It has been exciting to see Eric have so many new experiences. Being a missionary is hard work. You get to travel, see new places, and meet new and interesting people. BUT nobody can really prepare you for the spiritual overhaul God begins in your life, the emotional struggles your heart goes through when you witness hungry children, and you have nothing to give them. On top of all that, your a newlywed, and you are adjusting to being married as well. Thank goodness God has BIG shoulders!
Eric was able to go to the Batey's for the first time in March. Eric's number one "job" right now has been learning how to facilitate teams. Eric's previous job experience as Assistant General Manager for Minor League Baseball has prepared him well. He has the drive, determination, and the personality to be a good servant and leader that the teams need. So, Eric along with John (whom most of you know) was able to spend a week in Batey Nueve for a week with Crossroad's Church from Morgantown, West Virginia. The mission that week was to start construction on a church and feeding center for the community of Batey Cuchillo (which means knife in Spanish). Crossroad's Church partners with Pastor Fransico and his wife Yolanda. The community there is about 1,500 people. Life in the Batey's is hard. I can't even put it accurately into words. There is very little electricity, very little running water, hungry families, sickness, and it's so dusty all the time. Batey's are little communities that formed out in the middle of no where sugar cane is grown. Families would settle out near the sugar cane fields where there was work, and that is how these communities came into existence. So the opportunity for ministry and meeting the needs of the people are endless. You are also able to witness first hand the spiritual battle that goes on in the communities. In Batey Cuchillo alone there are three witch doctors living and practicing. Pastor Fransisco has recently started to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with one of the men. It's awesome to be able to work with these pastors and their families to help share the love of Christ where life can be so desperate.
While Crossroads was there, they are were able to witness 7 Haitian men and women be baptzed. Eric said that is was soo exciting to see them make a public commitment to serve Christ. Strong Christan men and women in these communities are so hard to come by. Life is so hard. A friend of mine who lives there, his name is Alejandro, said that "Strong Christian Husbands and Fathers" would change the batey's. That the children need "Christian" role models, so that they can grow up and be good husbands and fathers too! How much we take for granted! Two of the "Americans" on the team were so touched, that they also decided to be baptized with their Haitian brothers & sisters.One other neat worship experience for Eric was that at church he was able to hear God praised in 5 different languages. The team from Crossroads sang some songs in English, there was one lady on the team named Marium who sang a song in German, and Pastor Francisco lead songs in Spanish, French, and Creole.
As for me, I have been busy with team activities as well. During the day, I have been cleaning and organizing in the medical clinic, getting our apartment settled, building relationships with women and kids in the community, and helping medical teams collect their medicines for the summer. It's been awesome to talk with medical team members and hear their stories of how God is working miracles. With the economy getting hit the way it has, it's awesome to hear stories of how generous people are being. It seems like every time some one calls me in a panic....a few prayers and phone calls later....it's all good!
Eric & I will be flying to the states April 14th! We are so excited. Our first stop is Omaha, NE...or as Eric says the "Land of Milk and Honey." I use to think so until I barely lived through a -30 winter with 55 mile and hour winds!! We will be in Omaha visiting Church's and spending some time with Eric's family. April 23rd we will be off to Louisville, KY...that's what I call the "Promised Land." We will be visiting my family and working the Kentucky Derby. SO, if you have not signed up to volunteer yet, there is plenty of time to. We still need about 20 more volunteers. You can go to GO Derby to sign up! We fly back to the D.R. May 10th and begin to prepare for our "Celebration of Partnership Conference, 2009. You can still sign up if you want to come to the conference, just go to our ministry website to find all the information that you need.
Please take a look at the video that Eric created for Crossroads Church. It has some great pictures of what Batey Cuchillo looks like. Enjoy!
