Delivering ImpactLives Food - Batey Mamey

We took the example set by Pastor Felipe and duplicated it in a larger community, Batey Mamey.  (For those who have been following the blog, this is the same community we did the medical clinic in September.) 

This is also a very remote community, several kilometers from the main road and even further from the conveniences of the city.  Many of the people in this community do not have jobs.  Those who do find work, have to travel very far and work for very little in construction or in sugarcane fields, etc.   

We used the same process, the pastor of this community went to each home ahead of time, made a list of the names of each family and how many people lived in that home.  Over 100 families came to the church to receive food.  The pastor also shared about how Jesus was concerned with people souls, but he also took the time to care for their immediate physical needs.  They received the food in the love of Jesus Christ.

Delivering ImpactLives Food

Here are some pictures of one of the communities in which we delivered ImpactLives food.  The name of the community is Bario Carolina.  It's near La Caleta a suburb of Santo Domingo, but the community itself is very remote.  We drove on many winding, gravel roads to find this place. 

Pastor Felipe Mendoza knew this place.  They are preparing to plant a church there.  They have two pastoral workers living there and teaching the people to read and write.  As I talked to this pastor he said he wants everyone in that community to be able to read, so they can find a good job and so they can read the Word of God. 

Kids running and playing and being kids. 

You can see the condition of the homes.  Also, note, the device for catching rain water. 
They do not have access to clean drinking water in this community.

Pastor Felipe showing the food, explaining where it came from,
the vitamins and minerals it contains and how to prepare it.

The pastors had a very organized way of delivering the food. 
They went to the homes of each person ahead of time, made a list of the people with greatest need and the number of people in each house.  They informed them of the day and time of the distribution.  The people gathered at the pastor's house and they called each family by name, one at a time, to pick up their food.

There were people of all ages - elderly, fathers, single mothers and lots of children their with their parents.

When the distribution was over, some of the community members stuck around to visit.  We talked about the lack of education opportunities available in that community and their need for water.  One of the women commented that she was so thankful that we came -- she said "we're often forgotten out here." 

It was a great day.  Many people received a blessing, including me.  It's pretty incredible to see the food get to the people who need it most. As we get to know the community more, perhaps we can find more ways to support these leaders in the work they are doing in this community. 

 Thanks to everyone who made this possible. 

 

Card Making...A Business Idea from Avon for our Ministry



Kaye Schmainda from Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Albany, MN and her daughter Shannon came to the Dominican Republic for 10 days this September.  Kaye worked months and months to facilitate the community-wide ImpactLives food-packing event in Albany last April, and she wanted to come to the DR to see the communities where the food will be going and maybe even help distribute some. 

When they arrived the food still hadn't been released, but God had other plans for them!  Kaye and Shannon taught the girls in our ministry how to make greeting cards.  

Kaye, a retired math teacher, now owns and runs a paint-your-own pottery studio in Avon.   Kaye loves doing different crafts and projects, and she regularly teaches community education classes in several different school districts.

When Michael and Brenda Grose donated a box of stamps last spring, I told Kaye about these stamps and asked her to bring them down for me when she came.  I told her that we were looking for things that the girls could do or make to sell and earn money for the ministry and for their personal living expenses. 

For Kaye, the wheels started turning, and when she and Shannon arrived she had put together an incredible ministry!  She brought more paper and stamps and ribbion and markers and glue and everything they would need to get started, and she and Shannon spent several days teaching the girls how to use the tools and make professional-looking greeting cards.

The girls are so excited and natural gifted at this!  They are already talking about how they can make invitations for weddings, baby showers, birthday parties, etc and sell birthdy, thank you, get well cards at the local supermarkets. 

These are actually notebooks. 
Kaye and Shannon gave them a few other ideas of things they could do with the stamps and materials as well.

DISCOVERING OTHER TALENTS

One afternoon, Joni brought some of the things she had made by hand and with her sewing machine.  She attended a training school in Haiti that taught her how to do all these different stiches, make clothes, table cloths, etc.  She's VERY talented!



WE'RE GETTING STARTED!

