Trip Overview Video

Final Day in the community!

2011 Day 6

This morning we had some really great opportunities with the people of the community.

But, the day started at midnight, when we were all just beginning to settle in.  The FH staff knew it was Bob’s birthday and through the miracle of the internet, found some Kenny Rogers to play for him just before we all signed off for the night.   By the time lunch came around they produced cake and a great round of Happy Birthday and a cake.  It’s good to be with our family here if we can’t be with our families back at home.

After breakfast we were able to visit a couple more houses and plant some fruit bearing trees.  It will be fun to return and see what these trees are doing in the future.  Though small, the trees should begin to bear fruit in about a year.  Just as the message planted here has already begun to bera fruit and we look forward to a great harvest.

After tree planting we had a really great time playing baseball with the young men of the community.  We actually played well enough to be edged out 6-7, but it was a really great time.  The man who helps train the kids was very encouraging of the work going on here both through the leadership and through FH’s work.

The afternoon brought us to some farewell visits to friends homes and we had a special dedication ceremony at the house we had begun.  There was a great prayer time as we stood in the rooms-to-be.  The family promised we would pray in those same rooms together when we return next time. This young family of Carlos and Annalisa, has such hope now that they no longer have to depend on relatives for a place to live.  Carlos at 23, though he looks 17 to us, is father to 3 kids the oldest is 5.  We are so blessed to have been part of this project.

Carlos and Annalisa in their new house witth extednded family.

We were also able to tour a house that FH is just completing so that we could see what the home will look like when completed.  The whole community is so excited for each other as needs are met.  We have not come across any jealousy in these areas yet.

In the evening we gathered with the community for a farewell ceremony at the church.  It was so humbling as person after person thanked us and FH and praised God for the changes going on here.  It is so incredible to see the progress already.   There were musical numbers and everyone kept saying we won’t tell you adios, only see you again.  The pastor said that if it wasn’t here then it would be in heaven.  As each of our team shared our blessings from the week with the community and thanked them for allowing us to come, there were not many dry eyes in the place.  After we finished a few different of the ladies came back up and said we should not be thanking them because we had brought them so much and left so much. 

Greg was able to pray for the whole community, families, leaders, the school, the church, the full-time FH staff and the pastor.  God is working in a mighty way here!  It took over a half hour for us to get apart from the people after the ceremony because of all the hugs and farewell wishes and more hugs and a few tears.  One gal came up to us and said thanks for her brother who had accepted Christ just last night. 

We will miss this place when we leave in the morning and will be looking forward with great anticipation to seeing our families again.  We are hours from the airport so will return to that area to stay at a hotel so that we can catch our early morning flight on Sunday.

What a wonderful day!

 2011 day 5

 What a wonderful day! We can hardly imagine all the amazing things that God has allowed us to see and be a part of this week.  Our evening was closed out in amazing fashion by two teenagers Felix Antonio & Luis Fernando who came tour door late tonight asking for prayer.  They had just accepted Christ and we were able to pray with them.  What an exciting thing to witness, God drawing people to himself.

This morning after breakfast, the guys went to work building doors and windows out of planks and 1x4’s.  It was a challenge to make straight cuts with old saws but also a privilege to serve.  It’s great to be a part of the positive impact that this house will have on this young family. 

Greg was able to make a short trip to visit Anna Rosa, one of his family’s sponsored children.  The visit had been put off because she had spent 4 days in the hospital due to an amoeba that had caused her breathing problems.  Praise God she was able to get the health care she needed.

The ladies headed off to visit family members in their homes.  They were also able to present needy students at the school with school clothes.  The clothes were possible due to the sponsorship program.  It was a blessing to see this community benefiting in so many different ways.

After lunch Dale, Zach and Bob headed out to visit the last of the sponsored children.  They initiated a new activity on the visits.  Along with a few small trinkets, they brought fruit trees and planted them with the kids.  We look forward to seeing the trees grow into another resource in the community.

Lori and Corianne shared the last 2 days of the creation story with the kids in VBS.  It has been so exciting to share with them the love God showed us all in that process.  The children have learned so much and were ahead of the game in reviewing all the lessons of the week.

