school to have the opportunity to purchase beads from the villagers. Jane took us in and explained that some of the beads were made of recycled boxboard paper. The ladies make the beads and sell them to buy food for their families; I bought some for my family to take home. I took some of this time and talked with one of the ladies from the other mission group. She was from Mount Hope but some of their group was from Toronto.

On the way home, we discussed what we were going to do for our free time in the afternoon. So after lunch, we spent the afternoon on the beach playing games in the water and at 3:30 pm we were ready to walk for some ice cream and shopping. Since it was Sunday, not many shops were open. We headed down to the public beach and there were a lot of locals there. Monday was there Labour Day so many likely travelled from far away for the holiday weekend.

Again because of the sales culture there, the shop owners were very pushy. There was one guy who called himself "Steady Eddie" who most of us bought from as he spoke English quite well and wasn't as pushy as the rest. He was hilarious!

Next was a trip to the Supermarket. Here we were able to get Dominican coffee, vanilla and any other treats you wanted to take home. On the way back to the hotel some stopped for ice cream as well!

After dinner, I sorted the items that I had brought to bless the people here. The bags got up to weight so I had to add the medical items all together with the clothing, shoes and school supplies. The sorting went quickly so we were ready to distribute the items for the rest of our time there.

Before bed I was able to call Jamie to wish him a Happy Birthday. We talked for about 5 minutes and he told me all about his busy weekend of renovations and his mom and dad's birthday dinner.

Monday May 2nd

We met with Rob early for devotions and we talked about being overcomers in Christ. Specifically, he talked about overcoming our fears as the two ladies who were afraid of heights still went up the cable car despite their fears. Powerful!

This morning we were off to the Village of Esperenza to help with the construction of more homes but on our way there it started to rain. When we picked up Isachar, we put the plastic flaps on our side of the truck down to stop the rain from coming in. The other side didn’t, so they were drenched by the time we made it up the hill to the village.

Today, the rain halted the concrete work we were planning on doing so we all did painting. All throughout the day, God gave us dry places to work and to stay! First, we were in the truck when it rained but it was dry when we got out. After we were stationed in different houses to paint the rain came again and this time it was torrential. When I looked outside all the gutters were full to the top and the sound was so loud that I couldn't hear Daniel talking to me. When we were finished painting the rain subsided so we could wash the brushes in the gutters of rain water and go back into the house that we left our stuff in.

We left Esperenza a bit earlier than we had planned as Rob was afraid that the river that crosses over the rocky road up to the village would be so full that we wouldn't be able to cross if we waited too long. When we got to the river, it definitely was much deeper and wider than when we first came over. Funny enough, in the middle of the river Rob stopped and was told us that the truck was stuck. Thankfully that joke didn’t last long!

Our next activity was supposed to be a children's program in the Village of Paradiso but with the rain we decided to visit the "Mustard Seed" which is a Christian home for about 20 disabled children. We arrived there earlier than planned so we stopped just outside to have our lunch that was packed from the hotel. As you walk up to the building, there were many kids names and hand prints along the concrete retaining wall beside the driveway. Inside, there were children being fed lunch and the rest were getting ready to have nap time. We saw many different kids at different mental and physical abilities but all being cared for in the name of Jesus. We sang to the kids a few songs but most powerful was when Jenn sang a lullaby to the kids. We offered to help clean but the work was all done so the visit was only an hour long.

By 2 pm, all the rain had stopped enough that we headed up to the Village of Paradiso to play with the kids as we had planned. On the way up, we picked up a few kids that were walking on the road. It was so muddy that they were walking barefoot since the mud was so thick.

We had brought bubbles, chalk, skipping ropes and balls to play with the kids. The kids made pictures on the rain swales, played pass with the soccer ball while answers questions about each other and just in general was hanging off of us, especially Daniel who had four of them on him at one time.

After everyone was busy playing with the kids, Duane, Isachar and I went to interview some people in the village. The first video was of a younger lady and after we interviewed her, we found an older couple. In this area it was quite windy so we were afraid that the wind would dominate the sound but God must have supernaturally took the wind out so we could hear their voices.

