We had so much fun hosting the Glass Team from Maryland. They were here with us from November 1st - November 9th. We are so thankful for the new friendships that have been established over the last 9 days.
We were able to travel back out to Pastor Robbie's orphanage in San Juan de la Maguana and spend several days there playing with and ministering to the kids. The team made wooden cars for each of the kids. They loved them!!! The best part is that can handle the rough dirt and gravel terrain out there as well as those tenderhearted bu rough and tough boys. =) It did not seem to matter how
young or how old they were they were thrilled to get a wooden car. Yeah, I know, there are several of you out there reading this and reminising about your wooden cars or trains that you played with as a kid. =)
The team was also able to help us to go to Santiago and dig up plants to be transferred to the Ranch in Bani. Jim had so much fun hacking away at the weeds with the machette that he got carried away and wacked his chin. Don't worry we had 2 paramedic/firemen on the team so he was all taken care of quickly and without stitches. Needless to say we didn't let him use the machette anymore though. =) All of those lovely plants that were donated to us by Luis Arocha who is a botonist here in the D.R.
We then traveled out to Bani where we had a day of Evangilism, Construction, and Gardening. They were able to visit the public school that is located about 1/2 mile from the Ranch. The team put on a puppet show an awsome drama and more puppet skits and then a fun cowboy skit that the kids went wild over. They donated some funds to the school and we headed back to the Ranch to plant all of the those Cruton plants around the gazebo are
as. We will be planting more in the future when the buildings are completed. After the planting was finished and we had lunch under the gazebo/shelter they were able to help us move a couple hundred cement blocks up into the building to be used to finish up the second floor as well as cleaning out a bunch of rubble that was hauled over to finish filling the footers on another building. And then we headed back to the school to do the same program for the afternoon students. It was a long day with a lot of work but it was oh so worth it!
The next day the Team decided to bless us, the Burge family, by helping to fix a few things around our house. They sent me, Brittany and Lora away for the day so that all of the men could work on the house. They fixed 3 toilets (some with leaks and some that just did not seem to flush well), They fixed the gas water heater that is in the enclosed laundry area that is on the side of the house (don't worry Ty and Troy, we have it off until we get those carbon monoxide detectors=D ) which gives us hot water for showers and for washing dishes. YEAH!!!! They also scraped and scrubbed all of the thick algea that had grown on the walkways for who knows how long. (Thanks Greg M for all of that muscle work.) And they scraped areas of the roof that were leaking and sealed and painted those. And they scraped, sealed, and painted Brittany's entire room and ceiling, Isaiah's ceiling and the bathroom walls and ceiling, all of which had leaks from all of the Hurricanes and Tropical Storms we had this year. It was like a mini Extreme Home makeover in one day! Thank you Jim G., Jimmy, Ty, Troy, Greg M., Greg B., Matthew and Isaiah for making our home safer, sealed and in better working order. And thank you Lora for filling the day with laughs and fun! Are you ready to come back and get another one of those delicious Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches? *laughs and licks lips*
To finish off the week we were able to arrange, with the help of Bud Simon, to take the team back out to where they had visited over two years ago and they had been part of a team that built a church and playground for a small village. They were worried that all the work they had done would be either run down from lack of care or no longer being used but much to their surprise it was up and running and improved! Where they had built the shell of the building - meaning that they had put up the posts, and roofing for a covered shelter - the space between the columns had been filled in with cement block so that they had solid walls and the playground had been taken care of and the kids were playing on it when we drove up. You must understand that this was a surprise visit that was able to be put together at the last minute so the Pastor had no idea that they were coming but when
his wife saw them she immediately recognized them and the smile on her face was priceless. She had opened her home to them on the previous trip and they had used it for a week as a dental clinic and she cooked for them several times. It was a time of rejoicing and remembering. every member had tears in their eyes as they remembered what all was accomplished and as the people of the village came to see who the "Americanos" were they recognozed them and there was even more rejoicing! It remined me that we are all connected as brothers and sisters in Christ. No matter what our culture, skin color, race, denomination, or location...we are all ONE body seeking after the ONE true GOD through Jesus Christ! Don't you just love God's creative variety? =)
young or how old they were they were thrilled to get a wooden car. Yeah, I know, there are several of you out there reading this and reminising about your wooden cars or trains that you played with as a kid. =)The team was also able to help us to go to Santiago and dig up plants to be transferred to the Ranch in Bani. Jim had so much fun hacking away at the weeds with the machette that he got carried away and wacked his chin. Don't worry we had 2 paramedic/firemen on the team so he was all taken care of quickly and without stitches. Needless to say we didn't let him use the machette anymore though. =) All of those lovely plants that were donated to us by Luis Arocha who is a botonist here in the D.R.
