New Smiles

Dentist Paul was assisted by friend Ana and medical student Johani in the clinic two weeks ago. Paul made teeth for a number of adults and chlldren and gave them new smiles. Everyone was so grateful for his tireless work here. He and Ana went non-stop for at least 10 hours a day it seemed. They did get an unexpected break when their air compressors died one day. Oops!

Larimar Mine Trip

Last weekend we took a very wild ride up the mountain to see the Larimar mines. Larimar is a beautiful blue stone and when polished make beautiful rings, necklaces and bracelets. The roads up to the mines are horrendous and on this day we encountered torrential rains on the way up. It was really very dangerous. Once we reached the mines, the miners were running for cover and getting out of the mines as fast as they could to avoid being electrocuted. The lifespan of a Larimar miner is much shorter than most any other work here in the Dominican.

The hole is owned by one man and he hires workers to dig the mine and mine it. You can probably guess who makes most of the money from the mining of the stone. The mine owners have just three more years of mining and then the government takes over the land. It looks like there is much exploration going on right now. Time is running out for the mine owners. The government will probably lease the land and take some of the profits.

Fun and Games

I'm always blessed by seeing children and their creativity in the bateys. The games they create remind me that God has created us (humans) with curiosity, desire and passion for living. These children encouage me each day I visit and play with them. All of the Americans who come here experience the joy of the children...yes there are some difficult scenes, I don't deny that, but the joy and laughter often prevail here in the simpicities of life refreshes my soul. I'm including a little video of some girls in Don Bosco who got together for some fun hand clapping.

I'm convinced that American life is robbing children of the creativity God has placed in them. The beauty of play and relationship building in the midst of play can be a missing link for many American kids. God knows how we can reconnect with the simplicities of living...will we listen.

Child Sponsorship

Child Sponsorship through COTN is a huge blessing for our children here in the Dominican Republic. Monique and I were riding the bus the other day with two precious girls, Marilese (pictured with me) and Francisca (with Monique). They are so cute. To the best of our knowledge, the two of them need sponsors. Our good friend Goose Torres from Summit Church in Orlando, FL sponsors three boys, see photo, and has built a beautiful relationship with them through letters and visits here. Would you prayerfully consider sponsoring a child in the Dominican Republic?

Here is some more information from the COTN website...www.cotni.org

Village Partnership - $32/month

Our Village Partnership Child Sponsorship Program provides for a child living with destitute caregivers or a family who is unable to properly provide for them. Monthly sponsorship provides for a child's enrollment into our program which includes education, medical care, daily nutrition through our feeding center, and more. Each child in our Village Partnership Program is assigned multiple sponsors to fully fund their care. Sponsors are encouraged to communicate via letters with their sponsored child and will receive at least three updates from their child per year. (View available children now.)

Special Needs Kids

Last week, Jenna and Chris Dennard's team from Summit Church in Orlando, Florida were here to work with children who have special needs. They played games and shared many fun activities with the children, who came from three different bateys on three consecutive days. The kids spent the whole day with the team and they all had a blast. Sometimes the activity was just plain old tickling, see Chris and Gaby on the ground getting tickled to death. What a joy and blessing to see the beautiful children and their interactions with our new friends from Summit.

Serious Dominoes

It is not uncommon to see a game of dominoes going on out in the front of a house or on the side of the street...anywhere a table and chairs can be set up. People young and old play dominoes for fun and sometimes the games are a little more serious. As a way of signifying a game lost, clothes pins are used and as you can see, they are placed on ears, cheeks or eyebrows. Ouch! There are a couple of guys pictured who were having a rough day at the table.

Diego and Diana

These two twins, brother and sister, are an example of COTN's impact in the batey of Los Robles. Last year Ellie and I held them during a visit to Los Robles. They were sick and weak; abandoned by their mother. See the photo of the two of them with Ellie and I last year. When they saw us this year they immediately came up to us and cuddled us. See this years photo, me with Diego and Diana. Look at how much healthier they are now. They are getting regularly fed through the COTN feeding program and are now cared for by their aunt, who works as a cook in Los Robles.

I repeat..."Love is the process of meeting needs". The cost of one meal is 25 cents. Diego and Diana are living examples of people like you responding to meeting the needs of "the least of these". I hope you will consider partnering with us to be the hands and feet of God in the Dominican Republic.

Many gifts...Many projects

Last Monday the team from Southminister Presbyterian was thrown a curve ball as far as their daily schedule was concerned. As a result of "The Huelga" (political protests) for security reasons they stayed at Casa Batesada for the day. There are many projects available to Venture Teams right here at the Casa. Improvements and "fixer upper" projects are most welcome.

On Monday, God's giftings were displayed in many ways around the Casa. Doug, a former hardware store owner, created his own project; cleaning out and organizing the pump house which is also used to store tools. The room is called the "cuartito"...little room. What a great gift! Karen made a list of all the tools and later, Leo (see pictured with Doug in the cuartito) and I put the list in Spanish. We now have an organized storage room with a list of tools so that the Venture Teams coming down here to do construction type work will know what tools are available. This list will also help the DR staff keep track of the tools when they are used for other jobs.

A couple of other team members took on the project of planing doors so that they open and close easily...see photos. So much was accomplished on this day and it wasn't in our human plan...God is good!

Enough Mosquitos

Okay...enough already Mr. Mosquito...you are plentiful this year in the D.R. and I'm on the attack. Kung Fu Off!

