On the road again...

Hey all!
We are spending our last few hours at the resort and then it's back to traveling! Our flight is at 3:25p so we will be leaving the resort around 12:15p and heading to the airport...we get to Detroit at 11:30p and then we'll be heading home to see you all!!! :)
Things have been great. We have had 2 amazing nights here...GOD IS BIG! Ask one of us about the nights, we'll be very happy to tell you about them!
See you soon! :)
We love you all...
:)

A bittersweet day....

Today was the last service day! We finished the painting job at the school and construction and finished up VBS with over 200 kids today!


More Pictures!..................

Tomorrow we head out from the Guesthouse and to the resort...we're not sure how we feel about leaving already!!
Have a wonderful night...we love you all!

:)

...Pictures...

Today went very well again in all the service groups! Tomorrow is our last service day - so crazyyy!
Here are some pictures. Sorry, it has been very busy...GREAT busy though! :)

And tonight was our FIESTA!!! Sorta to celebrate the end of the trip here at the Guesthouse because the boys have a "boy's night" already reserved for tomorrow, our actual last night here...)

A new week!

It is a new service week! Still cannot believe now we have 2 service days left and we head to the resort, time is flying! With the new week comes a new Church to do VBS in and a new painting project to start at the school.

Before we start there, I'll fill you in on yesterday...

As I mentioned, we went to a local Church in the morning where Phill preached. It was a really neat experience. This Church was a bit different than the first we went to. Some of the people could speak some english and they had speakers and microphones! They seemed to be very receptive of the Word Phill preached which was encouraging and were very loving people. We then went to the Orphanage. The kids there seemed to be more shy at first but after a while really opened up and just love being touched! It was a good day of just playing with kids and we did some songs and one of the VBS lessons with them.


All teams and projects went well today!



PICTURES!!!



From the dam.....

From the Orphanage...
From VBS...















I will try to get more people's cameras tonight to have a post of all pictures!

Scripture: 1 John 3:11-24 and 5:1-5
Prayer requests as always, a more specific one to come with the pictures tonight!

We love you all...
:)

God is BIG!

Even though yesterday was a "free" day...we kept very busy (therefore the lack of post!). It was a wonderful day. We got to visit the local market, then some people went to the dam to swim as well. All that went came back in awe of God's beauty because the dam was surrounded by mountains. Those of us that stayed back enjoyed rest and relaxation with each other in wonderful conversation and reading in the Word together. We then went out to dinner, authentic Domincan food! mmm :) We came back for more time with each other. So many people are reaching out of their comfort zone and sharing with people they normally wouldn't, it's been great!
We just had breakfast and are off to Church in a few moments...more later! Have a wonderful day!

Half-way!

We are more than half-way through...it's crazy how fast this has gone already!

Short post tonight...quick update, all things went well again today! God is faithful. VBS went to a different Church today where there were around 285 kids! It was interesting how different it was. One thing our group noticed was these kids had more and yet when we brought out gifts they wanted more and more. At the Church in Batista from earlier this week, the kids wanted us first and then the gifts. Phill drew the parallel that people are often that way with God. They want the relationship with God because of the good "gifts" they can get, when it should be we want the relationship with God first and appreciate the many gifts that come along with it.
The painting crew finished up the job today! Everyone has been so efficient! So next week we start a new project in the same school area.
The construction crew is doing lots of different jobs around the Guesthouse, Shannon and Joe are appreciating all the help.

Tomorrow we look forward to a day of rest. We will be going to a market and a dam and then out to eat for dinner. We ask that you pray tonight for perseverance. Perseverance through this next week physically and spiritually. We are so proud of everyone for pressing on through the heat and the tiredness!
And our scripture for the day is Isaiah 48:9 to the end and also Isaiah 53.

We love you all...
:)

"My Discovery"

Another day,

A new experience,

A new discovery.

Happiness is what I found,

True happiness,

A happiness so close,

Yet so far away.

Not things nor possessions,

Only temporary feelings of good

Plague my heart.

