Saturday, October 6, 2007
Spruceland
As you have no doubt noticed, I haven't been very faithful in keeping my blog up to date. This is in large part to fact that we have a group of 16 very energetic people from Spruceland Millworks here working and they are an amazing team. They have been working very hard every opportunity they have and the work is been done quickly and efficently. They are working on the water cistern for the village of Los Algodones, a village of incredible poverty. While they are working on the cistern, because the area is rather restricted, some of them are also working on the school. The following entries will show the village as well as the work they are doing. I hope its an encouragement to everyone to get involved in one way or another. After all, regardless of race, wealth, nationality, colour or status, in Gods love, we are all his children!
Monday, October 1, 2007
A reprint of Jane's Coconut story
Hi folks,
I hope all is well with you. I thought I would share a story with you about my baking adventure last week. Unfortunately none of my cookbooks were packed in the bags that we took. Oops, mistake numero uno. So let's try to remember from the top of my head some receipes that will hopefully be complete. I thought about making chocolate macaroon drop cookies. John doesn't like them but I needed to bring something for the home church we went to the next day. When shopping in the playero grocery store I couldn't find any bagged coconut so instead bought a fresh one. Next dilemma is how do you open them? They are rock hard and cannot be cut with a machete. John's bright idea was to throw it off the patio onto the driveway below. So we did. It cracked open on one end a little bit. So do it a second time and see what happens. Success at last. The coconut meat is difficult to get out so I used a sharp knife and pried it out piece by piece. The next step was to grate these pieces using only a regular hand grater. An hour later and a few skinned knuckles the task was complete. Next I turned the oven on to 400 degrees (when it is already 35 plus degrees in the house) to toast the shredded coconut. 20 minutes later and turning it twice the house is now very warm because the oven is not insulated like the ones in Canada. The recipe says to cook the ingredients on the stove top and then immediately drop by spoon onto a greased cookie sheet. As it is cooking it is now 9 pm and I said to John I sure hope the power doesn't go out, 30 seconds later, it does. It gets dark here at 7:30 every night so John came to the rescue and held the flashlight while I scooped the cookies onto the baking sheet. When the power supply goes out the pump doesn't work to refill the water reservoir so we were careful to use only a little water to clean up which has to be done immmediately or the sticky residue becomes rock hard. From start to finish it took 3 hours to make a batch of drop cookies that were devoured in 10 minutes the next morning. They were enjoyed by all except John and we found out on Sunday the proper way to open a coconut. Apparantly you need to stick a screwdriver in the end of the coconut with 3 small holes, then take a hammer and smash it open. Who would have thought!!!
Maybe next time I can remember a recipe which requires a lot less work.
Anyways, on Sept 23 John's sister Betty and her husband Arnie are coming here for a week to work. Paul is getting together a few suitcases ready for them to take so my cookbooks will hopefully accompany them. Life will be a lot sweeter then. Everything here takes a lot longer to do than at home but that is part of the culture stress here. We are both doing really well and look forward to spending more time in the village working. We have been getting settled in and finding how to live life here until Elio returns on Saturday. We have been visiting the villages and started sorting out the sewing room but what a monumental task. The sewing program has been idle for a while so I will be trying to revive it to give these ladies a job. They are so excited about it!
We are going to attend a new Spanish language program for missionaries starting Saturday which promises to be quite intense. We are really looking forward to it especially since there are 4 other couples from Canada, US, & UK who will also be attending.
Give our love to your families and Hasta la Vista.
LOL John & Jane
I hope all is well with you. I thought I would share a story with you about my baking adventure last week. Unfortunately none of my cookbooks were packed in the bags that we took. Oops, mistake numero uno. So let's try to remember from the top of my head some receipes that will hopefully be complete. I thought about making chocolate macaroon drop cookies. John doesn't like them but I needed to bring something for the home church we went to the next day. When shopping in the playero grocery store I couldn't find any bagged coconut so instead bought a fresh one. Next dilemma is how do you open them? They are rock hard and cannot be cut with a machete. John's bright idea was to throw it off the patio onto the driveway below. So we did. It cracked open on one end a little bit. So do it a second time and see what happens. Success at last. The coconut meat is difficult to get out so I used a sharp knife and pried it out piece by piece. The next step was to grate these pieces using only a regular hand grater. An hour later and a few skinned knuckles the task was complete. Next I turned the oven on to 400 degrees (when it is already 35 plus degrees in the house) to toast the shredded coconut. 20 minutes later and turning it twice the house is now very warm because the oven is not insulated like the ones in Canada. The recipe says to cook the ingredients on the stove top and then immediately drop by spoon onto a greased cookie sheet. As it is cooking it is now 9 pm and I said to John I sure hope the power doesn't go out, 30 seconds later, it does. It gets dark here at 7:30 every night so John came to the rescue and held the flashlight while I scooped the cookies onto the baking sheet. When the power supply goes out the pump doesn't work to refill the water reservoir so we were careful to use only a little water to clean up which has to be done immmediately or the sticky residue becomes rock hard. From start to finish it took 3 hours to make a batch of drop cookies that were devoured in 10 minutes the next morning. They were enjoyed by all except John and we found out on Sunday the proper way to open a coconut. Apparantly you need to stick a screwdriver in the end of the coconut with 3 small holes, then take a hammer and smash it open. Who would have thought!!!
