Back in La Vega!

This is a link to a short video about our work.

We are Committed to Serve Him



We are excited to return once again to the Dominican Republic.  We are believing the Lord to help us to accomplish more for His Kingdom.  After traveling around the U.S. (50,000 miles plus) for the last 12 months, we have returned to La Vega to serve another four year term as missionaries.  It has taken us a while to settle down as we've had a busy schedule the past month and a half. We are happy to be with our many friends here in La Vega.  It is especially nice to be with our son Joshua and his wife Karina and also with our two grandsons, Ken and Ethan, who live here in town. 

 

In Santiago to visit Mickey D

We appreciate so much Doug and Chris Wilson who shouldered the load during our year of departure to raise support in the states.  They helped us in soooo....many ways to keep this ministry afloat while we were gone.  Doug took charge of the International Fellowship at the Bridge Church/Coffeehouse.  He made sure designated gifts were properly dispensed. Chris was "volunteered" to become the head of the English department with the departure of Jerry Durr. He needed to return to the states to be close to his parents who were struggling with health issues. We are missing him.  She and Doug both took oversight of the finances that support the different Haitian education centers.  There are 10 of these centers now.  I don't have the space to tell you more, needless to say, Thank You, Doug and Chris.  



This summer we have also been blessed to receive on the field the Palmer family.  They have worked many years in inner-city ministry in the U.S., and have also worked with numerous missions teams overseas. Now their heart is set on helping the Haitian immigrants in this country. 

Katie and Patrick Palmer and their four beautiful children!

Also joining us is Miss Sallie Wham from Greenville, South Carolina, who is bringing her teaching experience and educational background to train some of the rural teachers working at the Haitian school programs and also the teachers at La Vega Christian School.

Summers are a busy time for us with Missions Teams!
We were able to host this summer the South Carolina Youth AIM Team.

Jimmy Sellers w/youth and local workers pouring the foundation in Barrancas for the church's new education wing.

The GT Church Youth Team, from Reading , PA.

GT Church Youth working with children in Summer VBS Programs at Rose of Sharon

The Lighthouse on the Rock team from Key Largo, FL.

The Key largo team with Debbie ministering to children in El Limoncito Haitian church.

And we also were blessed by the Lighthouse Christian Fellowship team from Brunswick, NJ.

LCF Worked hard doing a Kid's Camp and painting the Children's Clinic in Santiago

5 Construction Projects have already been launched!

1. At La Vega Christian School we tore down the old cafeteria eating area. The termites were having a heyday there.  We replaced all the wood trusses and wood columns with metal and raised the roof some.  We also finally put a drop ceiling in the third floor hallway, and sealed off all the eaves from the pigeons. We had the buildings and the b-court (cont.) 
repainted.  All this just in time to start classes this week. A special thanks to a donor who gave us $10,000.00 US for these needs.  God bless you!  You know who you are.

2. We moved ahead on the Barrancas Haitian Church educational addition project.  We will have four new classrooms added to the church there.  This will help meet education needs of Haitian children in this village.  We started work on the foundation and came out of the ground 2 1/2  feet with 6 inch cement block. We have the promise of $10,000.00 for this project and it will probably take another $6000.00 to finish with windows and doors, and added bathrooms.  Call us at 863-248-1119 if you would like to help.

The Barranca classroom walls are starting to rise.

3.  We have started working on the classrooms for the Sabaneta Haitian Church.  Five classrooms are going up for this facility.  We have $20,000.00 on hand donated from a special church in South Carolina and we are hoping to cover the costs of the rooms with this amount.  However, there will still be a need for two new bathrooms ($1600.00), and a kitchen area ($ 2500.00) to feed the children in the program. This week we should be finishing the roof of their dining area which is 30 ft. by 30 ft..

4.  This week the foundation at the El Cafe church near Constanza is being dug.  Our goal is to have the foundation finished in two or three weeks.  We have a team from Indiana coming in September to tackle this project.  The sanctuary will hold 150-200 people when finished. We have $10,000.00 pledged towards this project, but will need $ 19,000.00 more to complete it.  If you or your church would like to help with finances or sending a team, let us know.  

We are purchasing this building! 

5.  Finally, we want to announce that we are in the process of buying a warehouse that can be modified for a Haitian church in the Limoncito area in the next week or two. God has provided the finances through a special couple from South Carolina.  Once purchased, though, it will need a number of important remodeling repairs  They are listed below.

Top needs at the Limoncito Haitian Church building.

They need a couple of Bathrooms:  $1600.00
They need a small kitchen area w/appliances: $3000.00

They need stucco work inside and out:  $2400.00

They need a nice smooth colored concrete floor:  $ 1500.00  or a Tile floor for $3500.00

The building painted, inside and out:  $750.00

They need protective bars around the windows.  $ 2000.00.  We welcome teams to help with this.  Teams can help build the bathrooms and maybe even a kitchen area for feeding the kids.  They can help paint the building. The stucco work and the floor may need a more specialized crew.  

We are busy getting ready for another School Year

Debbie has been hard at work getting ready for the new school year.  Classes started this week at La Vega Christian School (LVCS).  With nearly 300 children and youth attending LVCS we are off to a great start.  Below is a picture of the flag being raised the first day of classes.  At the far right you see the elementary age children lining up for opening ceremonies at LVCS.The last three weeks have been teacher training time. Sally Wham has been her right arm in these meetings.  

This week they also met with the directors of the Haitian Education Centers.  Almost 600 children are represented in these 10 church programs.   We have been actively looking for US partners to adopt these schools. For $700.00 a month a school with four teachers can be supported.  Or individually, children can be supported at $25.00 a month.  These funds provide a salary for the teachers and any extra that comes in will be used to feed the children in these free programs.  The vast majority of these children would receive no education if not for these programs.  They don't speak Spanish, they are undocumented, Dominican public school classrooms are overcrowded and the chances of their being accepted are slim.  They are left alone at home, or wander the neighborhoods, or go to the fields to work with their parents.  Celuce, below left, is one of them.  As Debbie says "It is a crime to not provide an education for a child".  If you want to help, call Debbie at 863-248-1119.  This is a US vonage phone number, and is not charged as overseas.

VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.DOMINICANMISSIONS.ORG

AG Giving at :  AGWM Website

All Other Donations may be sent to:   TMCI WORLD        Here is a link to a short video update.