Greg and Misti finished the last of the window security shutters.  And then were able to lay the last of the cinderblocks for the foundation of the new house.  Enemencio, the job foreman will return to complete the framing of the house next week.  We look forward to returning and seeing the house completed.

Today began the food-byes, Wilmon our excellent interpreter and a young pastor with lots of energy left to return home.  We will miss him.  We thank God for the excellent people God has privided to support us!

This evening we showed a movie that many members of the community watched.  The crowds seem to be more and more filled with new faces and more grown-ups.  Praise God for the work he is doing here.

middle of the week

Blog 2011 Day 4

We have reached the middle of the week.  It was a very full and fruitful day.  We ended this evening with a group time of sharing.  It was good to gather together as a team, including our Food for the hungry hosts.  We had just completed an evening service where, following Dale’s testimony and Bob’s sermon, three young ladies came forward to accept Christ.  We were able to pray for them with the pastor and church leaders.

As a team we have become a good unit, bearing each other’s burdens and drawing encouragement from each other’s strengths.  Greg, Misti and Corianne spent the day at the work project.  It is so exciting to see the anticipation in the family as the father, Carlos, and his cousins and neighbors work alongside us.  Today we laid 2 courses of cinderblocks on the foundation that Dale, Zach and Bob laid yesterday.  Tomorrow we expect to be erecting walls and possible some of the roof.  The FH crew thanked Greg for keeping things straight and level. 

Home visits today brought the rest of the team to the same houses that they visited 2 years ago on our first trip.  It was a blessing to hear how people described the positive changes that have happened in the 2 years FH has been working here and we have been visiting.  In the afternoon Dale and Zach visited some of their sponsored children, while Lori and Bob led the VBS.  The VBS continues to be a special time of teaching and celebrating God in fun songs from the Bible.  We are very thankful for the FH staff who makes it all run so smoothly.

We stopped all of our activities early this afternoon in order to meet with the community leaders.  They shared with us the projects that have been completed in just a few short years with the support of FH.  There has been a new grade added to the school this year, 6^th and they hope to soon have 7^th and 8^th.  The shared with us that the government has set aside money to build a high school nearby, but they are trying to raise money to buy land in the approved area.  Pray for this, it costs families $100 per month to send a child to the available high schools which are over 25 km away.  Many kids are not able to go.  They also shared of their hope to add a 2^nd well and water supply system so that half of the community won’t have to travel so far and that the existing system can have relief.  They also hope for a baseball field to keep the young men out of the bars and occupied so they don’t do drugs.  They have great vision for this community and believe that God has brought FH and us to them so they may develop and become independent.  One of the other concerns is that they can develop cottage industries to create jobs in the community.  Recently FH provided a training course for people to learn how to make cheese and yogurt from locally available milk.  25 people were certified and hopefully these industries will be supporting whole households here soon. 

Already some of the team are feeling the sadness of departure looming.  We have grown greatly in our relationships with the people here.  God has blessed us greatly to be connected with these people!  God is using Cornerstone in great ways. 

Pray for the local church, it’s leaders, and especially Pastor Segundo.  He a gentle and loving man of God

Cornerstone's very busy day

Blog 2011 Day 3

Today was a very busy day.  God’s blessings were to be seen all over.

Today the foundation for the house was poured and the first of the 2 levels of blocks were laid.  The family to inhabit the house is always around and the father is working very hard right alongside us. 

In the morning we made some general visits to families in the community.  It was so humbling, as Misti put it.  “I can’t believe that our presence here can be so encouraging and makes such a difference to these wonderful people.   I am a nobody from nowhere.  It’s amazing that God uses us for such an impact on these people.”    We visited 5 or 6 houses and everywhere we stopped we were told that our coming here was a blessing and for us to go to their house was such a privilege and a blessing.  Each place we went we were able to share of God’s grace and the eternal hope he offers to all of us.

VBS in the afternoon was a great blessing once again.  Despite a whole new group of teachers the kids recited the lesson from the previous day and listened intently and enjoyed all the time together.  It is exciting to see them hungry to learn. 

Always there are kids around, holding our hands as we walk and playing and even just sitting by us when we rest.  Their smiles are constant and we are observing more parental involvement than we had before.  It is a privilege to be Gods hand to them.