We then traveled out to Bani where we had a day of Evangilism, Construction, and Gardening. They were able to visit the public school that is located about 1/2 mile from the Ranch. The team put on a puppet show an awsome drama and more puppet skits and then a fun cowboy skit that the kids went wild over. They donated some funds to the school and we headed back to the Ranch to plant all of the those Cruton plants around the gazebo are
as. We will be planting more in the future when the buildings are completed. After the planting was finished and we had lunch under the gazebo/shelter they were able to help us move a couple hundred cement blocks up into the building to be used to finish up the second floor as well as cleaning out a bunch of rubble that was hauled over to finish filling the footers on another building. And then we headed back to the school to do the same program for the afternoon students. It was a long day with a lot of work but it was oh so worth it!The next day the Team decided to bless us, the Burge family, by helping to fix a few things around our house. They sent me, Brittany and Lora away for the day so that all of the men could work on the house. They fixed 3 toilets (some with leaks and some that just did not seem to flush well), They fixed the gas water heater that is in the enclosed laundry area that is on the side of the house (don't worry Ty and Troy, we have it off until we get those carbon monoxide detectors=D ) which gives us hot water for showers and for washing dishes. YEAH!!!! They also scraped and scrubbed all of the thick algea that had grown on the walkways for who knows how long. (Thanks Greg M for all of that muscle work.) And they scraped areas of the roof that were leaking and sealed and painted those. And they scraped, sealed, and painted Brittany's entire room and ceiling, Isaiah's ceiling and the bathroom walls and ceiling, all of which had leaks from all of the Hurricanes and Tropical Storms we had this year. It was like a mini Extreme Home makeover in one day! Thank you Jim G., Jimmy, Ty, Troy, Greg M., Greg B., Matthew and Isaiah for making our home safer, sealed and in better working order. And thank you Lora for filling the day with laughs and fun! Are you ready to come back and get another one of those delicious Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches? *laughs and licks lips*
To finish off the week we were able to arrange, with the help of Bud Simon, to take the team back out to where they had visited over two years ago and they had been part of a team that built a church and playground for a small village. They were worried that all the work they had done would be either run down from lack of care or no longer being used but much to their surprise it was up and running and improved! Where they had built the shell of the building - meaning that they had put up the posts, and roofing for a covered shelter - the space between the columns had been filled in with cement block so that they had solid walls and the playground had been taken care of and the kids were playing on it when we drove up. You must understand that this was a surprise visit that was able to be put together at the last minute so the Pastor had no idea that they were coming but when
his wife saw them she immediately recognized them and the smile on her face was priceless. She had opened her home to them on the previous trip and they had used it for a week as a dental clinic and she cooked for them several times. It was a time of rejoicing and remembering. every member had tears in their eyes as they remembered what all was accomplished and as the people of the village came to see who the "Americanos" were they recognozed them and there was even more rejoicing! It remined me that we are all connected as brothers and sisters in Christ. No matter what our culture, skin color, race, denomination, or location...we are all ONE body seeking after the ONE true GOD through Jesus Christ! Don't you just love God's creative variety? =)
No comments:
Post a Comment