Esperanza village Dedication

 

After 4 years of working in this community....260 homes later...villa Esperanza is finished. A grand celebration & dedication ceremony took place in the school yard as it was the only place that was large enough to hold the ceremony and most importantly........ the only place in the shade.

 

Students wearing their school uniforms participated in a drama, presentations of many plaques of recognition of the countless hours that went into building a village and creating a place of hope ...aptly named ~Esperanza.

The streets held a decorating competition with almost everyone taking part. To our big surprise...they named the streets after members of the Samaritan Foundation who had an integral part in building this community.

 

Thanks be to God for his mercy and grace and for the honour bestowed on us to help the poor in the former community of Los Algodones where families have previously had no access to health, education, clean drinking water, homes  and most of all the spiritual community in the church are now finding it a reality in everyday life.

What is left is the barren landscape with an ocean view of where 220 families had previously lived in tin shacks. Just a few homes remain which belong to the sugar cane company and cannot be torn down. 

 

It was an inspiring day to see how the community worked together to not only decorate their streets, but also named the streets after members of the Samaritan Foundation who actively particpated in the building of this community.

It's Reading Week

It is University Reading Week and we welcome 4 teams all from Southern Ontario to join us this week. This is teams 4,5,6 & 7 already for 2013. There are 100 members all staying at the same resort giving them a chance to get to know each other in the evenings...and some have found friends from many years ago.
Thank you Lord that we have an awesome team of leaders to help us make things run so smoothly. 4 teams....7 busses each going to their own unique destination. By 8 am each morning all the teams have picked up their lunches provided by the hotel at the cafeteria, and hopefully have gotten on the correct bus. The first day we had everyone out the door, on the bus and on their way in only 15 minutes. Talk about orgainzation...eh? We pray that the week will continue smoothly as we prepare each day for ministry with a word of prayer for safety  and that we may impact many lives in our ministry work. We see God's hand working mightily and are being blessed as we go out into the community to serve.

 

January visitors

from time to time we receive the blessings of visits from family and friends.  This month, John's sister Pat joined us for a 3 week stay with the desire to teach a sewing course at the school in Paraiso. The timing was perfect as this was the week before the next set of classes was to begin. 16 ladies...most of whom had taken sewing courses in the past year at the school were eager to learn new things so Pat taught them how to make simple pillow case dresses in 3 different styles.

With the help of Stephany as her translator and Petra (the office manager of the school) their workshop was a huge success. One man even joined the class as he wanted to make a dress for each of his 2 daughters....no previous experience on the sewing machine. Everyone enjoyed the course immensely. Thank you Pat.

Over our Christmas break we ran into great friends from years past...Kerry & Elaine Charbonneau who coincindentally had already booked a vacation to the Puerto Plata area....took a day off from the beach to tour the villlages with us and really see what the Sama
ritan Foundation is all about.

 It was an eye opening experience according to Kerry and just a glimpse of what a mission team would do when they come to partner with the Samaritan Foundation. Francia showed them how to roll paper beads, and during their tour...they experienced a real Dominican lunch at a local hotspot....Rosa's. For those of you who have been...you know what fabulous food she makes.

a new year has begun

boys rolling their hoops

Funny how some things change and others just stay the same. We are grateful for safety and the fellowship we shared with so many people over Christmas and now we are back in the Dominican ready to make a difference. For 2013 we have 30 teams booked already....what a difference they will make in the lives of so many people. Enabling the locals to help themselves is always our goal instead of providing just a hand out. Lord, help us to do your will in the best way possible in all that we do and say.

home improvements in Esperanza