Here is the younger part of our team: Sarah Clark, Maggie Anderson, Austin Scheffer, Carly Woodward, Tate Brumsickle, Amy Woodward and Ellie Woodward. We will all be sharing live and in person at Islands Community Church, in Friday Harbor, on Sunday evening at 7 p.m. Come hear how hearts were touched and lives are changing as a result of our missions trip to the Dominican Republic. We can't wait to share with you!

Vic, for the team

Contentment

I think one of the striking things I learned from this trip was the reality of contentment. In the western world we have such a skewed view of what is necessary for contentment in life. What I witnessed in the Haitian villages (bateys) of the Dominican Republic were people who were experiencing contentment in relationship with God and others. The joy on the childrens faces was iluminating for all of us. They were content in their circumstances and gave to us a joy that filled us up every day we were there.

The picture above shows a street (dirt road) in the bateys. I'm wondering what that road looks like today, as the remnants of a hurricane blew through the Dominican Republic last week. Can you imagine the mud and muck. Yet the pictures in my mind in the midst of that mud, show faces filled with contentment, children playing in the rain, getting a special shower for their bodies. When I think of the rains that will definitely come our way this fall in the northwest, there is another attitude that comes over me, not one of contentment. God is speaking to me about this; how about you?

Visions of Children

It is Wed. morning and I'm starting to fall back into our time zone and regular sleep patterns. Last night I had visions of children caring for children, a common scene in the villages (bateys) near Barahona.

Here is an older sister with her two siblings.

It is a common sight to see 7-9year olds carrying their baby brothers and sisters (6 mos. old - 8 mos. old) around with them. A picture that is etched in my mind is that of an 8 or 9 year old boy bathing his naked little brother, dowsing him with water from a bucket, drenching him from head to toe. Mom was standing by just watching and giving her approval to the bathing efforts of her son. I also saw children bathing in an irrigation ditch that ran through their village. Needless to say, the ditch was far from sanitary; strewn with trash and whatever else dumped there.

The elementary age children and older have a responsibility to care for the infants and toddlers. Moms do the household chores, cooking, washing whatever clothes they have, getting water for the day, etc. Dads work in the sugar cane fields or harvest fruit; plantanes, bananas, mangos, pineapple, uka, or any other work they can find that day. Many don't have jobs.

In the midst of those pictures in my mind are smiles; people filled with joy, many with the joy of knowing Christ. Right now, the smiles are standing out and comforting my heart in this transition to life on San Juan Island and our western culture.

The smiles also reveal hearts of gratitude. Yet it is those of us who ventured out on this mission who are expriencing the joy of our Lord, passed on to us from a people from a faraway island in the Carribean. God is so good and gracious!

Vic for the team.

Being home

Wow what a difference this trip has made in my life! And now that I look back even when I was nervous about this trip I would have never changed a moment of the time we spent there. I know being back has personally been emotionally hard. I love being home but when I was there I felt like I was home and now I have left part of my heart there. The new family I have made with all the teams and the children there are amazing and I know I will never forget them. They taught me more than I could have ever taught them. I think the hardest thing will be to move on with life after experiencing their love when they live in severe poverty. I believe this feeling we have will minister to each of our lives and God has a plan to use us to do his work. Thank you all so much for your support without you we would never have experienced this new journey with God.

Thanks so much Ellie

Home in Friday Harbor

We arrived home on the ferry at around 5:30 a.m. What an incredible journey! I echo Monique's thoughts from the previous blog post. Wow! We will all be reflecting on this trip for the rest of the fall and beyond. The general sentiment among everyone on the team is a plan to return in the future. As someone said, a picture is like a thousand words. Here are few glimpses from our first visit to a batey, Los Robles.

We can't thank you enough for supporting us and joining us in spirit on this mission. We could not have done it without you. There is more to come!

