DR 2023 - Nagua - Travel Day

Friday, February 17: Travel Day: A few of the team members left the hotel early to go back to the church one last time, bringing our donated items and to pick up our tools. Pastor Pierre came to the hotel and the rest of us started loading our luggage. After the rest of the group returned from the church, we all gathered for prayer with Pastor Pierre and Pastor Hanold. We said our goodbyes to Pastor Hanold and left Nagua. 

We had enough time before our flight time to go on a Ministry Tour. Our first stop was a batey (defined as a village center) near Sabanna Grande. We visited with a few church members there and gathered in their church, which was the oldest church in the CRC in the Dominican. We could see that this church was in need of some repair because of termites eating away at the wooden part of the structure. The church members told us of how the Haitians first came to the Dominican to work in the government run sugar Cain fields and saw the barracks that were built for them to live in. The government run program gave the Haitian people jobs but not enough money to support themselves and their families. We were shocked at the living conditions of some of the people in the batey as the barracks still house some of the Haitian people today. 

Next we toured one of the Christian schools in Sabanna Grande, which included preschool through high school. We could tell that the director and teachers of the school were passionate about their work and the mission of the school. We shared one last cup of Dominican coffee at the Ministry Center with Pastor Pierre as the Ministry Center is connected to the school and is where Pastor Pierre lives. 

It was then time to proceed to the airport. We made it through customs, but after finding our gate, Tristan was called back for a complete search which included dogs sniffing Tristan thoroughly! Tristan passed the search in time to board the plane with the rest of us. The rest of our travel day was uneventful and we made at back to Sioux County around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday.

Home Again:

Home again to a place where we can claim our citizenship without conflict.

Home again; where we have clean water in abundance and at our fingertips.

Home again; where our opportunities are only limited by our imaginations.

Home again to houses that are structurally sound and where we have a plethora of food.

Home again; hearts filled with the love of Christ shown to us through our newly made friends.

Home again; grateful for the opportunity to learn about the life of Haitians living in the Dominican Republic. 

Home again; thankful for a team that worked hard together, without injury, that shared food, that shared plenty of laughs and that was willing to have honest, open discussions.

Home again; changed by the experience and wondering how to best use this experience in our pampered lives. 

Thank you, Faith Church, for being a people that gives freely and sees beyond our doors providing the opportunity and means for members to go out and share the Love of Christ. 

Faith CRC 2023 DR Service and Learning Team:

Steve Boer

Henry Byl

Karla Byl

Dave Goslinga

Jodi Hulstein

Trey Hulstein

Tristan Hulstein

Scott Hulstein

Henry Kraayenbrink 

Brady Schreiner

DR 2023 - Nagua - Day 7 & 8

Wednesday, February 15: We started our day at the church with a prayer of dedication by one of the elders of the church. We could sense our work wrapping up as there were only a few columns left to pour. It had rained in the early morning so we had a few clouds for a slight reprieve from the heat. By early afternoon, the last of the columns were poured. We picked up a late lunch on our way back to the Hotel Cambri and spent some time enjoying a little sun at a nearby beach and at the hotel pool. 

In the evening we headed back to the church for goodbyes and a dedication service. Only God could help form such special relationships in such a short time that includes a language barrier and cultural differences. 

We ended our time together singing, “Our Friends May you Grow in Grace” for them. We left the church knowing this hard-working, loving group of church members will continue not only finishing the structure of the church, but will utilize this church to welcome new members and to help spread the love of Christ. 

Thursday, February 16: Day Out! We were able to enjoy some of God’s beautiful creation as our day consisted of hiking to a beautiful waterfall and stream, swimming in the water around it and time at a nearby beach. We were treated to seafood on the beach, which was a real luxury for us Iowans! 

We ended our day with a stop at a small local souvenir shop and supper at some food trucks near the ocean. 

In the evening Steve Brauning led us in some trivia about Resonate Global Mission and the Dominican Republic. Our time ended with a wrap up discussion, devotions and prayer.

DR 2023 - Nagua - Day 5 & 6

Monday February 13: Forms were made around the columns and above the windows. Several columns were filled with “meckla” utilizing much teamwork. Our team was amazed at the resourcefulness of our church friends as pretty much all of the lumber used for the forms would have been considered scrap lumber back in the states. Many of the nails used were recycled: taken out of one board and used again in another - again something pretty much unheard of in the states. 

We enjoyed another meal of salad, rice and beans and chicken prepared by the women of the church (and Jodi). This time our meal was eaten amongst our friends instead of separately like the first meal they made for us.

In the evening we were joined by two members and the President and founder of Jet, an organization that has been formed to help raise awareness and help young Haitians learn technical skills and how to help navigate life without any citizenship. We all learned about the documentation discrimination that is so prevalent leaving the majority of the Dominicans with Haitian ancestry stuck without any citizenship at all.