The couple told us about how they used to live in an area that flooded but now there is no flooding and they are healthier and happier now. Duane further asked about what they put their hope in. This was another God moment, bringing me to tears as I watched the older man raise his hand towards the sky. He was speaking Spanish and I hadn't heard the translation but I knew he was talking about God. Later, I reflected on this in our debriefing and thought of the verse in Matthew 5: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This man was poor and he leaned on God so much. We may not be poor in the natural but our spirit needs to be poor so that we can inherit the kingdom of heaven.

After about an hour of playing with the kids, things started to get more aggressive. Two boys had a big fight and we had to pry them apart from each other so at this point, we decided to leave. When we left, all the kids were fighting for us not to go and running behind the truck. These moments provoked emotions in us all.

At dinner that day, we had three Americans that joined our group; Shaina, Justin and Jedidiah, they had come in earlier that day. All of them were from Florida and Shaina's family is friends of Rob and Tina. Justin and Jediadah were brothers but very different in personalities; Justin was a well-built surfer guy and Jedidiah had just finished an 11 month mission trip to 11 different countries.

Tuesday May 3rd

We started our early morning with a devotional about obedience to God; to be bold and follow His voice. From there, we then went on the Red Rocket with the addition of the three Americans to go back to the village to work. It was raining again today on and off but we were able to do some concrete work. Some did more painting; some were helping with the concrete mixing for the floors of the houses that we finished the wire a few days before. Frankie and I were helping sift out rocks out of sand for the mudding of the concrete blocks. There was a metal grate held up by a wooden ladder that one person shovels sand on and the other spreads it around with a wooden block to get the sand to pass through the grates.

We were right beside the local workers building the house. We watched them come and brought their buckets over to get the mudding from another pile on the ground and bring it back to mortar all the cement blocks together. Another worker added bags of cement into the sand in another pile to mix a new batch of cement. He made a big hole in the middle and then added the water. Frankie and I asked Isachar to ask the workers how long it would take to put all the blocks in. Isachar said the worker replied, “2 full days with 8 men”.

One thing that was comical for me was the conversation surrounding the difference in climates, as Isachar told me it was cold and when the rain came he went underneath the under hang of another house so “he didn’t want to get sick”. Now the weather was definitely cooler for them but I told him “it was just refreshing”. You definitely get acclimatized to the weather where you live and to me it was still very warm.

Soon after, Shaina and Jedidah came over to take over for us and so Frankie and I took a water break. The area was very muddy and when we asked if we could help anywhere else, Rob responded and said it was too muddy to help with wheel barreling the concrete to the house for the floors. When I looked, I saw a wheel rut that sank into the mud by about 4 or 5 inches. Rob said the workers are used to it, but he didn’t want us to hurt ourselves. I then decided to take some more video and pictures of all the work going on as it would be the last opportunity to do so while we were working.

It was then that I also came across three children just outside their house. They reminded me of my kids as there was an older boy, a girl and then a little toddler boy. The little boy was trying to get me to come over. Thinking he wanted a hug, I started to hug him but he kissed my arm so sweetly and I just melted. I stayed with the kids taking a few pictures. I started to walk back but the little boy brought me his shoes to get me to help him. Then I carried the younger two around for a bit. I had the little boy and the girl (who’s name was Melissa). The young boy was touching my wedding ring. Rob had warned us that the kids might try to take them off but he was no more than two and he was just curious as he had never seen anything so shiny. After a while, I noticed a sore on Melissa’s leg was bleeding so I got Christal to patch her up. Suddenly, another boy with a sore came over to get medical help. We were able to explain that hers was bleeding and his wasn’t. Really, they all just wanted some attention and some love. After Melissa was patched up I piggy backed her playing horsey on the road. She was having so much fun.

We had lunch in the house and then just before we left, we took our school supplies to the director at the school. School had just been let out for the morning, so he was able to talk with us for a brief moment. The school currently went up to Grade 6 but it eventually will go to Grade 8. Rob had mentioned that it’s challenging as some of the older kids who come to the school have to enter into the lower grades as they have never had the opportunity to go to school.

