We have finally made it to Santiago, Dominican Republic. We hit the ground running and have already done so much. To all of us, it feels like we have been here more than 5 days! We traveled all day Saturday: drove to Atlanta at 5am, flew from Atlanta to Miami, then Miami to the DR. It was a long day of travel and we were extremely excited when we arrived to the airport, greeted by Tom Hinton (the missionary we will be living with for all 3 months). We found out as soon as we got to the airport, that there would be 9 men living our apartment with us! They are helping with the water station going up in Cien Fuegos (the poor area of Santiago). The people of Cien Fuegos have a canal that runs from a river and goes through a garbage dump. They have no source of clean water, yet they use that dirty water for everything...swimming, cooking, going to the bathroom, etc. This water purification system will be a huge blessing to the community long-term. Sunday we went to the mall and walked around to get more oriented with the city. We made a great connection with a man named Sandy who works in the mall. He is Catholic and but does not know the Lord. We are believing for his salvation. We had more of a relaxed day. The next few days, we were with the construction team in Cien Fuegos working on the building for the water station. It was a very somber time, seeing how these people live...It is true poverty. We also met a girl named Marlin who volunteers for Tom with his ministry, Barnabas Task. She does not know the Lord and we are also believing for her salvation. We had a great time of connecting with her on Tuesday. Today Tom took us around Cien Fuegos and showed us some of the houses there. The conditions that these people live in really impacted all of us. We will never forget the experience of seeing the extreme poverty of this area. Overall we are all doing well! The Lord has protected us from sickness and we are relying on the Lord's strength.
Prayer Requests:
- For completion of the water purification system
- For the salvation of Marlin and Sandy
- For continued health
Here's a video updating you on the first few days of the trip:
"I got a calus...well, it's gone now." LOVE IT!
ReplyDeleteSOO happy to see everyone's face! =]
Very excited about all that you all are doing!
Still praying and rooting for you all back here in the States!
Haha love the song by the way.
So proud of you all!!!
Awwww! I loved seeing all your faces! Miss you already! I am praying for strength and endurance for you as you minister in the DR!
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