a new home for Luma

One of the coolest parts of working with Mission Emanuel is watching new homes be built for families in the community.  It's like "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" only with block houses and no trip to Disney World.  Justin and I were so excited to find out the first project of the summer would be working on Luma, our sponsor child, and her family's home.  We knew they had started building a house awhile ago and were continuing to work on it, block by block. But it was not even close to being done, so the help from the 55+ youth from Alabama was much needed.

Throughout the week, as the family quickly moved into temporary housing until the house was finished, we were able to actually see the conditions they were living in for over five years.  I must say, it was much worse than I had ever realized.  As the old, pink, wooden house was being destroyed, the most disturbing thing to see was the giant termite nest in the corner.  It was as big as a basketball and positioned right over their beds.  As the crumbling pieces of wood literally broke off in the hands of the men tearing it down, I had to fight back the tears.  I was overwhelmed with sadness that they had been living there for so long, humbled by the family and the fact that they had never asked us, their "rich" American friends, for help, and also filled with joy that they were going to have their new home with new beds in just a few short days.

Needless to say, they are thrilled with their new house.  All month long I could see such a difference in their demeanor and expression.  I feel better when my house is simply clean, so I can only imagine how much it has changed their lives.

Oh Hi Oh

Here's a little shout out to my new friends at Ohio State who are planning their first trip to the Dominican Republic. Last night I had the pleasure of chatting with the group (through the high-tech webcam video exchange) and meeting 15 folks who all have different reasons for spending the spring break (and Holy Week) in "heaven".



And speaking of heaven, this past week Holly has been working with Kids Around the World as they have completed their 100th international playground! The pictures are awesome...and I'm only sad I can't be there playing with our friends.

So many blessings...

As I reflect on my time in the Dominican Republic last week, I find that there are so many things I could say in this post, but I'm so tired right now that I can't type it all! For now, I'll tell you that the week was nothing short of amazing. God did so many awesome things...the water center is open and being sold in Cielo and Nazaret, as well as the hotel where we stayed; the women's co-op is up and running in their new workroom; the women finished 250+ ornaments, each one carefully handmade and beautiful; a new building was cleaned out and painted for the Haitian community to have a place to worship; teeth were cleaned and/or extracted as the dental clinic crew worked alongside the Dominican dentist. And I could go on, but I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Thank you for your prayers. Justin and I are home for awhile until we pack up to head South for Christmas break. Love you all!

I won!

Despite the looming storm, I had a great week in the DR. The women did an amazing job learning to make ornaments we hope to sell for Christmas.



And yes, in the battle of me versus Dean, I definitely won. It really was not as bad as CNN and all the news channels made it sound. The most amazing part was seeing the waves crashing onto shore. We could see them from our window and it was crazy. Later, we drove down to the road that goes by the ocean. It was blocked off because of all the coral rock and debris that had been thrown onto the street. Here's a video from that street and you can see how enormous the waves were.

So, thanks everyone for your prayers. I'm glad to be back in Massachusetts for now!

Update

It's 9:30pm and the the storm has passed Santo Domingo. Holly says there's a lot of debris, but things are okay. Thanks for your prayers! (AND pray for Jamaica!)

Dean versus Holly

If you've been reading our blog lately, you've probably enjoyed a lot of stories and pictures from our recent experiences in the Dominican Republic. Since this place is still very special to us, it has become important to us to share these things here on this blog. This being said, this little country is about to get a powerful smacking from Hurricane Dean.

As I write this, my beloved wife is in Santo Domingo, which is nestled on the edge of the projected path. She arrived today for another week of assisting some workshops for the women of the community...and of course, she doesn't want to think about leaving.

Therefore I'm calling on you, dear friends, to pray for her. While I selfishly want to pray for her safety, I am asking you to pray for God's grace and glory to be evident to those whom she ministers to in the coming days, especially as our cherished community embraces for an impact as early as Saturday. Also pray for Deb, who has been planning these sessions for months.

Stay tuned for an update. I have a feeling that these next few days will be very, very interesting!

La Boda ("The Wedding")

Our apologies for not posting earlier. After the craziness of our last post, we did in fact make it to the DR. It was a long travel day, but we arrived safely at the hotel around midnight on Tuesday. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were filled with trips into Cielo to visit the community. We got to spend time with Luma, the little girl we sponsor, and her family. It's always amazing how much fun you can have just sitting in her home having silent awkward moments because none of you can really talk to each other. We eventually have a conversation about baseball. Her brother loves the Red Sox and is disappointed when he finds out we have not been to a game. How do we explain that it costs too much money when he thinks we're probably the "richest" people he knows? Anyway, it was great to be back so soon after our month of work.

The wedding was beautiful. I tried to capture some good pictures for all of you who wished you could be there. Carol and Joel are very happy!

Here we go again - part 2

Thoughts while sitting in the airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico:
You gotta love it when you're waiting to board your plane and all of a sudden you hear an enormous "BOOM!" (Since you can't hear my sound effects, trust me, it was a sonic-something.) Then, the lady who manages the boarding politely requests everyone have a seat while maintenance checks out a little problem. It's been about 25 minutes and we're still waiting. Awesome. (sigh.)

here we go again

So we've spent 13 days in MA and decided we need a vacation. Well, sort of. We're leaving once again tomorrow to return to the DR. We'll be there for a few days to wrap up some work and celebrate with Carol and Joel, who are getting married on Friday. Then, we'll fly to San Diego to spend time with the Farrells for a little fun in the sun. Yippee!!!

More pics

Pics from Week 4


Pics from Week 3


Pics from Week 2

Week 1

Pics updated 6/11!

Week one has been a blast thus far. We've had a great group of 19 "Boomers" from Discovery Church in Orlando to accompany on, what is for many of them, their first mission trip. It's been great for us to reunite with many of our Dominican brothers and sisters, as well as meet some new ones along the way. God has been doing amazing things and we can't wait to share them with you!

We're here

We were 2 hours behind schedule, but made it down with relative ease. Our days have been spent planning and preparing. Our first team members arrived yesterday and the first group from Florida safely arrived a few hours ago. We hope to have pictures up soon, so keep checking in with us. Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement!

Now for a nap...