Back in Saskatchewan

We spent a week in Saskatchewan visiting our parents and then went to North Battleford to see our friends Wendy and Chester that we met in the Dominican for lunch. It was great to see them again under normal circumstances. We chatted and laughed and connected and we knew that we would see each other again. Once you have the DR in your blood it just won't wash out!

Going Home

On March 22, 2007 our lives in Los Alcarrizos made a drastic change when we were asked to leave our positions. We were shocked and bewildered as to what had happened, and we still don't fully understand, but will put it on to culture and personality differences. We sadly left the Dominican Republic on March 27th and arrived home to family and friends who met us with open arms and hearts and have allowed us to heal. God in his wisdom answered our broken hearts with blessings and though we miss our dear family in the Dominican we are happy to be home and rest His arms of love. We are sorry it has taken so long to post this, but healing needed to happen and we thank you for your patience. We will continue now to post our ministry in Calgary! God Bless you!

Tracy was back for a visit

A couple of days after we got here in July, Tracy Hutt came down with Careforce for a month and stayed at the camp just down the hall from us. It was nice to see her again for a week with a team of teens from Ontario. We didn't get to visit with her too much as she was one of the leaders of some of the 50+ teens. The team worked very hard on 3 different projects, the foundation of the new school, some sidewalks in the community and a wall at the camp. It was nice to see her again. Funny thing is Tracy didn't want to leave, but they left on Saturday and because of storms in the northern states they weren't supposed to get home until Wednesday. Darn stuck in Miami!

Lindsay, the Butcher

We really came to the Dominican so Rhea could have plastic surgery!! A mole removal happened in our livingroom one night at 11:30 while a Medical Ministry International team was here. Lindsay came in to use our internet to email her boyfriend in India and well we got to talking and we told her she could pay us in surgery! tee hee I asked her to take out my uterus too, but she declined that one. Though she said she had taken out a few earlier in the week. Dr. Rob does this machette look clean enough?

Bathtime!!

Reilly enjoys having a bath in semi-warm water in the laundry sink! The first time we saw her do this I thought she was nuts, but she does it on a regular basis and hey why not. The sun warms the water in the pipes from the water tank on the roof and for a short time the water actually is warm. She seems to know exactly when that is.

Vogue

Auntie Colleen and Uncle Murray gave the girls some new hats and they loved them! Got some great shots of them being cool, but this is my favorite. Look out boys, these girls are gonna steal your heart!

Rebecca and Samuel

Rebecca has been Samuel's sponsor for almost 2 years now and they have a great relationship. He knows she loves him and he is convinced that we are his other family and plans on coming back with us to Calgary. His Mom, Cecilia is a cleaner at Lighthouse School and she might have something to say about her youngest going to Canada. For now, and the next 4 months they will just have to settle for seeing each other when ever they can. July will be a sad time for them.

Mobbed by the afternoon class....

When ever I go to the school in the afternoon and the kids are out on a break I have to brace myself for the onslaught of children running for a hug! It's a rough job, but somebodys got to do it!!

Love.....Don't be afraid to......Let it show!

Murray and Colleen's daughter, Melissa, sponsors the little boy in this picture, Moises. While getting to know Moises, Murray fell in love with little Maria del Carmen, and we mean little. She is so tiny. She gave her heart to him and they ended up sponsoring her. They actually got to go to take some groceries to Moises house and after Murray and Colleen left we were able to take some to Maria del Carmen's. Both families were so happy to have the gifts! Love is any language is a great thing!

New Brunswick!!

We had the pleasure of hosting a Careforce team here from New Brunswick. The leader of this group was Barb Irving, we had met her when she was down with another team in October. She and Rhea had become fast friends and we were so glad to see her and her team. Barb had brought her husband with her, Jeff, aka Quick Draw McGraw, is a pastor in their home town, and 5 other folks from their church and town. Barb made Rhea cry when she opened up her suitcase and brought out a package wrapped in brown paper and then freezer packs. In the package was a container of water, Rhea knew right away what it was, earlier that day it had actually been snow! Rhea was touched! (by the way Barb we still have your container) The team poured a cement floor for a family and did lots of work for the 3rd floor of the school, among other things. They actually became very close with Murray and Colleen who were here at the same time. Colleen is actually from New Brunswick originally. Many things about this week were rewarding and we were blessed by having every member of the team here! God Bless New Brunswick!

Colleen and Murray

Our great friends of almost 16 years came to visit us on February 25th. They are staying until the 12th of March and we pray that they have a good time. The first week that they are here there is a group here at the same time from New Brunswick, which by God-insidence is where Colleen is originally from. Murray and Colleen and the small group of 7 became instant friends. I was happy that both were here at the same time.

The Brucks

Pictured here are Liliana and Ramon Guzman and Wendy and Chester Brucks. Liliana and Ramon you know, they live on the camp with us and are the "caretakers" of the camp and work for APEN, the Latin equivalent of Child Evangelism Fellowship. Wendy and Chester Brucks are from Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan and lived in the same house as we do now in 2000. They lived here for 6 months and the house was not nearly as nice as it is now. The house was smaller and they were here with 5 children! It was nice to talk with them and find out that they had some of the frustrations as we have now, but to hear of the blessings that they received was more encouraging! We became instant friends because of our similar pasts, both families living here and both being Canadian. We plan on getting together with them on our return. Thanks for sharing with us Wendy and Chester! God bless you.

