Good Evening!
The last two days have been absolutely wonderful in the DR! On Thursday, we broke into two teams before and after lunch, sending one team into the community to paint faces, do bible stories, play games, and teach them songs while the other team went to finish the projects at the school. What a joy and a blessing it was to do what we did! This was one experience that you walk away from having learned much more about the love of Christ than what you taught to the children. Both morning and afternoon, we had to turn kids away because of the lack of space where we were working. It was heart-breaking to do, but it was a reminder of both God's call for us to reach the world for Christ and His sovereignty in doing so! There are so many opportunities out there. Although we could not reach everyone, we prayed for those that we could not reach that the team coming next week would pick up where we left off.
Today, we went to see another part of the country that is more prominent financially than Los Alcarriozos. We went to Santo Domingo, where we stopped by a market and did a little bargain shopping. Afterwards, we toured the oldest cathedral in the Western Hemisphere, as well as much of the "Old City". It was beautiful! We finished our time there with a delicious lunch and some time at the beach. When we got back, we ate another great dinner and had some time where we talked about our week and all that God did among us. What a joy it has been to lead this group on this journey for God's glory this week. They have each taught me something personally in different ways, and I am thankful for God bringing every person in the team together as it worked perfectly for what needed to be accomplished this week. Thank you all for your prayer, and it will be my joy to see you tomorrow at the airport!
For His Glory,
Tim Whitney
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Wednesday August 11
Good Afternoon!
Today was another wonderful day serving the Lord in the DR! After morning devotions and breakfast, we headed out into the community to help put in a cement floor for a family. The families in the community here live in what we consider wooden sheds with a tin roof, most of them having dirt floors. It is a blessing to get a cement floor, because when it rains you are off the ground and out of the water. They were very joyful to see us working so hard, and it was a blessing to serve them and play with the crowd of children that we drew. We worked all morning long, and it took all 23 of us to form a line long enough to make a chain back and forth from the cement being mixed to the house, but bucket by bucket it was finally finished! It was very rewarding to see the simplest thing make a family so happy.
After some Dominican hamburgers and a game of keep-away in the pool during siesta, we then went back to the school to continue painting and working hard to finish the weight room and classroom buildings we have been assigned. Our team has been growing together more and more, and everyone is still joyful at the hard, yet satisfying work we are accomplishing.
Please continue to pray for our health, both spiritually and physically, as we are half way through our journey. Every participant has grown so much so far, so please pray especially that we not only remain open to what God wants to do through us, but also to what He wants to do in us this week.
For His Glory,
Tim Whitney
Today was another wonderful day serving the Lord in the DR! After morning devotions and breakfast, we headed out into the community to help put in a cement floor for a family. The families in the community here live in what we consider wooden sheds with a tin roof, most of them having dirt floors. It is a blessing to get a cement floor, because when it rains you are off the ground and out of the water. They were very joyful to see us working so hard, and it was a blessing to serve them and play with the crowd of children that we drew. We worked all morning long, and it took all 23 of us to form a line long enough to make a chain back and forth from the cement being mixed to the house, but bucket by bucket it was finally finished! It was very rewarding to see the simplest thing make a family so happy.
After some Dominican hamburgers and a game of keep-away in the pool during siesta, we then went back to the school to continue painting and working hard to finish the weight room and classroom buildings we have been assigned. Our team has been growing together more and more, and everyone is still joyful at the hard, yet satisfying work we are accomplishing.
Please continue to pray for our health, both spiritually and physically, as we are half way through our journey. Every participant has grown so much so far, so please pray especially that we not only remain open to what God wants to do through us, but also to what He wants to do in us this week.
For His Glory,
Tim Whitney
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Tuesday August 10
Good Evening!
Our third day in the Dominican has been another great day to see God's love at work through us both in word and action! After a hearty breakfast, we arrived at the school around 9:15 to continue working and painting on all of the projects that Cristian has for us! We continued to work on the weight room, different classrooms, and the front of two of the buildings. After a long day of painting and sanding, we broke for lunch and our new found love, siesta!
After lunch and our brief break, we headed back to the school to find over 100 kids waiting for us! We broke into three different teams, and rotated the kids through. There was a music and Bible story station, a face painting and craft station, and a recreation station. No one on our team speaks much Spanish, but the smiles on the kids' faces seem to say that they appreciated what we were doing for them. It was amazing to see the level of excitement as they were singing and dancing about God's love, and learning how Christ freed us from the bondage of sin!
