We are home........Finally!!

We are home!  Safe and sound.   But, we did have some adventures along the way....

On Tuesday morning we packed up our things and headed out from the Ministry Center for the airport.
Since we had a little time before our 1:30 PM flight, we stopped by a national park that has 3 sinkholes.  It is beautiful clear water and very unique rock formations.

We then continued on to the airport, had a little lunch and said goodbye to Duane and Shelly.  They were off to do some preparations for one of the upcoming teams.  Our flight from Santo Domingo was on time and went very smooth.

 Unfortunately, the same was not true for Atlanta.  We were met with departure boards that were filled with the dreaded CANCELLED due to a "snowstorm" of 1-3 inches of snow.
After a few flight and gate changes, multiple delays, 2-1/2 hours on the taxi way waiting to be de-iced, we were finally in the air and made it to Minneapolis by around 2 AM.  By then, all flights into Sioux Falls had departed and we were left with "camping" out in the terminal until Wed morning.

 It wasn't the Tuesday evening of being home and seeing our loved ones that we had expected or looked forward to, but we made the most of it.  We tried to get a little sleep on the mats that were provided, but most of us agreed that we didn't sleep much.

 There was one person that ended up sleeping inside a "gated" community that night.  You will have to ask Melissa how it slept :-)

We were able to get on the first flight to Sioux Falls and arrived back in Sioux Center around noon on Wednesday.  It was a little later than originally planned (and our luggage still isn't here as of Wednesday evening), but we were safe, we were home.

As our time away has come to an end, we see so many things continuing forward.  The building that was built is just a start to a growing church, the relationships that were built will continue to be strengthened.  The experiences on both sides will change how we view the world moving forward.  The memories will bring smiles and tears in the time ahead.

Each of us on the team feels like they have gained more than we have given from this experience.  We hope to share these with you in future posts.  So just because we are back, this isn't the end.  Stay tuned for a few more posts. :-)

Day 10

Our final full day in the beautiful Dominican Republic!

We spent our "day off" playing tourist.  We first went to see two local Christian schools that are supported by World Wide Christian Schools.  This is one of the classrooms and we were greeted with a resounding "Buenos Dias!" 

 This is the second school we visited and it is also a current work site (note the second floor with the bare blocks that have been laid and forms across the top for pouring the bond beams.)  Currently there is a group from Ontario, Canada that is also staying at the Ministry Center and working on this site.

Our group (minus Brett who was taking the picture and Duane and Shelly who were ordering us pizza) in front of a statue of Christopher Columbus.  We toured the Colonial District and had a chance to shop for souvenirs. We toured the church behind the statue and also went down to an old fort (but that was closed for the day.)

Lastly, we got to go the beach for a bit today.  We went to Boca Chica and enjoyed some time taking in some sun and swimming in the clear water.  Gorgeous!

This evening after sharing a meal at the Ministry Center with the group from Ontario we had our last evening meeting.  We discussed the things that stood out most to us and made our time here special.  There was so much for all of us to say and we look forward to sharing these things with all of you when we return home.

Tomorrow we leave and look forward to seeing our families and loved ones again.  But we also leave a part of us here in the D.R.  This experience has changed us in ways I am sure we are not even aware of yet.  We will not forget the precious people of Citio Nuevo and there welcoming smiles.  They will remain in our thoughts and prayers as they continue in the work of spreading Christ's love and grace to those in their community.  Again we thank you for your support and covet your prayers as we travel home tomorrow and for Duane and Shelly as they continue on with more projects!

Day 9

Buenos Noches mi amigos!!This morning's worship service was attended by many. We took about 60 bibles to church this am that were gifted to us from the Gideons. New Testament translated into Spanish. We asked ages 12-25 to come to the front of church to receive one as the older generations mostly are illiterate. We hoped to get at least one into each family. The CR churches here, typically celebrate the Lord's Supper every first Sunday of the month. That didn't happen to be today, but they decided to move it up one week so we could celebrate together. You can see women have their heads covered in God's house. They use all sorts of head coverings, and had extra towels if someone forgot. 

During the worship service in their new church! Women on one side, men on the other is the custom but we were full to the brim today. Typically we don't think there will be this many as perhaps neighboring churches walked a long ways to celebrate the first service with them.