Maybe next time I can remember a recipe which requires a lot less work.
Anyways, on Sept 23 John's sister Betty and her husband Arnie are coming here for a week to work. Paul is getting together a few suitcases ready for them to take so my cookbooks will hopefully accompany them. Life will be a lot sweeter then. Everything here takes a lot longer to do than at home but that is part of the culture stress here. We are both doing really well and look forward to spending more time in the village working. We have been getting settled in and finding how to live life here until Elio returns on Saturday. We have been visiting the villages and started sorting out the sewing room but what a monumental task. The sewing program has been idle for a while so I will be trying to revive it to give these ladies a job. They are so excited about it!
We are going to attend a new Spanish language program for missionaries starting Saturday which promises to be quite intense. We are really looking forward to it especially since there are 4 other couples from Canada, US, & UK who will also be attending.
Give our love to your families and Hasta la Vista.
LOL John & Jane
Friday, September 28, 2007
It isn't Christmas but its close!
School may be one thing that doesn’t exactly bring tears of joy to the students but its music to a parent’s ears! Here in the Dominican Republic, the ability to attend school is always exciting to the children. In the Samaritan Foundation village of Nazareth, Dominican Advance (http://www.dominicanadvance.org/) with some assistance 
from the Samaritan Foundation has erected a school that will provide an education for children that otherwise would not have had such an opportunity. Here are some of the pictures of this wonderful project and the happy faces that come from it. 
from the Samaritan Foundation has erected a school that will provide an education for children that otherwise would not have had such an opportunity. Here are some of the pictures of this wonderful project and the happy faces that come from it. 
The students and teachers were so excited about their new school that they were already teaching and students attending before the school roof and washrooms were completed. If you’re interested in how you can help or sponsor a student, please email Kim and Josie Pensinger at info@dominicanadvance.org .
They find me everywhere
You know, I just can`t shake them. A few weeks ago I got a ticket for going through what they said was a red but I am sure was a yellow light. Someone told me that when they wave you over to give you a ticket, they literally jump in front of your vehicle to stop you, that if you act like you can`t understand a word they say, sometimes they will let you go. Well I am here to say, it isn’t true and I`m really considering my friendship with those who told me this. After a few minutes of charades’, the police officer jumped in my car and directed me to the local station. Being here only a few weeks and literally knowing very little Spanish, I telephoned the only 2 people I knew who could maybe help me out. One said he didn`t want to risk misunderstanding the conversation on the phone because he felt his language skills weren`t up to par for the challenge. I appreciated that since I really didn`t want to get into more trouble than I might already be. Now thankfully, my good friend Dr. Bob was in his office and listened to my story and the instructions from the officer. The good doctor told me I had exactly 30 minutes to get to City Hall and pay the ticket or they would impound my car till the following day when I could pay the fine. This left me with a dilemma since I wasn`t allowed to drive my car to City Hall to pay for my traffic sin. On to the back of a `motto concho` (a motorcycle taxi) I go and off to the Hall. As we sped through the traffic at break neck and hair raising speed, I had the opportunity to revisit my previous years of life as they flashed before my eyes! After getting to City Hall through the back door, I paid for my crime, said a prayer of ``Thanks`` and got back on the `motto concho` to review my life all over again. Through the traffic once more and back at the station we arrived, showing them the receipt of payment and gladly got behind the steering wheel of my own car. This little ordeal from start to finish may have been less than seventy five minutes long but will certainly last with me for a life time. The moral of the story, ``Ignorance may be bliss” but it can sure help to revisit the past.