Vic for the team

Forever Changed

Good Morning. This is Mo for the team.  This is our last morning in Barahona. We are preparing for our bus ride back into Santo Domingo.  For those of you reading this back home, I think I speak for all of us when I say that we cannot thank you enough for your prayers and support for this trip.  Out of all the weeks of my life, I would say this would have to be one of the most meaningful ones.  The hardest part for me at this point is leaving.  We are already discussing our next trip down here.  Our team continued to grow closer as we served alongside each other and I believe all our lives are forever changed.  Without a doubt this is just the beginning of more to come, both in regard to marriage ministry, basketball and much, much more.  It has been a privilege to be here.  I'll will write more later, but mainly wanted to thank you for your prayers and let everyone know how much I/we appreciate you.  Mo

Our last night at Casa Betesda! :(

Hola from Austin and Maggie!
Today was an early morning for us all as we attended/played in the final tournament at a stadium in Barahona. It was exciting to see the progress made throughout our clinics and time spent with these players. They were ready to go with their new shoes and jerseys, you could tell they were excited to play. Austin and the boys from Minn. got to play the winning teams which were Altagracia and Don Bosco. In the championship game it was the Americanos vs. Don Bosco and we won by uno punto in overtime!! Very exciting to watch! After this long, but enjoyable time in the gym(which was muy caliente) we got to come back for lunch and head out to the BEACH! Despite ongoing stomach issues, we were all able to enjoy ourselves at the beach...the water was niiicccee! Now we are back at the Casa and just finished up dinner before we began our ¨goodbye ceremony¨ presented by the COTN and casa staff. We are sad to be leaving tomorrow..it has definitely flown by. We head out after breakfast into Santo Domingo where we´ll stay over night to rest up for our flight home the next day. As Dar said we had a great time at the Revival last night, although the ice cream might have caused us more grief than pleasure...:)
Thank you for all your prayers_

Revival Experience

Last evening the teens and I experienced a Dominican Revival. Those who have been to Creation said it was much like that only held in the street with a huge stage and lots of lights. We estimated over a thousand in attendance. Lots of hand raising, singing, and shouting. The female rap group was the favorite among the crowd and our group. Although we only understood a few words, it was exciting to see the spirit of the Lord moving through these people in Barahona. We were told by one of the interns here that we might experience some falling to the ground and shaking, but we left to get ice cream before any of that happened. We received some smiles from the little girls, as well as giggling at Maggie´s dancing. A couple of other boys thought one of the basketball guys from the Minn. team was Michael Jackson.
People are beginning to feel some stomach upset. To be expected.
We miss all of you! Looking forward to sharing more when we return. Also looking forward to the beach this afternoon!
Take care!
Darlene

Revival Experience

good morning from Esteve,
this is our last day of going into the batays to work with the peoples. actually, its just a bball tourny today so there will be different interaction. i havent been doing much basketball but playing with the younger boys (6-12) while the ladies and girls play with the girls, tate has been doing bball in the morning then coming with me in the afternoon. We did learn that once we opened up to one shoulder ride to expect twenty others close behind and many all at the same time. I seriously doubt that the sweat-dirt stains will ever come out of my tshirts. Austin may have the record of carrying six boys on his back at once, but my record of five was plenty.

yesterday after playing some mean 3 on 3 whiffleball for 1.5 h, I asked some of the boys to walk me around the village. Erin graciously went along, as we´re not allowed to be alone anyway, but it was comforting to know that her Espanol is excellente, while mine is nearly nonexistant. it was a great opportunity to see the extreme poverty that exists behind the seens. i´ll try to explain. first, several, more than 3, young children with some kind of growth or tumor coming from their belly or genitals. no running water, some electricity,, very small conrete shacks with tin roofs that all needed repair, dirt floors. but that doesn´t explain the feeling of poverty that was present.. Many men and women just sitting around or playing cards or dominos, there actually was a bank, but no one was in it that i saw. the children further in the batay were more reserved than those who came to play with us. they wore minimal clothes, many of the younger ones in well worn underwear only. the yards were often defined by barbed wire strung between wooden tree branches pounded into the ground. but this still doesn´t describe the heaviness of poverty. maybe it was the eyes of the adults as we walked by. I totally felt like an intruder, or less harsh because they didn´t really react to us walking by. Erin did stop and talk to some ladies and younger men playing poker, and they were very nice and willing to interact. the boys i was playiung with were reluctant to show me around, but i don´t know whether its because they were embarrassed to show us or afraid for our safety. Anyway, a wonderful experience, although i did´nt feel comfrortable whippìng out the camera during our walk, so the memory will have to live on in the vast recesses of my head. See you all very soon.

Health update

Buenas tardes de Barahona!

I thought I´d give you a quick update on health. I asked you to pray for Ellie. She is doing fine now. On Tues. she laid low and wasn´t feeling well. She probably had a little heat exhaustion. Rest seemed to be the trick with more water consumption. She is back in action, going out to the bateys and loving on kids. Drinking mass quantities of water is a must here for all of us. It is hot and humid.