God has been very gracious to us so far this trip. Rain has come at perfect times to cool us down, a breeze is always just around the corner when needed, and we have seen so much progress in our projects at the school that tomorrow we will be going out into the community to work on a house and do mission work there! Thank you all for praying for us. Please continue to pray that we would have the strength and be faithful to serve as God directs us to.
For His Glory,
Tim Whitney
Our third day in the Dominican has been another great day to see God's love at work through us both in word and action! After a hearty breakfast, we arrived at the school around 9:15 to continue working and painting on all of the projects that Cristian has for us! We continued to work on the weight room, different classrooms, and the front of two of the buildings. After a long day of painting and sanding, we broke for lunch and our new found love, siesta!
After lunch and our brief break, we headed back to the school to find over 100 kids waiting for us! We broke into three different teams, and rotated the kids through. There was a music and Bible story station, a face painting and craft station, and a recreation station. No one on our team speaks much Spanish, but the smiles on the kids' faces seem to say that they appreciated what we were doing for them. It was amazing to see the level of excitement as they were singing and dancing about God's love, and learning how Christ freed us from the bondage of sin!
God has been very gracious to us so far this trip. Rain has come at perfect times to cool us down, a breeze is always just around the corner when needed, and we have seen so much progress in our projects at the school that tomorrow we will be going out into the community to work on a house and do mission work there! Thank you all for praying for us. Please continue to pray that we would have the strength and be faithful to serve as God directs us to.
For His Glory,
Tim Whitney
Monday, August 9, 2010
Monday August 9
Good morning everyone! We have had a wonderful time so far in the Dominican Republic getting familiar with the city and getting introduced to the people. After a travel day on Saturday, we arrived at the compound around 9:15. We would have been a little earlier, but the further you get away from Santo Domingo, the more exciting the roads become for driving. Our driver miscalculated a pothole in the road, but the guys worked hard and quickly to get us moving again. The locals were wonderful in helping us out (literally!), and already we began to feel the hospitality of the people in Los Alcarriozos. Upon arrival, we were greeted with a very generous portion of chicken, rice, vegetables, and of course "pop". After such an exciting trip, Cristian (the local missionary) gave us a great overview for the week, and after some time to talk about our day and what would come tomorrow we were off to bed.
Sunday started at 7AM. We were up for devotionals, and ready for breakfast at 8:30. We began walking to the church at 9:30, and were very excited to worship with the local church. It is always a joy to worship in a foreign country! The pastor is from Korea, and we joked that we could not understand his Spanish because of his Korean accent! During the service we got to see how Jesus is glorified in the Dominican culture. They like loud music and moving to it! In the little church with a portable sound system and no air conditioning, it seemed as if everyone from the worship team down to the children in the congregation were worshiping with total abandon. It was a privilege to then introduce our team, and Moriah Brillhart sang a beautiful Spanish rendition of "I'm Singing" by Kari Jobe.
After church, we walked back to the compound to eat another very good meal, followed by our first "siesta". We all determined afterward that we are going to introduce the idea of a siesta in America, because resting from 1 to 2 was wonderful! It was a good time to think about the service, and prepare our hearts for the walk that Cristian was going to take us on. Cristian's desire was to not only show us how the people live, but who they are. We walked up and down many different streets, and handed candy to the children who seemed to latch onto us for as long as we had candy to give. Even after, they followed us around the entire time, coming up and trying to talk and then running away. It was a humbling experience to see them and their families smiling and content in their tin homes with one room. Cristian showed us many of the homes and schools that God has miraculously provided money and teams to build, and also shared his vision of what he would like to do next. When asked "How many people have you seen come to Christ because of what's been done here?", he replied, "The exact number, I am not sure. But I know well over 10,000."
We then went to the school, and played baseball (which the local kids destroyed us in), basketball (which we kind of held our ground, but still lost terribly), volleyball (the only reason we did OK is because we are taller), and soccer (we made a noble effort!). It was a great introduction to the kids, and a great time of building relationships. Later this week, we will be coming back to share Christ with the very kids we were playing with. What an exciting time that will be!
