Day by day

Fortunately for us Hurricane Sandy skirted our island. It has been an

extremely hot and dry summer and fall. The temperatures have been in the

30's consistently with humidex making it feel like the mid 40's. The teams

usually only do construction in the mornings when it is more bearable but

as John tells everyone who comes.... "shade is your best friend". We are

looking forward to the temperature change which generally occurs in mid

November to a more manageable 25 - 27 degrees Celcius. 

 Another container was loaded this past Thursday and is on its way now. There are 90 barrels of dehydrated soup mix from the Ontario Christian Gleaners on this load which will go a long way towards feeding the poor. Tourism is very low on the north coast here and so many people are unemployed because of this. These people are desperate to feed their families and the soup will go a long way to helping out.

Robberies are quite common especially now as it gets closer to Christmas. We lock our house securely each time we leave to go out. Even the police are asking for something to eat for dinner if you get stopped along the road. We need to be extra cautious as we travel about for you never know when someone will "accidentally" run into your car or person to try to get some money from you...after all...they look at it as we are white and have money and therefore can pay for everything. We are truly blessed compared to their situations and try to show the love of Christ in all our actions. We know the Lord is our protector and shield.

This past weekend..John brought someone to the hospital twice in less than 48 hours who desperately needed help. Thursday evening after dinner he took a dear Dominican friend and her 13 year old daughter who had a fever of 104 degrees....she received 3 treatments through an oxygen mask and was released 4 hours later with no follow up instructions. Friday the girl was at the clinic in villa Paraiso where they live to see the doctor and receive her medication free of charge. However.... Saturday afternoon she had a raging temperature again and after a desperate call to John, they went back to Puerto Plata (25 minutes away) and spent 8 hours waiting in the public hospital emergency room. No bed was given to the young girl...she just sat on the chair and waited along with about 25 other people. A few hours later she saw a doctor briefly...they took blood samples and then they waited for the analysis.

Repeatedly, the staff came into the room to report that the machine was broken and would be fixed soon. Each time this happened...all the other patients looked toward John as the only gringo in the room to see how he would react. During the next 5 hours of waiting the people just talked with each other....no one read a book....just chatted until finally the machine was fixed. They waited another 1 1/2 hours to get medication and finally were on their way back home. This is an example of everyday life and how the people don't sweat the little things....they just accept it and live one day at a time. Was this the way we had planned on spending our Saturday afternoon/evening, especially since it was supposed to be our date night for our wedding anniversary? No... but God calls us to help the widows and orphans not matter the circumstances. This lady has a special spot in our heart as she tries to raise 4 children on her own ....especially Nicole her 13 year old daughter who has chronic bronchitis and asthma and needs to go to the hospital often. The slightest weather change will compromise her health.

We are thankful that we can be a blessing and help in our work and daily lives here in the Dominican. 

Blessings, Jane