53 Days!!
Steven and I have been gearing up for our first trip abroad! We're going to the Dominican Republic in 53 days! We're going over Thanksgiving break, which means we won't be celebrating Thanksgiving the traditional American way! I have to say that I'm a little excited about that! A little excited to share in the poverty of others, while Americans stuff their faces.
For those of who who read and aren't aware of our partnership there, I'll tell you a little about it! Our church partners with G.O. Ministries - which sends short term missionaries to the DR and a few other places. Our church has been supporting a Dominican pastor who lives in the area of Batey Cuchillo for some time now. The Bateys are sugarcane plantations where people work, work, work - for nothing. The parents work all the time, the children rarely get any attention. Children run around naked and are lucky to eat three meals a week. The poverty level is ridiculous!
As Crossroads Church began saving money for a down payment on their first building, their first purchase - God called them to something higher. There were 50-70 people attending at this time, so raising $40,000 for a down payment seemed almost out of reach. In the midst of trying to raise $40,000, God challenged them to move beyond themselves and build a $100,000 feeding center in the Dominican Republic. After all, why should they have the comfort of a new building - when children around the world are literally starving to death! This sounded impossible, seeing how the church was so small and funds were very limited. Over a course of a few months, a very small Crossroads Church managed to raise $40,000 for their down payment along with $20,000 to get the feeding center started. I don't know about you...but that BLOWS ME AWAY!!
Crossroads took their first trip to the DR in March of this year and laid the foundation for this feeding center. We are headed back in November to continue building. The interesting thing about this project is: if we are not there, it does not get built. We literally do the work. No one else. When we arrive, we will find the center just as we left it 7 months ago. So, we will be working like mules on the feeding center - while loving on the people in Batey Cuchillo in order to spread the love of Christ! We will have VBS for the children, along with several other things to reach out to the people there! It seems to me like it will be so difficult to accomplish this since there is a language barrier - only one person on our team speaks Spanish! An Ashley that cannot communicate is not really an Ashley!! But this is where our actions will speak louder than our words - this is where our actions speak the language of Christ!
This trip is not cheap - especially when we are having to pay for two tickets - so we're a little nervous about that aspect. We've sent out several support letters in hopes of raising the funds to go! We've gotten a lot of responses, but still fall very short of our goal! We are still praying that God will come through and that He will provide the means necessary for our travel! I have faith that He'll do it! We've already started the process of getting our passports and our vaccines so that we can travel! Steven got his shots yesterday and I'm going to get mine today! We are so absolutely excited about the opportunity to go! Be praying for us as we wait for God to deliver the means... and as He prepares our hearts and minds for action!
For those of who who read and aren't aware of our partnership there, I'll tell you a little about it! Our church partners with G.O. Ministries - which sends short term missionaries to the DR and a few other places. Our church has been supporting a Dominican pastor who lives in the area of Batey Cuchillo for some time now. The Bateys are sugarcane plantations where people work, work, work - for nothing. The parents work all the time, the children rarely get any attention. Children run around naked and are lucky to eat three meals a week. The poverty level is ridiculous!
As Crossroads Church began saving money for a down payment on their first building, their first purchase - God called them to something higher. There were 50-70 people attending at this time, so raising $40,000 for a down payment seemed almost out of reach. In the midst of trying to raise $40,000, God challenged them to move beyond themselves and build a $100,000 feeding center in the Dominican Republic. After all, why should they have the comfort of a new building - when children around the world are literally starving to death! This sounded impossible, seeing how the church was so small and funds were very limited. Over a course of a few months, a very small Crossroads Church managed to raise $40,000 for their down payment along with $20,000 to get the feeding center started. I don't know about you...but that BLOWS ME AWAY!!
Crossroads took their first trip to the DR in March of this year and laid the foundation for this feeding center. We are headed back in November to continue building. The interesting thing about this project is: if we are not there, it does not get built. We literally do the work. No one else. When we arrive, we will find the center just as we left it 7 months ago. So, we will be working like mules on the feeding center - while loving on the people in Batey Cuchillo in order to spread the love of Christ! We will have VBS for the children, along with several other things to reach out to the people there! It seems to me like it will be so difficult to accomplish this since there is a language barrier - only one person on our team speaks Spanish! An Ashley that cannot communicate is not really an Ashley!! But this is where our actions will speak louder than our words - this is where our actions speak the language of Christ!
This trip is not cheap - especially when we are having to pay for two tickets - so we're a little nervous about that aspect. We've sent out several support letters in hopes of raising the funds to go! We've gotten a lot of responses, but still fall very short of our goal! We are still praying that God will come through and that He will provide the means necessary for our travel! I have faith that He'll do it! We've already started the process of getting our passports and our vaccines so that we can travel! Steven got his shots yesterday and I'm going to get mine today! We are so absolutely excited about the opportunity to go! Be praying for us as we wait for God to deliver the means... and as He prepares our hearts and minds for action!
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