HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOHN

October 23, 2009 was a day to celebrate….the big 5-0. Half a century make one sound really old…. but in reality 50 is just another number. Thank you Lord for blessing John and our family during all these years. We would like to say thanks to all our family and friends (especially those who have reached this milestone already) for their birthday greetings and gifts. Paul & Julie (our son & daughter in law) brought their greetings in person arriving here on that special day and we look forward to spending time together enjoying God’s creation on this beautiful island (after work of course). CONGRATULATIONS, and remember….. after 50 life does gets even better!

SPRUCELAND RETURNS

Another hard working team of 14 from Spruceland, Edmonton, Alberta arrived October 5th for a 2 week period to continue building homes in villa Paraiso. Working 9 to 5 daily (actually 8:30 – 4:30), the men were able to finish the roofs on 18 more homes while the women painted 5 windows and 2 doors for each of the 25 homes currently under construction. Martha and Frieda and two of the local women got their hands dirty painting every day. When the job was finished quicker than expected, they searched for more unpainted windows and doors of homes in the village that the people had already moved in to. The 2nd week saw a few changes in the schedule….Thanksgiving dinner together Monday night at a local restaurant (Morua Mai), a visit to the public hospital and a juice ministry was held for the 1st time in villa Paraiso. But the highlight of the week was the dedication of homes for 25 families on Thursday morning. Have you ever watched the TV reality show called “Extreme Home Makeover”? The team visited some of the families in their humble dwellings that have no electricity or water, many which are very close to the river and prone to flooding, and brought them to the celebration and their new home. Elio Madonia speaks to the families during the ceremonial opening. The press was invited to attend the grand celebration and their articles were published the next day in the local paper.
Senora Isabel Garcia Vargas and her family were pleased to receive house # 86.
It’s hard to believe that it was only 1 year ago, October 2008, that the first 25 families enjoyed the celebration of receiving a home in villa Paraiso….and now there are 103! Thank you very much to all the Spruceland employees and team members who have made this project a reality. We thank our heavenly Father for safety on the job site and the continued support of all involved in meeting the needs and changing the lives of the poor. Spruceland has committed to build 200 homes in Paraiso by the end of 2011. Praise the Lord!

THANKSGIVING BLESSINGS

Over the past 2 years there has been a significant increase in the availability and selection of food to buy locally with the construction of a mega store called La Sirena in Puerto Plata (a North American style grocery/department store); competition for the one and only grocery store named Playero in Sosua. This summer a typical American dollar store opened also in Sosua with the usual imported cheap fare but it has a wide selection of “American” foods. Up until 5 or 6 years ago, it was virtually impossible to buy even the basic things such as light bulbs here without making a trip into Santiago, 50 kms away. However, we have found that many of the local merchants still have the best prices on their produce and meat. Through Claribelle, the Dominican cook for the lunch program in villa Ascension, we met and now shop regularly at these local merchants whenever possible. If you get to the butcher early enough in the morning you can get a slab of beef or pork cut directly from the carcass while you wait, before the flies start buzzing around and settling on the meat. I am a skeptic at best buying meat that is hanging unrefrigerated in a hot climate…but after tasting Claribelle’s cooking I was won over. The beef roast sitting 2nd from the left on the counter was our dinner that night. Mr. Mackley roasts up to 40 chickens at a time coated with his special seasoning over hot coals in two large barbeques, and they are the best I have ever tasted. I have also discovered that when buying a fresh chicken, that (eeeek), the feet are still attached to the bird. Deep fried chicken feet, better known as Pica Pollo, are a favorite amongst the local people.

Each day we drive down our street, Papo is selling seasonal fruits such as oranges, grapefruit, mangoes & avocados, and there are always some bananas hanging at his stall for your choice selection.

But today the kitchen is closed! We are invited to a Canadian Thanksgiving dinner at one of the local restaurants to be shared with a team from Spruceland Millworks that hail from Edmonton, Alberta. Even though the holiday is not celebrated in the Dominican Republic, it is becoming a tradition of sorts since this is the third year in a row that we are enjoying this festive meal together. Blessings to all our friends and family and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

JUST LIKE OLD TIMES?

Rick & Patti Kingswood… our best friends in Sarnia for many years, (before kids; our oldest is now 26) came to visit and participate in the work of the Samaritan Foundation last month. Was it for a slice of Jane’s lemon pie, this time made from freshly squeezed limes? Reminiscent of the times when we first got to know each other and the fact that I served lemon pie each time …. it was the one dessert I made that was guaranteed to turn out well. (Showing the homes ready for the roof tops in villa Paraiso.)
While in Los Algodones, Rick who has a job that every young boy dreams of… a train engineer…saw a piece of rail being put to use in an entirely different way. This man earns a living by making carbon stoves out of recycled metal. After cutting the forms from old washing machines or other metals, he makes the bowl by pounding it with a machete into a cone shape on a section of steel rail. His ingenuity is amazing. I guess necessity is the motherhood of invention and voila! ….a finished carbon stove, an item used by the majority of the poor who cannot afford a gas cook top stove. An uphill challenge in villa Esperanza.
Sunday afternoon stroll on the Malecon, close to the port of Puerto Plata.