Carly develped a little rash around her neck today and was taken to the local clinic. It is probably a reaction to the bleach used to disinfect the pool water. She dunked her scarf in the water and wore it around her neck all day yesterday. Oops! Kathy, COTN staff, took her to the clinic and she got some medicine at a local farmacia. Carly had a blast with Kathy this morning cruising around the city, buying medicine, expriencing local life. I think they had some ice cream too. Carly brought back cookies for the team too. Sweet.

Sarah tweaked her ankle a bit playing with the kids, but seems to be okay. I gave her the old coaches tape job this a.m. and she is good to go. Other than just dealing with the heat and humidity on a daily basis, we are all in good shape. There is always plenty of water provide us by COTN, so we have no exuses and the emphasis is to stay hydrated. Needless to say, I´m on that program to prevent the kidney stone production.

Nutrition you ask, plenty of beans, rice and pollo (chicken) served daily. The fruit is fresh and delicious; mango, pineapple, cantalope, etc. Dessert is served at lunch here. The cake is very sweet, rich and moist, excellent. Some days we´ve had creamy ice cream, a welcomed treat.

That is all for now. We go again tonite to show Laugh Your Way.

Adios.

Vic for the team

Laugh Your Way in Baharona

As the ladies shared in the previous blog post, tonight Monique and I went to pastor Julio´s church in Baharona and shared ¨The Tale of Two Brains" , disc one, with about 25 couples. By the time we got started it was after 8 p.m. but we are quickly discovering, that is early in the evening here in the Dominican Republic. The community was alive and bustling with people, much activity. I later found out that the dinner hour is around 9 or 10 p.m. We are thankful that Casa Betesada serves dinner on U.S. time.

Our whole team, with the exception of Tate, came to the seminar to support us. What a blessing! Tate is making some great friends amongst the "I Love Baseball" guys, so he stayed back to hang out with them. The seminar was very well recieved, people engaged with Mark Gungor and laughing. The women really connected with the "Nothing Box". We had several couples come up and thank us, expecially pastor Julio and his wife Marisa.

The teaching is so cross-cultural, which I suspected, but is was great to see the response from the men and women first hand. Tomorrow night we will return for another session.

Tomorrow will be our last day of basketball clinic with a tournament planned for Friday morning. Yes, Friday morning, at what hour you ask?, the first games will begin around 8 a.m. Yikes! This will be good though as we can hopefully finish up before the intense afternoon heat and humidity gets cranked up. It is going to be interesting to see how our American team will match up against one of the teams. The guys from a Dominican barrio, Don Bosco, are really pretty good, far superior in skills to the Haitian guys from the bateys. We could have our hands full playing the Don Bosco guys.

Hasta la manana!

Vic for the team

Word from Maggie, Darlene, Sarah, Carly, Ellie and Sarah! (the ladies)

Hola amigos! Wonderful morning in Los Robles playing with the village children. Much more organized than yesterday thanks to Erin´s spanish speaking skills. The Parachute was a big hit, and it helped that the children were actually listening so they had more fun working together. Austin and Steve tried to organize a kick ball game with all the rowdy boys, which also went better than yesterday! We experienced some new frisbee and jump rope chants and had fun reading spanish stories and just being there to love on the children. The basketball crew had a great time as well and we were all able to be apart of handing out jerseys, socks and shoes to all the older basketball players. Most were wearing the only pair of shoes in their family, so it was a blessing to see how grateful they were. Lunch was spectacular, as well as the ice cream which followed. Also, Guadalupe, who is head of the sponsorship program, shared with us the specific needs and whole process of sponsoring a child. We would love to share more with you about this when we return! Our team is beginning to get used to the heat, however we still enjoy our dips in the pool! You would be proud of us...our Spanish skills are improving! (except for Dar that is..(:)
Tonight we plan to go to Julio´s Church to watch Vic and Mo´s marriage seminar and we may even get to go to a revival at a stadium afterwards!!
Well, on our way out to another Batey- Altagracia!
Thank you for your prayers, they have been deeply felt!
Adios, Buenos Dias!

