Finally on plane to Houston

We are getting closer to home. Flight shows on time.

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On our way to miami

We are on the plane to Miami. Supposed to get there at 2:50.

The other 14 that left on the earlier flight missed their connection. They are now on different flights throughout the day to Houston.

It has been a challenging travel day but doesn't diminish the great work God accomplished through the group on this trip!

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Flight delayed till 6:55 pm

Most of the group now gets into Houston at 6:55 pm. More updates to come.

Not very happy with American now

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Flights cancelled on the return

For any parents or people picking up who are reading this, American cancelled the reservation for 41 of us. They are rebooking us. I will have an update shortly to let you know when we are arriving. Stay tuned.....

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Church and ministries completed!

We finished the church and roof today around 10:00.  The roof is all on and it is all cleaned up. We had a great group of maranatha workers and so we gave them each one of our team tshirts as a momento.  We are now getting ready to head to santo Domingo.  

Our medical tram completed their work yesterday so they are working with the vbs group today. 

Here is a picture of our construction crew with the Maranatha workers. 

Tuesday report- almost completed!

We had a great day in Barahona.  Our medical team completed their work.  Hey saw another 50 patients today bringing their total ton over 1100 patients.  An amazing ministry!

Vba had over 150 kids today.  They are really reaching the children in the area for Christ.  

We are almost completed with the church.  We only have 2 more lines of block and a little ore of the roof.  We will be completed by 11 in he morning and head to Santo Domingo to be ready to fly out early on Thursday am.  

A great trip with a great group of volunteers.   We have really been blessed by everyone.  

Inside of he church

Roof

Monday report

Sorry this is late.  We had a very productive day after the excursion.   We got all done with the front am back walls and five courses on the interior wall. 

Vbs had over 130 kids and more are coming each day!   It is a real blessing to the community.  

Our medical team did public health and taught the kids how to brush their teeth and put fluoride on them.  Very beneficial. 

Completed front of church

Bobby posing at lunch

Excursion/construction day

Most of the group went on an excursion today to a beautiful stretch of beach on the bay of Eagles. However, we only had room for 54 on the bus and boat. We have 59 persons on this trip. So, I volunteered to stay back with whomever wanted to work on the job site. I actually had six volunteers, but only ended up needing four to go with me. We had one sick person that couldn't go so my wife volunteered to stay back at the hotel with him to make sure all was ok or else she would have come with us.

Rick, Michael, Ernie and myself worked with the Maranatha crew all day. We got all done with the side walls. It was only two courses but they are the two hardest since they are right under the structural metal. I am very appreciative of their hard efforts on a hot day!


Ernie is very artistic and noticed that last year, they church doesn't have a sign till it is painted, which can take a couple of months. So, he took three block back to the hotel on Friday and used permanent markers to draw our church logo and a sign. Michael laid the block on the front of the church so I took a picture of him and Ernie right after they laid them.

You can also see the church after the 13th course.

Worship

Our Sabbath afternoon was filled with team building and bible games. We had a great time and the group for to know each other much better. Thanks to Pastor Jonathan and Renee for organizing.

After worship, pastor Murillo came by and told the group the story of how the church we we rebuilding came to be.

A great evening other than the wedding reception that was going on till after midnight. Very noisy....

Brenan and his fanny pack

Barb, this is for you

Church service in Barahona

We just got back from church at the central church in Barahona.  The church we are building isn't ready yet for worship. 

One of our team members, Rafael, preached on his journey back to the DR after leaving here in 1965. 

We also had a great bible study before church led out by our team. We studied the story of when Jesus healed the blind man. 

Here are some pictures of our worship.  

The God that repels Mosquitos

For anyone that has studied the Bible, you know that God has many names (Redeemer, Savior, Sustainer, etc).   

Well, on this trip, God has revealed another name. One of our prayers has been to not allow anyone to get infected by the mosquito borne virus prevalent in the DR. One of the church elders mentioned to our team that mosquitoes in this area are ao prevalent they are usually swarming around you. 90% of the town has the virus.  He mentioned that three days ago (the day we got here) he stopped seeing mosquitoes in town.  I think I know why.....

Friday report

We had a great day on all three sites. We had 125 kids on the children's ministry- up from 80 the day before! The kids are really getting into it and learning more about Christ.

Our medical team saw about 100 more patients. On Monday they will begin a health clinic for dental health.

On construction, we got more done than expected. We got done with the 11th course which leaves only two more on the sides.

We had a great worship tonight to bring in the Sabbath day. We also had one of our team members ( James Friesen) late to the bus today and he had to act out a skit tonight as his penalty. If I ever get the video I will post it.

We look for to church tomorrow and a day of rest!

First day of vbs

We had our first day of children's ministry. They had about 85 kids and had a very success day. All the kids enjoyed themselves.

Our medical team went door I door for he morning and handed out medical pamphlets and fluoridation pills for clean water. They handed out glasses in the afternoon.

On construction we got up to our seventh course of block. Very happy with the progress. We had three people sick today with a cold, but are all better tonight.

Things you see on the way to the construction site bathroom

A church member lets us use their outhouse. Here are a few things we see on our way. It's like our own petting zoo!

First day of ministry

We had a great first day of work. Our medical team saw 152 patients and ran out of medicine for the day. They will bring more tomorrow.

Our children's ministry team organized today and have all the crafts ready for the kids.

We had a good, but hot day on the job site. We have a lot of new construction crew members and they all did a great job. We got 3 courses all the way around and 4 on the ends.

Ernie's new friend

The things you find at the job site .....

Safely in barahona

We made it to barahona and the hotel at about 10:30 pm. Had a quick dinner and meeting and headed to sleep.

A long day, but a good day. We begin our mission tomorrow. Keep us in your prayers.

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On our way to barahona

We arrived safely to santo Domingo only one hour later than originally planned. Praise God!

And even better, all of our bags made it except one!

So we are eating pizza and relaxing on the bus ride. Looking forward to getting to the hotel in a few hours.

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Praise The Lord for delayed planes

Prayers are answered! They did hold our flight till we arrived. We all made it on and we hope our bags made it as well.

The flight crew said they NEVER see flights held for passengers. I told them we were 54 missionaries and they said "a higher power must be at work here".

Couldn't agree more!

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On the plane

Ready to go

Slight flight challenge

We arrived at the airport in Houston to find out they cancelled our flight to Miami. We are now boarding a flight to Miami that is supposed to arrive at 1:15 pm. Our flight to DR is supposed to leave at 12:50. The plan is that they are going to try to delay the flight from Miami and hold it for us.

Keep the flight and personnel in your prayers that make the right decision and hold the plane for us. Otherwise, we will wait for the next flight which won't get us into DR till 11pm tonight.

Thanks.

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2014 Summer Youth Trip to Barahona, Dominican Republic

We leave on July 22 for the Dominican Republic with 36 youth and 22 adults. We are looking forward to building a church, helping with a medical and dental clinic and leading out in children's ministry.   This is our third year leading a mission trip primarily focused on our youth.  This is an opportunity for them to begin / continue a life of service to others.  It is also an opportunity to spend time growing as a team and closer to God.

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