Last Day of work

Today we spent our last day working. It was supposed to be a half day of work followed by shopping in the local shops and then a dip in a river about 10 minutes away (a clean one). It turned out that our project was not done by lunch so we decided to stay and work another hour or so after lunch. These guys are great. They gave up some swimming time to make sure the fence that we were working on was completed.

The shopping was interesting to say the least. There is a group of women who sell their hand made crafts to take care of their families. It is a Christian run organization of women. After that we then go to some of the other locals who sell their handmade items. They swarm you and literally rake your hand so they can lead you to their shop before you can go to another. Once you are in their house/store they would begin to sell you on the quality of their items. If they see that you are not interested, they next resort to making you feel guilty by saying, “please buy from me so I can feed my family.” If that doesn’t work they may even follow you out of their store and just flat beg for a few pesos so they can eat that night. It is heart wrenching to say no, but that is what we were instructed to do unless we were buying their goods.

After that we came back to the house, got ready for swimming and were off again. We got to swim in a private area of a river because of someone who is connected to the Care Center at Kids Alive. It was the cleanest water we have seen yet, but we still decided to shower afterwards. It was like a little oasis and quite beautiful. The guys really enjoyed the “cool” dip in the water that was probably 80+ degrees.

In the evening the KAI team took us to the beach for some time of worship together. Our times of Bible study and sharing have been very rich and meaningful for our team, but this was a treat for us because we don’t have any musical gifts on our team. It was a great time of worship and sharing. One of the guys said that this was his first time on a missons trip and that he can’t wait to do another one. A second student said that it’s felt SO good to make a difference in the lives of these kids in the Dominican and that he can’t wait to get back to Kalamazoo and make a difference for Christ there. Another said that he has “loved being unplugged” this week from all of his electronics. He commented that he has been able to hear from God so much more. What an encouragement to see God’s work in these young men and worship Him there on the beach as the sun set.

Scott

Playground Finished on to More Work

Day 5 of work reminded me of our first workday: Hot and some hard work. We hauled over 50 wheelbarrows filled with rock, sand, and cement to pour a foundation. We finished the playground yesterday
Click to view video of playground so today was left to help with other projects around the school and clean up the playground area. We look forward to seeing the children play on the playground Monday morning. If you don’t see a blog post the next few days know we have a late night Saturday night, have church on Sunday, and head to the airport Monday around 1:30. We will try to post something sometime Sunday if the internet café is open.

Also check out the video of Mike making friends with the security check person at the airport

On a team note we had Bible study last night about Trusting God. These young men are so open to what God has for them right now I can’t praise him enough. We finished the Bible study by writing things on rocks we found on the road. They wrote down things that they had not fully trusted the Lord with but today were willing to surrender and trust him with it. This morning we threw the rocks back into the sugarcane fields to symbolically give our trust (rocks) back to him.

Some of the comments from the young men during our sharing time have been very moving. “I don’t know where I’d be without God using Youth for Christ in my life” was what one of them said. Another said, “I’m so glad God put me on this trip…it has changed my life in so many ways.” Another talked about the level of trust that he has felt as a part of this team, and that the walls he normally has around him have come down completely. Two of them have talked about a desire to come back as a part of the 6 week internship program Kids Alive has. God is most definitely changing our lives in various ways…may He continue that work to completion!

If you did not see the video yesterday go back to the last post and click on the link to see video of our guys dancing with the children and us building the playground. I am also adding more video that you will see links to below.

Thanks you for your prayers please continue to pray for our young men as we prepare for coming home on Monday that the Lord would protect the seeds that have been planted this week and that they would have the strength and courage to protect and cultivate those same seeds.

Todd
Check addition construction video

Day 3 of work was extremely hot…but it went well once again. I am so proud of this team. They are dripping in sweat all day long and they just keep going. I have not heard one complaint from any of them. What I have heard is a lot of encouragement and even moments of laughter as we joke together in an attempt to make the work more bearable.
It was good today to meet the regional director of Kids Alive. He oversees 4 countries including the D.R. and Haiti. He was very impressed to see the work that had been done. It was encouraging to hear one of the local missionaries tell him, “We need to get more Youth for Christ teams down here…they do an incredible job.” Praise be to God for the team that He has assembled to do this work. They are a humble group of guys…still it was good to see that we have been a good reflection of Him in our time here.