Last week on a Saturday night, we gathered in my home for our first team card-making session.  The theme for the eveninG was "Feliz Cumpleanos" (Happy Birthday).  We looked carefully at the model of one of the cards Kaye and Shannon left for us and got to work, changing the colors, using different stamps and arranging the items a little differently on the page.

We had a lot of fun.  There was so much energy in the room as we are all excited to see what we can make and how we can get this "business" going to help us earn money to cover the costs for the ministry.  Another session is scheduled this Saturday afternoon!  What will the theme be this week????  baby shower?  wedding?  sympathy?  hmmm....

Thanks Kaye, Shannon, Michael and Brenda Grose for helping us get started with this, and for ALL you are doing to equip and empower these leaders in their ministry of making disciples of Jesus Christ!

Glory to God!

My Neighborhood

I shared a few pictures of my apartment when I first moved in, but I want to share more about my neighborhood.  I love my apartment, and the location.  It's great being so close to the students I work with every week.  They can walk to my house easily for meetings, class and card-making sessions.  

I'm also so grateful to have such wonderful neighbors. They kind and friendly and willing to help.  I think that's part of the culture here.  Homes are close together, and people sit outside a lot because it's often cooler than it is in the house.  They get to know one another and help each other out with all sorts of things.  

I probably don't sit and share with my neighbors as much as the Dominicans do.  My task-oriented American culture gets in the way -- but I'm trying to take a few minutes each day to stop, say "hi" and just sit with them!

the view from my roof

This is a motorcycle repair shop right across from my house.

Down the street there are several "colmados" or little grocery stores that people run out of their homes. 
Some have fresh produce, others have things like potato chips, pop, canned foods and other supplies. 
They sell only the basics and in smaller quantities than they would at a supermarket.
And, there are ALWAYS motorcycles driving by! 

My house is the two-story house in the middle. 
The yellow and purple on the lower level are for the President Danilo!

My neighbors Pedro and Luz to the right have are like the landlords of my house.  Pedro always helps with the water.  When the city water "comes" he has to turn on the pump and open the valve, so our tanks on the roof get filled.  I think the water usually comes a couple of times a week, but I don't really even know!  I just know when it DOESN't come and my tank is empty.  That's a pain!! 

Pedro and Luz have a couple of kids of their own.  I'm not really even sure which are theirs and which are neices, nephews, neighbors and friends.  I just know there are always a lot of kids running around.  I get lots of smiles and hi-fives.  When I first moved in the noise of the "drummers" in the backyard playing on buckets and tables and anything else they could find drove me crazy.  I guess I'm starting to get used to it because now I hardly notice it!  

I probably talk to my neighbors on the left the most. There are three women who live there:  Jerimani and her two daughters Ani and Johany.  Johany just had a baby about a month ago, so I guess they now have a house of four!

These ladies are almost always sitting outside when I come home and are very friendly.  They keep tabs on me and always invite me to sit and talk with them.  They've been helpful too with reminding me to get the garbage out on time and flagging down the water truck when my tank runs out, etc. 

Here's the new baby when he was two days old.  His name is Anderlyn Adonai. 
I suggested the name Adonai, and they liked it.  Now they tell me that I have a Dominican nephew!

Johanny the mother is standing.  Her sister Ani has baby Anderlyn.

This is the water truck that drives by and fills the tanks when we run out and the city water isn't running.

The water tank on the top of my roof. 
Showers in the afternoon are better because the sun heats the water, and it's much warmer!  

Overall, it's a great neighborhood!  I'm getting more and more comfortable here, and I'm thankful for my new home.  Praise the Lord!

Medical Clinic - Thanks to Resurrection Lutheran Church in Monticello!

I want to give a special thanks to Resurrection Lutheran Church and the five individuals they sent to the Dominican Republic for a vision trip: Pastor Jedidiah, Jill, Tim, Sara and Sandy.  They were here August 17-22 and were a blessing in many ways! 

In the beginning stages of our planning, we talked about doing a medical clinic.  The doctors we normally work with were not available during the time they were here, so the plans for our trip were filled with other things:  visiting La Victoria prison, visiting the orphanage in Guerra, visiting some of the people and communities where the ImpactLives food will be distributed, getting to know Pastor Carlos and his church and, what I think turned out to be their favorite part, working with the young adult leaders from Hato Mayor and Guerra!  The medical clinic would have to wait for another trip.

