Please take a look at the images my husband and I took while on this trip. We will be posting more links to images as they are sent to us by other group members. Enjoy!
Link to Photos: http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=u5y3yle.c3d8ofni&x=0&y=y2jnb7&localeid=en_US
Below is a video that G.O. Ministries created and presented to us on our last night in the Dominican Republic.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Update for Day 7 and 8
Monday - Day 7
This was a very special day. We woke up early, had breakfast and were off on a bus by 9:00am to the beach. Both Madina's family and Fran's family joined us for the day. Neither of these families had ever been to the beach before. Both families had children ranging in ages from 1-13 years old. It was a really fun day playing on the beach with the kids, laying in the sun, drinking pina colada's from a hallowed out pineapple, eating a very yummy lunch (fresh fish, rice, salad, fries, and soda), riding on a banana tube behind a boat and shopping for gifts at the local souvenir shops. After the beach we headed out to eat dinner on our way back. We ate pizza, which strangely enough pizza is huge in the Dominican Republic. We saw lots of pizza places during our entire stay in the DR. Once we were finished with dinner we headed back to our dorms in Santiago. When we arrived home their was a group of the GO staff waiting for us to tell us about how we can support them once we leave and to thank us for all of our hard work. This was also a time for us to say good bye and thank you to both Madina's family and Fran's family. What a special night it was. Many of us spent the end of the evening unpacking our bags to make sure we left all that we had brought with us with the intention of donating it.
Tuesday - Day 8
This morning we got a little extra sleep (30 minutes) before we had to be at breakfast. I think many of us still woke up early to pack our bags for our flight home. We prayed before breakfast and then enjoyed our last morning eating breakfast at our dorms. We gave a special thanks to the DR women that cooked for us our entire stay. Boy were they good cook's. In fact many of the women wanted to get their recipes to bring back home and cook for their families. After breakfast many of us went to a cigar museum to see how cigars are made in the DR and to be purchase some. I was happy to be able to purchase the worlds best cigars for my brother to give to his groomsmen at his wedding. He doesn't know this yet, but if he reads this blog he'll know......fun surprise for him.
Eventually, we made it back to the dorms, loaded our suitcases and were headed off to the airport. Everyone made home ok, with the exception that both Bethany and Zoirida missed their flight in New York and had to stay the night and catch a flight out the next day. The rest of us from CA almost missed our flight in New York, due to our connecting flight being a hour late. You should have seen us running through the airport (it was kind of fun). Just as we arrived to the gate I heard someone say we have to leave, close the doors, don't let anyone else on the flight. At this time we were still waiting on about four more people from our group to arrive at the gate. The good news is we all made it on the plan and home safely.
Praise be to God for such a great trip. I hope we were all able to come home changed and live a changed life from this experience.
This was a very special day. We woke up early, had breakfast and were off on a bus by 9:00am to the beach. Both Madina's family and Fran's family joined us for the day. Neither of these families had ever been to the beach before. Both families had children ranging in ages from 1-13 years old. It was a really fun day playing on the beach with the kids, laying in the sun, drinking pina colada's from a hallowed out pineapple, eating a very yummy lunch (fresh fish, rice, salad, fries, and soda), riding on a banana tube behind a boat and shopping for gifts at the local souvenir shops. After the beach we headed out to eat dinner on our way back. We ate pizza, which strangely enough pizza is huge in the Dominican Republic. We saw lots of pizza places during our entire stay in the DR. Once we were finished with dinner we headed back to our dorms in Santiago. When we arrived home their was a group of the GO staff waiting for us to tell us about how we can support them once we leave and to thank us for all of our hard work. This was also a time for us to say good bye and thank you to both Madina's family and Fran's family. What a special night it was. Many of us spent the end of the evening unpacking our bags to make sure we left all that we had brought with us with the intention of donating it.
Tuesday - Day 8
This morning we got a little extra sleep (30 minutes) before we had to be at breakfast. I think many of us still woke up early to pack our bags for our flight home. We prayed before breakfast and then enjoyed our last morning eating breakfast at our dorms. We gave a special thanks to the DR women that cooked for us our entire stay. Boy were they good cook's. In fact many of the women wanted to get their recipes to bring back home and cook for their families. After breakfast many of us went to a cigar museum to see how cigars are made in the DR and to be purchase some. I was happy to be able to purchase the worlds best cigars for my brother to give to his groomsmen at his wedding. He doesn't know this yet, but if he reads this blog he'll know......fun surprise for him.
Eventually, we made it back to the dorms, loaded our suitcases and were headed off to the airport. Everyone made home ok, with the exception that both Bethany and Zoirida missed their flight in New York and had to stay the night and catch a flight out the next day. The rest of us from CA almost missed our flight in New York, due to our connecting flight being a hour late. You should have seen us running through the airport (it was kind of fun). Just as we arrived to the gate I heard someone say we have to leave, close the doors, don't let anyone else on the flight. At this time we were still waiting on about four more people from our group to arrive at the gate. The good news is we all made it on the plan and home safely.