Hola amigos! It is Erin. It has been fun sharing so much with the children here. I went with the recreation group to a community called Los Robles (Darlene, Steve, Ellie, Carly, Maggie, Kathy, Lauren, Austin, and Sarah). I taught the children how to play with parachute, while Steve and Austin started a game of kickball. The parachute was great. I am sure you all remember the parachute from grade school and the bright colors verde/green, rojo/red, amarillo/yellow, azul/blue. We made a merry-go-round with the parachute and also would make a house by lifting the parachute really high and then bringing it down to the ground quickly to trap the air. The faces on the children when I was trying to teach them was incredible. They wanted to learn and loved all the colors. I have been going back and forth from different batey´s working with children either in the morning or in the afternoon, and then the rest of my time is also working with the basketball clinics. Today after the morning basketball clinic we were able to share with the young players the many tennis shoes that everyone donated from Friday Harbor. The young boys were very content and happy to recieve a new pair of shoes, socks, and even basketball jerseys from the Minnesota group that is working along side us. It has been an overwhelming experience to witness the gratitude that many of these children share with us all. I enjoy the conversations that I have had thus far about my personal relationship with God and the love that I have working with the children. My heart is full of joy. This afternoon at lunch my Dad and I were able to converse with two Haitian boys (Naldo/18 years y Estali 17 years) who both participated in the basketball clinic this morning. These young men both play basketball and baseball. They are part of the "I love baseball" program here in Barahona. The best part of our conversation is that they were open to share their love for Christ and that they hope for their friends and family to all know Christ. It is exciting to see these young men share passionatly the good news with others. Each day is new and exciting and such a blessing how God is opening doors for us all. love you all. Un gran abrazo (a big hug) ERIN

A day in the bateys

Greetings friends and family - Buenas tardes - Good afternoon!

This is Vic for the team.

Today was our first full day of basketball clinics for the young men and recreation games for the children. We started the day with rain showers during breakfast but the rain stopped and we weren´t bothered by it during the day. Instead, the rain amped up the humidity, Wow! and it was smokin hot on the basketball court this afternoon. I sweat like a proverbial pig.

The Haitian young men ( high school age and a little older) have some raw talent and they played the game a little better than expected. We focused on basic fundamental skills and for the most part they were all attentive and were having fun. We are blessed with two incredible great translators, Juanchi and Reynoldo. They do an excellent job of transfering my crazy passion for teaching the game to the guys.

Getting the word out to the bateys that we are coming to do basketball has it challenges. COTN staff usually go out to the bateys to let them know we are coming, but some times communication is sketchy. We had around 25 guys in our morning session but only around 15 guys from a different batey came to play in the afternoon. We stop by the different bateys to pick up the young men in a school bus. We are on the bus and they join us. You should see the excitment in their faces when the get on board. The recieve many ¨HOLA´s from each of us when they get on the bus.

Darlene, Sarah, Carly and Maggie went to a different batey to do recreation today. They had a rough time this morning. Please pray for Ellie as when we got there she did not feel well and didn´t go back in the afternoon. She is laying low and hopefully we feel better with a good nights rest. The experience the rec. group had as I mentioned, was difficult. The kids were very pushy, agressive with each other and out of control. They are starved for attention.

In the afternoon we sent Steve, Erin and Austin with the group and it was much much better for everyone. Steve and Austin played basketball with some of the children and had a great time. Steve said at one point he counted five little ones hanging on him at one time. You should have seen Steve when he entered the bus at the end of the day, covered with sweat and dirt.

Just having two guys along with our females helped out immensly.

The poverty in the bateys in pretty indescribable. People live in shacks with dirt floors, tin or thatched roofs. Two of the bateys have water available to them but one of the others still haven´t take the intiative to do the paper work to apply for water. Water is available here but there are a couple of governmental hoops to jump through that people in the bateys have to take action on, as COTN can help but can´t make the application. It is hard to imagine not taking the step to access water, as the alternative is hauling it from a river. They could have it piped in but have not made the effort to do the papers.

COTN has schools in each batey, some better than others. One batey, Algodon, has a K-8 schools sponsored by COTN. There is a need for teachers in the other bateys as they don´t offer as many grade levels.

The COTN national team is incredibly hospitable and gracious.This is a grassroots missions organization, that builds up the Dominican nationals so that they might serve the people in their country for Christ. Both Monique and I are so very blessed to be here with these amazing people. Seeing their hearts for God and for people is so encouraging. I´m resurrecting my Spanish and getting so much help from my new Dominican friends, friends who know God, his love and compassion for the poorest of the poor.

This morning Darlene shared a devotional with our team from a book titled ¨A Hole in the Gospel¨ by Richard Stearns. Richard is the president of World Vision. Amazing story and one that I will read when I get home.

