Sad and Happy

Today is our last full day at Casa Betesada. Emotions will run high this evening for all of us. There is a pool party planned this afternoon, a chance for friends to come by and say hi, hang out, get cool in the pool. Then this evening we will have the offical "despedida" or good-bye party, complete with dinner and dessert. I imagine some merengue too. You should see Ellie and Carly dancing, much fun! It brings joy to my heart to see the wonderful friendships we have made here this summer.

Six weeks here has really helped us break some of the language barriers we had last year. Our Spanish is improving. Monique's effort with Rosettta Stone last year really paid off for her. Her ability to communicate has grown leaps and bounds. She really doesn't let the translators speak English to her, so they help with Spanish everyday. Beautiful!

I'll be continuing to write and post pictures so stay tuned. Thanks for your support and prayers.

Love,

Vic for the fam

I LOVE BASEBALL

This week we are hosting two teams from Seattle, 14-16 year olds and 16-18 year olds. They are the Seattle Bombers. Coaches, dads and players are all here to work with the I LOVE BASEBALL program which is part of Children of the Nations. I love the mission of I LOVE BASEBALL.

“Our goal is to help develop young men into leaders and encourage them to pursue an education and spiritual growth while training for a career in baseball.”

These two teams are playing games and conducting baseball clinics in the bateys. Baseball is the national sport here in the Dominican. Everywhere you go, in the late afternoons, you can usually find a pick up game of baseball. The fields are often just sandlots, open spaces where goats are grazing, donkeys wandering and sometimes horses scrounging for something to eat. I even saw some pigs wander out on the field where the players were instructing the kids in basic skills. I'll post that picture next time...too funny.

There are always little kids and sometimes adults checking out the baseball activity. Baseball draws a crowd here. Want to learn more about I LOVE BASEBALL go to: http://www.ilovebaseball.org

Always revealing

I have been reading through John's gospel in The Message while here in Barahona. The Holy Spirit spoke to me this morning and He is causing me to contemplate. Jesus tells his disciples, you and I also, to "ask the Father for whatever is in keeping with the things I've revealed to you". Do I know what He has revealed to me, and am I listening and looking for what He is revealing today? Are you?

John 16 23-24

"This is what I want you to do: Ask the Father for whatever is in keeping with the things I've revealed to you. Ask in my name, according to my will, and he'll most certainly give it to you. Your joy will be a river overflowing its banks!

"I've used figures of speech in telling you these things. Soon I'll drop the figures and tell you about the Father in plain language. Then you can make your requests directly to him in relation to this life I've revealed to you. I won't continue making requests of the Father on your behalf. I won't need to. Because you've gone out on a limb, committed yourselves to love and trust in me, believing I came directly from the Father, the Father loves you directly. First, I left the Father and arrived in the world; now I leave the world and travel to the Father."

His disciples said, "Finally! You're giving it to us straight, in plain talk—no more figures of speech. Now we know that you know everything—it all comes together in you. You won't have to put up with our questions anymore. We're convinced you came from God."

Jesus answered them, "Do you finally believe? In fact, you're about to make a run for it—saving your own skins and abandoning me. But I'm not abandoned. The Father is with me. I've told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I've conquered the world."

Neighbors

How often do you connect with neighbors thousands of miles from home, person to person, face to face? We did yesterday as our "neighbors" the Ellingson family stopped by to visit us here at Casa Betesada. They are here on a brief respite from their work with Samaritans Purse in Port Au Prince, Haiti.

Ellie and Leif found the little kitty who lives here at the Casa and I think Leif wants to adopt it. I'm not sure we will talk his mom and dad into though.

Vic for the fam

Mucha lluvia hoy

Today has been quite a day thus far. We woke up to pouring rain as a tropical storm is hanging in over us. Matt, Andrea, Abby and kids (the Ellingson Family) were going to fly over here to take a break from the work in Haiti, but they couldn't land due to the poor weather conditions. They are driving now. We should see them some time today...yippee!

The Casa is quiet right now. Brandon Bleek's team from Creekside Covenant left this morning as sheets of rain were coming out of the sky. The drive to Santo Domingo for them will be interesting. Keep them in your prayers. The streets in Barahona looked more like rivers than streets. We went down to the coffee factory, Cafe Melitta, stopped by a panaderia (bakery) this morning with them and got a serious shower each time we left the bus.

Have you seen the short video clip I took of them mixing cement in Algodon? Here it is:
http://vimeo.com/13556780


I even got in on the mixing, but needed to lean on the shovel quite a bit....Ha! I learned how to properly lean on a shovel when I worked on the Whittier City School District summer gardening crew...an acquired skill.

This Sunday 32 baseball players and coaches will arrive to do clinics and play games with I Love Baseball, which is a ministry with Children of the Nations. http://www.ilovebaseball.org Please join us in asking God to halt the rain for their week here. Life shuts down pretty much here when it rains and we don't have a Safeco field to host the games.