The sewing center
Just before our second week started, Elio Madonia, the Samaritan Foundation founder and Lina his wife left for Canada to attend their grandchild`s wedding. During the week we did some 
painting at our home and continued to get our bearings around our environment. Jane and I visited the sewing center where she was going to work and help teach. While we were there, Jane spent a lot of time cleaning the place up and sorting through some of the material. I built some shelves for the sewing goods and continued to organize through the stuff that was there. There were sewing machines to clean and Jane was feeling right at home when while sorting through the material, she came across some of the ugliest, biggest spiders I think we have ever seen. They even gave me the creeps and I don`t 
mind spiders. One of them was so big I had to arm wrestle it to see who got to keep the shop. Thankfully I won! Another goody we found while Jane and I were removing the boxes from the storage closet was a very alive and healthy rat. It ran out from between us and eventually we chased it out of the building completely. Never a dull moment. Jane has just finished cleaning the last of the machines and today, Wednesday Sept. 26, they start interviewing the village ladies to see who the first sewing students will be. This is great news and there will be many ladies vying for the first classes.
painting at our home and continued to get our bearings around our environment. Jane and I visited the sewing center where she was going to work and help teach. While we were there, Jane spent a lot of time cleaning the place up and sorting through some of the material. I built some shelves for the sewing goods and continued to organize through the stuff that was there. There were sewing machines to clean and Jane was feeling right at home when while sorting through the material, she came across some of the ugliest, biggest spiders I think we have ever seen. They even gave me the creeps and I don`t 
mind spiders. One of them was so big I had to arm wrestle it to see who got to keep the shop. Thankfully I won! Another goody we found while Jane and I were removing the boxes from the storage closet was a very alive and healthy rat. It ran out from between us and eventually we chased it out of the building completely. Never a dull moment. Jane has just finished cleaning the last of the machines and today, Wednesday Sept. 26, they start interviewing the village ladies to see who the first sewing students will be. This is great news and there will be many ladies vying for the first classes.
A medical clinic
While Elio was in Canada, he phoned to inform me that it seems that there is interest by some groups in sponsoring a small medical center in one of the villages we are currently building. 
Nazareth is one of the villages we are presently working in and a medical clinic is something that is greatly needed. This clinic will not only be used to treat the sick but will also be used for teaching local villagers about hygiene, nutrition and overall healthcare. This is something we take so much for granted in Canada, USA and other developed countries but here, affordable if not usually free care is only something most can only dream for. In this picture Phil and I are measuring and discussing the possible ways of designing this clinic for not only maximum use of the property available but also on how it can be done in a most cost effective way. Phil is here with an organization he and his wife, Donna, have started called Servant’s Heart Ministries (http://www.servantsheartdr.org/). This clinic will service Nazareth and at least 3 other small villages also founded by the Samaritan Foundation. We hope to start digging the footings and start construction the third week of October with the completion sometime around the beginning of November.
Nazareth is one of the villages we are presently working in and a medical clinic is something that is greatly needed. This clinic will not only be used to treat the sick but will also be used for teaching local villagers about hygiene, nutrition and overall healthcare. This is something we take so much for granted in Canada, USA and other developed countries but here, affordable if not usually free care is only something most can only dream for. In this picture Phil and I are measuring and discussing the possible ways of designing this clinic for not only maximum use of the property available but also on how it can be done in a most cost effective way. Phil is here with an organization he and his wife, Donna, have started called Servant’s Heart Ministries (http://www.servantsheartdr.org/). This clinic will service Nazareth and at least 3 other small villages also founded by the Samaritan Foundation. We hope to start digging the footings and start construction the third week of October with the completion sometime around the beginning of November.Where is your strength
Psalm 23: 4 “Yea, though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff they comfort me.” New King James Version
The following story took place this past Thursday evening, September 13/07, to 3 very good friends of ours and is not intended to scare or frighten anyone but to emphasize just how great the Lord our God is! I am going to try to keep it short but yet not miss anything important. It is a story that is amazing! I will be posting it on our blog.
Jim and Sue Coates (www.dominicanministry.com ) and Phil Williams (servantsheartdr.org) had finished supper and were sitting outside behind the Coates home enjoying the evening air. It had been another very warm Dominican day and the cool of the evening is always a welcome time. While they were enjoying the peace and quiet, around the corner of the house came 2 thieves banishing guns. The 2 had climbed over the wall and fence that surrounds the home. They reason they weren’t noticed or heard entering in the fenced property is someone poisoned 3 of Jim and Sue’s four dogs and stole their battery inverter only 6 nights earlier. The only dog left is now very scared of bumps in the night.
The 2 intruders pointed their guns directly into their faces and demanded all their cash, keys, phones and laptop computers. They meant business, pushing them around and then putting the 3 together where one could keep his gun trained directly at them while the other searched through the house. They were willing to kill them if necessary and certainly appeared to do so if needed. The 3 were totally defenceless and all the they could do and did was pray while this was happening, asking the Lord for his intervention and protection.
