Fuzzy Friend

Yesterday while we were sitting around waiting for a ride to the office, a not so little friend came strolling across the sidewalk to say hello. Monique was sitting under the thatched shade gazebo with some interns fairly far away, but still saw our little friend. Everyone was quite nervous as this guy would not be content sitting in your hand as the one pictured. He packs a seriously powerful bite that would send you to the hospital here.

So...to the rescue, one of our intrepreters Johnny, who sent Mr. Tarantula to "never, never land" with a rock. Whew! We will be more attentive walking around the Casa I think after our encounter with Mr. Tarantula. (-:

Oh by the way...Ellie and Carly didn't have the pleasure of meeting him.....Thankfully!

Vic for the fam

Beach Day

Good morning friends!

How was your 4th of July? We had a great day, spent at the beach with our Casa friends. We are all pictured above, gathered together to head home; a full day of fun and sun. We went to La Playa Patos, beach of the ducks. I didn’t see any ducks so I don’t know where the name comes from, but it was a nice beach. Of the three beaches we’ve been too, this one might be the prettiest. It is a longer drive from Barahona and the road winds far above the coastline, through almost jungle-like foliage. Beautiful!

The ride in the bus (a big yellow school bus) is quite an experience. Our driver, Renzo, honks the horn most of the way to alert motorcyclists and pedestrians of our presence. He passes trucks, cars, scooters and gets to the beach as quickly as possible. Yahoo!

There is a river that runs into the ocean here and pools of cool water have been created for swimming. It is very refreshing. As the day went on, the pools were packed with people. There are tons more people in the cool water compared to the ocean. The ocean water is quite warm.

The other reason more people aren’t in the ocean is because the waves crash right on the beach and the drop off is pretty steep. The undertow is very very strong. The force of the wave easily knocks you off your feet. I sit down and let the wave crash into me and carry me up the beach. As the Dominicans say, es muy peligroso! Very dangerous! Our translators and the bus driver keep a close eye on the crazy Americanos. (-:
A couple of the interns tried swimming out further and had a very difficult time getting back to the shore. Fortunately, some young Dominican guys helped them in, whew!

The "Skim Ice Man" is often seen at the beaches. You can always pick him out in a crowd because he wears this uniform. Skim ice is like an "otter pop" but with much better "carribean" flavors. Yummm....we all had one or two. 5 pesos for a skim ice. How much? You do the math - 36 pesos to a dollar.

Monique captured a great picture of two girls who where having a great time riding their horse. The horse, at least I think it is a horse, made a bee line for the river and took a long drink while they were aboard. See picture.

Ellie is chillin' in the river with Megan and Hannah, two COTN interns. They were loving it.

Pray for Ellie and Carly today. It seems they have caught an intestinal bug. We are going to have them tested at the clinic. Our friend Chris is also down with it. Pray for him too. Much intestinal stuff going around this year, ugh!

The group picture is of all who stay regularly at the Casa, plus cooks Manuela and Iri.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Love,

Vic for the fam

Happy 4th of July

Good morning friends and Happy 4th of July!

The Casa is quiet and I'm enjoying a cup of Dominican coffee while writing to you, que bueno! The coffee is very good here...hmm, I'm not sure why it tastes better here. I brought some home last year and it was good, but it tastes better in country. (-: I was thinking of you all and the 4th of July and then I saw a Dominican flag, see picture above, and realized...oops, no 4th celebration here.

We are going to go the to beach today, Sunday and enjoy most of the day there. This will be very good as we can escape the heat somewhat. The beaches near Barahona are some what pebbly, much our San Juan Is. beaches. I'm told that the resorts on the north coast have sandy beaches, but the sand was brought in for the tourists. It is not natural.

Have blessed day, un dia de Dios!

Vic for the fam

Wedding at the Casa

We had a wedding here today and it was 95 plus degrees. Whew! Folks started arriving at 9 a.m. and waited for the wedding to start...they waited and waited. It started at 1 p.m. Welcome to the Dominican...although that is a longer than usual wait. The picture above don't really capture very well one of the cool parts of the wedding...that being the courtship dancing some of the young people did before the ceremony began. There were two groups and performed beautifully. We really enjoyed them. The rest of the wedding was much like a wedding in the U.S. It is 3:30 pm now and we are hoping to get a taste of the cake.

For last years team, remember the wading pools? They were filled with water for the wedding and the little kids have taken their clothes off and are in them right now. (-; It is so hot...many people have gone in the pool with shorts and t-shirts on just to cool off.

Teachers teaching teachers

Last week a team of teachers from the Orlando area came to share workshops and materials with COTN Dominican teachers who teach in the batey schools. We had a chance to go out with them several times and they did a beautiful job. There was much laughter and encouragement for the teachers and they were very appreciative.

This is one of the many annual projects available for Venture Teams from the U.SA. and is much needed.

Vic for the fam

Musica Cristiano

Good morning friends!

Yesterday was a great day visiting another batey, Altagracia. Monique brought her guitar and connected with the two young men she met last year, Wilson and Manuel. We all sung songs, alternating between English and Spanish versions. They helped us with the songs in Spanish and also wanted to hear them sung in English. It was such a sweet time of sharing. Other young people joined us, hmmm...His church convening spontaneously again. Most of all the people who attend church on Sunday in Altagracia are younger. Manuel told us there are about 13 or so who come regularly. He asked us to pray for his village (batey).

Later we talked about our faith in Christ, living in grace. It was great! Of Course, those of you who know me, I was sharing that we are not only saved by grace, but we live our lives in Christ by grace. We have been made new, in freedom. (TrueFaced) "God is not interested in changing us because He already has."

We talked about spiritual gifts, (dones de es Spiritu) and they knew very little about them and could not tell me if they had a gift or not. Discipleship is so needed here and there is a great desire, among these young people, to know Jesus and all that He has for them. We can't wait to go back to Altagracia soon.

Also, here is a picture of Monique and I with our new friend Daniel Vallon. Daniel is Haitian and lives in Port au Prince. He spent a few days at the Casa with us, as he had reports to turn in to the COTN office of his work. He represents COTN in Haiti and cares for 13 families in Port au Prince. He really wants us to come over there for a couple of days. Please pray with me as it would probably be just me (Vic) going with a couple of other folks. If this is what God wants I'm willing. Monique and the girls would stay here at the Casa.

God Bless You and thanks for your prayers.

COTN's medical clinic

A story came from last weeks medical team, a team of doctors, dentists and nurses from the greater Seattle area. There is a 39 Haitian man from Barahona came to the clinic with a cleft pallet. He lived with this condition all his life. When the surgery was completed he said, "and now I can find a woman to be married". God is so good and gracious! He needs one more surgery. Pray for him, his healing and for another team of doctors who can come down to finish work.

I'm sure more stories like this will be forth coming. Thanks for your support.

Vic