DR Update

Since Steven and I will not be able to go to the Dominican Republic this year, there is not much more I will be able to update you on in the coming weeks. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, we only raised $500 out of the $2200 -2400 we needed. As disappointed as we were, we know that God is sovereign and that His ways are higher than ours, so we are rejoicing with those who are getting to go! Our team is very small - but praise the Lord a sister church in North Carolina is partnering with us!! The team leaves on July 27th - which is only 2 short weeks away!!

In addition to asking you to pray for our team - I wanted to share a photo with you! A friend from church, Amanda - had the opportunity to serve in the Dominican Republic as a short term missionary this summer. She spent last week in Batey Cuchillo (which is where we are building) and took this photo.

This is the feeding center that we are building. As you can see... we are not very far along in the process. We have spent a total of two weeks in the Dominican preparing the foundation for the center. This is exactly the way the center looked in November when we left... well, minus the grass - that part is new. I share this picture with you because as you can see - if we are not there, this place does not get built. Nothing has changed (except for the grass) in 8 months. This is how we left it - and this is how it will stay unless we go back to do some more work!

We go to the Dominican not just to have fun or to have a vacation. We have a great time - but we work like dogs! THIS is our calling. ThIS is our purpose. When this thing is finished it will feed 50 children 1-2 times a day!! Families will look at this (which will be a ministry of the church there) and see Jesus in the flesh. They will see that the Lord is providing physical needs for them. That He is who He says He is. I praise HIM that He is using Crossroads Church, in Morgantown West Virginia to be his vessel!!!

Here is a random thought I just had - doesnt have a lot to do with the feeding center - but it does with meeting needs: When we go to the DR we each take 2 bags with us: (1) for our things (2) we pack clothes, shoes, anything we can squeeze in to give away to the people there. The first trip - 20+ people went... so we had 20 suitcases of things to give away! (Well, maybe less.. we use some of those for supplies we need for VBS). The 2nd trip - 11 people went... so we had 11 suitcases of things to give away (again, maybe more like 9 b/c 2 were used for tshirts for VBS). This time we have 5-6 people going... which means we only have about 3 suitcases of things to give away. That saddens me.