Coming to a church near you!

Many of you have been asking where we will speaking while we are in Canada.
Hopefully we will be at a church near you.


Sunday, Aug. 12:
Marshall Memorial United Church, Ancaster, ON.

Wednesday, August 15:
Caledonia Congregational Church

Sunday, Aug. 19
Christian Baptist Church, Newmarket, ON.

Sunday, Aug. 26
Fabre St. Pentecostal Church, Montreal. QC.

Blessings and we look forward to meeting you all soon.

BBQ Social

You’re invited to a "BBQ SOCIAL” on August 22, 2012 while we are in Canada. Please join us in celebrating the 5th anniversary of our work serving the Lord in the Dominican Republic with The Samaritan Foundation.

To show our appreciation for your prayerful and financial support during the past 5 years, we would love to visit with each and every one of you. The BBQ will be fired up at 12:30 for lunch and we’ll keep cooking right through supper time for those who cannot make it earlier. Please bring a lawn chair and a smile, and we will take care of the rest!

Please RSVP to: jphuizinga@gmail.com so we can be prepared for your attendance and for directions to this event.

Thank you in advance!

Nest Of Love School Inaguration

Today marked the final chapter for fundraising efforts of Andy, Jon, Dale and Ian...4 men who committed themselves to raise the funds in partnership with Mission Direct so the the Nest of Love School could be built.

Today they witnessed the inauguration and dedication ceremony...along with many visitors. What started as a dream for Evely Peniche to help the neighbourhood children and began with an after school program for 8 children in the garage of their home, has grown and now become an accredited Christian School with 350 students attending on a daily basis. One woman with a dream...lots of prayer...and a great team of fundraisers....has made the Nest of Love School what it is today.

The teachers are wearing their new uniforms for the coming school year.

May God continue to bless the task set before you as director and the teachers as they instruct the students to grow in God's love.

Andy, Jon, John and Jaime take part in the official ribbon cutting ceremony at the close of the program.

Paraiso Gardens update

The garden area has been divided into individual plots of approx. 100 square meters which is sufficient size to grow enough food to feed ar family of 5 throughout the year. The homes which are on the interior roads and do not have much growing space were the first to receive a garden plot.

Classes were held to explain the concept of the garden project and the rules of the tool lending program.

Afterwards, gardens are allocated, contracts signed and the work has begun.

Each family has created a fence around their area and have begun to cultivate the ground.

 The ground needs to first be burned to get rid of the weeds and the fire ants. Early in the morning or after 5 pm when it is cooler outside. whole families will socialize as they work.

 

Augustine has been hired as a garden manager to translate & oversee the tool lending program. 

Ed is mending the fence where cows have been entering into the garden area.

 About 150 gardens have been allocated at this time. It is a joy to see them taking such pride and ownership in their work.

McKinney 1st Baptist Church Returns

A large team of 30 from 1st Baptist Church in McKinney, Texas enjoyed a return visit to the DR in July. For some of the team members...this was their 6th or 7th return trip while for many others it was not only their first time here but also their first time on a mission trip ever. The HOPE jewelry shop ladies gave a warm welcome to the entire team on Sunday morning by providing a refreshing snack and drinks after the church service.

 Pastor Kenneth and his wife Terry did an amazing job organizing and leading their team both prior to and while in country even the returning members who were eager to renew the friendships they made in the past years.  

Yes…it was hot out but that didn’t slow down the team from their various activities of construction, soup packaging, painting, rebar and moving blocks. John checked some of their muscles at the beginning of the week to ensure they were up to the task…and they proved it during the week.

A few of their highlights include their visit to a local rehab center for recovering alcohol and drug abusers who shared their testimonies and how these Christian brothers encourage each other to overcome their addictions.

Secondly, for the returnees a chance to see the changes that have taken place at the Nest of Love School in the past year especially since their team had painted the entire 1st set of classrooms last year in preparation for the school year beginning in their new location.

