July 30^th – Aug 4th

VBS Week

The children receive the activities with great joy.  There are  puppets, games and crafts planned for them each day.  There are over 140 children!  Scott hits the road in the morning with the truck to pickup as many children as will fit in.  We try to share the message of salvation along with morals for daily living.

Most of the children live a very undisciplined life determined by the survival of the fittest.   Although their lives have a great amount of freedom that our children in American do not enjoy, their lives are very chaotic and without direction.  I see the great contrast of American children who are over scheduled, over stimulated and overly ambitious for materials things and the children in Habanero who have absolutely no schedule, (including bedtimes) very little positive stimulation and basically no ambition.  I think that somewhere in the middle is the best for children. 

Tamara’s preparation and the system she has set up makes everything run very smoothly.  Of course always we know we must be flexible.  Things change, things break, tubes for the puppet stage are missing and starting time means nothing!  Lol   We run with the natives here, we must throw away our day planners and live off the grid.  Nothing wrong with that!  Amazingly everything still gets accomplished!  The Dominicans have a can do attitude and are never discouraged when something goes wrong, they just figure out a different way to make it work or to make it happen.  VBS days are days of excitement for the children and the Americans love to interact with them.  Our team is awesome and showing compassion and love to the community.  The children will never forget their names, Tam, Doug, Mandy, Jessica, Kylie, Jacelyn, Sarah, Patty and Carly have made memories for the children they will never forget!

July 27, 2012

Santo Domingo – Hello VBS Team

There they were right on time!  Tamra, Doug & Mandy our ever so faithful VBS Team Leaders!   The work is so very necessary for the children .  To show by example over and over again God’s love in their lives working through people our team members.  We give the glory to God for giving the teams a heart for Habanero.  The team is 9 people this time.  Just the perfect size.  We have Tam, Doug, Mandy, Jessica, Kylie, Jacelyn, Sarah, Patty and Carly.  All Scott could say was “Thank you Jesus for Doug!”  lol  So many women, he needs a man to bond with. 

July 26, 2012

Santo Domingo – Goodbye Chris

We drove to Santo Domingo today,  Chris will be leaving in the morning and in the afternoon Scott and I will pick up the Vacation Bible School team.  We have been more vacationing than working while Chris was here, but tomorrow the hard work begins in earnest.  This has been a great experience for Chris and one I wish for all Americans.  Most of us become very spoiled and feel an entitlement to what we have.  But for sure it is by the Grace of God that we were born in the USA.  We cannot take any credit for that – it is a gift from God and anyone who does not believe that should spend time in a third world country.  Just saying………….  Chris is excited about new friendships he has made and he looks forward to returning perhaps in December.  After several years of Christmas in Habanero without my family in the USA, I made the commitment to be with my son at Christmas time. So I have not spent Christmas in Habanero since 2007 and would very much like to be in Habanero again for Feliz Navidad.  Wherever my son is at Christmas there I will be also.

 Jose Luis after his medical treatment!!!  No pain and no oozing eyes!!!!

July 25, 2012

Medical Needs

Yesterday a man came to the house with dark sunglasses on.  At first I thought Jose Luis was trying to be cool, but soon realized he was wearing the glasses for protection.  Half his face was paralyzed and both eyes sensitive to light and seeping.  I got Yanet to translate for me and it seems the man has been to the doctor and has a prescription he would like us to help him purchase.  Today he brought the prescription and we went into town to get it for him.  It included three vials of drugs for injection.  The cost of the three prescriptions was $43 which this poor man would never have in his pocket at one moment.  We gave him the drugs and money for a motor taxi to go to the clinic so that a professional could do the injections.  We prayed the medicine would heal him quickly as his condition is very painful.  Two days later Jose Luis was at the house smiling and free from pain.  It took several days for him to heal completely.  Praise the Lord for providing the resources to help Jose Luis!

July 23, 2012

A day at the Playa!

A hot and humid day in Habanero calls for a trip up to the coast to San Rafael.  It’s a beautiful location where the crystal clear waters of the San Rafael River run into the Carribean.  The river has been damned up to make swimming pools at different depths so even the little ones can enjoy the cool water.  The water in the pools is so clear you can see the fish swimming and the children love to try to catch them and sometimes they do!  Which means the fish will be cleaned and cooked right that moment!  Delicious!  Chris, Scott and I took a truck load of friends and children and another truck load joined us for the day.  Chris got to enjoy the excitement of the never ending wave after wave crashing to shore. It is too dangerous to swim in the Carribean at San Rafael.  However, you can get knee deep and let the waves throw you over and over, possibly losing some clothing along the way!  As long as you are smart enough and quick enough to grab the pebbled beach once you are thrown ashore you are safe!  What a great day with family and friends.

July 21, 2012

My Son Visits Habanero!

I’ve received a great gift from my son Christopher – After  years he is finally here in the DR!  It is very exciting for me to introduce him to the country and people I have fallen in love with.  We stayed in Santo Domingo one night and went to the beach it was cloudy but beautiful.  We are now in Habanero and he is meeting so many people which I consider my family.  Christopher will never remember all the names, but they will remember him!  He is tall and has blue eyes, quite out of the ordinary here.  Habaerno is happy to finally meet him and the people have embraced him as their brother.  Thank you Jesus!