Imagine...

One is 6'3" and white as rice, the other is <2ft with beautiful dark skin but when they met it was magical... We picked up Givens on Monday. He and Ethan were quite taken with each other. Ethan held him the whole ride home (which ended up being 4 hours, including stops). If anyone else held Givens he sat quietly just looking at Ethan. They really are adorable together...

I received a referral to the Children’s Home from a doctor in Puerto Plata for child named Givens. He is a 5 month old little Haitian boy, whose mother does not want him. I drove to the Puerto Plata public hospital with a Haitian translator to visit Givens and his mother. Givens is an adorable, bright eyed little boy. His mother was not there. Instead, a local woman was caring for Givens. The caregiver informed me that Givens had an infection and would be remaining in the hospital for a few days.

I still needed to meet with Givens' mom, interview her and obtain her permission to care for Givens. I began by calling a local man, Elmond, who had directions to Givens’ home. After several calls and a lot of waiting we finally met and we left to find Givens' mom. The trip took us off the main road and down a bumpy dirt road.  The road was the worst road I have driven on in the DR. It made the road to Bobita look like a luxury highway. I kicked the truck into 4 wheel drive and we made our way through the middle of nowhere. We found Givens’ mom in a run down community on a muddy, dirt “street”. The homes were made of tin, old wood and anything that could be nailed together. Elmond explained to the mother who I was and why I was there. She said very little. She put her "X" on the spot and just like that, signed away her son. In the end, the neighbors seemed to be more concerned about where Givens would live and who would take care of him than his own mother. The whole scenario was extremely sad and I just wanted to see a little glimpse of love or concern from this woman I had barely met. 

After the interview, Elmond took me to meet Cristo Daniel's mom, Jocelyn, who lives in the same neighborhood. (You may remember Cristo from an earlier post). The situation was beyond sad. Jocelyn was laying on her death bed in a small 2 room shack at the far end of the community.  She had 2 friends and her brother tending her. No other family was present. She opened her eyes when stirred but did not respond when I spoke to her. Through my interpreter, I explained to Jocelyn and her brother that we were caring for Cristo and that he was doing very well. I exchanged contact information with the brother and offered to admit Cristo's 3 year old sister, Ana Patricia, to the children’s home if the family was unable to care for her. The family did not introduce me to Ana Patricia and has not accepted yet. 

All in all it was a depressing day but I have been given a great opportunity to change the lives of 2 children. Please, pray for Givens, Cristo, Ana Patricia and their families. Pray that God may show them his grace and mercy.  Thank you!

If you have never been to the DR with a group, each week we take the groups to the public hospital  2 hours away. The public hospital here is unlike any hospital you will ever see in the US.  First, patients are placed in wards, a large room with approximately 12 beds, no walls and no curtains separating one patient from another.  The hospital does not provide sheets, towels, pillows or toiletries.  There is one bathroom for the men, one for women and one for children. Modern equipment is rare and can only be used when there is power. We go there to help the group realize how blessed they are and give them a chance to minister to the sick. Our visits also bless the patients with much needed prayer and encouragement.

A few weeks ago one of our co-workers, Audrey noticed a small, malnourished boy. Audrey quickly made friends with the gringa who was tending to him.  Her name is Maxine and she and her husband Bill were visiting the DR from Canada. While in the DR, Bill and Maxine attend the local church is a mostly Haitian community.  Maxine and Bill had been helping a Haitian family with food and necessities. When they saw her in the community looking ill they made the effort to find her home.  There, they found little Cristo. Cristo was in dire need of medical care.  He is 2 years old and weighed less than 14 lbs.  The doctors believe without Maxines swift intervention, Cristo would have died.  Audrey talked with Maxine for a while and gave her information about our Hogar de Niños (Children's home). Soon, I was receiving e-mails from Maxine and Bill and hosting a visit to the Manna Children's Home. Cristo was being prepared for release when the MD told Maxine Cristo would need to see a specialist in Santiago, 2 more hours away. He said Cristo needed specialized TB testing.  Maxine called everyone she knew and asked them to pray for Cristo to be released. That afternoon, a MD from Canada was visiting the hospital while in the country for a short mission trip. She approached Maxine and they talked about Cristo.  This MD is a pediatric, TB specialist!  She reviewed Cristo's chest x-rays and test results and cleared him for discharge.  After much discussion with other doctors, Cristo's MD finally agreed and the discharge process began.

