el Dia de trabajo: Dos

*** Sorry this post is a day late I got a very bad migraine Tuesday night and couldn't stay awake long enough to get the photos in order.

Tuesday was our second work day. We continue to grow as a team. Our communication is getting better and we are getting to know each other better. All of our Spanish is getting better as well. I continue to enjoy my conversations with the Dominicans that hang around the church.
We had a missionary couple over for dinner tonight. It is such a treat getting to know the missionaries in their territory. These people are fun!

What we learned today:
1) Always have a plan B.
2) Mas Espanol
3) How to get water out of an underground cistern.

Now onto the photos:
This was what we saw in the morning. I am standing in the altar looking towards the door. On Monday we laid the cement runners which helped us keep the cement we poured level.


Aryelle trying to have a conversation with our new friend Louis (spelling?) We use a lot of hands while talking since we have to act out almost everything we are trying to say. I think we are entertaining to the Dominicans. Louis is 18 and is started the University in January. He is studying Engineering. He does attend this church and is so excited about the new, much bigger church. He keeps telling us he doesn't know much English, but since we have gotten here his English has already improved. He tells us that he learned English from an institute, which I think is a class you attend on your own time. He was so excited to have a photo of him up on this blog!

The men at work! They were moving back the sand pile. We are working in the middle of a road. The road is not paved, so we usually forget we are on a road until a car needs to pass. The truck that dumped off the sand decided it would be a good idea to put it right in the middle of the road!

I still can't get over the random chickens that walk around the streets. We have to make sure they don't get into the wet cement in the church like they did on Monday.

This is Fred & Wade on our first batch of cement. We have been trailering this cement mixer behind our bus. I need to take a photo of that, I have never seen a bus trailer anything before! Anyways to make the cement we us 1 90lb bag of cement and 21 scoops of rock and 42 scoops of sand... and then some random amount of water (Bruce knows). It is not hard work, but after doing it for a few hours your back and arms get tired. Again I would like to point out that Fred is throwing rock over a road into the mixer. This would not work so well in the U.S.

Working over a road. I hear the church will be getting stucco on the front someday soon. That will be exciting!

Bikes, cars, buses, people, chickens, etc... often go right in the middle of our work site. I guess that is what we get for working in the road.

We have gotten our teamwork down well. Fred, Barnie, & Brandon are splitting the 90lb cement bag in half so it is easier to carry into the mixer.

Pastor Wade and Bill are waiting for the cement to finish mixing so they can fill their wheelbarrows up. 1 batch of cement fills 4-5 wheel barrows. It is a much slower process than in the U.S. when we use the big cement trucks with troughs. They are quite clean in this photo so they must have not started with the cement yet. By the end of the day both men were covered in cement from head to toe.

This is the progress we made on day 2. A little more than half of the floor was filled. It is such a transformation from what we started with. I cannot wait to see the finished floor!


Well my camera died half way through the day so I didn't get many photos today. God has been so good to us. We are enjoying our time here and feel so blessed to be able to help out a church in need. All of us keep commenting how easy everything is going.
Tonight we had a missionary couple come over for dinner. They have a 3 yr old boy and an 8 month old girl (I think those are the ages). It was cute to see the little boy mix up his English and Spanish. He is much better at Spanish than I am!
Thank you for reading this.
Dios te bendiga!

We can learn!

Today was workday numero uno in the Dominican Republic. We had a lot of fun meeting people and going to churches, but now is the time to get down to business. Our team of 11 is helping finish up a church in Santo Domingo. It has been a construction zone for over a year now and they are getting anxious to get into the building. Of course we have "hired professionals" helping us out along the way so we don't screw up too bad!
We had a wonderful day. Lessons of the day:
1) How to pour a concrete floor over rocks. It can be done!
2) Uno Poqueto Espanol. (I think I spelled it right?!)
3) That it gets really really hot in the day, and you better bring a change of clothes.
4) That things never really get put away here, they just get moved to a different location. (i.e. garbarge, scaffolding, etc.)
Enjoy the photos of the day!

This is John & Bruce trying to figure out the broken tape measurer and interesting leveling table. This was our only tape measurer we had until after lunch. It still did the job!

This is what the church looks like now. You can see what it looked like when we first saw in a few blogs below. All the scaffolding that was on the first floor has now been moved to the second floor. People here like to just move things to a different spot and deal with it later. We spent the first half of the day picking up garbage and big rocks. We even found some old sneakers, gloves, and take out containers in the rubbish.

This is Aryelle, She was "sanding" the concrete walls, as did most of us, for hours on end. The concrete is rather rough when it is put on so we used scrapers, special concrete stones, and even rocks from the floor to smooth down the concrete. It makes it more finished and polished before you paint it.

This is the outside of the church. It's been over a year and they have made it this far. Things move slow down here, especially when they need to raise money to pay for things. The church members don't have much, but they are faithful with their money and look what they will be rewarded with. The pile or rocks on the left side of the doorway were the rocks we moved from the floor of the church to outside. I am hoping this pile doesn't sit there for months!

