In the City

It really has been an incredible week- this team has been awesome and their ministry has been wonderful! They have ministered to me personally- I love hearing their stories and watching how God is working through them. Please be in prayer for them as they rest tonight for their journey home. They have to be exhausted!!

Also, tonight at midnight, the St Giles group will be heading out to catch a flight at Dulles and be in tomorrow around 10:30AM.  I know we have another exciting week ahead of us. They will be working in Santo Domingo with Pastor Melvin and his church in Don Gregorio.  Please keep them in your prayers as they travel and begin their week of ministry here in the DR.

Greetings! We have had an awesome week! today, our last VBS day, God gave us affirmation of the impact we had made for Christ. We were asked to come to the pastor’s home where he presented us with a scripture and gifts.  There were hugs and tears all around as we said good-bye.  In the afternoon, the entire team (all 4 groups) went to Palmar for a final program and dedication of the BB court. The worship time “rocked” the church and it was a wonderful ending as the pastor and Bryan shot the first shots into the new hoops!

Just a shout out to all the fans of team C… We wrapped up our weekw ith an amazing day in Palmar. After yesterday’s crown craft, we had about 200 kids waiting at the church this morning! What an amazing day to reach the youth in palmar. Today we shared the salvation story and used the salvation bracelets the kids in Awanas had made. What a blessing and a great way to end our VBS week.
Our team was back and healthy today so God was ready to pour out His blessings. Our day ended here with our last visit to Palmar ro dedicate the newly finished basketball court. Wow, what an amazing time of games, songs and ministry.  God has used us in amazing ways this week. Let’s all give a huge shout out to God!

It was another fun day at Los Santos! We entered with renewed vigor and expectations for a great ending to our week. We had LOTS of excited children to tell the story of salvation. We have prayed all along that as we plant seeds, the Holy Spirit will work in the childrens lives.
   Today we received a wonderful gift from the kids. About 7 of the children had prepared a musical/drama for us! They came with their crowns from yesterday and sang a song of praise to God with hand motions.
     As church was finishing up, a little boy came by as he had all week and sat next to Mr. Melvin. He works selling vegetables. He made quite an impression on Melvin. He had to walk a long way as he worked. He sat real close to Melvin and they talked and shared for a while.  Please remember this little fellow who works hard to help his family survice- he is just 11 years old!

Shout out from team A. Thursday and Friday were amazing days! VBS continued to get more crazy with more and more children. We made crowns on Thursday and salvation bracelets today. We left some of our evangelism supplies with the church in Villa. Milagro felt like we had left her diamonds!  Prayer walking was amazing. A woman’s eye sight was restored after we prayed for her. Today we were able to pray with a woman who needed surgery.  We prayed until we felt “it was done.” A little bit later, she came back to tell her that she had felt a lifting in her abdomen and relief from the pain! We praise God for being a part of His awesome work!  It was so hard to say good-bye to our new friends and leave them with so many needs. Please pray for our Dominican friends.

Today’s VBS was pretty chaotic- our craft that went with the Esther story really excited the kids!  We were missing Ms Wendy and Mary Catherine today- MC was sick but thankfully is feeling better. After lunch, we go to different sites for different ministry activies. Today we went to La Canela to prayerwalk. Team C was there to do sports evangelism.  We split our team into two smaller teams and had opportunities to walk and pray and meet people in the community. We actually spent some good quality time praying for several familes. After the prayerwalk, we went back to help Team C with the evangelism. Shannon was able to give a Spanish NT to one of the Dominican soccer players. He was super excited to get it and thanked us more than 20 times!  Kate got to see some of her best dominican friends- Ruben and Lauren and meet their families.

PS- thanks for the comments! Team D loves Jesus, each other, and the Dominicans and ya’ll!

Yesterday, VBS was kind of crazy, but really fun as always. Yesterday afternoon we went to Bonao for water purification but really Brad and Kevin did that while “las chicas” got to know the people of the church and the community by prayer walking.  We even met a man who had been paralyzed by a stroke three years ago and still had a seperated shoulder. Karen was able to use her therapist skills to give him advice to heal and reduce his pain.  While we were there, we were blessed to meet a girl named Ali from the Peace Corps who happened to be a Christian.  She was just beginning her 2 year project and is living with a Dominican family.
     Today, VBS was smooth sailing and the kids were cute as always.  At Villa de Yaque this afternoon, we really got a chance to bond with the kids and teens our age through sports evangelism. We got schooled, but it is okay.
     Overall, everything is going really well, we miss you all but we love it here!

Hola, Guess what?  It’s team B again. Another incredible day in the DR.  Today was by far the most challenging day of VBS.  Today’s craft was crowns from Burger King with jewels and stickers to decorate them.  The kids went crazy! Even our translators had trouble with control.  But, despite the challenges, it was a good day.  This afternoon we were in Palmar Arriba and finished painting the BB court. It was humbling to see how much prode the Dominicans have in the BB court, something we often take for granted. While Hunter, Jonathan and Jordan painted, Amy, Mallory Maggie and Angela entertained the kids with many rounds of Alleluja.  Pretty soon the entire team was helping to paint the court. We really enjoyed doing something for this community that has so little! Remember to keep us in your prayers as we finish out our week in the DR!

Today we really hit our rythm, everything seemed to go smoothly and most of all, several young men accepted the Lord during our afternoon youth evangelism outreaches! Awesome!  For me, what is so neat is to see how “profoundly affected” the US volunteers are as they minister here and at the same time, see and hear the impact they make on others. 

Tomorrow will be our grand finale- VBS lesson in the morning is real important so please keep folks in your prayers. In the afternoon, we will be out at Palmar Arriba to say our farewell and dedicate the BB court. All the CSBC will be there together so it will be kind of cool!

A few words from the adults:

     Melvin: “Please pray for the children in Los Santos.”

     Mike: “It is not what lies in the environment of these children, it’s what lies in their hearts.”

Hola again from Team D. We are having even more amazing days and really feel God’s presence here. Kate and Jimmy did their testimonies last night and did a great job.  They were a little disappointed because none of the 15 youth really responded but we realized that they planted a seed in tehir hearts about God.  They could grow to have faith and possibly have a relationship with Him in the future. It was an inspiring night.
     Chelsea and Brittney had tons of little girls on them at Villa de Yaque. They were fixing hair…ouch. 
     God has used Logan’s amazing basketball skills to reach the kids in Palmar.  Shannon also did her testimony today. She was very nervous but it turned out great! It is Chelsea’s turn tomorrow so she is super nervous too.  Our adults are absolutely wonderful. Mike is now attracting every cute little kid. ha hah.  Wendy is our encouragement, she’s great!  And Renee’s energy is crazy and keeps us laughing. We are having such the best time! Pleas continue to pray for us a we serve the Lord in the most amazing country!