Tuesday, February 14: The day seemed a little warmer than previous days as there was very little breeze and plenty of sunshine. We moved dirt/clay and did more “meckla” pouring into the columns. Because of the heat, we enjoyed a siesta over the noon hour and went back to our hotel to nap and cool off. The afternoon seemed to gather a few more kids so they were able to enjoy some of the coloring books, stickers and balls that we had brought along to share. 

In the evening we enjoyed a nice meal of seafood at a nearby restaurant and treated ourselves to some ice cream for dessert.

DR 2023 - Nagua - Day 4

Sunday, February 12: Worship Day!

We accepted the invitation to worship with our Haitian friends in their existing church building. We had around 75 of us packed into their 15 ft x 35 ft building plus many kids and extras outside of the building. It was a beautiful service with enthusiastic singing and a little dancing! Our Haitian friends definitely show a passion for the Lord during their worship time. 

Later in the afternoon we went for a walk on a beach that is across the road from our hotel. Unfortunately the beautiful beach is spoiled by much trash on and around the beach. Trash is commonly found pretty much everywhere in Nagua. 

One thing we didn’t mention on the first post was the visit we had from the police at the job site on our first day there. If you get a chance to ask any of the team members about this experience do so - they would be excited to share the details of this! 

DR 2023 - Nagua - Day 1, 2 & 3

Thursday, February 9: Travel on Thursday was uneventful considering we left Sioux Center by 3:00 a.m. and traveled in some fog to Sioux Falls. Our plane left a little late from Sioux Falls but arrived early enough in Atlanta to make our connecting flight. Steve and Guido were at the Santo Domingo airport to pick us up. We survived the Dominican traffic and made it safely to Hotel Cambri in Nagua, which is where we will be spending our next 8 nights. We got settled in and then gathered as a team for devotions and orientation. We turned in fairly early as we were all tired from our big travel day. 

Friday, February 10: We left for the church/job site around 8:30 a.m. The Toyota van survived the pot holes, which is amazing since it’s pretty much impossible to avoid them all! The morning was spent meeting our new friends. Pastor Hanold and his wife were there along with Pastor Pierre and at least 20 church members. The team members that have served in the Dominican before said this is the most support they have ever seen by church members. This was wonderful to see as there were many helping hands as we worked together laying block and moving dirt. Our Haitian friends definitely took charge of their project and taught us how to mix crete and lay block their way! 

Saturday, February 11: After breakfast and devotions we headed to the church/job site again. When we got there, our Haitian friends were up on a home-made scaffolding already laying more block. They are planning on this being a two-story church someday so the structure is a bit different than the experienced team members were used to. The women were there busy cutting chicken and chopping vegetables for the meal they were hosting for noon lunch. Although the language difference is definitely a barrier, we can sense their love for the Lord and their gratefulness to have help on their project. 

Tuesday

 Tuesday at the work site looked like peeling forms off of the final pillars, cleaning them up, then reusing that wood to build a large form around the upper perimeter of the church to make a bond beam. 

We took an early lunch so that we could come back sooner to get more work done before we left for an early supper. We got ready for the rescheduled church service, and went right back to the batay we had visited on Monday when we were in the sugar cane fields.

Church was a unique and exciting experience, and it was very special that we could share it with our new friends who welcomed us warmly and joyously. This was a special joint service with several local churches that typically happened once a month. The vast majority of the service was in the creole language, but Steve, who was with our team, was invited to preach and he delivered the sermon to us in creole and english. We introduced ourselves during the service, and greeted as many people as we could afterward. 

Monday

Long post alert! Monday was a busy and amazing day!

When we arrived at the work site, we peeled off the concrete forms from Saturday, cleaned them up a bit, then set up and poured the forms for the remaining columns.

At the work site, concrete is mixed in a big pile on the ground with shovels. On Monday especially, A few little girls were extra enthusiastic about hauling buckets of concrete. This was impressive and humbling, since the adults thought the buckets were heavy but the kids made it look easy and didn’t leave many buckets for the adults to haul. They were nearly covered in concrete but they quickly washed up with the water we used to make concrete and left for the afternoon school shift. We left the site to eat a late lunch a few minutes later.

We had some time that afternoon because we could not proceed with building until the concrete set so after lunch, we hopped back in the van and drove into the countryside hoping to find someone harvesting sugar cane. When we found a couple men cutting cane, we introduced ourselves, explained that we wanted to learn more about how sugar cane is harvested, then humbly asked if a few of us could give it a try. The men happily handed their machetes over to Tristan and Trevin who got to work. After a couple more people took their turns harvesting sugar cane, we sampled some sugar cane, then walked further into the field where we saw a larger group harvesting and loading up a wagon pulled by a team of four huge oxen. The men jumped in to help fill the wagon, we took a few photos together, then walked back to the batay, a small community that houses people who harvest sugar cane and their families. Our organization helped build a church in that batay years ago, so we visited with a deacon who lives there for a little while, and also chatted with a large group of children who had just left school. 

Our next stop was a small cave just outside of Boca De Yuma, the town we’re staying in. We explored for 30 minutes then went back to the hotel. A smaller group broke off and got some ice cream, then we had supper and evening devotions.