It’s hard to believe that it is already January 19^th! The time just keeps on flying by. It has been a busy start to the New Year for us, but we wanted to share with you our plans for this next year and take a look back at 2010.

As you can image the earthquake that struck Haiti in January of last year had a profound impact on our lives and ministry. We have spent the last two years splitting our time between working in the home office and the Dominican Republic. When the earthquake struck we were here in Louisville working on various projects for the ministry. That all quickly changed. Eric took over the lead role in shipping and receiving relief aid at a warehouse here in Louisville. Within three days of the earthquake he was already set up and sorting through the supplies that were coming in and prioritizing them for the urgent needs in Haiti. The first supplies from the warehouse in Louisville reached Haiti within one week and from there over 450,000lbs of aid sent from Kentucky to Haiti. Sunshine put her medical background to work in calling doctors, hospitals and medical groups seeking specific aid necessary for immediately to help those hurt in the quake. Thousands of medicines, casting supplies, rods for bone stabilizations were of such urgent need and in short supply. Sunshine also assisted in helping coordinate our office during this overwhelming time. All told, we were able to get 1.2 million pounds of relief aid into the hands of pastors and leaders all over Haiti. They in turn got the supplies out to their community all the while being an example of Christ!

Eric also coordinated this year’s annual Kentucky Derby Fundraiser for G.O. He also helped with both golf outings and between the three events they raised nearly $100,000 for G.O. Ministries. The funds raised go to help the overall ministry budget and fill in some of the gaps or allow us to start new churches and feeding centers.

After the Kentucky Derby we returned to the Dominican in preparation of our busy summer schedule. Sunshine continued to be the team and staff nurse, which can be a 24 hour a day job. Often times she is up in the wee hours of the morning helping out someone who ate or drank something they shouldn’t have. She also continued to work with Dr. Vlady and his medical clinic, but mostly she helped set up and coordinate the short term trip medical weeks. This last year we were able to facilitate seven medical and dental clinics all over the island. Eric resumed his role in helping to facilitate the short term team trips. He really enjoys the constant pace and getting to meet new people every week. He also assumed a new role in heading up G.O. Ministries internship program last year. We had eleven interns come down for as little as one month up to three months. It is great to have help over the summer, but to also invest in young people’s lives and see them change and grow.

We had several medical trips, one planned and one not, this summer. In June, Eric ended up in the Dominican ER with gall stones. After some prayer and guidance we returned home as he needed to have emergency surgery to have his gallbladder removed. We were back in Louisville for two weeks and fortunately everything went smooth and we were able to return quickly. The hardest part was Eric wasn’t supposed to do manual labor for a month and he was ready to get back helping teams with construction projects. In late July Sunshine returned to Louisville to prepare for the birth of our son. Eric returned in mid-August and then on September 9^th Colton Blaze Leach was welcomed into the world. We have enjoyed stepping into the world of parenthood and pray that we raise him in the ways of the Lord.

2011

To start the year we are continuing to work in the home office. Sunshine of course is preparing for all the medical trips for the upcoming year. She spends a great deal of time helping teams to make sure all the proper medicines are ordered, in preparing them in what to expect and setting things up on our end in the Dominican. Of course, she is also making a wonderful transition into motherhood and like most mom’s she is juggling duties. Eric is currently recruiting and interviewing interns, starting the work on this year’s Kentucky Derby and golf tournaments, and working on the construction/partnership financial reports.

In May we will be returning to the Dominican Republic and after much thought and prayers we have decided to return there year round. We feel like that is what God’s plan for us and we are excited about what lies ahead. We will continue to do what we have done before while down there, but in addition Eric will be working more with the construction projects. He will be putting together cost analysis and projects as well as tracking current expenditures and time tables. Currently G.O. Ministries has nine different construction projects going on and many more waiting to get started.

We are so appreciative of all of your love and prayers and can’t wait to share with you what God will do this year in the Dominican Republic and Haiti!

Well our summer rush of teams of has just about come to an end! Since our last update, we have hosted 29 teams! These teams were a combination of medical, dental, sports and construction. It was an awesome summer of ministry.

My first medical team of the summer was with Windsor Rd. Christian church from Champaign, IL. We visited an area in the mountains that I had not been to in some time. A town called Guayavillo. The mountains in the Dominican Republic are just gorgeous! The temperatures are always so much cooler than down in the city and it is so wild looking! Love it! It has probably been about 3 years since I had participated with a medical clinic there. We hosted the clinic in Pastor Fabio and Antionia's little church that sits on the side of the mountain. We had two doctors on this team, a few nurses, and three EMT's that came to serve. It was a great time together and we always learn so much about each other and the people who live in the community. They are all so sweet! Because I was pregnant, I received a lot of extra attention! They always made sure that I was sitting down, didn't bend over, and had plenty of water...and fresh fruit to eat. The people that we were able to serve in Guayavillo had your typical illnesses that you would see in the States with the exception of parasites!

