The race is run….we have fought the good fight….and pressed on toward the goal. The home stretch has been as exciting and action packed as the rest of the winter season. Jane’s parents have come 3 times in the past 3 years and have never ventured far from the north coast. We were blessed to have a short break during their visit for a weekend getaway to Santo Domingo…the Colonial Zone along with family and friends. 
History abounds in this first city of the New World which was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492. Walking the first street called “calle de las damas” and exploring the historic sites during the 2 hour buggy ride was a refreshing break indeed.
Two more teams arrived last week to finish off the season that both have lots of stories to tell. The Lakemount Church team was led by one of our finest leaders Rob, visited an orphanage in Puerto Plata where Martha….a dear child to Jim & Sue, just celebrated her 3rd birthday on Sunday lives. Sister Mercedes has welcomed Martha into her home alongside 18 other children who call her mom. A visit to church in the woods, a hospital visit, building, dedicating and moving a family into their new home in villa Esperanza were highlights of their experience. God blessed them in all they did.
The” Build a Home Change a Life” team spent their week working on the new school in villa Emmanuel preparing and pouring the floors in the classrooms and interacting with the students at school.
The whole school was treated by the team to a hot lunch prepared by Evely and her volunteers. 
Winners of the Christmas card contest received their rewards during a special presentation and then an afternoon of sports was held with the team members. 
Memories and friendships will not be soon forgotten. 
Tomorrow John & I are homeward bound, just in time to celebrate Mother’s Day with our kids. Shortly afterwards we are heading to England & Belgium to speak at numerous churches and partners in missions of The Samaritan Foundation. Who knows…we may even have an opportunity to see the queen!
God’s blessings and thank you to all for making this winter season a resounding success.
History abounds in this first city of the New World which was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492. Walking the first street called “calle de las damas” and exploring the historic sites during the 2 hour buggy ride was a refreshing break indeed. Two more teams arrived last week to finish off the season that both have lots of stories to tell. The Lakemount Church team was led by one of our finest leaders Rob, visited an orphanage in Puerto Plata where Martha….a dear child to Jim & Sue, just celebrated her 3rd birthday on Sunday lives. Sister Mercedes has welcomed Martha into her home alongside 18 other children who call her mom. A visit to church in the woods, a hospital visit, building, dedicating and moving a family into their new home in villa Esperanza were highlights of their experience. God blessed them in all they did.The” Build a Home Change a Life” team spent their week working on the new school in villa Emmanuel preparing and pouring the floors in the classrooms and interacting with the students at school.
The whole school was treated by the team to a hot lunch prepared by Evely and her volunteers. Winners of the Christmas card contest received their rewards during a special presentation and then an afternoon of sports was held with the team members. Memories and friendships will not be soon forgotten. Tomorrow John & I are homeward bound, just in time to celebrate Mother’s Day with our kids. Shortly afterwards we are heading to England & Belgium to speak at numerous churches and partners in missions of The Samaritan Foundation. Who knows…we may even have an opportunity to see the queen!God’s blessings and thank you to all for making this winter season a resounding success.
Caleigh age 14: 
This program feeds 250 children in the village. On Wednesdays & Fridays they serve a brunch to the young children, and on Mondays they serve breakfast to the mothers and babies along with the young children. The thing I find very confusing is that none of these kids complain about what they are given. In Canada if a child is given a food they don't like they simply refuse it and ask for something else. Also, everyone in the Dominican is so happy with the bare minimum whereas in Canada everyone is always complaining about not having the latest technology. I noticed how different the people there live, seeing all the tin houses compared to the brick houses in Canada is very odd. Another thing I found baffling about being there is everyone wants to be at school. Here in Canada most kids are always complaining about the workload and homework where as a kid in the Dominican would never complain about that type of thing because they know that they are so fortunate to have the opportunity to even be going to school. 
In general going to the Dominican made me realize how fortunate I am to live the way I do. Seeing other people live with so little and seeing how happy they are made me more grateful for everything I do have. I think it was really good for me to go there because I realized how much I take for granted and it saddens me to think of what these people would give to have half of what I and others in Canada have. I think more people should get to see what it is like for people here so that they realize how lucky they really are. This has been a once in a life time experience and I doubt I will forget it for a long time.
Jim & Sue worked alongside Dr. Bob in Ascension village as it was being constructed to find ways to alleviate the one of the greatest needs of the people living there; hunger. It was a blessing for families to receive a modest block home from the Samaritan Foundation, but they were still poor and hungry. Enlisting the aid of out of country sponsors, a food program was started in which initially 12 families received some basic food staples three times a week to supplement their resources. The program continued to grow as more and more families were found to be in dire straits and sponsors were secured. The families were extremely grateful for the assistance especially when the sugarcane processing facility went bankrupt throwing most of the able bodied men out of work. 