Complete as far as we can go. Someone else will come put doors, window shutters and stucco it.

After the service as a way to celebrate our exciting week we served pop and cake to each person exiting. Since they have no electricity here, we are led to believe they don't experience baked goods very often, or cold pop for that matter, so this is pretty cool!

After this young man was given his new bible, he was immediately reading through it and comparing to a bible of  one of the pastors. Heart warming to watch.

Door #2 that these guys and Onita were serving treats out of. 

After the am church service we got back in the van for our 6 hr drive back to Santo Domingo. Youch, that's an awesome ride for the bum. Above was the first pit stop we got, had peanut butter sandwiches for lunch and then climbed this look out tower to check out the inland lake. The boys are always such willing participants of our constant demands for photo ops.

Once again back at the ministry center here. Travels went well, just long and one traffic jam. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Day 8

Our last work day!  How has the week gone by so quickly? 

When we arrived today the local congregation had worked hard the evening before to level out the church floor so it would be ready to pour.  Here we can see the inside of the church after it had been poured and these gentlemen are putting the finish on.  

We taught the kids how to make funny faces for the camera today.  They also got a hold of Melissa’s camera and took about 200 pictures.  (our typical average was between 35 and 50)

Jumping rope.  They were really good at it and had obviously done it a lot before. They out-jumped all of us who tried (except for maybe Steve who impressed us with his jumping skills)

The guys got a chance to play a little today too (not sure how they had the energy after mixing and pouring all that concrete today!)  Our ball (pelota! Yep we are learning some Spanish) ended up quite flat after hitting the barbwire fence more times than we can count, but they didn't care and just kept playing. 

Here we are all done!  The building is finished as far as we can and the congregation will finish it. 

So many changes we have noticed this week.  The obvious being the church building being built.  The other is the bonds that have formed with the community we worked side by side with this week.  The first day everyone seemed a bit uncertain, the kids were timid, and it was hard to communicate.  Today we noted all that was gone.  We are all brothers and sisters in Christ and look forward to worshiping with them tomorrow in the new church!

Day 7

Our day started out warm and toasty. We went into Haiti this am and experienced the real deal in the Market. Whole fish fried, ready to eat along with bananas and other choices. After 1/2 hr we were all good and ready to get back to work. Above Shelly is tracing her template and preparing our gussets to put together the rafters. It was a good job for us ladies, but we had several boys longingly looking at our hammers so we decided to share the labor. They put nails every 2" instead of 4" simply because it was fun, so they should be quite strong!

 Onita is guiding the boys here and trying to keep the nail usage to a minimum.

 Raising the rafters and showing the opposite view of what we have been sharing of progress. From this angle you can see the mountains in the background. The other way you can see the ocean in the distance. Every way you look it's beautiful landscape. We got a break over the dinner hour with an awesome rain! Then we had some cloud cover on and off for a break from the heat!

 Cutting tin over the ribs at an angle posed a bit of a problem until the pastor agreed to use his machete!! First time for everything!

Chad redeemed himself today i suppose and filled in that gable(with the help of Onita, Brent one of the locals and i think i laid mud for 5 block hehe)...who knew he was a block layer deep inside!?

it's not all fun and games. lets be honest. Look at Onita's legs. Bugs and war wounds of falling off block platforms. We are an itchy bunch of Americans. We've had to resort to slapping others if we see them scratch as it quickly gets out of hand!

Tonight during devotions we talked about "Why are we here anyway?" It's fun to talk together of how we feel/felt stretched to come here or be here. Seeing such a high level of poverty and attempt to grasp what our lives would look like if the situation were reversed. It is our hope that the poor, non-poor and ourselves be able to discover our true identity as children of God, no matter the color of our skin and be honest stewards of God's creation. As our group walks along side these locals,  it is our prayer that while using all the talents the good Lord has blessed each one of us with, that all the glory and praise be given to Him!!

(last photo compliments of Chad VG)

Day 6

Hola!

On our 40ish minute drive to the work site each day we pass by several families that always stop what they are doing and shout and wave at us.  Today we took the opportunity to stop and say hello and Duane handed out a few Bibles to them as well.  Their smiles were priceless and we look forward to seeing them each day.