As our day was winding down after dinner, we took some time to think about our expectations for coming and our perceptions now that we are here. The people here are very generous, very poor, and very much need Jesus. After a time of great conversation and evening devotions, we were off to sleep to rest for our first day of hard labor.
Today we are sanding down concrete walls in the soon-to-be only weight room around, painting, and cleaning up cement bricks and wood in order to paint. Cristian shared that there is a major drug problem in the area, and the work we are doing is providing people with an alternate place where they can hang out, work out, play sports, and learn about the Gospel. Thank you all for praying for us so far! Please continue to pray for our health, our servant attitudes, and that we would also not miss what God is doing in our own lives through this time of serving Him. More to be posted tomorrow!
For His Glory,
Tim Whitney
Sunday started at 7AM. We were up for devotionals, and ready for breakfast at 8:30. We began walking to the church at 9:30, and were very excited to worship with the local church. It is always a joy to worship in a foreign country! The pastor is from Korea, and we joked that we could not understand his Spanish because of his Korean accent! During the service we got to see how Jesus is glorified in the Dominican culture. They like loud music and moving to it! In the little church with a portable sound system and no air conditioning, it seemed as if everyone from the worship team down to the children in the congregation were worshiping with total abandon. It was a privilege to then introduce our team, and Moriah Brillhart sang a beautiful Spanish rendition of "I'm Singing" by Kari Jobe.
After church, we walked back to the compound to eat another very good meal, followed by our first "siesta". We all determined afterward that we are going to introduce the idea of a siesta in America, because resting from 1 to 2 was wonderful! It was a good time to think about the service, and prepare our hearts for the walk that Cristian was going to take us on. Cristian's desire was to not only show us how the people live, but who they are. We walked up and down many different streets, and handed candy to the children who seemed to latch onto us for as long as we had candy to give. Even after, they followed us around the entire time, coming up and trying to talk and then running away. It was a humbling experience to see them and their families smiling and content in their tin homes with one room. Cristian showed us many of the homes and schools that God has miraculously provided money and teams to build, and also shared his vision of what he would like to do next. When asked "How many people have you seen come to Christ because of what's been done here?", he replied, "The exact number, I am not sure. But I know well over 10,000."
We then went to the school, and played baseball (which the local kids destroyed us in), basketball (which we kind of held our ground, but still lost terribly), volleyball (the only reason we did OK is because we are taller), and soccer (we made a noble effort!). It was a great introduction to the kids, and a great time of building relationships. Later this week, we will be coming back to share Christ with the very kids we were playing with. What an exciting time that will be!
As our day was winding down after dinner, we took some time to think about our expectations for coming and our perceptions now that we are here. The people here are very generous, very poor, and very much need Jesus. After a time of great conversation and evening devotions, we were off to sleep to rest for our first day of hard labor.
Today we are sanding down concrete walls in the soon-to-be only weight room around, painting, and cleaning up cement bricks and wood in order to paint. Cristian shared that there is a major drug problem in the area, and the work we are doing is providing people with an alternate place where they can hang out, work out, play sports, and learn about the Gospel. Thank you all for praying for us so far! Please continue to pray for our health, our servant attitudes, and that we would also not miss what God is doing in our own lives through this time of serving Him. More to be posted tomorrow!
For His Glory,
Tim Whitney
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Sunday August 8th
We arrived safely and on time yesterday! Today we are going to worship with the local church and do a community tour, then come back for a basketball and volleyball tournament with the school.
Tim Whitney
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
2010 Dominican Republic Journey
Pray for this team as they travel on Saturday August 7.
Tim,Meghan,Pam,Cheryl,Rob,Moriah,Jenn,Kerri,Isaac,Amber,Moriah,Sarah,Matt,Andrew,Noah,Liz,Hannah,Rachel,David,Zach,Elizabeth,Haley,and Levi
Tim,Meghan,Pam,Cheryl,Rob,Moriah,Jenn,Kerri,Isaac,Amber,Moriah,Sarah,Matt,Andrew,Noah,Liz,Hannah,Rachel,David,Zach,Elizabeth,Haley,and Levi
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Enjoy The Pictures!
Students are doing an awesome job in Cincinnati! They have put on a neighborhood block party for children yesterday and are out canvasing the neighborhood with onfo about Origins Church today! Please continue to pray for their efforts to reach out for Jesus in Ohio!
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