All the children have to get to the school on their own, have a uniform (blue shirts with tan shorts or pants) and have all the books and supplies they need. Therefore some cannot afford to go to school at all. Rob said a Canadian organization called, “ I.N. Network Canada” will sponsor children to go to school for $35 CAN a month and there is currently a list of 70 students that are unsponsored just at the Esperenza school.

After dropping off the school supplies we were then off to the Puerto Plato hospital, called “Ricardo Limbardo”. We met with Isachar’s friends; Felipe, Carlos and Jose to help us pray and witness to the people in the hospital. We started on the children’s ward, moved down to the little preemie babies, the women’s and men’s ward and maternity.

There were so many different ailments that we saw that here in Canada could be dealt with at a medical clinic and some would never would be an issue with proper care (i.e. infections, anemia, diabetes). One man was blind and had no leg because of diabetes, another had a tooth infection that became a huge tooth infection so he couldn’t talk or eat and the list goes on. In the hospital, the families were all there to take care of the patients as the nurses only came around to administer IV’s. I never actually saw a nurse, except gathered around nurses station.

Each time we chatted with the sick, we learned about why they were there, prayed for them and gave them a gift. I remember praying for a crying baby and the instant we started to pray he calmed right down. Another time, I prayed with a woman and Isachar translated what I said. Afterwards, Isachar continued to talk with the woman and later on I found out that he led her to know the Lord! He took his phone out and wrote her name in it. I was so encouraged to know that I had been a part of helping her know Jesus and that she can lean on Him everyday.

I also remember Isachar talking with another family member of one of the sick. I remember praying in the Spirit as they talked in Spanish and as I prayed I was declaring that Satan must flee her. At the end, she accepted the Lord as well. I personally witnessed 4 salvations that day but in talking with Rob later he thought there was more like 6-10 salvations while we were there. In looking back, at the day I remember what Rob had talked about in our devotions and how we should obedient to Him and be bold. All you have to do is be willing to pray and God will do the rest.

Wednesday May 4th

We met for devotions later in the morning and headed off for the orphanage called, “Casa Nazaret”. A nun named Mercedes runs the orphanage with a few other staff that come in. The nun lives there 24 hours a day to care for the children. There were 13 children in their care, some perfectly healthy and others with disabilities like Down’s Syndrome and autism. Mercedes did speak a little English and at one time, it was funny when Isachar translated her English into Spanish.

This was the first time that Rob had brought a group to the orphanage and Mercedes was so full of joy that we were there. We dropped off some toys, clothing and shoes for the orphanage and played with the children for an hour or so. They loved playing with the balloons we brought too. Jenn and Justine were able to help feed some of the children.

We then travelled back to the village. It was a happy yet sad time as it would be our last time in the village. Today was the day we were going to move a family into the new house that Lakemount sponsored. We all gathered in the church with the sponsored family and The Samaritan Foundation director John Huizinga to have a house dedication service. John introduced the mother and teenage daughter in the family and explained that the father wasn’t able to be there because he had to work. John spoke from Psalm 23 which talks about the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want… He prepares a table for me and most importantly…. that I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. We finished by the team laying hands on the family and praying for them as Isachar translated. The mother also spoke of her gratitude for John and for God and asked God to bless us back for providing them a house. God provided a house for this family through all the people at Lakemount who donated money for the bricks of the house and we were able to be there by those who supported members of the team to be there!

When we finished some went to get a broom to sweep out their new house and the rest of us helped them to move out all their possessions of number 182, Los Algodones. It was a shared metal shed building with another family. The area that the three of them were living in was 8 ft by 10 ft with one small bed similar to a twin size. Their possessions included plants, foam, bedding, clothing, buckets, a metal cooking devise, a broken mirror, some kitchen items and concrete block pieces and they were packing them all in the blankets like it was fine china. The team all passed them one by one to where the pick-up truck was located. When all of their household possessions were in the back of a pick-up truck we took them over to their new house in the village of Esperenza. Some of us went to help them unpack the truck and set up their new house while others started working on taking down the old metal shed they used to live in.

