Well it seems that we are two weeks into our trip. We have done many different things the past 14 days. In our first week we went to villages, we played with kids in muddy streets, we met with young girls that have been forced to provide for themselves at a young age using whatever means possible. In our second week we traveled to Santo Domingo for a glimpse of the capital of Republica Dominicana, and we have begun to teach in a Christian school in Puerta Plata.

See each week offers a different experience. Each weeks offers a new way to serve the Lord.

While we were in Santo Domingo, Lauretta and I had two roles. On the first evening there we acted as babysitters. Brooke celebrated her birthday during the week and the Jenkins parents needed a date night to complete the celebration. Lauretta and I also acted as tourists in the capital city. We toured Columbus’ home and we also visited the first cathedral in the Americas.

On Saturday Lauretta and I had the opportunity to be apart of an ESL class. We helped the students with their worksheets and helped them with word pronunciation. The sounds that come naturally to me as a native English speaker do not come natural to Dominicans. The “th” sound is killer. The teacher’s name is William. He is a really great guy and the Lord is using him to minister to several communities through ESL classes.

Monday Lauretta and I began teaching at the school. It was a very interesting experience. I am a teacher and I know how a typical school runs in the States. Lets just say that in the DR school is very different. We plan to go each day for our final two weeks here.

I can say that one of my favorite things to do down here has been to hang out with the Jenkins kids. They offer so much love and so much compassion for the people here in the DR. They each serve in their own way and love doing it. I am going to miss the kids when we return home. Of course I will miss Brooke and Brad too. They have been so wonderful to welcome us into their home and to take care of us the way that they have. The Lord is truly working in this family and I look forward to seeing how they impact the world around them for Christ in the future.

Lauretta and I decided to help a young girl that lives in Augas Negras. We decided to allocate funds given for our trip to purchase the supplies to help build a home for her. She is 16 and she takes care of her younger sister. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have to care for my sister and to find my own place to live at 16.

There seems to be so much injustice here. Those that cannot really care for themselves are the ones that suffer the most. Young children have no homes and young women are  sold into prostitution. It is hard to comprehend that many of the children that we play with in the villages are orphans with no place to call home. I pray that God continues to meet the needs of those that live in Puerta Plata. The flesh in me wants to scoop up all of the kids and put them in homes, but I know that God has a plan for each of these kids lives.

Sunday morning in church I became confused during the service. The pastor was preaching in Spanish and I lost the concept of the message. I flipped over to Proverbs and I found the verse “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps” Proverbs 16:9. I pray that the Lord continues to establish the steps of the Jenkins family. I know that they want to listen to the leading of the Lord and to do his will. This family has the opportunity to impact their community in so many ways. I am honored that I have had the opportunity to serve with them.


Please continue to pray for Lauretta and me. Lauretta isn't feeling very well and she needs to regain her strength so that she can continue to serve. Please also pray for the Jenkins family as the follow the path that the Lord has established for them.

A day in the Republica Dominicana

WoW is the word that both Lauretta and I used to describe the day. Actually, both of us came home and posted “WoW” as our status on Facebook without the other knowing it. 

Today was eyeopening in many ways. At times we were surrounded by beautiful scenery, yet we were also surrounded by things that were so ugly. The Dominican Republic has green mountains and crystal blue water at the beach; the pineapple here is exquisite and rice and beans are quite tasty. But there are people with no food here, and children that run around naked. There are whole communities of people that are discriminated against here and people that live day to day off of what they can scavenge in a dump.  See beautiful and ugly. 

This morning we went to a village called Aguas Negras (Black Waters). When we arrived our truck was met with children. We pulled out a basketball and tons of boys gathered to play at the village court. There were also several smaller kids hanging around that didn’t seem to have much to do, but one of the kids found a flat ball and we began to play catch. I noticed that the kids kept putting the ball up to their mouths and finally I realized that they were blowing the ball up with their mouths. American children would not have dreamed of playing with a ball in that condition and these kids didn’t mind that sometimes the ball went into the mounds of trash around our play area. They just continued to blow the ball up and we continued to play. After a few minutes we went to see a house that one of the young women in the village was building. It was a wooden home and to American standards it would not be considered a great place to live, but compared to the surrounding homes it was pretty nice. This young woman was doing the best she could to have a real home. I am excited that she is going to have a place to live soon. The best part of our visit to Aguas Negras was when we walked to Pastor Jacob’s church. Lots of children followed us to the church and when we walked inside the kids sat down as if they were ready for a service. We responded by beginning to sing a children’s song in Spanish. The kids seemed to really enjoy singing; they all wanted to lead a song. Actually many of the kids lead at some point. We clapped and sang and just enjoyed our impromptu worship service. It was really exciting to see the kids smiling and singing. 

After we left the village we stopped by a beach to celebrate Three Kings Day with a group of about 22 foster kids. These kids are known as Blanco’s Kids. The kids had a party on the beach. When we arrived they were playing with kites, making bracelets and getting medical check-ups. The kids enjoyed their time on the beach and it was nice to see Blanco’s ministry. 

After lunch and a little bit of rest we headed out to another village called Hollo de los Puercos. That means the hole of the pigs and I could see why. The village is home to Dominicans and Haitian refugees. It is located near the Puerta Plata dump; the smell there was one of the worst I have encountered in my lifetime. I have never seen houses so close together or streets so narrow. The main reason for our visit to the village today was to distribute baseball equipment that we collected before we left the US. When we arrived the baseball team was waiting for us at their field. This team had zero equipment to call their own until today. We gave them bats, balls, hats, and gloves. The boys were ready to begin using the equipment right away. They were excited to see the portable bases that we gave them to. Before our day was over the team played a game just to try out the new stuff. For me it was very exciting to see the kids throwing and catching and hitting. I loved playing ball with them. Yes this Gringa loved catching for one of the boys as he hit ground balls to his teammates. I am sure that we will post pictures of this event soon. I know Lauretta got some good shots, sadly my camera died halfway through our visit to this village. Towards the end of our time in Hollo de los Puercos, Lauretta, Brad, Abie, and I all walked to the Haitian portion of the village. We crossed over a trash filled river and spoke to just about everyone we saw. Several kids started to follow us and we played with them as we walked through the village. One of the little boys that we were playing with had the most intoxicating laugh. It actually brought tears to my eyes; he had so much laughter despite his sad surroundings. I don’t think I will ever forget his laughter. 

It is now the end of our day. Lauretta and I just looked through our pictures and we talked about what we did today. We are both tired and ready to sleep but we are excited to see what tomorrow will bring. 

Thanks for sticking with it and reading this lengthy blog. I got a little carried away! 

Dios te bendiga!