Hearts in Hispaniola

Hearts in Hispaniola: Building a Church, Building a Bridge...

Bitter Sugar

We have long supported the work of William Decena, a former cane cutter of Haitian descent, in Batey 9. G.O. has helped him construct a church and establish a nutrition center there for the children suffering the most from malnutrition. We have recently broken ground on a new church in his community and just completed a dormitory there for facilitating short-term teams so that they may serve in the surrounding Bateys. This community consists of a people group of Haitian descent brought over from Haiti to be economically exploited in the sugar fields of the Dominican Republic. Poverty is difficult enough when it is circumstantial. In the Dominican sugar industry poverty among the peoples of the Bateys is the result of the bitter threads of nationalism, classism, and racism having been woven into a bitter cord of injustice. James 5 makes it clear that such injustice will not go on forever.

The Price of Sugar is a documentary chronicling the suffering and economic injustice placed on one particular Batey owned and run by a Dominican family. A Spanish Catholic Priest who has invested his life among these people has helped to organize the making of this film in an effort to bring to light the suffering of these people without a voice. The Bateys G.O. Ministries works in do not suffer to the degree that this Batey does but unfortunately there are many parallels and commonalities.

Please make an effort to see this film.

If you live in Louisville, Ky it is coming to Village 8 from January 18th to the 24th.

Here is the trailer:

Here is the link to the films website:
http://www.thepriceofsugar.com/

A Ministry Overview of 2007

Much has been accomplished in 2007 on the island of Hispaniola for the sake of the Kingdom. A church and nutrition center have been completed as well as a dormitory for facilitating teams in Batey 9 in the Southwestern part of the DR. In addition to that four new churches and nutrition centers are under construction. Below is our Christmas video highlighting some of that work. We are blessed to have a full year of ministry behind us and a very exciting year ahead. Thank you for your prayers and support, both financially and through your friendships.

God's Blessing and Provision for Our Family

We came back to the states in the summer of 2005 to very difficult circumstances. Our daughters' lives were threatened by a rare high risk pregnancy as well as a dramatic two and a half month premature birth. It is many of your prayers and the prayers of our Dominican and Haitian friends and family that helped to sustain us and the girls. They continued to sustain us through the discovery of our daughters' profound hearing loss and it's consequences. We have put a video together to commemorate both their survival as well as one year of listening with their Cochlear Implants. You have been a blessing to us. We hope this blesses you.

Grace and Peace,

Jeff & Vicki

Tropical Storm Olga Strikes...

As we prepared to celebrate the holidays Tropical storm Olga made an unfortunate turn. It cut right through the center of the island of Hispaniola from east to west. Typically these storms pass across the southern coast, failing to threaten the center of the island. Tremendous amounts of rain lead to record flooding in Santiago, the second largest city in the Dominican Republic. The receding waters will likely leave vulnerability to water born diseases as well as explosions in the mosquito population likely leading to a surge in mosquito born illnesses. The poorest of the poor live near streams and rivers. They are the most severely affected. But even those living a little higher up in the valleys were also overwhelmed by the loss affected by swollen and raging waters. The local churches affiliated with G.O. have been quick to respond to needs for clothing and other necessities. The video below was shot by Isiais, one of the Dominicans we work with. He was kind enough to go down to The Hole to survey the situation. Watch below.

Please pray for those who have suffered tremendous loss due to this storm. Those who lost everything already had especially difficult lives. This disaster will be an obstacle to overcome.

Scroll down to view other photos of Santiago under water in the right hand column.

Here comes the bride...

On my first trip to the Dominican seven years ago I met Vivianna. She's one of our translators for G.O. Ministries and over the years I've watched her make children in desperate situations smile with hope while singing and dancing to songs, bring people to deeper spiritual insight through interpretive dance and mimes, and bring people to tears of laughter with her quick whit. She's truly been a blessing to many through her time with G.O. Ministries and this past weekend she married Kent who came to the Dominican the same year that I did on a medical trip as a dentist. While only an uncle was able to make it to the states for the wedding, I was incredibly privileged to be there and love on her as her surrogate family.

Vivianna and her Uncle Dr. Disla who also served with G.O. Ministries.

Vivi and Kent.

Brittany, Vicki, Vivi, and Jen

Intensive Training...

One of our Pastors studying during the lecture

Brian teaches while Isiais translates into Spanish

I was pleased to host Brian Johnson in the Dominican from August 13th through the 20th. Brian is a professor of New Testament studies at Lincoln Christian College and came down with me to share in the training of our pastors. While he was there he taught classes, lead Bible studies in the evening and preached 3 times on Sunday. We kept him on a busy schedule!

Brian spent 5 hours a day for 5 days leading our pastors through a theological overview of the New Testament. This systematic approach is mostly unavailable to our pastors due to lack of financial resources and availability of learning opportunities. It was a huge blessing. Some pastors brought new leaders from their church so that they could share in being sharpened and in the responsibility of passing the knowledge on to the rest of the community.

The trip was a success in many ways. The Pastors were edified, Brian enjoyed his time and has committed to coming down four times in 2008 for more training. We already have him set up to come down in March along with a team of 20 Bible college students. Brian has agreed to help me in developing other contacts to come down and teach. All in all the trip was a tremendous blessing!

Brian Johnson's NT Class of 2007