Jean and Ally's visit with our sponsor child

Ally said the day she met our sponsor child, Aida Yohanna, was the happiest day of her life.   Yohanna is the same age as Ally and we`ve been sponsoring her since she was around 6 years old.  We picked her because she is the same age as Ally. At one point she took Ally by the hand and said to me `photo` and she stood beside Ally and made a small heart with both of their hands together, then made a bigger heart! The first time we met her we spent the day making bracelets, painting nails, then she did both of our hair. On Wednesday we had our home visit.  We met her mom, brother Carlos, and step dad. We saw where they live, and took some pictures. You really realize how blessed we are in Canada when you get to see it for yourself.  We had a translator with us so were able to converse quite well. The compassion rep told us that they really appreciate it when sponsor families come to visit their sponsor children, and that they encourage it. I didn't realize how easy it was to get to meet your sponsor child, so if anyone ever wants to sponsor someone, maybe pick a child in a destination you would be interested in visiting. We were just as blessed as her family to be able to meet them and provide some things for them. It is such a blessing to be able to give things to people who are so much in need. At the end of the trip we prayed with her family - a very special time.

Jean M.

"I don't like lets go!"

Hola Amigos! Today is a sad day because we are leaving this amazing country tonight.  Well actually, it has been a very long good-bye for many of us.  As mentioned Tues night was good - bye for many.  It was fairly gut wrenching for some.  There were many new bonds formed this trip and I think for those new and special relationships it was the hardest.  Although saying good-bye even to old friends not easy either.  My sponsored child Miguel heard me saying to the team, ok guys let's go, after a fairly long good-bye, and the title of this post came from what he said about this.  Here are some good-byes:

                                                 Karin and Leonardo

Mallory and Jeffrey

Donna Joselito and Angelina

Some of us had some home visits on Wednesday but I only have photos from Jean and Allie's

Jean and Allie with Johanna and her brother

Allie walking with Johanna{one of my fav pics}

Last night we finished the official part of the trip with a big dinner and Ben was our guest.  After dinner we met for trip highlight/take aways, to share communion and also to make Ben's grad gift presentation to him.  There were many tears during this time as people shared what God had done in them this trip, and even for Ben who was very moved by his gift presentation.  I forgot my camera cord again so I will post some photos later.  

Today is family day.  I'm sure many of us will be spending time further reflecting, but we will also walk up to Cabarete for some shopping and to meet Ben and Vierka, and maybe some other friends for a coffee.  The girls and I are also horse-back riding on the beach this morning.  Please pray for the team as we transition back that God would clearly show us the things He wants us to learn from this trip.  Also pray for protection from the enemy as he will surely be trying to rob us of the joy we have experienced, and confound our thoughts.  Well, once again the sun is on the rise.  Hasta pronto!  

Michele  

Hey everyone, Carolina here..We are having an awesome time, connecting with our friends in the DR and working together. Nathan,Joel and I were able to spend some time playing with Arco (Elvira) and this time with her sister, Anna. First time meeting them for the boys and they have definitely connected! It was great for me to be able to continue building a relationship with her. We have also been enjoying our jobs with the travelling Outreach program. I was doing the object lesson and the boys were the quiet seat police, giving out candies to the quietest listeners. We also enjoyed running the mini-sticks event! The kids loved it and even the girls, who don't usually play were really getting into it! Our visit to the Mak school was a definite highlight where we played with the small (pre-k) children and Joel declared that we were "Drowning in cuteness!!" Nathan hit a home run in the older boys baseball game! I had my hair done (messed up) by a couple of 5 year old aspiring hair dressers. I think they gave up when they saw how impossible it was to tame!