A hot meal feeding program was started in Feb. ’09 to address the needs of the most vulnerable: undernourished children and seniors those unable to fend for them. With startup funds provided by Journey ’09, they were able to purchase a commercial stove, freezer, and huge cooking pots that can hold 40 lbs of rice at one time. 
His wit and charm is ever present he is grateful for the opportunity to say thank you to all for your prayers and support, but mostly to his heavenly Father above. Unable to continue working in their ministry, God in his infinite wisdom already had a plan. Bill & Donna Reimer are doing a great job having taken over the daily work in providing for the hungry allowing Jim & Sue to concentrate on Jim’s recovery. 
Last week, for the first time since his stroke, Jim visited Ascension village to see his “family” once more before returning home. Tears of happiness and sadness were shed as good-bye was said. 
A chapter in their lives has ended….but we would like to wish them God’s blessings as they begin a new one with their family back home in England. You were an inspiration and will be missed greatly by your family here…both missionaries and Ascension friends. Dios les bendigas.
We visited an old man for whom part of the donation money was intended to fix his termite riddled home with, after waiting patiently for a neighbour to come dress him and help him to a chair in his front room. Our hearts ached to see the dismal conditions he lived in but were lifted knowing that would soon change. Directly across the road was the warehouse where the lady stored her purses but when searching through her stock were disappointed to discover there were no more. 
However, during our walk, Sandra’s friend Chaves showed us her purse she had “purchased” on credit with the hope of paying a little bit each week. She kindly offered to sell me her treasure and made it a point to get the saleslady to come right away so the money could be exchanged and her debt relieved. This day was truly special since not only was a treasure exchanged but a friendship was forged. 
As we walked back to our car, 2 little girls came up behind us and tucked their hands in ours as we shared their walk to school. Thank you Lord for friends, and for putting little blessings into our lives.
Please forgive us for not updating our blog sooner but as you can imagine….life has been pleasantly busy (hectic) lately. We are very thankful for each and every team that has come down to help enrich the lives of the poor through the Samaritan Foundation. It doesn’t end here. More teams are scheduled to arrive shortly and we look forward to working together with them too. 
Recently, 50 homes were dedicated and given to families, more than 2,000 lunches have been prepared for school children & 725 food hampers to feed a family for a week were given out in 5 different villages. Tickets were distributed the day before by the pastor which was then redeemed for a bag of food.
Women’s programs were taught; 40 eager ladies learned how to crochet,
movie afternoons were held for the children, playgrounds revitalized,
visit made to patients in the public hospital 
and lots of construction has taken place on 4 different work sites. 
On Sundays most teams were treated to a Dominican or Haitian service while still others participated in the “Church in the woods” service which takes place each Friday morning in a high place located near Los Algodones.
On February 27th, Independence Day parades were held throughout town marking the 167th anniversary of the Dominicans independence from Haiti’s rule over the island. School children everywhere including those in villa Paraiso and Nazareth marched to the beat of the band’s drum waving their flags. ….what an awesome sight this was to see. 
Highlights:
and then proceeded to tear down their former shack they called home.Being part of the whole process from painting and installing the windows and doors, to moving their meager possessions and then tearing down was an emotional but rewarding experience for them. 
Having the ability to change individual lives and seeing the joy and gratitude on their faces was “the best feeling ever” for some of the participants.
This event took place in villa Paraiso with much pomp and ceremony and it was unknown until the last moment of presentation who would receive this special home. Unlike all other homes built, this one had the finish coat of cement or parching on both the outside and inside of the house. A mission team from Green Valley Equipment in Manitoba painted not only the windows and doors but also the inside and out and a special plaque commemorating this milestone affixed by the front door. 
Hundreds of visitors witnessed this special event including all the board members of the Samaritan Foundation Canada, local dignitaries, missionaries and families already living in villa Paraiso. John presented Mr. Medina, president of the Foundation with a plaque of appreciation for his over 20 years of commitment helping the poor with the Samaritan Foundation. 
The humbleness of God’s servant Elio was evident in his speech giving all glory and praise to God for the great deeds that have been accomplished.
The January Spruceland team left their mark once again in villa Paraiso. For the past two weeks they strapped and nailed the tin on the roofs of 23 new homes. They smashed the previous record of 18 homes. However, even while working hard,they also had time to build relationships with many of the people. The families who received a home last year from this same team were eager to show how they have made their houses into home. 
Bag lunches were also distributed to all the students in villa Paraiso school just before their recess, which gave us an opportunity to spend time chatting, hugging and loving the children.
Another milestone will be reached next week Tuesday, February 8th, where in a special ceremony…the president of the Samaritan Foundation will present the 1,000th home to a poor and needy family. This community has rallied together to clean their entire village in anticipation of the many guests scheduled to attend this grand celebration. 