I remember asking John how we were going to take apart their old shed as it was a shared dwelling. He said whatever we did it that it had to come down as best we could so someone else couldn’t move back in. We decided to take as much of the wood down from the roof as possible and take all the metal off. We did take the one wall completely down and part of the roof but some of the rotting wood structure would have to stay so that the rest wouldn’t fall down. In taking apart the structure we uncovered a nest of termites in the wood structure, a centipede (which Rob said are poisonous in the Dominican Republic) and huge spiders. During the dismantling, a man who had a tumor in his stomach came to help. At one point he was underneath the structure on the inside without any fear of the structure falling on top of him. I ended up holding up the wood on the roof just in case what the others were doing didn’t knock the whoel shed over.

Although I didn’t feel like we did all that much building while we were there, the whole trip was mostly summed up by taking down their metal shed house. We were taking apart that which was considered a house to them so that God could prosper them more in their new house. I wished I could provide more houses for others but as in the book of Nehemiah each section of the wall was built by a different family of God and so another church family will come and build another house for the people in Los Algodones. Rob mentioned in our tour of the village that there currently is more houses paid for than they can physically build. God is providing for them but there are other villages that need help too.

When we were finished we came over to the new house and got picture of the family with their new house. We then all stood on the porch of the families new home marveling in these last moments. Soon after, it started to rain and we knew our time was limited. We said goodbye as best we could to all the children who had now become our friends before taking the trip back to the hotel for the last time.

We invited Rob and Tina to come eat with us at the hotel and we went for the last swim in the ocean. The ocean waves were a lot rougher now; I ended up get caught up in the under toe for a short time.

At dinner, I was able to sit across from Rob and Tina to hear more stories of their life in the Dominican. I enjoyed hearing from Tina as we really only saw her for about ten minutes while we were there. They stayed with us for our last debriefing about re-entering back into Canada. I never thought it would have been so hard to go home but the experience has changed me. How the simple things we have (i.e. toothbrushes, hair dryers, electric power) that we think are necessities are luxuries for them. Life will never be the same again.

Thursday May 5th

Rob picked us up to go back to the airport and this time we had half the amount of luggage to cart around with us. The plane left 45 minutes late (which is typical Dominican style) so we arrived an hour later into the JFK airport. JFK was very busy as with the recent news of Osama Bin Laden being killed by the US Navy. Many people were flocking to the Twin Towers site that once stood in New York Cities skyline.

God stepped in again as it was exactly two hours from when our flight was to leave for home and we were able to skip a huge custom’s line up that probably would have taken us the whole two hours if we had to wait. We made it through within about 30 minutes and had to go a new terminal via train to board our flight into Buffalo. We had to go through security again and in our line up, I kept looking at this woman behind us. Now I’m not one to keep up with celebrities but the more I looked at her I noticed that it was Rosie O’Donnell. She chatted with a few of the team members while we waited and as they told her about the house we provided for a family she said, “Good for you”.

We had a quick dinner rather than the leisurely dinner that we were expecting at the airport and only was able to sit to eat before we boarded the plane for the last leg of our trip. We boarded the flight on-time but the direction of the winds were limiting the amount of flights able to leave so we were delayed for about for an hour trying to take off. The timing of God was so sweet though as we took off at sunset and the colour of the skies was a vibrant orange-red colour. Since we were up thousands of feet over the earth and we were flying with the sun, the beautiful sunset lasted for about 40 minutes into the flight. It was a perfect ending for the trip that He called each of us to come on.

I close with His word from Psalm 111: 2-9. “Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them. Glorious and majestic are his deeds, and his righteousness endures forever. He has caused his wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate. He provides food for those who fear him; 
he remembers his covenant forever. He has shown his people the power of his works, 
giving them the lands of other nations. The works of his hands are faithful and just; 
all his precepts are trustworthy. They are steadfast forever and ever, 
done in faithfulness and uprightness. He provided redemption for his people.”

I am so glad to know that wherever we are; in Canada or in the Dominican Republic, He has shown His people the power of His works, not mine. I am just there to answer the call and to serve Him.