Pictures from Tuesday-Compassion and Battae Severet

It is another beautiful early morning here.  I am writing this post as the sun is rising.  Donna wrote a beautiful post last night and I wanted to add some photos and also to tell you a bit about what a Battae is.  When the sugar cane factory was operationg in Montellano, the industry built many small settlements in the country side for the sugar cane workers to live.  They look like this

Then at one time in DR the sugar market became flooded with too much supply so they closed some factories around DR and the one in Montellano was one of them.  So what happened to the workers in the country side?  Well most of them were Haitian and didn't really have anywhere to go back to.  The factory cut the water and electricity to the Battae and the people were more or less left to their own devices.  Some of the Battaes have managed to survive a little better than others by farming or the people working on farms but many are just severely impoverished like Pancho Mateo.  Severet seemes to be surviving a little bit better-perhaps it is because of the farmland around it.  Our day yesterday was incredible.  We got to hang out at the Compassion school and many of our kids were there.  I met my new prayer partner- Eunice.  She was soooo excited to meet me.  I think in Canada our total reliance on the power of prayer is not on level with the people in poor countries.  I mean she was literally jumping up and down-like she had been given a sponsor herself!  I was very touched.  Here she is

Our afternoon was super incredible.  The feeling as we drove into the mountains was like peace just falling on us.  Here is the country side

Here is the church and the children inside

The most spectacular part of this program was when we were finished our lesson.  The children's director{pastor's wife} asked if any of the kids would like to pray to accept Jesus into their hearts.  Nine beautiful little souls stepped forward and were prayed for.

After that I was able to go on my home visit and see Miguel's new house that his father built.  It was like hanging out with old friends because I have been there so often we are really comfortable together now.  Here are a few pics

The end of the day was very difficult for many because it was the last time to be together with their kids this trip.  I will post some photos of that tonight in a separate post.  Today I am going to the house of Jason and Moises, and Nelly, Blanca, and Jean and Allie have their home visits.  Have a great day.  Muchas bendigas, Michele

Pictures from Monday at Mak and just a few from Battae Pancho Mateo

This time in the DR has confirmed for each one of us that love breaks down barriers of language, ethnicity, brokenness, hurt and separation from God and others. This week we have been blessed to share in a devotional time lead by Vanessa. We have looked at the Great Commandment and the Great Commission, and how we cannot begin to understand Jesus' command to go and make disciples of all nations, unless we first come to understand God's love for us. Once we truly grasp what it means to love God with all our heart and to love others more than ourselves, only then can we truly be equipped to pour our lives into others and make disciples. If there has been one theme, during our time here, it has definitely been understanding God's love as the greatest gift of all.
Over the past few days, it has become so apparent that all our sponsorship families and kids, the Compassion staff, church leadership and local children just love spending time with us. They love us so unconditionally, and it is not about the gifts we bring or what we might be able to do for them, its about sharing the bond of loving God and being with someone who they love deeply because we have taken the time to open our hearts and be the hands and feet of Jesus. This time has been filled with times of great joy and love, sharing, cherished moments of reuniting, playing with the children, presenting the message of God's love in the program at four different locations around Montellano, and just being thankful that God has allowed us to be a part of work for his Kingdom purposes. Today we drove through the sugar cane fields and into the mountains to a village called Severet. As we walked up the hill toward the church, we had no idea that inside there were 60 children waiting to hear our program. It was an amazing time and at the end 9 children came forward to pray to have Jesus come into their hearts. We were blown away by their sweet response to God's love.  Every day, we continue to say, "This was the best day ever!"
Personally, it was difficult today to say goodbye to Joselito and Angelina, but I feel so blessed to see the change that the Lord has made in their lives. As I expected, one of the first questions the kids had for me was, "Where is Mike?" Their eyes light right up and they can't help but smile when they talk about him. For Joselito and Angelina, he is the "Papa" they have never had in their own family. Josephat, as well, asked immediately for Matt and wanted to know that he was doing well and when was he going to come again to see him.  We represent God's love to these kids and they just love spending time with us. They hardly even noticed the gifts we brought, instead they just wanted to just be with us, laughing and playing in the pool. What gave them more joy than anything was when I jumped in the pool with all my clothes on. There was nothing but joy filled screeching and splashing, and Jospehat's face was full of excitement as he recounted my antics in the pool to his Mom the next day. Being the representation and model of  the love of God to these children has been a tremendous gift to each one of us and in His power it has made a tremendous difference in their lives and our own.