Vic for the fam

transportation

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I tried to capture the many modes of transportation here in the Dominican. Scooters and small motorcycles are definitely the most popular. Not only do they transport people but they are used to carry water, food (see men who were picking up plantains they dropped in the street) gas, etc. Walking of course is a biggie, see women carrying laundry on their heads.

The cars are small and so are most of the trucks. You can't buy most of them in the U.S., many Toyotas.

Dominoes

When I was in downtown Barahona last week with a team headed to the coffee factory, I saw these older gentlemen sitting around playing dominoes. I had to ask if I could take their picture. No problem...and they invited me to play. I had to decline...but I think part of their enthusiasm is that they saw easy money, as they were playing for dinero.

It looks like a perfect retirement plan to me. Ha! Dominicans love to play dominoes. You can see people playing quite often outside their homes.

Vic for the fam

serving

This passage came to my heart and mind this morning...from Mark 10:35-44 and Luke 22

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do for us whatever we ask."
What do you want me to do for you?" he asked. They replied, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory." "You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?" "We can," they answered. Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared."

When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

As I reflect on the various teams who have come down to the DR this summer, everyone has had a heart to serve and Jesus presence is rich here. What an incredible gift to be hear amongst His people.

Luke 22:25-27

Jesus said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

Whether the project has been training teachers, surgeries, recreation with children, painting schools, laying concrete floors, health screening of children, clearing brush, tree planting or fix it efforts around the Casa...all have come to serve. Above are just a few glimpses of work for the sake of others.

more community pictures

The kids are precious and they love our attention as you can see. Ellie and Carly are giving them tons of love every time we go out to the bateys. Monique is getting her hair braided and as the girls were finishing up my camera battery died...but I did capture the finished look on someone else's camera...picture coming soon. She looks beautiful!

Community Happening

The flooring project always seems to attract neighbors and others from the batey. Here are a few candid shots I took while hanging around watching the work. Today we went back to pour another floor in an adjacent house. You should have seen the smile on the woman's face who now has a new floor. Her furniture is back in place and she is so happy. Her home will be mud free during the rainy season now.

Oh..by the way..I did get messy and hauled some dirt today for some floor prep. I even threw some sand around, yahoo! I think I mentioned this before, but this flooring project is such a great one for Venture Teams. The work is so rewarding.

More to come....

Vic for the fam

New Floors

This afternoon we, as a family, went out with the Creekside Covenant team (Redmond, Wa) to one of the bateys (Algodon), where they poured a concrete floor for a family. Pictured with Carly is the woman who owns the home. She and all 7 of her family sleep in the home, probably the size of a living room in the U.S. She was so grateful for the the concrete floor and for the team's efforts.

The process is very interesting. Sand and concrete are dumped in a pile in front of the house and mixed with water. See photos above. It is all done by hand with shovels. The dirt floor is prepped by leveling and crushed rock is laid as a base. After the mixing is complete a wheelbarrow is used to transport the cement into the house. The spreading of the concrete is done, as you see in a conventional way, except one guy with a board masterfully spreads out the mix with precision.

It is a community/neighborhood event, with many children and adults observing outside. That is for another blog.

Vic for the fam

observations en la iglesia and more

Just a quick update...our showing of The Tale of Two Brains at the church is Los Robles went very very well. No video glitches, thanks be to God. The power for the projector and sound system was all run by a small Honda generator (un planta). We had an overflow crowd, as people were sitting outside the church to listen to Mark Gungor. We used the Spanish version of LYW, which has Mark and a translator delivering the message. One beautiful thing was that we had a bunch of young people attend and there was much laughter, which means they were understanding and connecting with Mark.

On another note, I have some observations on the church services we've attended here that you might find interesting. We have attended three Sunday services thus far, at two different churches. I must admit, there are some aspects of the Sunday gathering that I really like here and I'll start by sharing them. I love the free, lively, open praise that goes on at the beginning of the service. The music is upbeat, sometimes merengue, lots of movement, singing by all. From time to time, people in the congregation are free to come forward and lead a song, giving praise to "El Senor", God the Father. Beautiful! Also during this time there is sharing and exhortation from different deacons or deaconess, whatever gender, no problem.

I would say in general the gatherings are charismatic/pentacostal/evangetical, if that is a flavor. It takes a bit getting used to for those of us whose experience has only been the evangelical church in white America. Prayer times are interactive and community wide, again everyone has the freedom to share. Services generally last two hours.

I think expressive might be a word to describe the church gatherings. One of the things that has been difficult for us is how loud it is, big speakers and much amplification. My rock music days have taken a toll on my hearing I think, so the sound blast at church can be tough to endure for me.

All in all, we give thanks to God for the Dominican iglesia, their heart for God and love of Jesus and the ministry of Children of the Nations (Ninos de Naciones).