The team encircled the entire house as they prayer a blessing on it and their sponsored family during the dedication.

Thank you 1st Baptist McKinney for sharing in the joy of helping others in a foreign country and we hope you were blessed as much as you were a blessing to others.

Containers of blessings

Just a few days apart the Samaritan Foundation received 2 shipping containers filled with donated items to use in the ministry work. On June 23rd the container of wood donated by Spruce land Lumber was released from customs and delivered to villa Paraiso.

The entire shipment of wood was unloaded by hand, sorted by size and stored in 2 facilities…an old shipping container and a new storage building on site next to the wood shop. You may wonder at the unique shape of the building…but when the existing container is rusted out and no longer of use…the 2nd half of the building will be constructed on its site. The wood is used to build doors, windows and the roofs of all the homes that are constructed.

On June 26th the 2nd container was released and also brought to villa Paraiso. Well over half of the container was filled with the dried soup mix from the Ontario Christian Gleaners…too many barrels and pails to count. Ermis had a great time using the bobcat to unload this container.

It is a good thing because those 2 dental chairs are very heavy especially when Ramon and Juan hitched a ride. Lots of refurbished sewing machines, bolts of fabric & sewing supplies will be put to good use in the sewing school.

 Blankets and quilts made with love by the Busy Hand team from Wyoming, Ontario, shoes, children’s school packs, and even artificial limbs which will be donated to the Rehabilitation Centre in Puerto Plata will be a huge blessing to many.

Thank you to the many generous donors of these gifts and also to Cam Rothwell of Rotary for organizing the shipment of the food and other articles. Thank you also to Juan Ovalle who worked many hours with the custom officials in Puerto Plata to release the containers from the port as quickly as possible.  

the river

On a rare Saturday afternoon off....what better place is there to go to for a picnic on a hot and muggy day…. than the riverside? The beaches along the ocean are great but for a change of pace we decided to do like the locals and go to the river instead. Take the road through Maranatha, go past the Nest of Love school in villa Emmanuel and keep going for what seems like forever….but in reality it took us one hour to reach our destination. The river was wide and shallow enough to wade through but too deep to drive through….or so we thought…. even though the road continued on the other side.

It was a beautiful scenic spot to relax with a good book or take a nap but in reality we discovered there was a lot of activity in this place. We chatted with a local farmer & his 6 year old son who came on horseback…while the dad rinsed and filled his milk cans repeatedly to provide water for his animals the young boy enjoyed his swim.

Then around the corner we were amazed to see a tractor being driven down the river bed which eventually crossed over to the other side.

Another farmer came from the opposite shore….along with his cows for a drink….and then a family arrived in a pickup truck. They drove it right into the water so they could refill their load of water barrels. After the work was done….they jumped into the water for a swim to cool off and a shampoo while they were there.

Probably the most amazing thing we saw later on was when two men arrived on a motorcycle, dismounted…took off their pants and strung them around their necks….proceeded to cross the river in their underwear carrying the motorcycle….then after reaching the opposite shore….one put his pants back on and continued on his way while the other one walked back across to where he had come from.

Needless to say….I didn’t get too much reading done….but it was an interesting afternoon nonetheless.

It was now time to leave so we could return home before dark….down the winding and bumpy road through the hills once again. For those of you who have been to villa Esperanza….it was just like that experience on the back of Rob’s truck…..but for a whole hour. We were curious if this road would show up on the map so we googled it…. and discovered that it was and we went a grand total of 10 miles each way….so according to my math skills, this means we averaged 10 mph.

Kathy….this is the road Uncle John took you down last year on his bike….you guys were so close to it but unfortunately you decided to turn around just a bit too soon.

 This is the end of my story but the moral is…..I will never complain about the bad roads in Canada ever again. Nothing can beat this one…..but the scenery was absolutely fantastic as were the people we met. We love this country and their laidback social culture.