This is the house we built last year.  The family is still so happy to have a place to safe clean place live. 

Greg is doing much better, thank you for your prayers. 

This evening we shared one of the Narnia movies with the community, it was well attended and a great opportunity to share a positive influence.

Faces New and Old

Day 2 2011

First day of regular ministry, what a great blessing today has to all of us. We began the morning sharing stories of a night of good sleep for some and difficult sleeping for others.  But all were praising God to be here in this hot, humid, lush, green and exciting place where hope is growing.

Following a breakfast of cereal and milk, some of us joined in the construction project.  We started by clearing the little bit that remained of the previous rotten house that the family had mostly removed, just a little bit of crumbling cement.  Then the contractor laid out the design and Dale Zach and Bob along with some men from the community spent the morning digging out footings for the new house.  By the end of the day they had dug all the foundation and cut and tied rebar for the project.  Along with the home-owner to be some neighbors joined in also.  Our lead host from FH, Maria, mentioned that she heard a number of people say they were confident the project would be finished because it is the Americans, not the government.  Our commitment to them offer these three years is breeding hope, not in us but hope in general and a believe that they are cared for.

The rest of us, Lori, Corianne, Misti and Greg, went on some home visits for the morning.  It was very exciting to see the expectation of relationship between Misti and the children she and her family sponsor.  They know that we are here because we care and because of God’s love for them.  Seeing Lori and Corianne visit their sponsored children was to witness relationships grown over three years of contact and love. 

In the afternoon, Greg and Zach led VBS with the help of very talented FH staffer, Maria and Willman our blessing of and interpreter.  We shared the story of the first day of creation.  It was great to see their enthusiasm for learning and joy in singing songs and playing together.  We look forward to a week of sharing God’s love with them in action and word.

Much of the free time was filled with playing with children, meeting old friends again and making new ones.  We are so well cared for by the FH staff here.  Praise God for them and the way God is working here.

Prayer requests for the team:  Greg is struggling with his energy level a little as he is still getting his thyroid level balanced.  Bob asks for prayer as he prepares to preach on Wednesday night.    For the whole team, the heat and humidity is a constant challenge.

We thank God for the prayer and support we know we have from you.  God Bless!

Sunday - Old Friends Again

2011 day 1
As our plane landed 3 hours late in Santo Domingo, we were reminded how God works in all for the good of those who fear him in all things. Our connecting flight was late into New York which would have caused us to miss the last leg of the journey had the final plane been on-time.

We were late to bed and full of anticipation for the new adventure before us. Sunday morning we met with Martha, Food for the Hurgry’s country director in the Dominican Republic. It was so inspirational and encouraging to hear her vision for transforming the lives of the vulnerable people of the DR.

After that meeting we, had a quick lunch at Burger King and headed to the community. It was so exciting to meet our old friends again. So many of the children remembered us by name and asked after those who had been on previous teams. Their smiling faces and desire to be with us were so encouraging. Those smiles are so contagious.
After a brief tour of the community, which was very familiar to many of us, we had a formal welcome from the leaders of the community. They spoke so glowingly of the work that is happening here through FH and our relationship with them. It is impossible to doubt that our time and money are being used. God is doing real work here. People are being transformed and we look forward to what they call mutual transformation. That is we expect God to change not only the lives of the people here but also of our team.

The church's regular wervice followed. Lori shared hre testimony and Greg preached. It is good to be here with God's people.

On a personal note, I was so encouraged to hear that all of our FH friends here had been praying with their churches for healing from the cancer I faced this past summer. It is so incredible to be a part of the family of God.

Some pictures of our first day in-country.

Arrival

We have made it! settling into accomodations. Looking forward to commujnity interaction tomorrow!

on the way

It's been a day full of hurry up and wait, but that's what traveled days are usually full of. All in all we expect to arrive in the Dominican sometime tonight. Tight connections and late flights almost made us miss or final flight. However, God is watching over us and our final flight is delayed over two hours. Thus enabled us not only to catch the flight but get our first Call meal of the day.

God is at work. Looking forward to sharing more of our exciting story with you!