This true happiness was found at every corner,

On every block.

One filled with an invisible richness,

A richness encompassed with hope,

With love,

With faith.

Today I found my answer,

My discovery for true happiness.

Jesus Christ was waiting for me,

In the eyes of children,

On the touch of their fingers,

In the sound of their voices.

It was experienced in their hugs,

In the moment of their love.

Jesus Christ is my true happiness,

And He found me,

Today.

This is a poem called "My Discovery" written by our own Jake Curtis...in like 5 minutes. :)

Needless to say it was a wonderful day again. It was our last day at the Church in Batista for VBS. It was wonderful and yet so hard to say goodbye to our new friends! One quick story from VBS...after lunch our group set off for a walk to see this "gorgeous view" that we heard about. Some of the kids ended up following us, so we all hiked up a large hill together. It was SO hot and not the easiest to climb up dirt...but it was very neat to see the Dominican kids helping us! We literally had kids guiding us and pulling us up when need be :)...they are so kind!! Then we got to the top. No more words needed.....

Painting and Construction went well again today. It was warm, but they were efficient!

Since it was two very busy days, we are sticking to the same scripture from yesterday for family discussion tomorrow!

Thanks for all the prayers. Specific prayers we ask for tonight are that our time with the kids we will be coming in contact with are intentional.

We love you all...:)

Lo Siento! (Sorry!)

Yesterday was a busy day, sorry for the lack of post! Just an update, everything went very well in all the groups.
We just had breakfast and are getting ready to head out for the day in our different service groups...today we ask for strength to fight through tiredness! And tonight, a new post with more pictures!
We love you all.....
:)

You are without excuse!

Hola familia y amigos!


The title for this post is "You are without excuse" because that is the main thing that stuck out in our group time tonight. After reading the scripture designated for today, we really hit on the fact that we have NO excuse for sin. If you know the Bible, you know how to live. No excuses. Period. Needless to say, our "family time" tonight was very good. It is so cool to meet as a group and hear everyone's hearts and funny stories from the day. God is working here and we are so priviledged to be part of it!



VBS ran smoother today with the experience from yesterday at work. I got to attend that today and was blown away by the kids, both ours and the Dominicans. The Brookside kids are so eager to jump right in and take control with the many kids! I have been so encouraged watching them love on the Dominicans.



The painting group was very efficient today! They finished some stuff up from the day before and finished another room! And they, too, had a little fun getting some paint on each other. :)



The construction went well today helping the 2 Dominican people with moving bricks and mixing concrete. They also got a little rain today which they were all very thankful for...took a quick break to cool off in the rain as the Dominicans ran for cover and laughed at them!


Thanks for all the prayers! Tonight we ask that you keep our continued health and safety in your prayers!

The scripture for tomorrow is Acts 5-7.

We love you all...
:)

Dios es Bueno!
(God is Good!)

Today was a success! Like I told you yesterday, we had 3 different locations we were all at today...the first was the painting crew. We painted some rooms in a school house up the road. It was a good time of fellowship with each other.

The second group was here at the Guesthouse doing some construction. They were building up the wall around the Guesthouse. The crew said it was a really humbling experience because they had never laid bricks before and the two men there to help could do in 2 seconds what it would take about 6 of them to do in over a minute.

Sorry, there were no photographers in the construction group today. ;)

The last group was at the Vacation Bible School at Brookside's sister church in Batista. They all came back with wonderful stories about all the Dominican kids they got to spend the day with, which totaled around 80. They started with a couple spanish songs with motions that the kids loved and then Conner shared about God's Creation. They then made visors with the kids for craft time. The crew there had lunch together as a team and then went back out and did it all over again- a couple more new songs and Luke then shared the same lesson again for repetition. After all that, our crew went with the kids to play in the river.

Tomorrow we are doing the same, only switching up the groups. We will appreciate prayer for good attitudes in hot weather the whole trip. But specifically tonight we're asking for prayer that we could speak with our actions since it is often very difficult to speak with language due to the barrier.