The incident that I remember the most from that clinic was one day there was a Haitian woman who showed up for clinic. It's always hard to guess how old they are because life it so tough for them, and to me they always appear much older than they really are. She looked really ill, blood pressure was high, couldn't hardly walk by herself. She came alone we thought at first and she didn't speak any Spanish. This can be really difficult for the doctors to communicate with her and form a plan of treatment when you can't even communicate? After some asking around, we found out that her husband had come with her and he was waiting outside. Not only was he there but he could speak some Spanish. We brought him back and found out that she was pregnant (about 3 or 4 months) and that she thought she was going to lose her baby. On top of all the other medical issues we had also found out that she had drunk some liquid poison to abort the baby. It was difficult to find out exactly why she did this, but the reality is that often times it is because they can’t afford to raise the child. The doctors and I talked with her and formed a plan of treatment and provided her with some medicine for her blood pressure. We urged her to go to the hospital for additional treatment, but she didn't want to go. The group of us prayed with her and for her child. We also made arrangements for her to see us again so we could further evaluate her the next day, but she never showed up. We were able to get a report from Pastor Fabio and did hear that she was better...as for whether she was still pregnant, nobody seemed to know. In two days of clinic, the team was able to give treatment to about 750 people.

This year we had 7 medical/dental clinics. We were able to hold the clinic in several churches in the Santiago area, in the mountains and also had a couple of clinics down in the batey's. When I wasn't working in a medical clinic, I was helping future medical/dental teams prepare for their trips this fall and next spring. I answer their specific questions about how the medical/dental teams operate, how to collect their medicines and what's the area like that they will be going to and how to prepare spiritually/emotionally for what they are going to experience. I love answering their questions, especially when it's a new team. I love to hear their excitement and hearing how their trip impacted them personally as they return to the States!

I just started maternity leave this week. We have the nursery all set, we just need a baby! My official due date is September 11th, although my doctor’s have been telling me the past 2 weeks any time now. Every morning when I go for a walk, I tell God…”OK…today is a good day!”. We will see what happens, but for sure if Colton doesn’t come by September 9^th they will induce me. My family is convinced that the baby will come on the most important day in September…which would be the fourth….. The big Kentucky vs. Louisville football game day!

Eric has been really busy as well. Over the summer he has worked with the teams daily, facilitating their experience. He has spent numerous days out in the hot sun working on constructions sites, playing football with the teams, organizing children’s ministry, and helping to supervise service projects for our pastor’s churches and homes.

One of Eric’s highlights of the summer has been realizing that while we work in the Dominican Republic and Haiti we are also reaching the Americans. A great deal of people who come down to serve with us are in a place that they themselves are searching or crying out to God. It is awesome to see how a week of serving others breaks them down and they open up to God. The opportunity to feed hungry children, sweat in the sun building a church or just the giving of themselves in some way either restores their passion in God or we gain a brother/sister in Christ. This summer we had a team of 100 young adults that were in their 20’s come down on a trip. Towards the end of the week we had the whole team out by a river eating lunch and a couple of people got baptized. It was awesome was to see the spirit of God working right there at the river . We had 25 Americans who came forward to accept Christ and be baptized!

It is our constant prayer that while we share the gospel with the Dominican’s & Haitians that we also share with each other. This year we will have over 1,000 people come on short-term trips to the island and those are a 1,000 people that can have a major impact where they live.

Eric is busy working in the office right now. He is assisting Brook on the annual Golf scramble fundraisers in both Chicago and Louisville. He continues to work on our internship programs, partnership projects, building cost analysis and conferences.

We also wanted to let you know about an event that is taking place here in Louisville, KY on October 16th, 2010. Eric and I are hosting a "dinner & movie night" called "Impact 2010" This is not only a fundraisor for our us, but a night for us to connect with people who are not only interested in mission, and they would also love to be a part of our ministry as well. Eric and I would be happy to send you fliers to hand out. So invite your small groups and your Sunday school classes!

As always, We covet your prayers!

I had an amazing three weeks Dominican Republic...my home away from home! It was an awesome time of fellowship, spending time with my Dominican family, and facilitating an incredible week of teaching and men's ministry in Batey Nueve.

I arrived in the DR March 16th, home to humidity and to the sounds of dogs barking all night along with the roosters(I actually hard a hard time sleeping with all the quiet when I returned back to the states!) My first two weeks in the Dominican I spent checking in on the community medical clinic, visiting with my neighbors, and clearing out the family of mice that had moved into our apartment! I didn't realize mice had a fondness for Italian spices, but Eric and I left some in a bag up in the cabinet, and the little guys made quite a mess! One night I finally caught and disposed of my friend. I felt really bad about it, my niece and nephew have a pet mouse named Mr. Nibbles. (We actually had a small earthquake that same night which woke me up. My bed was shaking and in my sleep I remember thinking that the mouse had come back for revenge and was crawling up my blanket to get me!!) Next time, Eric gets to kill the mouse the subconscious remorse was not worth it!!

While I was there I also visited most of our staff and gave them all tetanus shots. With all the construction we work with, and all the not so clean places we visit, it's important that we take care of ourselves.