Today Monique and I celebrate our 18th Anniversary, What a blessing from God she is to me! I can't imagine life without her. The young guys from Los Robles wanted to take our picture, so here we are in the church after presenting Laugh Your Way. see picture above.

boys in Pueblo Nuevo

On a visit to Pueblo Nuevo, one of the communities COTN serves in Barahona, we met Elijah and Negro, two little boys who attend the school. Each boy has his own family story and out of those stories comes great need. I'm praying for sponsors for each of these boys. One of the things teams do when visiting communities (bateys or barrios) is visit with families in their homes. We visit families with children who need sponsorship. Sponsorship provides the child with education, health care, a daily meal and spiritual guidance in Christ.

Negro, pictured in the red shirt, has a heart condition that needs therapy and treatment. His father died a few years ago and he lives with his mother and other siblings. His older sister is pregnant with a child, which will add another little one to the family very soon. Negro's mom tries to work when she can but makes caring for her children a priority. She cannot afford to continue paying for Negro's heart treatments and medication. Would you consider sponsoring Negro? To do this, contact, www.cotni.org or send me an email...vic.woody@gmail.com and I will see to it that your request gets to the right person here. Sponsorship is just $32 a month.

Elijah, el pastor, as he is affectionately called by everyone, is an active little guy who loves Jesus. He is pictured with the group and his mother in their home. We were welcomed into both of the boys homes when we walked through the community. Elijah has some health issues too. He is a bundle of energy, very musically gifted and personable. He needs sponsorship too.

I was talking with one of the men who accompanied the teens from Boston, MA this last week and he was telling me of his trips to Africa. He said the poverty here is just as great as anything he saw in Africa. Please pray for these boys, the moms and families. And if God puts sponsorship on your heart, please contact me.

Blessings..

Vic for the fam

Contrasts in marriage

On Saturday night, the night before our 18th wedding anniversary, Monique and I will present the first part of Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage for the church in Los Robles. Please pray that the translation is understood and the message of God's love and plan for marriage comes through clearly. The church is pictured above and the streets of Los Robles are also pictured. We are hoping the young singles will come to the conference and also that the Dvd's will be shown to completion in the days ahead.

This batey, Los Robles, probably has the most Christ followers and the young people really seem to have a heart for God. The Light is definitely visible and present here, quite a contrast from other bateys.

As I have talked with pastors and some of the translators; marriage is viewed a little differently here. It is not too uncommon for men to have a wife and at least one other woman. The wife seems to tolerate this and goes about her job of cooking and caring for the children. The pastor is Los Robles desires to see his community live out marriage as God intended, a beautiful relationship between a man and woman. As Mark Gungor says in his teaching on sexuality, the #1 key to incredible sex is exclusivity.

So...thank you in advance for your prayers. I know pastor Juan Jose will appreciate your prayers as well. There are some beautiful young people in this community who need to hear this message.

Vaya con Dios...

Vic for the fam

Pyramid

We had an amazing time with the young people of Los Robles on Friday. Our friend Kathy McGaughey and the pastor of Los Robles organized a beach trip as a reward for the students hard work and good citizenship this year. We felt so blessed to be able to build relationships with these great young adults. Pastor Juan Jose is exemplifying a true heart for discipleship in his community. The guys wanted to work together to build a human pyramid and they worked as a team to get it done, see picture. They had such fun, laughing, crashing and rebuilding, finally make it happen.

Vic for the fam

Batey Tour Today

Today we went with the Orlando team from Summit Church to all five bateys. It was my first time to visit Pueblo Nuevo, where COTN's school is located high up on a hill above Barahona. The views are spectacular! After hanging out with the kids at each batey, I see that each community is clearly different. The school in Pueblo Nuevo is equipped with a commercial kitchen and a computer lab. Students can come and get some vocational training in this school. The kids engaged with our young people in quite a game of "duck, duck, goose". It was a blast watching them.

In Los Robles, we've seen boys playing with a homemade toy, a bicycle tire with a pushing/steering tool made out of a stick and a jug handle. See picture above. They play with this toy all day long it would appear. They tried to teach one of the guys how to do it and we found out how challenging it is to keep the tire rolling. The boys made it look so easy.

Ellie and Carly are magnets for the girls and they often end up with braided hair. Here are some of their new friends.

We are all back in good health. Thanks for your prayers! I'm hearing about a heat wave in the N.W. Ha! You don't know what heat is (-:

Vic for the fam

Retreat at the Casa

Matthew 18:20 ..."For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

Posted on this blog are pictures from a one day retreat we had here at Casa Batesda with teenagers from four of the bateyes. Vic and Kathy lead out in some teaching and the kids broke out into small groups with their own pastor or principal. The discussions were fabulous, so many of these teenagers engaged in the teaching. Wow! Our friend Kathy led out the day with a "thinking" game called The Amazing Maze. Each group consisted of teens from their batey. It was a competition to figure out the maze as a group. Everyone had to get through the maze and help each other without talking. Very difficult for them to stay quiet throughout the game. Fun and interesting to watch. Kathy (pictured hanging out in the pool) is wonderful. This is her 8th or 9th summer here in Barahona. She pours all of herself out for these kids. It is a blessing for us to serve alongside her.

Vic for the fam