On Wed. and Thurs. night, Monique and I would cherish your prayers. We are going to share Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage, The Tale of Two Brains with a church family here in Baharona. We met the pastor Julio and su esposa Marisa. Wonderful people, who are so excited we are coming.

At our basketball clinics tomorrow, the COTN staff will distribute shoes to the young men in need. We will see how that goes and report back to you. We didn´t see anyone playing basketball in their barefeet today, but some shoes were pretty darn shabby looking. Thanks for all your donations.

Buenas Noches! Thanks for your prayers and support.

Buenas Noches! This is Sarah typing. As Erin said, today we went to two bateys, learned about them, and visited the many beautiful kids. It was fun to see their smiles, and how they immediately clung on to all of us. I met a couple of girls, all of who were 10 years old, but Jacklyn was the one who stuck out for me. Her beautiful smile was a joy to see, and I enjoyed getting to know here, despite the difficult language barrier. (: I have to say though, my spanish is getting better very quickly, considering I started out only knowing, HOLA! This afternoon after a great lunch and refreshing swim we loaded up and went to a baseball game, between the Dominican team here from the bateys, and the I Love Baseball team here from Seattle. It was exciting to watch, (as we sat in the shade) with a Seattle team victory. It was cool to see that even though they lived very far away from eachother, both teams still felt the same passion and love for the sport. Afterwards we headed home for a delicious dinner and swim. Right now were all working hard to sort through all the bags and bags full of supplies we brought for the kids. The staff is all excited with how much we brought, and I know the kids will be too.
This place is amazing. The staff are all very welcoming, and we all feel very at home. We've been learning much about the organization, and it really is an awesome organization. I love this trip. Missions are really big for me, it's something God has set on my heart and I feel so different when I'm on these trips, so full of life, it's great to be here serving the best Father in the world. All I can say is thank you, to God, to the staff here, to my teammates, and to everyone who helped get us here. Thank you.
Amor, with love,
Sarah, Ellie, and Tate

HACE CALOR AQUI EN REPUBLICA DOMINCANA

Hola Amigos! Hi everyone. Soy Erin (It´s Erin). It is hot here in the Dominican, but what beats the heat is the smiles all the kids share with you because they know that you are here to share the good news and play either baseball or basketball. We went to two batey´s today Los Robles and Algodon where many of the Haitian refugees live. When we all got off the bus we were greeted by children of all ages who took us by the hands or jumped on us like human jungle gyms. They love visitors. We toured their village visiting the schools, families, and many of the villages have a playground, which is usually the baseball field. I met Enicia (13 yrs) very bright girl who loves to learn. She said Bible class is her favorite. She is one of 5 children in her family. The joy these children carry on their faces is amazing. This experience already has opened my eyes to how God can use each one of us for his glory. I am excited to build deeper relationships with many of the children as we teach basketball, and provide other recreational games. Thank you for you prayers. Everyone is healthy and happy. Peace be with you all. Me voy a la picina para nadar. (I am going to go for a swim.) Hasta luego! Abrazos para todos Amigos ( hugs for you all)

Buenos Dias

Good morning friends and family!

It is 7 a.m. here and things are stirring. Breakfast served at 8 a.m. The wonderful team of villagers who come to serve breakfast are busy at work in the kitchen. Sleep was short and sweet. Yesterday was an amazing day. God´s hand off protection was felt by all of us as we journied through the many modes of travel from the ferry, airplanes and a crazy bus ride. Did you ever see the moive CRASH, well, if not there are some pretty hairy bus driving scenes in that movie. Our bus driver, Manuel, was a madman, laying on the horn most of the time, weaving through the sea of mopeds, small trucks and cars, motorcycles and pedestrians as we made our 3 hour trek from the airport to Baharona.

We were almost here when we heard a incredibly loud BANG, which had the whole bus jumping up from a deep sleep. It was one of the rear tires. There are doubles on the rear of this greyhound style bus and we just kept on rolling right into CASA DE BETSADA, our home for the week. Yowza!

This place we are staying is very nice. COTN has renovated an old hotel/hacienda, the sleeping quarters are bunk bed style, guys in one room and girls in another. Mo and I are in the main house and have our own room. Didn´t expect that, thank you Lord. There is another team called, I LOVE BASEBALL here from the Seattle area. They will teach and play baseball with the villagers. Paige McConekey and his team from St. Cloud, MN are here to do basketball with us. I think all total there are about 30 of us here for short term missions this week. Quite an anwesome team.

