Church

July 22, 2018

   Luke shared his testimony for our church service on the property this morning. We worshiped together as a group. We were able to connect with our church family at home, live, for a few moments. Praise God for good WiFi in the mountains of Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic!

   Don and Luke checked on the bees that are here on property. We got a chance to taste some of the fresh honey staight form the honeycomb. Craig helped Ethan with the horses for a couple of hours and they built a ramp on the deck together. It was great to see everyone’s talents being utilized today!

   Dan, Don, and Brain worked on drywall after lunch while Krystal, Mike, and Rachel worked on more gabion baskets. Kim headed to town with Luke, Phyllis, and Daniella to get a tetanus shot after her injury yesterday. The entire emergency room visit cost $18 US dollars!

Work Day 3

July 21st 2018

We finished up the electrical, gable ends, walls for the bathroom, and made more gabion baskets.

Blood sweat and tears have gone into these projects.  In the process of completing the walls in the bathroom, Kim missed the board with the nail gun and hit her finger. There will forever be a blood stain on the floor of one of the safe houses. Phillis bandaged it up and back to work she went. 

We ate at a Colombian restaurant for dinner. On the way to dinner, Ethan (the son of one of the missionaries) was telling jokes to make Krystal laugh. He was telling her about birds that eat cow poo, when we hit a bump and she fell out of her seat. We all got a good laugh, after we helped her back up, of course.

We played a lively game of Texas Holdem in the evening. We didn’t play for money, of course. We all laughed and had a great evening.

Work Day 2

July 20th 2018

   After breakfast, Luke and Phyllis gave us a tour of the rest of the property. We were amazed by Luke and Naomi’s house. With the help of Phyllis, the three of them built everything. From a 40 foot steel beam to cabinets made with wood milled here on the property, the place is amazing. They shared their vision for the future. There is more work to be done, but one day at a time God is providing the finances and workers to make it happen. 

   Don, Brian, and Krystal finished up the electrical on the first safe house and got started on the second. Dan, Craig, and Josh finished up the gable ends on the second safe house.

    Mike, Rachel, Kim, Luke, and Phyllis worked on making 13 foot long wire baskets to fill with rocks for a much needed retaining wall. Kim had a wardrobe malfunction and ripped her pants on the wire. Tomorrow we plan to hang drywall in both safe houses.

Introductions

July 19th, 2018

     We woke up this morning, made breakfast, and Luke and Phyllis joined us for orientation.  Luke and Phyllis shared the story of their calling to the Dominican Republic. It was an amazing morning. We were taken back by their dedication and obedience to the Lord. It is very evident that God is at the center of FIGHT Ministries. At different moments, God called them out of the comfort of their daily lives and asked them to trust in Him and move across the ocean to do a great work here in the Dominican Republic. Phyllis believed that God asked her to apply for a job in the Dominican Republic. She got the job after one phone interview and five weeks later, she was living in the Dominican Republic. Instead of selling everything and moving to a new country with money

in their pockets, God asked Luke and Naomi to GIVE away a thriving construction business, GIVE their cars away, and completly trust in Him. We spent some time going around the table and sharing our testimonies with everyone. It was great to hear the many reasons everyone came on this trip and to get to know everyone more. Mission Trips have an amazing way of drawing us close to Jesus and close to the others on the team. If you would like to learn more about the work FIGHT Ministries is doing here, check them out on Facebook.

    After orientation, we had lunch and then we got to work. Don, Brian, Rachel, and Krystal were our electricians for the afternoon. They wired most of the first safe house. Craig, Dan, and Josh (a friend of Luke’s that is here for a couple of days) cut and put up tin on the gable ends of one of the safe houses. Mike and Kim built walls with Luke for the changing rooms in the safe house. 

     We all got cleaned up and got back into the red truck and headed to dinner at Taino, a restaurant in Jarabacoa. This was the first time we saw the streets in the daylight. In the words of Krystal, it was “Nice house, shacky, shacky, shacky, garden, shacky, shacky, shacky, nice house.” It is amazing to see the vast difference between the houses that are right next to each other. The streets in town are filled with motorcycles, trucks selling fruit, and bumper to bumper vehicles. There are tons of mom and pop shops selling a variety of goods. The food at Taino was great. We had a traditional Dominican meal with rice and beans, platinos, broiled chicken, and a salad. After dinner, we stopped at the grocery store. The prices of items at the grocery store were all over the board. Some things are more expensive that back home and other are much more. The bumpy truck ride back was beautiful.

   The days are warm and the nights are cool. We are up in the mountains, so it is wonderful to sleep with the cool breeze.

See you in the morning...

July 18th 2018

Traveling

     Today was an adventure. Don, Dan, Craig, Krystal, and Brian traveled from Detroit to Santiago, Dominican Republic. Mike, Rachel, and Kim met the team at the airport. A van taxi picked the team up from the airport and took us as far as it could go. From there, Luke and Josh picked us up in an off-road truck. The road to the property is full of steep hills and bumpy gravel. It was completly dark and we had no idea what to expect. We rode in the back of the truck, in the open air,  up the mountain, through the stream to the FIGHT Ministries Campus. It is midnight and we are settled in to our home for the next week. See you in the morning!