Cornerstone C2C Update

Tuesday – This morning we divided up into 2 teams once again.  There was a work crew and a home visit crew for the morning.  The work crew completed another cement base for a latrine.  The home visit crew went with Kelvin, the community liaison, and Chelia (Shay-la) the interpreter who joined us yesterday afternoon.  Kelvin brought us to visit the homes of 4 different sponsored children. 

The children were very intimidated and we had to work very hard to draw them out.  Though I don’t think many 9 or 11 year olds would be much different given the 6 foreigners staring at them hoping for a response.  With some effort at communication there was a little response and the mothers or grandmothers of the children were very welcoming and thankful for the partnership we have entered into with them.  Greg even tried the “waist high on my ducks joke” to break the ice – at least it loosened everyone up. 

The FFH staff assures us that subsequent visits will go much better now that a beginning relationship has been established.

We visited the homes of:

Yasmine and Ciprian sponsored by the Herman family

Christofer sponsored by the Wilson family

Mariana sponsored by the Mckearney family

Mariana was the most outspoken she said she hopes that we come back; she wants to see her sponsored family again soon.  They really see our presence here as a sign of hope and blessing.

The afternoon’s activities were hindered by a rain storm that hit just as the work project and VBS were supposed to begin.  They probably see the annual rainfall of the Powell area each week. 

After two and a half days here we are drawing closer as a team and learning to trust each other not just as teammates but with realities of our weaknesses.

Zach says “It’s and experience, it’s really very cool – I feel very white.”

We are all working hard to learn the culture and build relationships with the people here.  Dale can’t speak much Spanish so he yells “Hola” and holds up the 2 fingered peace sign.  Now almost the whole community is doing this when they see us.  It’s neat to see a small gesture of welcome from so many.

The team and especially the ladies have been connecting so well with the children and young girls.  It seems like if we are outside of our quarters they are holding and talking and singing all around.

It has been a blessing to have Bob with us, it’s been a comfort to be able to have a MD address our aches pains, watch over Steve’s incision site, and advise on bug bites.  We sleep with mosquito spray every night and still seem to get a bit or two. 

The rain broke and we were able to begin the VBS this afternoon.  However, as soon as we had gathered about 20 kids the rain began again so we moved them inside the building where we are staying.  Aletha did a great job telling the story of Peter getting out of the boat and walking on water.  After some singing and the story we brought out the parachute provided by Chris Wolff.  It was really incredible to watch the kids play with it. 

I can’t wait to share a video – but the upload time is so long I can’t possible do it from here.  Each picture takes up to 15 min. and must be done out back by the outhouse.    But it is so incredible to be able to share with everyone as it happens.  Be sure to tell everyone to check the blog I’ll try to update daily.

The work crew couldn’t work because of the rain soaked ground.  It’s too dangerous to work in mud along the edge of a freshly dug deep hole.  While VBS was going on the guys from the crew helped fill the water tank for washing and then get our truck unstuck from the mud.  Dale wore some of the mud for the rest of the day.  Then the guys got out one of the soccer balls and played volleyball in the street with the teenage guys from the community.  This was very exciting because it was our first real interaction with them. 

Before dinner we had a short meeting with Arismendy the FFH regional director.  He shared FFH’s vision for the community and similar communities across the world, to work closely with local leaders, families and local churches to alleviate poverty on all levels.  Here in the Dominican Republic, the communities are so welcoming and to their work which has made them so much more effective.  There have been many promises made to them by politicians, and even other non-profit relief agencies but with no actual results.  But FFH’s continual presence in the communities shows their real commitment. 

He also shared that they would welcome donations of school supplies, baseball equipment, clothing and shoes (especially for children.  The latrines we are building will especially help the kids who often don’t have shoes and so can be found walking in very unsanitary conditions.  It causes them many health problems. 

This is our first evening to have a real break without at church service.  It has been much needed and helped us to bond and recover from the extreme humidity and heat and catch up from our long travel day.  As I am writing there are still drips of sweat coming off my head at 8:30 at night. 

Since I’m writing I’ll take this opportunity to thank my wife for the cards and to tell her and the kids I love you and miss you.  – I’m sure the others would share similar greetings if they had the opportunity.

God bless thank you for your prayers.

Almost forgot – Kelvin (community liaison) asked Bob if he would be able to look at 2 different kids with some severe health problems that, I believe, have never seen a doctor.  Of course he agreed – we’ll see how this goes over the next couple of days.

We will be visiting more sponsored children tomorrow as well as the planned work project and VBS. 

Thursday will be much the same – however we will attempt to lead a VBS in the morning too for kids who attend school in the afternoon.  Friday we will continue to interact with the community and have a softball game against the local youth group. 

Please pray for the FFH’s coordinators, Martires and Jose, they spend week after week away form their families to be with church groups here in the poor communities.  One time, Martires spent only one night at his house if 4 weeks of working with teams.  These godly men have become like brothers to us.

This is me outside by the outhouse sending the blog last night.  God Bless!