My trip to Cap-Haitien (by Dan)

To get to Cap-Haitien from Ouanaminthe, where we were staying at the pastors house, it was an hour’s ride in a pickup truck. Two benches running parallel inside the back of the truck and one small chair served as our taxi. We managed to squeeze inside with 13 other people! Yes, there were 16 of us total in the back of a small pickup truck (with a topper so the head space was really limited).Talk about a cozy ride! The lady squeezed in next to me fell asleep on my shoulder! The price was right though, about $2 per person.
One hour and 65km later, it was sure nice to stretch the legs when we arrived at Cap-Haitien.
The landscape of the city is brilliant and breath-taking. Towering mountains line one horizon while the opposite drifts away into an endless view of ships and sea. But for many locals, these would prove to be their own boundaries. The scenery far outweighs the quality of life; houses are falling apart or fallen, many people are trying to make a living by selling fruit or shining shoes. There are many people with some form of job, but very seldom do you find one with a career. Life is more about getting by day by day than planning for the future. For many, there is no future.
The main roads are paved and have massive gutters for water drainage, but all the rest of the roads are dirt. The gutters were used by many locals to throw their garbage in. Every once in a while a garbage truck would come around and a few people would grab shovels and shovel all the garbage into the back of the truck. We saw many fascinating sights; an enormous cathedral, the city square, the port, a few statues and lots of people including the UN police which patrol the entire country. What an incredible experience being able to visit the country of Haiti and the city of Cap-Haitien. It is one that I will not soon forget. Even with cultural, geographical, social, racial, language and economic differences, we were able to find something in common with many of the people….our religion. We both profess Christ as our risen Saviour in whom we have new life. Praise the LORD!

REALITY SAYS.....

One of the starkest contrasts that the river highlights is the fact that, even though both countries are poor, one is certainly worse. As we visited the schools and orphanages, we couldn’t believe the conditions of which these children were educated in but even more so, lived in.

When we appeared, you could see the expectation of many, searching to see if we were there to help and provide. Sadly the needs are so great that often you felt overwhelmed with the despair and shortages. Just going through the countryside, the evidence appears continually. One of the few bright spots was an orphanage we visited, which was started and is operated to this day by an incredible lady from the United States, Danita Estrella. She came in 1999 as a translator for a medical team and from there God moved in her heart to help the many orphaned and abandoned children in Ouanaminthe. http://www.danitaschildren.org This is truly a story of success and hope for these 500 children. While I am not one who gives up early or easily, maybe because of my Dutch heritage, I am certainly taken aback by the determination of people like Danita, others and the Haitians themselves. These very people continue to fight for and serve these children, against the odds, and with only meager resources at hand. Every one of them acknowledges that without God, none of this work can continue. What started as a “shock visit” to us has turned into another wakeup call to witness God’s faithfulness, regardless of what we may think otherwise. Just incredible! As I said earlier, not a visit that will soon be forgotten!

The River That Divides

Jane and I decided that while Dan was here visiting us, we were going to do a little side trip to either Santo Domingo or Haiti. It was Dan’s choice so off to Haiti it was. We took with us, our good friend Elmond Jean who is Dominican but from Haitian descendent. Being totally fluent in Creole, English and Spanish, Elmond took us to the border and through all the necessary paperwork to get into Haiti.
While there, the four of us had the opportunity to visit several orphanages, schools, churches and their pastors. This really was the main purpose of this trip. This adventure and discovery of a different people, culture and place will not be forgotten for quite some time.
The poverty was incredible, the needs obvious and the hospitality of all we met, Christ like! Since there is no electricity or running water in the entire town, the women fill their water buckets at the communal well.
Our hosts, Pastor Papouloute Onondieu, his wife and family, treated us like very special guests. Their home, a very modest place, is very well kept in Ouanaminthe, on the Haiti and Dominican border. Here they provided us a safe place to rest and lay our heads. It was quite cozy as the three of us shared the home with his family of 11 and yet we felt very much at home.

On Friday night we attended a Haitian church service and even though no one has electricity, worship continues with oil lamps. It was incredibly hot in the crowded little church but that certainly didn’t stop everyone from praising and praying in full earnest. The little congregation is alive and well and wanted everyone outside to know it. God was in this place and they wanted everyone to hear about it. What an awesome time and we were blessed to be there!