These were are high-tech, state of the art, construction tools for the day. We forgot some things and didn't think of bringing other tools, so we were left with some old buckets, a broken tape measurer, chalk, a 1x4x8', some old shovels, and a laser level on cinder blocks. No big fancy concrete tools needed!

This was the little girl that came and sat patiently while we ate lunch in front of her. In countries like this you cannot really give someone food, gum, candy, etc..., because when you do she will go get all her friends and sooner than you think you will have 30 kids begging at your door. She was cute thought, definitely has figured out those puppy-dog eyes.

This is the view from outside of the current church building. This was the little girl from above and her father.

Men started gathering and watching us as we unloaded tools, concrete, people, food, etc. Everyone was very interested in seeing what we were up to. Once we told them what we were doing they were so happy and thankful we were helping. I was talking with one of these men and the weirdest thing happened. One of the other men took out his cell phone and took a photo of me... apparently I look weird or something?!?!

I asked this girls mom if I could take photos of her kids, luckily she said yes. This little girl was 14 months old. She didn't really like getting her photo taken and tried to run away. Her 3 year old cousin was trying to keep her still so I could take their photo. The Dominicans are so nice! I really enjoy trying to have conversations with them. I think my Spanish has gotten better already! I think I will continue to study Spanish when I get back into the states.

This is a photo of Me & Anne. We were off to battle with the concrete walls. Don't we look serious!

This is here to give you an idea of what we are putting concrete on top of. Not the ideal situation, but here in the DR things don't always go how they are planned. We will work with what we have and it'll turn out awesome. This was when the first amount of concrete was put down on the floor, very exciting! This was our friend the tile guy who is from Haiti. We had a hard time communicating with him because he knows no English and only a little Spanish. Haitian's speak a sort of Creole. He was a nice guy though and I know the men really had an easy time working with him.

A Chicken decided to join the party. It is so odd how animals just walk around like they own the place. She was looking for her eggs as she used the new church as her laying ground. Sadly for this Chicky we had to concrete over her spot. I guess that is what happens when you lay eggs inside a building!

She couldn't find her eggs and started to get frantic and run around. She decided it would be a good idea to step in the wet concrete. I Think it's great that her chicken feet will be in the concrete. (For now at least, they will be tiling over our concrete floor.)

This was a young boy, Ronny, who hung around us all day. He is 13 and goes to elementary school. In the DR there are so many kids and not enough teachers so the public schools have to have two sessions. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. Ronny was there waiting for us this morning at 9am to help us out. He worked hard and then left for school and then came back after school to finish up. He really enjoyed having conversations with us. He knows NO English, not even Hello, and we still managed to hang out with him for a few hours. He decided to go home and get his bike. He was so excited to show us his tricks!



So that is a snippet of our first work day. God has been amazing to us. It is pouring rain out right now and starting to thunder. I have to be up by 6am tomorrow so I guess I shall go to bed. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers. Hopefully tomorrow we will finish laying the concrete or painting the walls. The goal is that on Sunday "Nuevo Raniero" will be able to have their first service in their new church. It won't be done, but it'll be a start!
"Dios te Bendiga"

Domingo

Hello from Santo Domingo! What a wonderful day our team had. It has been a long day so I will save my stories for another time. I have to be up by 6am tomorrow to start work and I need to get some rest. The climax of the day for me was when we had a live video feed using SKYPE to our church in Oswego during the evening service. It was a great time to tell about what we have been up to as well as a chance for family members to see us. It was so cool being able to connect to our family at home. This was a very busy day. We have been around to many church and have met many people as we continue to learn Spanish.
We started our morning off at one of the churches I mentioned yesterday. The cinder block building in the background is the church we will be working on tomorrow. The church building they are using now is very small. We squeezed about 50 people into a 20x50ft area with a small amount of windows and no AC. It was an oven in there, but we loved every minute of it. During the service we experienced one of the DR's famed blackouts. It wasn't a big deal as the church was so small Pastor Wade didn't even need a mic. The only bad thing was that the fans stopped working!

As we walked in I noticed these two men praying with each other. I just get chills when I think of these strong men being brought to their knees by the Lord. How powerful!


This little girl didn't know if she wanted to smile or run away. All the DR Nina's have their hair in braids all over their head. They are little tentacles. So sweet.

No matter what country you are in God can be there. It was great to worship along with people of a different culture, even if we didn't know what they were saying!

While we were there, two babies got dedicated. I got a chance to take photos of each dedication and I cannot wait to print out the photos and mail them to the pastor so he can get them to the families.

Pastor Wade (Our pastor from Oswego Alliance) preached during the morning church. It was really neat to hear it translated and then to see the reaction on everyone's faces. God is a global message.

I was standing in the doorway of the church. I told you it was small. This is why we are here. Just a little piece of the puzzle to make a church suitable for the needs of the people. A lot of people had to stand outside and listen. They even stayed as they got poured on for a few minutes. Pure dedication!