The Three Rebecca's

I would like you to meet our daughter Rebecca, our Dominican friend Rebeca and our American friend Rebecca. Rebecca from New York and her Mom, Betsy were here for a week visiting with their sponsored kids and us. We sure enjoyed seeing them again and God will make our paths cross again! Love you gals!

SHMILY

See How Much I Love You!!


The team from Ohio built a house for a lady named Maria who is a pastor in the community. She and her family were so blessed by these people as were our family. Lori helped me make coffee every morning and we got to become good friends. Lori, Laura, Sue and I formed a small group and talked about God and God-insidinces in our lives. The group had great leaders in Judy and Harold. The 4 bunkees were Brian, Todd, Daren and Rob. What great guys these were! Spent time with our girls and infected their lives forever. Jim and Sherry, Darlene and Dave, Judy and Harold, Sue and Vic and Stacy and Harris all were role models for great marriage! Vic and Sue thanks for loving our girls!! We just really want to impress upon you the difference you made here. May God bless you! SHMILY!

Riding in Style

Todd was delivering sand for bucket hauling to the 3rd floor of the school, and he was empty coming back so I jumped in! He is used to heavy lifting because he is a firefighter. It was nice having this team from Ohio here, such great people. We miss you guys!

Mi Amigas

Ana, Luisa and Me just hanging out. It has been great to have these ladies as friends! I have missed my wonderful friends in Canada so much sometimes it hurts, but these ladies have filled some of the gaps and made me laugh, and cry for joy over the blessings God has given us here.

Operation Christmas Child

In late January a small group representing Samaritan's Purse and Operation Christmas Child came to the camp and we were delighted to be present as hundreds of gifts from North America were delivered to children in Los Alcarrizos! We had been able to send shoeboxes when we were in Canada, but to now see the end result was truely a blessing! What a look on a child's face as you can see!! Imagine this hundreds of times more!

Our girls will miss......

One of the hardest things that we have to do is say "Goodbye" to people we have met. Our girls find this especially difficult. It was something that we had never anticipated, when we said "Goodbye" to our family and friends in Calgary last July we thought that would be the end of our heartache, NOT! When the Ontario team left, Mikaela and Reilly had connected with Cassie and Beth, while Rebecca seemed to not really connect with anyone too much, but when asked who she would miss, she replied with tears her eyes, "David". You three will never know the impact you had on our girls. Brent and I miss too many new friends to mention names! God Bless You all for being a part of our lives and for listening to God to come here in the first place!

Escuela Compass Point!!

A team of wonderful people from Ontario came and did a miracle! They built a 2 room school for a teacher and a group of children! By Canadian standards this was not up to "code", but buy Dominican standards this is an amazing gift given by a bunch of Canadienses!! This little school house will stand for years to come as a beacon of education to the underpriveldged in Los Alcarrizos. The teacher has taught out a school that had a tin roof that leaked, and walls that weren't much better, but the kids came because she loved them as Christ does! This school has 2 rooms on for teaching and one for art, but more than likely she will accept more children in the future, two bathrooms and an area out back for the kids to play without mud!! What an honour to be involved and help with this blessed project!!

Puppet Show at the Lighthouse School

The Ontario team had a group within them who enjoy outreach, so they have developed a puppet show on the story from the Bible called the Prodigal Son. Mikaela and Reilly enjoyed helping them and the team took them in as honorary puppeteers for the 2 weeks they were here. This group of children are from the afternoon program at the Lighthouse School. The kids got right into the show with singing and really enjoyed the puppets. How fun!

The Little School House That Could....

The school is coming along nicely and the roof is going up. In one day the Canadians put up the roof; rafters and corrigated tin! It was an amazing sight to behold, watching this school being built. As was the house in previous weeks. From the school that existed just up the street for 7 years, the little kids would shout, "Canadiense!" They knew what was happening, they were getting a new school.

Just a Little Tired!

The first week the team from Ontario was here the girls went on a bus trip with them to get ice cream in Santo Domingo. On the way back Mikaela was a little tired so fell asleep on the way back next to Sandy! The girls loved being able to help this group. Thanks for the photo Greg.

Look Who's Working!!

Occasionally I do make it out to a worksite and help for a morning or an afternoon. Man do I ever appreciate Brent after doing that, well I always appreciate him, but wow to do that day after day!! What makes it even harder for me is to know that he is doing all the hard stuff! The lifting, the digging, the hauling of cement............sometimes it's nice to be a girl!!!

Meeting Sheurys

The first time Carol met Sheurys he was very timid, but by the end of her stay he was always by her side. He realized the importance of this blessed relationship and since Carol has left he asks about her each time we go over. One day he was visiting with Carol during recess and won't go back in class afterwards so.......he was dragged and carried, laughing all the way!!!