The work is coming along well. We have been digging a LOT and each has the blisters to prove it. (We all acknowledge that it is a small price to pay compared to the price that Christ paid for us.) We added a lot to the main structure today and prepared some footing holes for more concrete to be poured tomorrow. Tomorrow we plan to add another platform, some stairs to the main structure and cement in the geodome as well as the monkey bars.
Another interesting experience today was when four of us chose to walk the road home. It is probably about 5 miles and it takes about an hour. The reason we wanted to do this was to see what the Dominicans and Haitians go through every day. They can choose to get a ride on a motorbike taxi for 50 pesos (about $1.50) or they can walk that long, hot, dirty road to and from town daily. We were spent at the end of the work day (like they are at the end of theirs) so to see such little money be worth more than this long walk was a neat lesson for Paul, Ryan, Sam and me.
On the spiritual side, we continue to grow together. God is working in many hearts on our team. The sharing time at night is very open, honest and real…which creates good conditions for God’s work to be done. Thank you for your continued prayers!
- Scott

View Video of building the playground

click to view guys dancing with Dominican children


Today we finished the play ground and played with the kids. It was pretty exciting. The kids here seem so joyful and they love to talk to us. It was a very hot day out today but we got through it. A few of us got blisters form digging and lifting heavy playground equipment. This week has been a wonderful experience for me because all of the good guys I got to serve with this week. We all wake up in the morning and do our daily devotions and I have never really done this with any other group. I found myself praying every morning before I put on my clothes for the day and right before I do my daily devotion. God is slowly transforming my life through this trip and Im loving every minute of it. I may have had my ups and downs but I got these cool guys with me to help me through the way.

-Quentin

Visiting the Village

Today was a tough beginning because we took a heartbreaking tour of the village that Kids Alive serves. The conditions in which they live are very unsanitary, unsafe and sad. They make their homes out of whatever materials they can find. Many of them have dusty dirt floors and moldy roofs made from palm branches…both of which lead to respiratory problems. They wash their clothes in the river…the same river in which the kids play and swim…and it is the same river in which the animals use for “animal type” things. Many of them fight just to survive. They don’t always have food and many of the children are without proper clothing. It was very moving to see these fellow humans who have so much less than we do. It also made us more aware of the great need that Kids Alive is meeting…and it made us feel great to know that we are helping in a small way.

The staff of KAI keeps telling us how excited they are for this playground. Before we came, the only playground item that they have is one swing set that has 5 swings on it. This means that all 200 kids have to share these 5 swings! The kids keep lining up at the fence around the perimeter of the school as they watch us build the playground. They know full well what is happening and often cheer for our progress when they walk by and see, with excitement, what we are constructing. It is a good feeling and we are all really looking forward to the day when we can let these kids loose on this playground equipment! They are planning to do this either Friday or Monday depending on how quickly construction goes. They have no way of communicating with the kids other than walking through the streets with a megaphone…which they will do once we are ready for the kids. In less than an hour of doing this they can have hundreds of kids at the school ready for action!

The construction today went well. We were able to cement the support posts to the main structure and suspend 2 of the platforms. In addition we cemented in the parallel bars, dug the foundation for the geodome and put up the slide! It is starting to come together and it looks great. There is still quite a bit of work to do, but the team is growing in excitement for its completion.

Spiritually, our times in the Word (in the morning AND in the evenings) have been rich. The guys are open and honest with one another and God is working in each of our hearts. Each night 2 of us are sharing our life story. It has been awesome to hear what God has done and is doing in different lives. God is so good in so many ways!

- Scott

Today was a very good day!!! I was rather happy and relieved that 3 quarters of the main structure was done. We have all put are best into putting this playground together. As many of you know it´s rather hot down here but, we all persevere and do what needs to be done. Even though we don´t understand some of the directions some of the times, we are patient and get through whatever the problem is. As we do this playground I see change in many of us and see us all become closer than we where in the beginning of the trip. I pray and hope that God will continue to work in us and allow us to do his work. I'm happy that we all have been able to join together as one and do God´s work, to better the lives of the children here. I can´t wait to see all of the children's smiling faces when we are done and we get to see them enjoy themselves. I just am glad that I was chosen, by God, to attend this trip and make other people happy. I am glad that I am allowed to serve in his name.

- Ryan

Day Two, a Wet Day

On Monday night (after our last blog), we had a chance to hear from the Director of the Care Center. He came to our house and shared with us for over an hour about his passion for these kids and the work that they are doing. When they took over the facility about 5 years ago, there was just one building and they could serve about 60 kids. 5 years later, their facilities have grown immensely (because of work teams) and they are now helping about 200 kids. The size of the facility is still what keeps them from growing further. They simply can not fit any more kids in there at once.