March 27th, First Capital Christian Church came to Batey Nueve for teaching and men's ministry. What an awesome week!! We had never taught health classes before, and we really did not know what to expect. The ladies from FCCC taught on germs, the importance of hand washing, importance of clean drinking water, parasites, importance of breastfeeding, and the prevention, symptoms and treatment of dehydration. With each lesson that was taught, they used stories and examples from the Bible. It is one thing to have medical clinics to treat people, but is is equally if not more important to educate them as well.



On Tuesday, we talked about the importance of drinking clean water. The ladies had made up three bottles of water. Each bottle contained a different ingredient. One bottle had salt water, the other sugar water and the last bottle had watered down coffee in it. The idea was to show them that although some of the bottles looked clear, there were "germs" hidden that you could not see. In the afternoon session we talked about the spreading of germs, and the importance of washing your hands several times a day(after you go to the bathroom, and before preparing meals.) The ladies proceeded how to show them how to make a "tippy tap". It's a hand washing station made from a 2 liter bottle, a piece of soap, a nylon stocking, and a coat hanger. The idea was to show the ladies the importance of keeping their water clean, and to make it easy and accessible. A lot of the families have to walk a good distance to get to a community well for their water. By hanging the "tippy tap" on a tree branch in the sun, it keeps the water clean and purified by the heat of the sun. On that first day, we had 68 women for the class!

Wednesdays we spent the morning talking about parasites, and how you become infected. This is a huge problem, and a leading cause of dehydration among infants and children. Many of the children there don't wear shoes, and as a result contract hook worms. You see children and infants without underwear and diapers, and next thing you know they have pin worms and spread them to their brothers and sisters. We also talked about the importance of covering their food to keep fly's and other egg laying insects at bay. It was amazing to see how how the ladies responded to the topics of conversations and how smart they are. This was the first time I had ever been in classes with them. They just soaked it all up! We also talked about the power of mothers in the home. That it's the mom's who have the power to improve the quality of the physical and emotional health of their children and spouses. Mother's can change the world!! It was awesome to encourage them and to help them really realize how important their role really is to their families! At the end of the session, we handed out hygiene bags to the ladies, vitamins, and parasite pills.


Wednesday afternoon, we had a special treat! We traveled to Barahona and witnessed about 20 or so youth get baptized! It was a beautiful day as we watched from the beach as Pastor William and Richard baptized them. We sang some songs and listened to their confessions of faith. We also had the privilege of witnessing on of the Americans from the visiting team be baptized as well! SO exciting!!!

Thursday was another full day. We spent the day talking about diarrhea, dehydration, how to make Oral Re hydration Solution drinks, how to take a temperature, the importance of breastfeeding and passed out 5 gallon jugs for clean drinking water. Diarrhea and dehydration are BIG issues with children and infants. They stop urinating, have fevers, tummy's swell, and can actually kill small children. The ladies taught the mom's the recipe for the ORS drinks, provided them with thermometers, and with liquid Tylenol for the children. They even had a dummy called "Diarrhea Annie" that demonstrated how diarrhea works, what is looks like, and how it looks when a child gets hydrated. The country as a whole has been promoting breastfeeding since last year. In the DR, it seems like that there is this stigma about breastfeeding...only the poor breast feed. We explained to them the importance of breastfeeding their babies, and the benefits. A lot of the women said that they thought formula would be better since a lot of the women's diet was not very good.We explained to them that the "breast" is always best, and told them that even in the states we encourage our women as well to breast feed if they can. The women loved it...before too long they were laughing and asking questions. They were even making jokes about the superiority of women and all the things women can do that men can't! It was a great time!

For three nights, after the education classes were closed for the day, the men of FCCC had a night of men's ministry. The men hosted domino's night, showed the movie Braveheart, and on the last night the men had a foot washing clinic for the men who worked in the sugar cane fields. In total they had about 100 men from the community that participated in the men's events. The men of the visiting team made sure that every night the love of Jesus was shared with them. They live a hard life, and even a desperate existence at times. How do you survive that without the love and hope Jesus has to offer?

Eric has been continuing to work with receiving and shipping goods to the earthquake victims in Haiti. He is also coordinating G.O. Ministries largest fundraiser with the Kentucky Derby.

Eric and I are in need of your help. As of right now, we are operating at a deficit of $800 a month. The cost of living in the states for half the year is a lot more expensive than living in the DR full time. We are in the process of support raising right now. What we need from our current supporters is to introduce us to your small groups and bible studies. Are there people that you know who would be interested in supporting a missions family? Are any of you all gifted in support raising and have some great idea's for us, or even better would you be willing to spear head a support event on our behalf?

We hope that you all are having a wonderful spring so far. We had beautiful weather in Kentucky. We just finished up with our major fund raiser of the year with the "Kentucky Derby." Our staff meetings pumped us up for teams. It's always so good to get together with all our staff family! We miss them when we aren't in the DR with them.

Eric and I were able to get most of the baby's room finished before we left for the Dominican May 12th. We are looking forward to meeting our baby boy!

Please send us a email and let us know how you all are doing. We love to hear from you all and let us know how we can pray for you!!

Dios Te Bendiga!!