Donna

addendum

It has come to my attention through various team members that the term 'Dog pile' is not common in most peoples repertoire of terms.  therefore;
definition:
Dog Pile.  a group of people all piled up on top of each other like in a rugby match
in context;
Ashley was at the bottom of a dog pile-translation:  Ashley was at the bottom of a frantic group of about 12 small children.-hahahaha!  its true!

Hola amigos!  Sorry I didn't write yesterday but it was a very long day.  By the time it was my turn with the computer i was fast asleep!  Anyway I am up very early today-in fact I was the first guest at the resort to come and get coffee this morning.  Its still pitch black here at about 6:10am.
Yesterday was a pretty tough day.  Well at least the afternoon.  We were doing our lesson in a battae called Pancho Mateo.  We were greeted by a wonderful elder and also the teacher of the children.  The holy spirit's presence was so evident in these women.  Nelly was so impacted by their work and testimony that she feels like meeting them was one of the main reasons God called her to this trip-amazing.  Anyway we were in a fairly tight area and when the kids began arriving their excitement levels were through the roof.  At one point I thought we might loose Ashley.  I was busy setting up and when I heard some commotion I looked over and she was at the bottom of a dog pile!!!  Too funny.  It took a few minuted to extract her but she was saved.  But the excitement level remained at this height through the whole afternoon and we had quite a bit of trouble running our events without total chaos breaking out.  When I looked from station to station it looked a bit like a bunch of small riots!!  This all took place in the blistering heat since we were on blacktop{a basketball court} with basically no shade.  I think the team was really a bit rattled and very exhausted but we are thanking the Lord that for the kids this was just a really good time!  I don't have very many pictures because literally pausing to get out my camera meant total loss of control.  What I do have are not yet downloaded to my computer since I fell asleep early and this morning did not want to disturb my team mates by rummaging for camera and cord.  I will post some later today so stay tuned.  Please pray for renewed strength today for everyone as we have our final push.  Today will be the last day for our full program and we are praying things will be a little calmer.  Also please pray for Jean as she wasn't feeling great yesterday.  Thanks guys, just knowing we have a whole team back home following us and lifting us up in prayer is such a comfort.  Dios te bendiga!  Gotta go.  The sunrise is beginning, Michele

Miguel

If you have been to the DR before you know Miguel, my sponsored child.  Well he is no longer a child actually, he has grown into a beautiful young man with a beautiful personality and a heart for the Lord.  He's almost a Rock Star amongst the missionaries here and anyone who has ever been involved in his life.  Let me tell you what he gave me as his testimony yesterday.  He said this:
"When I was a child, I was very bad.  I was fighting all of the time and anywhere where there was trouble I was around.  I didn't care about school.  All of our neighbors and my parents friends thought I would grow up to be nothing because of my behavior.  When I got involved withy Compassion it changed my life.  I feel totally transformed.  I am a completely different person because of all of the people who have helped me and mostly because of God.  Now I want to be like Benjamin.  I want to spend my life serving and helping people."
Can you imagine how proud I am of this young man?  I don't know if you can.  He is absolutely everything that I have prayed for these 10 years since I have sponsored him.  Miguel is now excelling in school.  He works had everyday on his English and goes 2X a week to English classes after school.  He is working part time with Benjamin at Makarios, helping them when groups come.  He has been with us for a lot of our activities, working with Benjamin.  Leo from the church has also taken him under his wing and is apprenticing him when he can in the trade of electrician.  Miguel wants to be an engineer.  WOW!  Thats all I can say.  Well, that and "God is good.  All the time.".

                                              Me and Miguel

                                             Miguel and his sisters

Miguel helping us with carnival

More Pics to go with Vanessa`s post!