After being in the hospital for over 2 weeks, Cristo was released and brought to our home. We were all very nervous about how he would do here.  When I picked him up at his arrival, his little arms felt like sticks, his tummy was distended from severe malnutrition and he wouldn't look at me. The first few nights were rough, he slept little and kept most of the house awake.  He had not crawled, barely spoke and had just started feeding himself. His little system is very delicate from nearly starving to death.  After only a week Cristo's improvement is testament to how the love of God changes things. He has fallen in love with his new family and calls for his favorite family members by name. He is crawling all over the house. He weighs a whopping 20 lbs and is bubbling over with personality. Everyone has fallen in love with him.  It will take a lot of time for Cristo to catch up and be a normal 2 year old.  He may have long term health problems, but he is in a place where he is loved by God and family. 

Sometimes it is hard to see just how the various parts of our work here relate to each other.  This time, they seemed to have worked beautifully!  Please, pray for Cristo and his new family at the Children's Home. There is currently a virus going around the village.  Pray especially that Cristo will not get the virus as any illness will put him back in the hospital.

This is Nadia and her baby. She was born a few weeks ago.  Tim had asked everyone to pray for Nadia when she was still pregnant. She has a long delivery, but everything came out fine.  We were very honores when Nadia asked us to help name her baby.  we thought long andhard regarding a good name, a name that would honor God.  We finaklly came up with Esperanza, wich means hope. Her big brother, Jon who is 4 providedher first name.  Welcome Adalisa Esperanza! May God bless your life.

Us crazy missionaries are very fond of our pets.  We brought our 2 dogs from the US because they are like family.  Our dogs are typically very obedient. They come, sit, stay etc on command. Our neighbors just look at us when we talk to our dogs like people and are surprised when they actually understand us and comply. You see, Dominicans do not befriend their dogs.  They just leave them outside to fend for themselves and throw rocks at them when they are in the way. Most Dominican dogs are very timid and will cower if approached by anyone, including their owners.

There is one problem with being a dog person though. Every dog in our neighborhood seems to know. When I am out and about it is not unusual for a neighbors dog to follow me around or curl up next to me at a neighbors home. Last summer, right after Lindsey returned to the US a small yellow dogs wondered into camp.  She was too well kept and friendly toward us gringos to belong to a Dominican so we assumed a foreigner dumped her. The kids at the camp took to the dog and started feeding her (I told them not too). Brian said the dog was God's way of comforting us after Lindsey left and gave her the same name. The locals some how couldn't quite get it and her name now is LINDY.  After everyone left, I felt sorry for her and continued feeding her.  She has turned out to be a loyal friend.She follows me whenever I leave the house and barks at anyone who comes near.

The house dogs have also proven to be very effective guard dogs.  They seem to know when somebody is friend or foe. When Tim has to be away over night they are extra vigilant.  One night Charlie, our rottweiler mix, heard a noise outside.  In his attempt to go after whatever it was he busted through a window screen and 3 glass window panes before hitting the bars that are on the window. Needless to say, whatever it was, was long gone before I made it downstairs.

Needless to say, we love our puppies and life wouldn;t be the same without them.

Charlie, Our 75lb lap dog

Precious, or Gordita as the local like to call her cause she is a little on the round side

Lindsey and LINDY... Lindsey is not so sure she likes having a dog named after her...

We are excited to have Porfirio (Porfi for short), Carla, Abigail and Daniel here working with us.  They have spent their first week settling in, figuring out what we do with groups and getting to know the team.  They are already starting to feel like family!