Praise be to God for such a great trip. I hope we were all able to come home changed and live a changed life from this experience.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Update for Day 4, 5, and 6
Hello from the DR. The CPC Missions team is working hard and enjoying every moment of service. The Nationals have served us as much as we serve them. They have opened our eyes to God's kingdom work, and the simple faith that it takes to serve God effectively.
Friday - Day 4
We continued the work on the two homes that we had been constructing since day two. We completed the foundations of both houses and ended our work by laying the first bricks which will eventually become the walls of the home. The GO Ministries team have been working on this project for a year now, and will continue to build up these homes through the hands of the next missions team. One GO staff person reminded us in wisdom that God's work is a marathon, not a race. He makes all things good in His time. At the end, we surrounded the construction team with prayer and gave glory to God for the impact these families will have in the community.
We continued the work on the two homes that we had been constructing since day two. We completed the foundations of both houses and ended our work by laying the first bricks which will eventually become the walls of the home. The GO Ministries team have been working on this project for a year now, and will continue to build up these homes through the hands of the next missions team. One GO staff person reminded us in wisdom that God's work is a marathon, not a race. He makes all things good in His time. At the end, we surrounded the construction team with prayer and gave glory to God for the impact these families will have in the community.
Saturday - Day 5
We changed our focus from construction to Vacation Bible School. We visited two places, "The Fly," a neighborhood that benefits from a GO Ministries nutrition center for children. As we drove into the community, we quickly realized that it was surrounded by burning compost. It is literally on a trash dump with the smell of the chemicals in the air that they use to decompose the trash. The children were some of the poorest and roughest we had met. About 100 kids attended VBS, and all were well behaved and happy to hear the stories and share in the worship with us. We focused on Beattitudes and helped the kids with a craft of making a heart shaped pillow. We had the children place inside the heart pillow a verse written on ribbon, "Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God." Matthew 5:8 as a symbol of us placing the Word of God in hearts as well. A big brown-eyed little one loved playing "pelota" (ball) with the heart pillow, but kept it in the baggie to make sure it stayed clean. In the afternoon, we went out to a new neighborhood to be a part of Medina's church which currently meets in a home. The neighborhood was wiped out by a flood recently and they have many hopes to impact the community by finding a permanent place for their church to meet, doing outreach in the big ball field and with the men who were sitting outside playing dominos. We prayed through each street! By the evening, Helen was not feeling well (heat exhaustion!) and by night, Bethany was not feeling well either. Pray for them :)
We changed our focus from construction to Vacation Bible School. We visited two places, "The Fly," a neighborhood that benefits from a GO Ministries nutrition center for children. As we drove into the community, we quickly realized that it was surrounded by burning compost. It is literally on a trash dump with the smell of the chemicals in the air that they use to decompose the trash. The children were some of the poorest and roughest we had met. About 100 kids attended VBS, and all were well behaved and happy to hear the stories and share in the worship with us. We focused on Beattitudes and helped the kids with a craft of making a heart shaped pillow. We had the children place inside the heart pillow a verse written on ribbon, "Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God." Matthew 5:8 as a symbol of us placing the Word of God in hearts as well. A big brown-eyed little one loved playing "pelota" (ball) with the heart pillow, but kept it in the baggie to make sure it stayed clean. In the afternoon, we went out to a new neighborhood to be a part of Medina's church which currently meets in a home. The neighborhood was wiped out by a flood recently and they have many hopes to impact the community by finding a permanent place for their church to meet, doing outreach in the big ball field and with the men who were sitting outside playing dominos. We prayed through each street! By the evening, Helen was not feeling well (heat exhaustion!) and by night, Bethany was not feeling well either. Pray for them :)
That night, we had a special team time where we shared words of encouragement and appreciation for one another. There were many tears and it was beautiful.
Sunday - Day 6
We went to Eduardo's church today and the worship was hopping! He is the son of Gabriel, the founding pastor of GO here in the Dominican. He works with a recovery program of men who are finding hope after a life of addiction to drugs and alcohol. Many of them were there and worshiping and one shared his story. Our own Rob McIlvoy got to preach and share the truth of Matthew 6. It was so amazing to worship with our christian brothers and sisters even if we didn't understand everything being said. After playing some softball, we are going to head out to Medina's church to worship with them. I hope Megan Jow gets to see her sweet little friend who wanted to hold her hand the whole time :). Helen and Bethany are doing well today.
