New Experiences...

First, we did get to watch the Super Bowl as a group of gringos down here. We hosted the game due to cable trouble at the neighbors. They brought the TV over and we used the other neighbor's cable connection!

But that wasn't a new experience...post from Karen next:

WOW, tonight certainly was a new experience!!! Juan Louis is a neighbor, who does work around our house and garden, like cleaning, raking, watering, cement and brick work, tree removal, banana cutting....(I could go on and on.) . The picture below shows us at the plastic dinner table, covered with a linen table cloth (actually I think it was a sheet). With the help of his brother Victor, the three of them build the house in a day and a half about a year ago. It is only scrap wood and scrap metal, probably mostly gotten from other people's trash. The wall behind the table is the NEIGHBOR'S exterior wall. It is just part of Juan and Juana's house now. The roof doesn't go all the way to the neighbor's wall, so the dirt floor gets muddy every time it rains. They borrowed a hot plate to cook for us, rice, potato salad (Dominican style, they always put carrots in their potato salad and is very good) and chicken. It was GREAT! We provided the strawberry soda, a favorite locally and with Ken. They don't have a refrigerator, so they took leftovers to Juan Louis' mother's house to save until the next day. They were so hospitable and I wish they were smiling in the picture because they are such happy folks but the guy who took the picture (just walked in off the street to say hi) had never used a camera before and it took about five minutes just to show him how to look through the lens and push the button to take it.

After dinner, we settled in for 2 hours of Dominican Dominoes. We brought our table and dominoes over for the game. Notice that the official table has built-in cup holders! Nice!

We will have fond memories of this night forever. I took this picture and wish it showed more of the house...it really puts in perspective the luxuries we take for granted. "Everything else is worthless compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting all as garbage so that I may have Christ and become one with him." (Phil 3:8-9) Juana was so proud of her kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. She gave me a tour. The kitchen for now is in the bedroom, but they hope one day to build one in the corner of the dining area. She had her purses and shoes hanging on nails above the bed. I asked where is her mirror to put on her makeup and she took me to the bathroom and had one little mirror about 8x10 above the sink and then grabbed another one that was stuck in a crack in the wall so she could look at the back of her head and get this...it was a rear view mirror off of a car and the medal that attaches it to the car was the handle...worked great! The word gerry-rigging has taken on a whole new meaning living here. The Dominicans are quite clever and can make things work out of almost anything. (They do take what is counted as garbage and re-use it!)

Juan Louis and Juana have been visiting church and after finding out this past weekend that they don't have a Bible, we're putting it on our to-do list for this week. He has been attending a class along his brother Victor on authentic manhood. Ken is taking it with them along with quite a few Domincans.

Dios te bendiga/God bless you,

Karina

From Ken:

I took a trip down to Batey Pino and Batey Cuchilla on Ground Hog Day. (I saw my shadow, so I guess it's 6 more weeks of 80 degree weather.) I went with some guys to look at the purchase of some land for a church building in two locations. We also toured the dorm and church in the area already built by G.O. in Batey Nueve. The dry, dusty, arid, desert island like conditions were a stark contrast to just 2 hours north in our home in Santiago. We've had rain 4-5 times a week, in the south, there were cactus bushes everywhere and a completely different feel.

Below is the current construction site in Batey Nueve, a model for the other 2 sites we looked at. The first floor serves as a feeding center and church building. As the church outgrows the bottom floor, a second floor will be added for church services, while children will be downstairs for their classes during service. A commercial kitchen with refrigeration will be installed upon completion.

Here is the site at Batey Pino (pine). There currently is no church there. Driving through the area, we saw a witch doctor's house, clearly marked with carvings, symbols, etc. It reminded me of writings in the O.T. of the prophets. This is the current building at Batey Cuchilla. It is wood construction with concrete covering the walls. The new building will be BLOCK and Concrete. It is beside the old church as the other picture shows. The old building will stay up until the new building is complete.

I'll post more updates as I get them, including other photos from the Batey trip!

In Him,

Ken