As the leader searched the home and rummaged through many personal belongings and private areas of the home, he noticed a large amount of baby food and baby accessories and demanded to know where the babies were. They explained to them that all three of them were Christian missionaries serving the Lord by providing and helping the poor and needy of this country. They told them that they had no more money because everything they had they used towards feeding and caring for the poor and hungry children.
When the lead intruder found out that they were Christian missionaries serving the Lord, the fear of the Lord entered them as a large injection that changed their hearts. As the two intruders with their still cocked and pointed revolvers stood in front of the 3 missionaries with their arms loaded with what they came for, they gently put everything down. They gave back to them everything they took; apologized for scaring them, emptied their guns of bullets in front of them and then asked for their forgiveness. With this Jim and Sue offered and gave them a glass of cold water and they disappeared back into the night as they came.
The reason I am sharing this actual happening with you is not to make you afraid or give you the impression that bad thing don’t happen to Christians. This very story could have ended very differently, happened in your country, city, neighbourhood or even to you. God never promised any us a life of ease, free of problems but he did promise us that he will remain faithful to us every day. I am also sharing this story because I want to ask you this, “Where does your help and comfort come from?” Our comfort is in the words of Psalm 121. This was the psalm our church pastor gave us on our last Sunday worship in our home church. It always was a favourite psalm of ours and even more so now!
Still gladly serving our Lord in the Dominican Republic,
John and Jane Huizinga
http://www.james-experience.com/
Psalm 121
I will lift up my eyes to the hills-- from whence comes my help?
My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day nor the moon by night.
The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul.
The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth and even forevermore.
New King James Version
The following story took place this past Thursday evening, September 13/07, to 3 very good friends of ours and is not intended to scare or frighten anyone but to emphasize just how great the Lord our God is! I am going to try to keep it short but yet not miss anything important. It is a story that is amazing! I will be posting it on our blog.
Jim and Sue Coates (www.dominicanministry.com ) and Phil Williams (servantsheartdr.org) had finished supper and were sitting outside behind the Coates home enjoying the evening air. It had been another very warm Dominican day and the cool of the evening is always a welcome time. While they were enjoying the peace and quiet, around the corner of the house came 2 thieves banishing guns. The 2 had climbed over the wall and fence that surrounds the home. They reason they weren’t noticed or heard entering in the fenced property is someone poisoned 3 of Jim and Sue’s four dogs and stole their battery inverter only 6 nights earlier. The only dog left is now very scared of bumps in the night.
The 2 intruders pointed their guns directly into their faces and demanded all their cash, keys, phones and laptop computers. They meant business, pushing them around and then putting the 3 together where one could keep his gun trained directly at them while the other searched through the house. They were willing to kill them if necessary and certainly appeared to do so if needed. The 3 were totally defenceless and all the they could do and did was pray while this was happening, asking the Lord for his intervention and protection.
As the leader searched the home and rummaged through many personal belongings and private areas of the home, he noticed a large amount of baby food and baby accessories and demanded to know where the babies were. They explained to them that all three of them were Christian missionaries serving the Lord by providing and helping the poor and needy of this country. They told them that they had no more money because everything they had they used towards feeding and caring for the poor and hungry children.
When the lead intruder found out that they were Christian missionaries serving the Lord, the fear of the Lord entered them as a large injection that changed their hearts. As the two intruders with their still cocked and pointed revolvers stood in front of the 3 missionaries with their arms loaded with what they came for, they gently put everything down. They gave back to them everything they took; apologized for scaring them, emptied their guns of bullets in front of them and then asked for their forgiveness. With this Jim and Sue offered and gave them a glass of cold water and they disappeared back into the night as they came.
The reason I am sharing this actual happening with you is not to make you afraid or give you the impression that bad thing don’t happen to Christians. This very story could have ended very differently, happened in your country, city, neighbourhood or even to you. God never promised any us a life of ease, free of problems but he did promise us that he will remain faithful to us every day. I am also sharing this story because I want to ask you this, “Where does your help and comfort come from?” Our comfort is in the words of Psalm 121. This was the psalm our church pastor gave us on our last Sunday worship in our home church. It always was a favourite psalm of ours and even more so now!
Still gladly serving our Lord in the Dominican Republic,
John and Jane Huizinga
http://www.james-experience.com/
Psalm 121
I will lift up my eyes to the hills-- from whence comes my help?
My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day nor the moon by night.
The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul.
The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth and even forevermore.
New King James Version
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