Judas, The Man Who Never Knew

I read this today from Max Lucado. I love his writing and his ponderings. This is an excerpt from one of his books and it fits in the context of our journey with these impoverished people in the bateys of Altagracia, Los Robles, Don Bosco and Algodon. When we visit these bateys and build relationships with these children and adults, we discover they are just like us, hard wired by God with the same needs and desires. The Bible speaks over and over again about caring for people who are poor and destitute, who are living in environments and circumstances that are beyond their control.

This Max Lucado piece speaks of how he (we) may have stereotyped Judas Iscariot, intriguing. Hmmm...I wonder if we don't do that with the poor. Lucado also talks about Judas as a man who practiced religion and never knew Jesus intimately. I wonder if those who practice religion (in the church) are looking and not seeing the needs of the poor.

I’ve wondered at times what kind of man this Judas was. What he looked like, how he acted, who his friends were.

I guess I’ve stereotyped him. I’ve always pictured him as a wiry, beady-eyed, sly, wormy fellow, pointed beard and all. I’ve pictured him as estranged from the other apostles.

Friendless. Distant. Undoubtedly he was a traitor and a quisling. Probably the result of a broken home. A juvenile delinquent in his youth.

Yet I wonder if that is so true. We have no evidence (save Judas’s silence) that would suggest that he was isolated. At the Last Supper, when Jesus said that his betrayer sat at the table, we don’t find the apostles immediately turning to Judas as the logical traitor.

No, I think we’ve got Judas pegged wrong. Perhaps he was just the opposite. Instead of sly and wiry, maybe he was robust and jovial. Rather than quiet and introverted, he could have been outgoing and well-meaning. I don’t know.

But for all the things we don’t know about Judas, there is one thing we know for sure: He had no relationship with the Master. He had seen Jesus, but he did not know him. He had heard Jesus, but he did not understand him. He had a religion but no relationship.

As Satan worked his way around the table in the upper room, he needed a special kind of man to betray our Lord. He needed a man who had seen Jesus but who did not know him. He needed a man who knew the actions of Jesus but had missed out on the mission of Jesus. Judas was this man. He knew the empire but had never known the Man.

Judas bore the cloak of religion, but he never knew the heart of Christ.

We learn this timeless lesson from the betrayer. Satan’s best tools of destruction are not from outside the church; they are within the church. A church will never die from the immorality in Hollywood or the corruption in Washington. But it will die from corrosion within—from those who bear the name of Jesus but have never met him and from those who have religion but no relationship.

Judas bore the cloak of religion, but he never knew the heart of Christ. Let’s make it our goal to know … deeply.

From Shaped by God (original title: On the Anvil)
Copyright (Tyndale House, 1985, 2002) Max Lucado

Hygiene in Altagracia

The women on the Southminister Presbyterian team taught basic hygiene to the children in Altagracia. They used a variety of ways to actively engage the kids with the lessons; song, games, writing, coloring, etc. It was an incredible blessing for me to see the kids connect with these gifted women; each one had their gifts for loving on these precious children. Later in the week they shared the same teaching with the moms in small group. Then the wrap up...an ice cream party. Needless to say, there was much joy and appreciation received from all who participated.

Oh yes, you are probably wondering who that young man is with Carly at the header of the blog. That is Wilson and he is the principal of the school in Altagracia. Wilson is just 20 years old and has taken on the responsibility of caring for the children in the COTN school. The COTN school in Altagracia is pre-school and kindergarten and has one teacher who serves 20 children in the morning and 20 in the afternoon. There is a public school right near the COTN school which serves children in grades 1-8.

Wilson has really stepped up his service to his community after his pastor and the principal, Manuel, died suddenly a few months ago. I will write more about Wilson and his friends; Yellen and Manuel Emilio, who are leading and teaching in the church. Please keep these young men in your prayers and the community of Altagracia. The Southminister team really bonded with the community in the week they served there. Seeing Christ cross cultural barriers this past week was a touch of heaven for me.

More to come...God Bless You this day!

Vic for the fam

Constructing latrines

We just said good-bye to a team of very special people from Southminster Presbyterian Church which is located in DesMoines, WA near Seattle. One of their projects was building 5 latrines for families in the batey we call Altagracia. The work ethic and perseverance of our new friends from Southminister was amazing; a testimony of God's love and power to the people of Altagracia. They worked in the rain and in sweltering heat to complete the project.

The latrine was a simple structure, with metal siding as you can see from the photos. The floor made of cement makes it much more sanitary and easy to clean for the family. One of the families that received a latrine in their backyard was so happy and blessed that I had to snap their picture.

The ladies on the team taught basic hygiene principles to the women and children with songs and games. I will post pictures of their excellent work next time.

A Living Wage

Good Sunday morning friends and family!

While searching for current news about the Dominican Republic in the NY Times online...I came across this video news story...titled; A Living Wage... I pray that more of this can happen here, especially in Barahona.
Check it out here:http://nyti.ms/aTUAKT

Fraser's reflections

Meet our new friends Fraser and Holly Ratzlaff. Fraser works for COTN in the Seattle office as a director of Meal Packaging events for the greater Puget Sound area. He made his first visit to the Dominican Republic last month and was here when we arrived at the Casa. Holly joined him a week later. What a blessing it was for us to meet the two of them. We hope to have them up to Friday Harbor this year for a Meal Packaging event in our town.

While Holly was here, she helped Austin and Jordan with their mural in Altagracia.

I thought you'd be interested in Fraser's reflections on his time here...Read his most recent blogpost at:

http://web.me.com/fraserratzlaff/thevoice/Blog/Blog.html