That is all for now. Today we are out to see the Bateys and meet COTN national staff.

For the team. Thanks for your prayers.

Vic

Austin and Maggie update for the team!

Yahoo! We are in Barahona! And in one whole piece too! We had a long journey to get here and are still recovering from our lack of sleep over the last 24 hours of traveling. Some swimming here before we turn in tonight will help rejuvenate our energy for a busy day of visiting the villages tomorrow. Casa de Bethsada is the name of this wonderful place and we have received very warm welcomes from all the staff here and are looking forward to getting to know them and the other two teams that are staying here as well. We are thankful that God has kept us safe through our travels so far. Keep praying for us as we start venturing out batays tomorrow! 

Buenos Noches from the team!

Packing up donated items

Yesterday afternoon some of the team gathered together to pack in suitcases the donated items from our community to take down with us to the Dominican Republic. What an outpouring of practical things to meet the needs of the Haitian children and adults.

We packed toothbrushes and toothpast donated by local dentists, soap, smile packs with various toletries and goodies, hand towels, screw drivers, tennis shoes, basketballs, etc.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! We are almost ready to go and very excited. Your prayers and generosity are so appreciated.

Vic for the team

Preparation

There has been much prayer and preparation going into this mission and God's hand has been upon us all the way. We aren't even there yet, as our departure date is Sat. Aug. 1st. Wow! We have an amazing team and I'd like to introduce them all to you. To the right you see my oldest daughter Erin who will be joining us from Whittier, Calif. Erin has a heart for missions and is fluent in Spanish, and brings a passion for children and teaching with her. 

On the left is my niece Amy Woodward, sandwiched between daughters Carly and Ellie. Amy is very athletic, loves to have fun and loves children. She is a servant. Her four years of high school basketball and awards for team leadership will be a blessing as we teach the Haitian villagers the fund

amentals of the game. Ellie and Carly will most likely focus their efforts on crafts and games with the younger children, but may shoot the basketball a bit too. They are excited and a bit nervous as this is their first trip to a third world country.

Our friends, Darlene and Sarah Clark from Friday Harbor, will focus on the younger children and have great plans to use crafts, parachute games, stories and other activities with them. Darlene, Maggie Andersen and Sarah are busywashing cars at one of the three car washes we held to raise support for our trip. Thank You Friday Harbor community for coming out to support us. We washed a ton of cars, van and trucks and had fun too. 

We not only washed cars, but we held yummy bake sales and fun raffles. On the left is Maggie pointing out the delicious goodies for sale. We had some fabulous donated baked goods from frien

ds who did their part to help us raise support. Maggie is a Friday Harbor High school junior who is an all around athlete and good basketball player. She just wants to serve God and touch lives with his love. She brings joy and laughter to our team. I can't wait to see her and Amy team up. Yippee!

                                                                                                                     

On the right is Austin Scheffer. Austin will be a college freshman next year, attending Western WA Univ. in Bellingham. I'm looking to Austin to keep our team focused with attention to details. He lead by example and do a great job of teaching basketball skills and playing with the older guys. He is in shape, so if we get into any games with the villagers, he will carry us. He desires to serve and help others sharing the hope that God gives us for life. Austin is wearing a T-shirt he made for every team member and we wore them at every car wash and bake sale, very cool. It says: "Children of the Nations" inside of a basketball, 2009.

On the left are Steve and Tate Brumsickle, who sensed God tapping on their shoulders to join in the adventure and share hope with the Hatian people. Tate will be a frosh in high school and Steve is a school teacher at Paideia Classical School. They will be helping with the basketball skill teaching and game playing with the teens who come to the court to learn basketball. 

And last but not least, here is Monique, my incredible wife with friend Winnie Brumsickle. They are shouting out "CAR WASH" and waving cars into our human car washing machine. Monique has been amazing in her attention to details and organization for this trip. Winnie also help Steve get a shoe drive going at the local health club and washed a ton of shoes in to prepare them for kids and adults in the Dominican Republic. 

This mission has truly been a team effort with our Master Jesus Christ control of everything. Will you join us in prayer as we wind down the final days before take-off on this mission? We depart from Seattle on Sat. night August 1st and return on Sunday night Aug. 9th. Hopefully we will be able to add to this journal from the D.R. Stay tuned. 

We are grateful for your prayer support! 

For the team,

Vic