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.