dominican 2008

[inthesilence27]

i leave with a group of 14 adults and juniors and seniors , sunday afternoon to stay in atlanta sunday night an then get up monay morning and catch our plane for the Dr. we will be there from monday to sat. and get back late sat. night to the states. so please pray for our safty , health as we are over there. and that lifes will be changed , not only ours but the people we come in contact with!..

blessings!

[Kelly]

Praying for safe travels, wisdom and changed hearts! Be sure to fill us in when you return! :)

[LauraA]

Let us know how it went when you get back. I'll be praying for you, too.

[inthesilence27]

well guys im back and praise the LOrd , God is Good!. words cant not explain it , but here goes nothing. the first night /day we were there : we got our bags and headed to the complex(score) it was Hot. and i mean Hot!. so we un packed our stuff, did the run though of the rules and stuff then on to the beach. wow. so amazing. (we could walk to the beach from the complex. ) just to relax after a 3 hour plan ride was wonderful.but the power goes off frequently so it was werid at first but we got use to it and had fun with it!..
(also staying in the complex where a softball team and a basketball team, from chicigo and grandrapids) so. first day of mission work. was amazing. we wetn to one of three sugar kane villages we went to during the week. we played with the kids, did our vbs stuff and presented the Gospel. it was wonderful .
the second day. was really rough , physically and emotional for our team.
our new friend (missionarys) took us to two Orphanges. One was a girls which was awesome to see. and get to love on the girls . who just needed to be loved. we really touched them. and now the sad part. (you might need your klnex for this) . but they prepared us for the toughest thing we would have to face. and that was the handi cap orphange. here we could even barley play with some kids. (the second floor in the building housed) the serve cases/ and older kids. we saw kids wth hydrocephis, which as very disturbing for me , bc thats what i was dignosed with . but with the help of Doctors in the us i dont have that any more.. but Kids over there. its like a head two times the size of basketballs. it was aweful. But God is the healer. and on the way back to the complex (our missionarys, who are from west va. )told us that wont it be neat when we get to heaven. and you see these kids and they are all perfect. and they come up to you and say thank you for the love you showed me.so that was amazing blessed first twodays of our trip , more to come later tonight. - to be contiued!..

[LauraA]

It is heartbreaking to see anyone who is hurting or suffering. It's awesome that you were able to minister God's love and acceptance to these people. I'm glad you are back safe and sound...and blessed!


I used to do volunteer work for Central WI Center, which is a place for the severly mentally retarded (I don't know what the current term for this is...I hope that doesn't offend anyone). It was so hard to see, but once the shock of it wore off a little, after several visits, I could really love on them. It was sweet to see their faces when they recognized us.

[Kelly]

So glad things went well! And what a blessing to be able to minister to those children!!

[inthesilence27]

thanks guys for your encouragement, now back to it. after the phyically and emotional day wed. we got to relax on thu. since they changed our schedule on us. which was a blessing in it self. bc we needed to unwind , and be rejuvinated . which was a help in in self so we went to catlina island , which is 100 miles from purto rico. its the best beach ive been too. even though you have to face a rough sea to get there. lucky im not motion sick. lol. but on the way out to the island the passage of Jesus calming the storm came to mind . the boat stoped half way for some to dive and snorkle which was fun, bc it gave me time to take pitcure of the fish at the bottom of the glass bottom boat. we finally made it to the island , wow!, it was like a postcard. sandy white beaches and salt water , which you could float in. it was amazing. and did i mentionb food. (yes this is a baptist group so we love to eat)but we had the best food , a all you could eat buffett at the hotel on the island. it was almost paraiside. every thing from stir fy to eagg plant to fesh fuit!. oh the chicken was marvolus. but it didnt rain on us until the end of the day on the island. it was perfect. - Friday our last day of minisrty. Today we feed the village whih consistesed of 76 families. and the meal consisted of rice, bean, oil.. ( we went to the jumbo - which is like a target or a walmart here in the states) and we spend thousand dollars. 300 paso's the neat thing ws the power went out on us yet again. but this tyime in the store it was pitch black.
we got up to the regester and the register stop working about 100 into the sale so we go 100 dicount. and when we got back on the bus. our missionary friends, Nate and Erica said this was the first time they had ever seen that happen. so after that we sang all the way to the village. we got to the village. and we were greeted by kids. who where happy to see us. it was so neat. we steped off the bus. to see get this Racing pigs. and chicken fights.. it was the kewlest thing okay not the chicken fights. but the pig were. i almsot fogot about the baby goats too. they were so cute.so on we go to the do our vbs stuff then we shared the gospel. and then after that we passed out flip fops. and then we went around door to door and gave food. (only to family that had a number.) so it was neat bc we got to see what the village looked like!. it was so eye opening.literally. then we said our good byes to the kids. and headed back to the complex to get ready for a night out. we took our missionarys, and intern ou to eat with us. it was amazing. everybody was friendly to us., and saiued we were the best group. we ate at el suanos(the dream ) in american. but it was awesome. our yourh minster and friend had losbster fedicenini they brough out a whole lobster with the fediceni in th middle ,. i had fresh fish. grilled . ith lime sauce. it was amazing. then the cutest prt was the derest. we orded. some orderd pinapple ice cream and they brough tit out in a pine apple. i orded cocnut and it came in a cocnut. and i washed it out and brought it home with me. walking back to the complex was nice . the walk under the stars. Sat- Last day. mind you ou flight leaves at 2:50 so we need to be at the airport by 12:00 well we got up at 500am to see the sun rise. wow!, what can i say to sit out there. in he dead of the morning with nothing but the waves cashing and hearing thr voice of God is wonderful. so not to mention we all were dead. on the plane. but our missionary firend nate , erica and there sweet little girl mali had luch with us and saw us of to the air port. it was wonderful to make new friends. and to see how God works. so iask you to be in prayer for the score team in the dominican, as well as our missionalry friends. Nate and Erica Jude and there little girl mali that God will contuie to bless them. and keep them safe. and they will be coming into the states on furlow in aug- sept. for meetings, and leasure time . so we will get to see them again. but during that time pray for safe travels. and health.

God Bless and thanks for listening.<><

[inthesilence27]

http://therefugestudentblog.blogspot.com/

heres a link to our student blog complete with some photos.

oh i forgot to metion 17 kids got saved!