This was the church we went to this evening. This was a more modern church. They had a lot of young adults in attendance which was really neat. These guys/gals really know how to sing hard! It was so energetic and fun. The entire group could not believe the differences between the morning church and the evening church. All in the same city. As Isaac would say, "that is an interesting dicotemy."


Now a bunch of people are interested in seeing where we are staying. We are staying at the CM&A's guest house. It is a beautiful house in a middle-class neighborhood in Santo Domingo. We call it our sanctuary from the hectic hustle and bustle of the city. Every single house has a gate or wall around it, it's just normal.
This is not a typical place to stay on a missions trip. We are being spoiled with this house and I am so thankful for it. I would live in a hut if I had to, but having a nice house with electricity, water, internet, etc... sure helps!

Our street. It is a cute tree lined street that is very cute and safe!

This is the covered porch on the second floor. It is such a nice place to go and hang out and play some fooseball when we have a minute to breath. We do our morning devotions and worship here.

This is me standing in the kitchen looking into the dining area and to the stairs going up to the second floor.

This is me standing in the dining area looking towards the front door. Just like home.

Okay bed time! Adios Amigos!

Nuevo Ranacer- "New Birth"

Today was "orientation". Our group spend all day touring around Santo Domingo. We visited the church we will be working on. I will explain our "project" more below. We also went around the 3 other Christian & Missionary Alliance (CMA) churches. It was so neat seeing where God is working.

Dominican Republic Capital Building. I shot this through a gate while men with guns were watching my every move. A huge storm was about to pass through, I love the color of the building against the dark sky.


We ate lunch by the Caribbean. It was so nice out. We walked down to the water on the coral. I still cannot believe that I was in 45* weather yesterday and now I am here. I am so blessed to be able to travel like this!


Nuevo Renacer "New Birth"
This is the church we will be working on. At first thought I was in disbelief that this was going to be anything and that it was going to be a house of God. True testament that the building does not matter. Our church in Oswego is an amazing building, but this church in Santo Domingo will be just as amazing! Each short term mission group that comes just continues the construction. It started with a dirt floor and now has grown to a building with walls. We will be pouring the cement floors on the first floor and balcony. I want to come back next year and see how it looks when it is finished. The name of this church is so relevant. The church it is replacing a church 20x40ft. It is a very small box and they fill it up every time!

This is a photo from the roof of the church. Every building in Santo Domingo (SD) has stairs to the roof. A few weeks ago a group of 55 high school kids poured the roof. They had to hike up two sets of "stairs" with buckets filled with cement. I love seeing the skyline of SD

The telephone poles are filled with wires. People hook into the "grid" illegally all the time. People also leave their old wires on the poles. It seems as if the telephone pole should tip over from all the wire.

The inside of the church we will be working in. I am standing on the balcony looking towards the alter. Every building is made from cement cinder blocks and is made smooth by cement finishers. The wood on the middle of the room is not holding up the walls. It is scaffolding for the cement finishers. They stand on 1x6" pieces of wood for hours on end finishing the walls and ceiling. How scary! The first floor is suppose to be out "mission" for the week. The men have the vision, but us ladies are wondering how it'll happen. That's where faith comes in.

This is inside the church standing on the alter looking towards the balcony. The group is talking about the job and trying to figure out the process. Imagine bright colored walls with wooden pews, musical instruments, and bibles. This will be such a fun place to be!

This young boy was hanging outside the church while we were inside. His name was Juan. He was such a nice boy. He kept posing for the camera. I look forward to seeing him during the week. One of my team members Bill gave him a piece of gum and he was so happy and grateful. We take life for granted in the US. When is that last time you got so excited about something so small? And can't you see the sincere look in his eyes. He just looks at peace.

The door on the left is the old church that the New church will be replacing. The new church is on the same block.


Buen Pastor "Good Shepard"
This is a church that some of our team members worked on in 1995. They helped build a wall before the actual building ever existed. It was a great chance for them to see that all the hard work they did in 1995 is still paying off. This church was a lot bigger, it used to have a school in the back, but it has since moved.

This Girl was hanging clothes on the roof next to us. I asked her "Puedo Tocar una photo?" I think that means Can I take your photo because she posed. I love this photo!


Ebenezer- I didn't end up taking a photo of the outside of this church
Here is the Assn't Pastor: Pastor Turco. He doesn't know any English, yet I still tried to have a conversation with him in Spanish. It is cool how we can still communicate through the language barrier. I think I made his day with some of the words I was misusing.

This is a view from above. We went to this place called "Los Ojos" It is a group of 3 underground lakes. It was right on the edge of the city. I really enjoyed the change from the bustling city to the quiet underground sanctuary.


Thank you for taking time to look through these photos. I will be posting more every day. Okay well Shawn is playing the guitar and I want to go listen. God Bless.

We have arrived!

I am here in the Dominican Republic. We are staying at a guest house of the Christian & Missionary Alliance in Santo Domingo. It is beautiful! I will be posting photos and stories tonight! But dinner time is now!
ADIOS!