One more thing I will add each day is the scriptures that Phill gives us as a group to read...join in reading with us!
Yesterday was Proverbs 3 and Matthew 22.

The scripture given tonight that we will discuss tomorrow night is Psalm 37.

We love you all...
:)

"Americanos!!"

Buenos Noches familia y amigos! :)

It has been a good day. Today was more "relaxed" than the upcoming days will be...we had time today to go into the surrounding neighborhoods and just hang out with the Dominicans. The title of this post is "Americanos!!" because when we would walk down the streets the kids ran at us yelling that...I suppose we stick out a bit here! ;) We did everything from a little futbol (soccer) to racing with kids on our shoulders and simply holding the kids. It was a wonderful time just loving on them! We all had a great time trying to decipher what the kids were saying and trying to help them understand what we were saying!

Then this evening we went to the Church Brookside started in Batista, which was about a half hour out. It was really interesting! We walked in to a standing ovation...the people here are so welcoming! Phill spoke tonight from Ephesians 6:10-20/2 Timothy 2 about putting on the full armor of God, using the resources He has provided us with. It was really cool to hear Phill say a few sentences and then to hear the translator relay it to the congregation. After the service we had a few minutes to hang out with the people there as well. This is the same church our group will be doing VBS at this week.

Specific things you can pray for tonight are...

We will be starting all of our "jobs" tomorrow at our different sites. Two groups at VBS, one with construction and one with painting. The one thing thing we thought would be a terrific thing to pray for is good attitudes in HOT weather.

Thanks so much! We love you all...

Praise...

As a group we ask that you join us in giving praise to God for safe travels all day!

Our flights and bus rides were all great! It was really exciting driving through the town and seeing everything...then we stopped at a local "restaurant" for dinner which was a neat experience too!
We got to the Guesthouse around 9pm (your time) and unloaded, had a group prayer and orientation with Joe and Shannon, the Guesthouse residents to explain how things work here.
We are now headed off to our rooms to unpack and unwind!
Thanks to all of the parents/friends/family that have been praying for us today during the traveling...it is great appreciated!

Phill will be speaking at the Church tomorrow night to the Dominicans, so keep him in your prayers and for hearts and lives to be opened and changed!
:)

And we're off...

On our way to the DR right now.....
:)
Prayers for safety would be wonderful and greatly appreciated tonight/this morning!

SO CLOSE!

2 days!

It is unreal to me that we will be leaving tomorrow night!! It feels like just yesterday Chelsea and I were talking about how there were fifty some days until we left....and now, 2!

For everyone's info...here are the flights/times!
June 20:
Flight 1973 - Depart from Detroit at 7:20am, arrive in Miami at 10:13am.
Flight 787 - Depart from Miami at 12:00pm, arrive in DR at 2:15pm.

July 4:
Flight 778 - Depart DR at 3:25pm, arrive in Miami at 5:40pm.
Flight 406 - Depart Miami at 8:15pm, arrive in Detroit at 11:15pm.

Don't forget we're meeting at Brookside at 2am Saturday morning....or Friday night for those of us who still consider 2am Friday night...:)

10 days!

A lot of us just returned home from Mio, Michigan for the Canoe Trip....it was a great time!! We had a terrific time canoeing, camping out, a bonfire time/talk, worship and an amazing time of fellowship and relationship building with one another! After this awesome time of fellowship I am so much more encouraged and excited about getting to spend 2 weeks with all the wonderful people going!

Don't forget this Sunday morning at Brookside the church will be praying for us with our trip to Dominican!

The Countdown Begins....

15 days!!!!

Can you believe it? We only have 15 days until we pack up and head out to the Dominican!

This site is made for parents, family and friends that want to know what's going on while we're in the DR and how they can pray for us specifically! Today is the official start up of the website! The goal is to try to update daily while in the DR if time permits. Until then, I will try to update everyone on anything I hear regarding the trip...and of course provide a countdown!