When the team arrived at the airport, I didn't say anything but, I was a little surprised at all the luggage they brought for just a six day trip.  Pastor Jedidiah commented about it, too.  I don't remember exactly how he put it, but he said something about how he instructed his team members to bring plenty of clothes -- if they couldn't decide what shirt to bring, he told them to just bring them both.  I thought it was a little strange, but decided to just let it go.  

We arrived to the mission compound in Hato Mayor, had dinner, orientation, got to know each other a bit and discussed the plans for the next day.   I was about to leave for the evening when they said they had a surprise for me.  When Pastor Jedidiah and I SKYPED before they arrived, he asked if I had any special requests.  I asked him to bring a little chocolate and a pot holder, so I thought that was what the surprise would be. 

I went out to the basketball court and there were three or four suitcases spread on the ground.  They told me I had to "hunt" for my chocolate!  I opened the suitcases and found so many other wonderful surprises:  medical supplies, children's clothing, a LAPTOP, evangelism tracts, chocolate, potholders, cards and notes from friends and homemade jam from Chantelle Kiphuth!!  Wow!  I couldn't believe it!  I'm still praising the Lord for their generosity! 

We've already begun using the laptop to teach the leaders how to make a spreadsheet and keep track of their expenses in Excel.  A couple of  our English teachers are also using it to improve their own English with a language learning program. 

In the future, I hope we can also teach them how to make powerpoints, videos and other documents that they can use for teaching and to market their ministry.  We are SO thankful fro the laptop!!!

While the team was here, we delivered the children's clothing to a couple of families that we knew had a need....single mothers with six or seven children each!

MEDICAL SUPPLIES 

We used/donated all the medical supplies on September 12th when we did a clinic in Batey Mamey near Guerra. 

The clinic was truly a TEAM effort.  It's neat to see all the different people/ministries who came together for this event.  Resurrection Lutheran Church started it by donating the supplies.  I knew we could count on our young adult leaders from Iglesia Nueva Jerusalem here in the Dominican Republic to help us run the whole event.  Of course, we worked with the pastor of the community and leaders from his church, Iglesia de Dios de la Profecia.  The doctors were Diane and Fran Sabado who have their own medical ministry called Corozon del Siervo.  Our pharmacy team consisted of three women: two who were visiting from Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Albany (Kaye and Shannon Schmainda), and Sandee Walden from M.O.T.E. here in the Dominican Republic joined us for the day as well.  Including me, there were seven different ministries represented!!  I think that's cool -- the body of Christ working together to help people in need!



This is the church where the clinic was held. 





The Guerra youth worked "triage" asking people their names, ages and chief complaint,

and helping the patients to the waiting area.



It was a pretty big church.  There were people lined up at the door waiting for us when we got there. 

Batey Mamey is a small rural community with a lot of poverty.  It is far away from the main roads and from the town.  There is a small elementary school in the community, but the nearest high school is pretty far away.  If students want to continue their studies after 7th grade, they have to walk to the main road and pay the fare for the public bus each day or find their own means of transportation which isn't easy.  Many of them do not have education past 7th grade.  

Most of the medications that people received were very basic.  Things that most of us keep on hand in the house - like pain medicine and cold/allergy medicine.  Many patients also received medication for high blood pressure, parasites, diabetes, different rashes and fungus, among many other things.

 

This man's leg was deformed, and from what I understood it has been this way for years.
He went to see the doctors at the public hospital years ago, but instead of correcting it
 (because he was poor and he wouldn't be able to afford it), they just gave him pain medication and sent him home.
Quality and affordable medical attention is a need all over the country. 

Kaye Schmainda filling a prescription.

Sandee Walden, Dr. Diane Sabado, Kaye Schmainda and Shannon Schmainda.
The pharmacy!



After people received their medication, there were members of the team available to
pray with each patient who wanted it.



It was a great day, sharing the gospel with our words AND actions.  When Jeus ministered to people, He did not only preach and teach.  He fed people, healed the sick and attended to the physical needs of people as well as their spiritual needs.  We continue to pray that through our ministry people experience the love of Jesus and turn their lives over to Him.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this day possible!!  Gloria a Dios!