Safely in miami

We landed in Miami and made it through customs. Most of the group are eating or at the gate.

One more step to go!
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Headed home

We had a great day on our excursion on Wednesday. We took a bus to a port east of our hotel and then boarded a boat for Saona island. We spent time on two beaches and got to visit a sea turtle conservation project.

Everyone had a great time and it was a perfect ending to the trip.

We are now making our final preparations and packing to leave. We are sad to leave, but also glad to get back home. Some of our team have some stomach issues, so the time is right to go home.

We look to continue this missionary spirit as we return to our daily lives and trsut that God will bless our efforts.

Pray for our safe return.
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Our Maranatha crew

Church members and our team

Our mission team

Completed church!

Work completed!

We just left the Colirio jobsite. We completed five courses of block on the back rooms and helped with the roof. The entire church and our team met for a dedication ceremony and prayers. It is great to see the entire church, but we are sad to leave them.

We are all headed back for a little rest and relaxation this afternoon before our excursion tomorrow.
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Update on Julian

Julian and Gracie made it back to Houston safely last night. Julian went to Texas Childrens and mercifully, it is only a stomach virus. Thank goodness it wasn't appendicitis, but better safe than sorry.

We are on the way to the jobsites for our last day of work! Pray for safety for all.
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Completed church!

Praise the Lord--we got the church done today--in five days! We all worked very well together and didn't have any issues. With all the issues we had, it is only by God's grace we got done that quickly! The maranatha crew was telling me that other groups don't finish or take 7-8 days.

Tomorrow we will help put the roof on and work on the classrooms. We will come back a little early and take a break.

VBS had another good day and had around 200 kids. No issues for them.

The dental and eyeglass team had a very busy day. They gave out 50 eyeglasses and saw lots of dental patients


On a down note, Julian Kiture had to fly home today. He wasn't getting any better and a doctor from another group thinks he might have appendicitis. We decided it was best to send him home so he can get the care he needs. We called this morning and could only get him to Miami on American. The flight from Miami to Houston was sold out. We prayed about it and changed it and were going to look for a ticket on another airline.

When they got to the airport in Santo Domingo, somehow, he got onto the flight all the way to Houston! Praise God that he will get home safely tonight.

More to come later. Here are some pictures of the completed church.
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The good and the challenging

VBS had a great day today. They had around 200 children and had their best day logistically yet. They were able to spend more time with the kids with the manageable number.

Dental saw about 30 patients and ran out of supplies! We will have to get some more tomorrow. We also saw around 35 people for eyeglasses.

We had a very slow day on construction. We only got two coursed of block done. Granted, they were two of the toughest, but still shouldn't have taken all day. We have one course left on the outer walls and then we can begin work on the gable ends. We continue to struggle with the lack of good scaffolding and with other timing issues.

We had one of our team members sick today. Julian Kiture is having some stomach issues, but we have given him some medicine and he stayed back at the hotel.

More to come tomorrow
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Sabbath in Corilio

We had a great Sabbath here in DR. We had Sabbath School here at the hotel and then went to church to worship with the Corilio church. The pastor preached a great sermon and then we ate lunch with the church members.

We had a restful afternoon and conducted some more bible trivia.

Here are some pictures from the day

Vbs pictures

Dental pictures

Friday completed at job site(s)

We completed the 10th course of block on the church today. We had great weather today, albeit a little hot. No issues or setbacks, other than some scaffold issues. The new team members fit in well.

VBS had a big day with well over 200 children. This is more than anyone expected, so praise God!

The dental group moved to another location and performed 85 extractions today. The new team members did great again and are excited about what they are doing.

Here are some pictures from the jobsite. We will have some from vbs and medical tonight.

On a much sadder note, I got news today that my mentor and friend that I have worked with for 21 years lost his only son today. My heart aches for their loss and would ask that all keep them in your prayers.
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GREAT day on the jobsite

We had a fantastic day on the jobsite. We got all of the 6th course done and some of the 7th. We could have got some more done, but we have some scaffolding challenges we will rectify tomorrow.

The weather was great--cloud cover and no rain. Couldn't ask for more. Still hot but not like Tuesday.

All of the teams did great today. We will switch some out that are going to vbs tomorrow, but will integrate them in

VBS had a great first day of ministry. Wince they didn't have any rain, they could work outside--and a good thing too. They had 162 kids for the first day! That is great, but double what was expected for the first day. They will adapt for tomorrow.

The dental team is done at this location. They will move to another area to see other patients tomorrow.

What a blessed day and we pray tomorrow will be as good.
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End of day one progress

Sending late
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End of day one job group

A tired group--posting from tuesday
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Teambuilding day

We have had a great day at the hotel with teambuilding activities, trivia and games.

We participated in trust games, icebreakers and a building bridges game to teach some teamwork and communication skills

We also did four rounds of trivia and played two games of mafia.