We went to Eduardo's church today and the worship was hopping! He is the son of Gabriel, the founding pastor of GO here in the Dominican. He works with a recovery program of men who are finding hope after a life of addiction to drugs and alcohol. Many of them were there and worshiping and one shared his story. Our own Rob McIlvoy got to preach and share the truth of Matthew 6. It was so amazing to worship with our christian brothers and sisters even if we didn't understand everything being said. After playing some softball, we are going to head out to Medina's church to worship with them. I hope Megan Jow gets to see her sweet little friend who wanted to hold her hand the whole time :). Helen and Bethany are doing well today.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Update for Day 1, 2, and 3
Tuesday - Day 1
We all arrived safely around 11:30 pm in Santiago. Every aspect of our travel went smoothly. No lost luggage, no cancelled or delayed flights, no customs dilemmas and we had the GO ministries group waiting to pick us up right outside the airport. It took about 15 minutes to get to where we are staying in Santiago. When we arrived, we were served a light dinner, learned about the customs here in the DR, and prepared our sleeping arrangements (three story bunk beds, tiled floors, nice showers and toilets, and clean drinking water in our room. I believe we finally went to sleep around 1:30am.
Wednesday - Day 2
Breakfast was served at 8:00am, which meant that we needed to wake up prior to this time. Many of us were really tired, but were ready to get started on our work. It was pouring rain, so many of us did some cleaning around the dorm and sorting in the sports equipment room. Some of the brave people went to work outside in the rain on the construction project, moving dirt and tying rebar to prepare the foundation for the cement.
We also visited a location called the hole that is on top of a dump, which all of the people living their are squatters ( people who don't pay rent for their homes). There were pigs eating from the river where there was lots of trash an raw sewage running through it. There is a children's feeding center in this location that we all worked at. When we arrived at the center the children were so excited and wanted to be held and get their picture taken. We served them beans and rice, which is probably the one meal they eat for the day.
After the feeding center we ate lunch, rested until 2:00pm (they observe siesta here) and then got back to work on the construction project. We got very good at tying rebar for the rest of the afternoon. This construction project is to build two houses for two members of the GO ministries team who have been serving here for over ten years. Around 5:00pm we called it a day and went back to our living quarters to clean up for the evening. On our way back many of the men/boys in our group played a game of baseball (they call this vitilla - baseball with as stick and 5 gallon jug water bottle caps) with the local teenagers in the street. We ate dinner at 7:00pm. So far the food has been really good (rice, beans, spaghetti, bread, fresh fruit, plantains, veggies, fruit juice, etc.). After dinner we all went out for ice cream and got to know Medina, who is a local pastor here that CPC is looking to support.
Thursday - Day 3
Today has been a long day and tiring day. Many of us finally felt rested this morning with a full nights sleep. Breakfast again at 8:00am (eggs, bread, fruit, coffee, juice, and water). We started our day with a devotional and then headed out to the work site. Many of us worked with the electrician to lay down all the piping and tie it down for the electrical and phone wire. Many of us worked on getting the cement, sand and rocks into the cement mixers (many shovels, muscles and sweat). Many of us fetched water from the water well to be used for the cement mixer. The rest of us transported the cement to the location to be poured. This went on until around 11:30am, which was when we headed to another children's feeding center.
The children were happy to see us when we arrived, but they didn't seem to have as much energy as the group of children we visited the day before. Rob McIlvoy spoon feed a little girl with big eyes and girly hair......I think he was in love. The pastor Raphaelito at this location showed us the church area and told us how this location came about and how God provided it for them. The building used to be a place were people drank, gambled and were their was prostitution, but was torn down and rebuild to do Gods work. He mentioned that he saw all the good things that the missions group was doing and how it motivates them to work hard to do Gods work as well.
After visiting the children's feeding center we headed back home and ate lunch, then headed back to the work site around 2:00pm to sweat some more. By the end of the work day the foundation was poured for one house. The second house's foundation was started but not yet finished. Tomorrow we hope to finish pouring the foundation for both houses.
Tonight Shella, Zoraida, Bethany are meeting with Fran (Haitian who is a member of the construction group who lives in the community that GO Ministries supports). The rest of the group will be having dinner at Medina's house to get to know him better. That is all for now, but we will continue to update you throughout the week. No guarantees it will be daily, but we will try.
:)
Monday, February 9, 2009
Prayer Request #7
Thanks so much for your prayer and financial support. If you look over to the right side of this blog you will notice (as of today) that God has provided just enough money to cover the cost of the trip. What perfect timing he has. We also anticipate more financial support to come in at a later date, but we will use this to give to GO ministries.
We are about to leave on our trip. Most of us I'm sure are at home making our final preparations for the flight. We will be flying out early tomorrow morning, but need to arrive at the airport by 4am. We will arrive in Santiago late tomorrow night around 9pm. As we mentioned in the previous post we will be updating the blog regularly, so visit it often while we are away.
