Dominican Republic Day 8

Last evening was a little cooler, and this morning we had some cloud cover along with a few sprinkles, so it was a very comfortable day. We were able to do a little site seeing. We traveled to Guaymate (I think that was how it was spelled), and looked at a pastor's house that some from our team had worked on a few years ago. We were able to visit a while with his family and see how they have completed the house. We were able to see a little of the country side and noticed that some cities or towns were better taken care of, and more wealthy--still you see a tremendous amount of poverty. We were able to see sugar cane fields, and see teams of 6 oxens pulling carts loaded with sugar cane to a place where it is processed. It was very interesting to view different areas of the country. Overall I am so thankful that I was able to come on the serve project, and feel very fortunate to work along side so many people here, and hopefully they were blessed by us being here. Tonight I gave everyone else a chance to say a few words before we head home tomorrow morning--leaving here at 4 in the morning. --Deb Hulstein

I have been in this situation here before and in Mexico. It makes me feel very blessed. There are many needy people in the world, wish I could help them all. It was a great blessing for us all. --Larry Van Veldhuizen

I'm so much more aware of my blessings now than I was before. It's truly a blessing to serve the same God, no matter where and what color you are. Prayer is more personal now than before I came to the DR. --Kevin Hulstein

Thank you to First CRC for the opportunity to serve here in the DR. We have met some incredible fellow christians here who have shown us how to be ocntent in whatever their circumstances. The very little material wealth they have has not dampened their exuberance to serve the same God we all share. --Nelvin and Jan Brons

Our stay and work in the DR is almost over. I feel it was successful and glad that we went. I felt fine all the time while we were here, which I am thankful for. Rose, I am looking forward to seeing you Saturday about 10:00 pm and everyone else on Sunday. --Duane Koele

Thanks to all back home for your prayers and financial support. What a priviledge it is to come down here and work along side the Haitians to build their church. They worked as hard as we did and were very thankful for our support. --Joe Van Schouwen

Can't believe it's time to go home already tomorrow (although a HOT shower does sound good.) We have had a really great experience here in the DR. The work that we did and the relationships that were built while working side by side with the Haitian people was awesome! We were truly blessed by this experience. See you soon. --Phil and Bonnie De Stigter

Going to the DR was an eye opening experience. Working and playing with the local church members was truly a blessing. They have so little but yet so happy. I've learned so much about the DR people and their culture. --Jerry De Vries

"Delightful, Dedicated, Deb" asked us to make an entry on the blog. Guess she thought she had done her share :-) We have had an awesome 10 days richly blessed by God. We have worked hard, laughed often, and prayed much. Once again we are so very thankful to the congregation, family, and friends for your prayers and your financial support that allowed us to take on this endeavor. We will have many stories of how we were blessed when we return. --Lora De Vries

ADIOS!!!

Dominican Republic Day 7

Well, it's late here, and all the others are in bed--so it will be a short blog tonight. Today we went to check on the progress of a few of the other schools and churches that other groups had worked on. We first stopped at Colegio Cristiano Renacer--a school that Joe, Duane and Larry had worked on when they came a couple of years ago. They worked on the first floor, and now a second & third floor have been added. The second floor is finished, but the third still needs some work. It's interesting and exciting to see the projects are still proceeding along. We then stopped by the New Creation in Faith christian school to see how the Canadian group living on the floor above us were coming on their project, and then also stopped by the San Pablo Christian School. We came back to the Mission Center for lunch and then headed out to the church that the group from Hull was working on during the earth quake. We took a group picture in front of it. It was good to see that the local people were continuing to work on it. They were adding a place for the pulpit it front, and some columns out in front. The extra money that our church raised from the offering will go to this church to help them buy doors and windows, and I think also to help pay for the flooring--so it was good to see that also. We then saw a little of the downtown area, and went out to the Colonial Zone. The pictures are of our group sitting outside the Mission Center where we stay--waiting to head out for the day, and this is also where we spend our evenings in devotions, and getting our instructions for the next day from Duane Postma. There is a picture of Ghitto, director of the Mission Center, playing guitar during our breakfast, and also a picture of Joe helping out Irbaland, a Haitian girl who needed to be hospitalized here, following the earth quake. Her right arm is bandaged since she needed skin grafting and has lost her fingers, and her left arm is amputated between the shoulder and the elbow. She is always happy to see us, even though she only speaks Creol (spelling?) we still can communicate pretty well.

Dominican Republic Day 6 continued

Dominican Republic Day 6

We started out the day going to Km43 to check out the cement pour. At least they were using a cement mixer instead of mixing it by hand, but it still had to be thrown up on the roof by hand. "No nonsense Nelvin" jumped right in with throwing the cement up on the roof. Needless to say--he was looking for a replacement in a half hours time. Others helped up on the roof by running the wheelbarrow down the path to the back of the roof, and then smoothing it all out and Duane was pitching sand down below. There really wasn't a good place for the women to help out--so we were mobbed by the kids again. They are always excited to see "The Americanos" arrive. Then around 11:30 we headed over to the other church we worked on, and finished up laying the rest of the blocks. Jan had to check out the facilities there--little less than desireable--haha. Have to chase the geckos out first before you dare to undress. The guys layed the blocks, and the women filled in all the cracks--on the blocks that is. "Lively, lovely, laughing Lora" provided the mud for us so we wouldn't have to get up and down from the scaffolding. Larry befriended a friendly cow that was walking by. The cows don't look all that great here--of course--they aren't a "Hulstein". We then went back to our original church to see the finished cement project, and we took a picture of our group in front of the church along with some of the locals. Then we watched a guy climb a coconut tree, and chopped some down so we could all sample coconut juice. It tasted better than I expected. We picked up some of our tools and the generator, and headed back. Tomorrow we plan to check out a few schools, and not sure what else. Will let you know again tomorrow.

Dominican Republic Day 5 continued

Dominican Republic Day 5 continued

Church project Day 5

We started out the day going to the church we have been working on, to pick up tools and supplies to go to another church that needed our help. Duane and Larry checked if the church will be ready to pour concrete on Wednesday. We went to a church in Basima where the basic 6 block high wall was standing, and they had removed the old roof and wooden sides. We brought in sand and block--and started our work. "Buff Bonnie" was busy cutting rerod while "Fussy Phil" was making sure that all the block was set correctly--please check out the pictures. Tomorrow we will go visit a school that Joe, Larry and Duane had worked on before--but were unable to see it completed. We'll do that first in the morning, then probably go to our original church project to help out with the cement pouring. Then if we have time we will go back to our second church project to finish putting up the last row or two of block. Everyone remains very busy, and pretty much shot by the end of the day. The cold showers do tend to wake you up again, if the traffic on the way home hasn't already set you on edge. It's amazing to see all of the mopeds or small motorcycles on the road, along with all kinds of banana or orange trucks, and other vehicles. They don't keep the slower traffic on the right, so you are constantly weaving in and out to avoid slower mopeds--sometimes loaded with 3 or 4 people. Anyway, it's an experience, and you will just have to see the pictures.