He shared about how they help kids with their education and while doing so, share Jesus with the kids every day. Their hard working teachers start at 8:00am and go until 4:00pm. They do Bible classes every day in the midst of teaching them critical skills like reading and writing. They have a set program Monday through Thursday and then on Friday they do all Bible teaching and games with the kids. It is the favorite day of the students. It is the AWANA program that many of us our familiar with back home.

The hard part is that there are about 600 kids in the village that they serve and they are only meeting the needs of a third of them. They have kids standing at the fence watching and wanting to be a part of it. It is very difficult for them to make decisions about who gets in and who doesn’t.

We asked him about the impact this is having. He answered that question by sharing a story about a young man named Carlitos. His dad had died and his mom was an alcoholic. He was constantly in fights and getting into trouble. He shared, with tears in his eyes, how he is amazed at the difference in Carlito’s life as he sees him nearly 5 years later. Kids like Carlito are his motivation for getting up every day and doing what God has called him to do.

It made all of us excited that we were here serving such a great ministry. It energized us to serve more the next day. I know that more than one of us wants to find a way to get home and help raise money for this ministry that is having such a big impact. What a privilege it is to be here!
- Scott

Well today is day two as you know and we are already feeling the strain, and affect of our hard work. We are all excited to see the playground go up but it definitely comes at a price. Instead of burning up like I did yesterday I was either soaking wet, cold, or half asleep today. Throughout our tour of the village this morning I was constantly humbled by what I saw. People living in tin huts were smiling bigger than me who lives in something quite nicer, and doesn´t have to worry about whether or not I´m gonna make it through the week. I´m constantly faced with challenges during this trip, but with the help of God and everyone around me I am finding them less stressful and easier to overcome. Please continue to pray for strength for me and the entire team as we push our way through to the end. God is with us, and we are constantly reminded of it.
-Sam

If you are on Facebook I am trying to also upload all our photos on Facebook (the will be in the album Dominican Republic) by Todd Patrick

First Work Day

(From Scott) After a much needed good night´s rest, we started work today and it was HOT! Even still, the team did great. We drank LOTS of water and Gatorade to help replenish all of the fluids we were working off. We ended the day having put together the geodome, digging 9 large holes that will be for the supports posts for the main structure and then prepping all of the posts with various clamps and other necessary items. We are all set to mix our own cement and begin setting the structure tomorrow.

One neat experience was seeing how a ¨water level¨works...which we will have to share with you upon return. Another neat thing was tasting some raw sugar cane that one of the students brought to us...very tasty! Most of all we loved getting to know a few of the Dominican and Haitian brothers and sisters in Christ. This is a great ministry to kids who are in great need. It is a joy to serve them in this way. Please keep praying for strength for the team as we work in the intense heat.

(From Frank) I am looking forward to growing spiritually through this trip and growing closer together as brothers on this team. Last night was hard during Bible study because I was soooo tired from the travels, but this morning´s devotional on serving was an encouragement because I was reminded that God will give me the strength...and it was reaffirming to know that this is what He called us to do...serve.

The Dominican is very different than home because they have so much less than me back home...and yet they are still very happy. In America we are always trying to have more than what we need, but here they are fine with what they have. The houses are simple but they do the best with what they have. One thing that is NOT different is that they drive crazy...just like me back in my neighborhood!

We Arrived

(sorry for not posting last night. We have had to upload our post from a local internet cafe that has a slow connection (USA standards) I will try to place up as many pictures as we can but we may not have the internet connection to do to many photos.

Today’s trip went extremely well. We had a van ride to Chicago that began at 1:00am, and then our flights from Chicago to Miami and Miami to the Dominican got us there by 3:00pm. (The most excitement of the travel was when Mike got pulled to the side at a check point because his replacement knee set off all the alarms…the team was very entertained!)

When we arrived in the D.R. we were greeted by local musicians and an excited missions team from Kids Alive International. They took us to our home for the week (which is great!) where we got settled in. We then went out to a local restaurant and had some authentic Dominican food. We finished our day with a brief orientation and some time in the Word together.

The gang was tired after being up for nearly 40 straight hours (with a few airplane naps)…but it was a “good tired”. We all went to bed excited to get up and serve starting fresh on day 2!