Please pray the following prayer for our entire team. Thanks for suggesting this Helen :)
We are about to leave on our trip. Most of us I'm sure are at home making our final preparations for the flight. We will be flying out early tomorrow morning, but need to arrive at the airport by 4am. We will arrive in Santiago late tomorrow night around 9pm. As we mentioned in the previous post we will be updating the blog regularly, so visit it often while we are away.
Please pray the following prayer for our entire team. Thanks for suggesting this Helen :)
Psalm 121- 7-8
The Lord will keep you from all harm-
He will watch over your life;
the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
6th Prayer Request
We are almost ready to leave to go on our trip to the Dominican Republic. As a reminder we will be leaving next Tuesday, February 10th and returning on Tuesday, February 17th. I'm guessing all of the team members and their families need prayer for help with their preparations (both physically, mentally and emotionally) for this trip. I know many of us have worked hard to prepare for the vacation bible school by working on skits, coming up with games to play, selecting worship music to sing and play, preparing the craft project and many other items to name a few. We are also working to pack our bags and decide what gifts we want to bring to the people we visit. I know for myself (Brooke), I'm planning to bring donated clothing from friends to give away.
For more specific prayers you can pray for the following people in the following ways:
Mike - That God would show him how to communicate with his children and reach out to them on an individual level, putting his own reservations aside. Also that his wife Megan and his marriage would be strengthened through this mission trip.
Lily - Her prayer request is one of health. She has had a nasal/sinus congestion for over a week, which developed into a very bad cough. It's been over a week now and has kept her up during the night. She doesn't ever recall having such a severe long lasting cough. Her husband, Kevin and the kids are all not 100% and she is feeling anxious about leaving them. Please pray that her family gets better and for God's protection over Megan her daughter, who seems to be healthy so far.
Megan - She would like prayer for this next week as we are preparing to leave. Prayer that God continues to work on all our hearts before, during, and after the trip. She hopes that our relationship with him grows!
Matt - Please pray that we will not come back the same.
Brooke - I would like prayer for our safety with all aspects of the trip and that all logistics would go smoothly. Also, that all the team members would have their hearts prepared to serve and work together on this great opportunity to help others.
For more specific prayers you can pray for the following people in the following ways:
Mike - That God would show him how to communicate with his children and reach out to them on an individual level, putting his own reservations aside. Also that his wife Megan and his marriage would be strengthened through this mission trip.
Lily - Her prayer request is one of health. She has had a nasal/sinus congestion for over a week, which developed into a very bad cough. It's been over a week now and has kept her up during the night. She doesn't ever recall having such a severe long lasting cough. Her husband, Kevin and the kids are all not 100% and she is feeling anxious about leaving them. Please pray that her family gets better and for God's protection over Megan her daughter, who seems to be healthy so far.
Megan - She would like prayer for this next week as we are preparing to leave. Prayer that God continues to work on all our hearts before, during, and after the trip. She hopes that our relationship with him grows!
Matt - Please pray that we will not come back the same.
Brooke - I would like prayer for our safety with all aspects of the trip and that all logistics would go smoothly. Also, that all the team members would have their hearts prepared to serve and work together on this great opportunity to help others.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Outcome of our Garage Sale
Below are details written by Helen Richardson from her perspective of the CPC Dominican Republic Mission Trip Garage Sale. Enjoy!
"Our garage sale was a rousing success!
"Our garage sale was a rousing success!
We were blessed with enough items, so that my garage was bursting at the seams. Note to self: Never ask the Lord to bless your efforts and forget His power.
We had lots of customers all day long. 7 ladies baked for the bake sale portion, and the kids took in about $70 for that alone. People from CPC who weren't even on our team came to work and help. My son's father was visiting him from North Carolina, and HE came and helped, as well. Every time I turned around, Mona was telling someone about CPC. I think she led 4 people to the Lord :-)
When we were done, Fred and Mike (with help) loaded everything into their trucks and took it to Goodwill. Mike brought back baby toys, which they don't accept, so I cleaned them up and took them to the CPC Nursery. Here's a God story: my new neighbors are having some tile installed, and the installer called his daughter and son-in-law in Auburn ( 3 hours away) to see if they wanted the perfectly good carpeting he'd removed. They came, and saw us as we were packing up. Christina, Roger and Carolina (from the Sudan, by way of Boston), told us they are opening a home for abused teens. They took most of the stuff we had left, including a large sofa bed and TV. Their truck was loaded for bear. Mona was flapping her hands with excitement at "one mission supporting another".
The cash was handed over to Natalie Sunday morning, and she counted $1677. Adding the Microsoft GIFT, she reports we should be able to give a donation of $2000-4000 to the people we are serving in the DR, whether to building supplies, computers, an individual we connect with, etc.
So, as I said, we were truly blessed in every way. We serve an awesome God!
In His name,
Helen"
Helen"
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