The rain has been spotty, but really picked up around 6 pm and it rained HARD, tropical storm hard. Very little wind, but lots of rain.

We are monitoring the situation for tomorrow morning as to when we can get to work
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Change in plans

Well, we were boarding the bus and the pastor called. It had just started a light rain at the hotel.

Pastor said it was raining very hard in Corilio and starting to flood and advised us not to come. So we got everyone off the bus and are staying here for the day.

Not what we had in mind, but we will adapt.
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Change in plans

Well, we were boarding the bus and the pastor called. It had just started a light rain at the hotel.

Pastor said it was raining very hard in Corilio and starting to flood and advised us not to come. So we got everyone off the bus and are staying here for the day.

Not what we had in mind, but we will adapt.
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Change in plans

Well, we were boarding the bus and the pastor called. It had just started a light rain at the hotel.

Pastor said it was raining very hard in Corilio and starting to flood and advised us not to come. So we got everyone off the bus and are staying here for the day.

Not what we had in mind, but we will adapt.
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TS Chantal update

Well, the Angel turned the storm for us last night. Latest imagery and projections show that the storm took a more southwesterly turn (sadly, towards Haiti). We will still be affected, but not as much. The winds will be less (only 30-35 for us) and rain less.

We are still cancelling VBS and Dental, but will work construction for half a day before the wind and rain kick in earnest.

Pray that God continues to bless our efforts.
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Headed back to hotel

We have a very tired group headed back to the hotel. It was very hot and humid and some of the team suffered from it. No one got sick, but we had to slow some of the team down

We had some significant challenges with the construction. The back side of the church was about 3 inches lower than the front. That meant we had to build up the back side, which means it took forever to get the first course of block laid. We also had to move most of the vertical rebars. So, we didn't reach our goal of three courses today. The maranatha crew is good to work with and everyone did really well.

Our dental team did great work today. They saw 120 patients in one day! The team picked it up very quickly and the dentists were very happy with their work!

The vbs team met with the local helpers and purchased other items for the week. They also assembled all of the crafts for the week so they got way ahead of the game!


Tropical Storm Chantal is projected to hit DR tomorrow afternoon with winds about 50 mph. We have cancelled VBS and the dental clinic for safety reasons. We have a call at 6:15 with the pastor for the latest forecast and will make a determination if we work a half day or not. We will head back at lunch regardless to stay away from the storm. More to come tomorrow assuming we have power and communications. We will do everything to keep everyone safe.

Keep us in your prayers
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Bus ride to job site

We are on our way! Ready to go build a church

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First morning in DR

We have awoken to a beautiful day in DR. We got a decent night's sleep after a busy evening. We got to the hotel, got our rooms sorted out and had our introductory meeting.

we are still closely monitoring the tropical storm approaching DR. It is supposed to hit tomorrow afternoon. We will take every necessary precaution. Our hotel is far enough from the coast that we will be safe.
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Safely in DR

Praise the lord, we made it to DR with all of our people and luggage. We had some long lines at immigration and a challenge in loading all of the luggage.

Regardless, we are on our way and ready to work!
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In miami

We made it to Miami without problems. The group is eating their last American meal and we should board the plane shortly. Pray for our safe arrival and no problems with luggage or customs in Santo Domingo.
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Leaving for DR

We are all at the airport in Houston and all (finally) checked in. It was NOT a smooth checkin process, but we got it done.

We now are waiting for our flight to take off. Please keep our group in your prayers. As you may have seen, a tropical storm has popped up in the Caribbean and is headed towards DR. We are keeping our eye on it and will take all necessary precautions to keep everyone safe. We will do our best to keep everyone informed of the plans if the tropical storm heads our way. Safety is the first priority.

We will provide updates throughout the day, assuming I have coverage.
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Youth Mission trip to the Dominican Republic

We leave on July 8 for the Dominican Republic with 34 youth and 21 adults. We are looking forward to building a church, helping with a dental clinic and leading out in children's ministry. 

Please keep the team in your prayers. We hope to post daily updates. 

Final day of ministry in Ecuador

Our childrens ministry and medical team completed their work in Urcuqui today. They had a very small space, but made it work for them. The childrens ministry had over 45 kids in a really small second floor room but it worked well.

The medical team had a small space, but also were able to minister to the community.

Most of the construction team went to a crater lake at about 12000 feet and took a hike. They enjoyed their morning.

We all went to urcuqui late this afternoon to dedicate the churches we built yesterday. The church dedication is always the highlight of the week and we get five of them this time! Pastor Penafiel had a great talk and the members were very appreciative of the ministry and blessed us with a carry bag from Ecuador. It is very touching because you know that they very well can't afford it, but want to show how much they love us.

We are back at the hotel for dinner and worship. We have four dedications tomorrow, so it will be a very full day!!
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Construction complete!

By Gods grace, we completed both of the churches in Urcuqui! We had another great weather day with mostly clouds and no rain! With those completed, the construction crew gets the day off and can take it easy tomorrow!