"That was the best day ever!" "The best day of my life!" "It doesn't get any better than this!" These were some of the comments from the team today.  We arrived at church at 8:30 am with great anticipation. Several of our team members were going to meet our sponsor children for the first time, others were excited to reconnect with their children after a year or so.  Words can not properly express what goes on in these precious moments. For Rebekah and I, we have been imagining this opportunity ever since we received our Compassion package with Angel Luis's information.  We saw a family arrive on a motorcycle - parents and 5 children.  This was our family, we recognized them from our pictures.  The Mom saw us immediately, she pointed to us from across the courtyard.  There he was, Angel Luis!  Wow!!  What a precious family.  4 boys and a girl.  Angel was a little shy at first, but he greeted us and we all headed inside the church.  We were warmly greeted by everyone and they went to great lengths to include us in their worship service.  They even provided a translator for the sermon.  It was a delightful time praising the Lord with our brothers and sisters in Christ.  After church, our team and our sponsor children (with many siblings and parents) headed to Makarios house.  They had two swimming pools set up for the kids and brought in a delicious lunch for everyone.  We all had a blast, running, playing, swimming, eating, laughing and spending time together.  We knew we had connected as a group when they started dragging people (some fully clothed) into the pools!  Before we knew it, there was not a dry person in sight!  What fun it was to splash and laugh all together.  Angel Luis, his four siblings and his Mom had a delightful afternoon and we finished our time together by sharing and praying.  We are looking forward to our home visit on Tues when we will have the privilege of spending some more time together and seeing their home.  
There is no doubt that all of our hearts have been completely captivated by these children.  They are simply amazing.  Each of them is full of potential, they have incredible gifts and personalities.  Please pray for the children here. Many of them come from very poor situations.  Pray for God`s provision for their families, that they will complete school and more than anything else, they would always know that God loves them and is there for them.  What a gift it is to be here, to show these kids love in some very simple ways.  We were definitely the ones who were the most blessed today.  Every person on the team was impacted by our time today.  Each person had the opportunity to spend time with specific children.  Wow! What a gift.  Thank you to all of you for your love, prayers and support. Blessings to you all! Vanessa and Rebekah Dawson    

Hey friends, another great day.  This morning we started out in El Seman where we built the first house.  Donna was able to have her home visit with Angelina's family and Blanca was able to go to Soraida's house (Bruce's sponsored child)  We got to see some old friends.  Wendy-Wendi is now in University-isnt that great??  Many of the kids were known to us and we got to paint some nails, blow some bubbles etc.  One tiny little fellow came to us wearing nothing but the dirt on him!  He was so cute and just giggled so much with the bubbles!  Then we were off to Maribel's house which was the second one we built, and Carolyn and had a visit with Elvira and Nelly with Braldin.  Then we went back to the hotel for lunch and a  swim, and then we were off to do our Sunday School lesson for the kids in the Sunday school that Ben was instrumental in starting.  It is growing and growing!  We had a big crowd.  I was sooo happy when Jason, Moise and Luna showed up.  They are the family that I talked about in church the time that I told the story about the mother inviting me in to feel the beds in her house and they were all wet.  Well they are doing better now and they are attending the Sunday school regularly.  It is such a pleasure to be a part of their growth and their lives even in a small way.  I think people sometimes think that poverty is such a big problem that is impossible really to impact but when we return each year and see that they are growing stronger and healthier I have what I need to challenge anyone on that thinking.  And what we are learning more and more is that it isn't really about the economic help-although of course that is important.  The biggest impact is when we can affect their lives by changing their hearts and their thinking so that they understand hope and goodness, and can grow up to strive for a good life-rather that thinking they are trapped and forgotten in their poverty.  Of course the message of how much God loves them, and has created them for a purpose is at the center of giving them that hope!  Enjoy the pics and stay tuned for an update on Miguel my sponsored child tomorrow!  Michele