Hard at work making the form for a bond beam.  We had a lot of sun today and it made for some hot sweaty work, however we are certainly not complaining as we hear it is a bit chilly back home ;)

We were again treated to lunch with the local community here which is called Citio Nuevo.  Today we had rice and guandules (a type of bean), spaghetti noodles, and tostones (the fried plantains we had yesterday too).  What a privilege to have this time and share a meal with them.

After lunch Shelly, Melissa and I spent time with the kids again.  We are slowly learning more names and personalities as well!  We can see that kids are kids everywhere and they tease each other (and us) just like our own kids at home.  They are all so very precious and their smiles make our day so bright. 

 This is where we ended at today.  The church is starting to look more like a building and a lot of the progress is somewhat hidden.  The bond beams are all done, front and side steps have been poured and the rafters have all been put together ready to be put up tomorrow. 

But now it is late here and time for bed.  Thanks again for all the prayers and support.  We can see all the “hits” on the blog and are encouraged that so many are interested in what is happening here!  Blessings to all of you, please continue to pray for Citio Nuevo and that their church will be a place of blessing to them and above all give glory to God.

Day 5

We ate our first meal with the locals today. These are bananas. Deep fried. Here she is  squishing them flat between 2 pieces of cardboard. Then she would deep fry them again.. Interesante!

Bucket Brigade of the day. no one had to walk more than 1 step;) They were passed quickly down the line. "most" of us work hard, can you spot the slacker?

Rice, some local beans and chicken FEET, can you spot it??!!! oh and fried bananas! 

One of the pastors boys broke his arm while playing. I thought his cast was way to white and asked if we could sign it! Onita got out her bag of crayons and us three ladies signed, then the boy in red shirt....but when a little girl was ready to, he said, "no more!"

After taking out our 2 Frisbees and one ball and expelling all the energy Onita, Shelly and I had left, we resorted to coloring. they LOVED it. even the boys. What great care they took in making their pictures pretty! 

 

Posing in front of ALL the pictures they colored in a short amount of time! They didn't have school today and havn't for a while bc of the drought. No water for bathing, ect. The teacher was here today though so he let us in the school so we could use the desks to color on instead of scrap wood.

 

 

Day 4

Another beautiful day in Pedernales.  We had sunshine and a breeze for breakfast which was right on time this morning.   Then off to the work site. 

Many local residents were there to work, including several children.  Kyle is discussing with our friend Coby the great job they are doing laying block.

We have been eating our lunch of bread and water with a treat of jerky from John Van Engen (Thanks John!) in their soon to be old church. 

 This is the progress that we made today.  Much of our progress is hidden in the concrete that was poured in the columns and window sills.

 

 

The bucket brigade from the cement mixing area into the church made things go quick and easy.  

We finished work a little early today and took some local residents back to their villages (many walk quite a ways to come help build!)  We were able to see another church that was built a few years ago that originally was started by the Spanish government as a water collection source.

This evening we spent some time learning more about the history of the country and the Anti-Hatian prejudice that exists here.  We also reflected on the great need we have seen and our call to help in whatever way we can.

Buenos Noches!   

Day 3

Un momento...tis the saying here in DR...Duane wanted us all up and ready to eat breakfast at 7:30, and we all were...even Onita! and then...no breakfast. We waited and waited and about an hour later our breakfast finally arrived. It was tasty and worth the wait! Then we quickly loaded up and drove the 40 minutes to our site in the hills. This is my first experience doing something like this. How very humbling to walk along side them as we build an actual building to worship in. Not a lean to with torn tarps and missing tin that has blown off the roof.


We arrived and all the supplies were ready and waiting for us as well as a crowd. Looked like kidos dressed in their Sunday best. little girls in pretty white dresses...while we are surrounded by red dirt, dust & mud. (I don't even wear white in IA!)

This is where they are currently worshiping, very close to the new church 

 

How the site looked when we arrived 

everyone lending a hand carrying the block to the inside of the church 

 

Jesse & Brett's very willing helpers 

By the afternoon our church started looking like a church!! 

Pictures

Pictures from the drive and hotel