Our medical and children's ministry had an interesting day. They were at the building that the church is renting in Natabuela and it was VERY small! They made it work and had over 60 kids and treated over 100 patients. A very great day for them.

One of the helpers for medical is Marco Polo and it was his birthday so we had another celebration tonight!

The Maranatha leader working with us is named Javier. He has been great to work with. With the work finished, he is leaving us tomorrow. We said thanks to him and gave him his projects team tshirt. We will miss him and hope to see him again.

Claudell is leading us in a game of Mafia tonight so It should be fun.

He are some pictures from today.
Site as we arrived
Completed churches
Group with the church members
Marco polo and dr Arguello
Javier
Claudell and his Hello Kitty water bottle (he lost his and bought a new one that fits him perfectly)

The tale of two churches

We had a GREAT day on the job site in Natabuela. We finished both churches by 4:15 in the afternoon! The Lord is good and we had great weather and help from the church members. It was an awesome experience. We can only hope that God blesses us tomorrow with a similar day.

The children's ministry team had a great day with over 100 children In attendance. Te medical team saw about 120 patients and they were visiting an Indian community that is very under served and really needed the assistance.

We hope for just as good of a day tomorrow.

Here are some pictures from today

Tuesday night report

All groups had a great day on Tuesday. The children's ministry team had 67 kids. They also had a great addition of Dussan, a theology student on his break who is helping out and translating for the group. He added some great new music for the group

The medical team also had a great day, in spite of the rampant dogs running through the clinic! They treated 180 patients, many of them families. It was a wonderful day and they were able to touch a lot of lives.

We had a great treat after worship. It was Rachael and my anniversary today and I surprised her with an anniversary cake that the hotel made for us. We have been happily married for 19 years and she is still my best friend, 30 years after we met.

We also had our first entertainment of the week. Mell and Lisa were late to the bus and had to perform a skit for us. They reenacted the scene where the two women argue over the baby in front of Solomon. Ray played the part of Solomon

Here are some pictures from the day
Cake
Scene from our entertainment

Cotacachi construction pictures

Here are some pictures from today.

Site as we arrived
View from the site
Completed church
Team picture

The Six Hour Church

God is good! We completed the church in Cotacachi at 1:55 pm today! The team has gotten really good and knows their role.

We were going to go to the next site to get started there, however two things prevented that: I told the bus and the truck to be there at 2:30 at lunchtime and should have told them earlier. Also, the site at Natabuela is unprotected, so we can't leave any materials or tools there overnight. So, by the time we got the truck and bus there and loaded, we wouldn't get enough done to leave them secured. We decided to head back to the hotel a couple of hours early and get an earlier start tomorrow and stay late. The team has an ambitious goal of getting both done tomorrow! If all goes well, we can make it happen, God willing.

More to come tonight.
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Pictures from Monday and medical/VBS report

Our medical team had a great first day. They saw about 180 patients! The setup and volunteers worked well and they had a good system.

The Children's Ministries crew also had a great start. They had about 55 children plus their parents.

The pastor for the last two locations came by today and had a wonderful worship for us. The pastors have both been very supportive and excited about the work here.

Here are some pictures from the job site today.

Job site as we arrived
The beautiful view from the job site
The 98 year old man napping in the sun
Gino and I working on the roof
The road up from the job site to the bus. Not fun!
The completed church (with all the roof on!)

Long day in Chinchinloma

We are on our way back from the jobsite. We completed the church, but had to wait two hours again for the last two pieces of roof tin. We are going to check first thing in the morning tomorrow to ensure we have 24 pieces.

Other than that, it was a great day. The scenery was beautiful, the weather was cool and we had a breeze all day. The breeze picked up as we were setting the roof tin, but everyone was careful and no one was hurt.

We are getting more efficient. We got to the jobsite late (long drive) and we still would have been done at around 3:30 except for the missing pieces of roofing. Tomorrow is our final dry run before we have two churches in a location.

One of the gentlemen at the jobsite today was a local that was 98 years old and walked up and down the steep hills with no problem. The hill down to the jobsite was very steep so carrying all of the equipment back up the hill was quite a workout. Boot Camp workouts have nothing on a mission trip at 8000 feet in altitude.

Contests are part of the jobsite, especially when we are waiting. Yesterday it was trying to throw rocks and hit into a small bucket. Today was rolling a rock down the steep hill to see whose went furthest (Cornell and Claudell tied--hard to verify). The last "contest" was that they decided to race up the hill. They regretted that one once they got to the top out of breath.

We also had a proposal on the jobsite today. Joel Estrada and Renata Santos are now engaged! This is actually the third engagement we have had on mission trips (hard to believe, but true!). Congratulations to the happy couple!

I will post more later with pictures and an update from the first day of medical and vbs.
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Pictures from the job site

Here are some pictures from the job site. The first is of the site as we arrived, the second is of our work group and the last is of the finished structure.