Tag: Dominican Republic

The Heideggers and Niños de la Luz

Our time that we spent with Niños de la Luz was some of our greatest spent in the Dominican Republic, so when our friends the Heideggers were looking to go out on the mission field, we made sure they knew about Niños de la Luz and so they met up with Jon and Shannon to see what it was all about. Needless to say they loved what they saw and now have been there since 2017 serving.

Please pray for and support the Heideggers as they serve. They are a family committed to Christ and who love people. Here is their website: https://www.heideggerfamily.com/

 

Harvest Connections – Connecting Missions

While we were living in Sosua there was a group started to help bring together the different missions that operate in that area. The group is called Harvest Connections.

There are a couple of goals within this group, one being that each mission group knew about the others. This in turn can help them share resources, which this has already taken place in a couple on instances. Another goal was to help connect those wanting to serve in the area with the mission groups already working there.

Well, I volunteered to build the website at www.harvestconnections.org which is finally ready to show others. There are some further plans for the back end of the website to help the mission groups communicate needs to each other, and on the front end to help categorize in different ways.

Take a look and let me know if it has any errors or if you have an idea that might improve it.

Harvest Connections

 

 

Houses for the Poor

Many of you know that we are working in a village called Villa Paraiso. It was built by the Samaritan Foundation here in Sosua. The homes are given to some of the poorest in the area and for us Americans this would be beyond poor in the USA. Villa Paraiso is a village built for Dominicans while some of the previous projects were geared for Haitians in the area.

Los Algadones is a village named after the cottons, there is a large piece of machinery still rusting in its place that was once used for the cotton industry.

Los Algadones Villa

Original houses in Los Algadones

 

Inside of house

 

Inside of house 2

Basic living

 

Old houses in Los Algadones

Shacks not worthy of living in

 

As you can see the living conditions can be worse than what we would allow a lawnmower to park in. Dirt floors rusty and holey roofs. Rotting wood for structures with plenty of insects throughout.

Here is the new section of that village:

New houses in Los Algadones

These houses are still very basic compared to the standard North American living. These houses have 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom with toilet and area for showering, but no running water. It has a room for living and kitchen area and most bring in water via buckets from water taps on the sidewalk. A nice smooth cement floor and a roof to keep out the rain, these houses are a huge upgrade and because they do not pay any rent, they are able to spend that money on food or other necessities.  One way to look at the type of living is that of tent camping in the U.S., cooking over open fire or propane stoves, dirt or mud everywhere, mosquitoes, flies and roosters (well, I guess maybe not the roosters 🙂

We have had the blessing of eating with a couple of families in their humble homes and are welcomed with open arms. Very few have luxuries or even a vehicle, but I find that there are many who are at peace and are praising God for everything they have. So the next time you find yourself complaining about a scratch on your car or the size of your house, take a moment and thank God for what you do have. I know that I have been humbled by what people will live with or without here.

Find yourself at the mercies of a loving Father who has given you much or little, yet use all that He has given you for His glory!

2 week short-term Mission trip to the D.R.

Well, we still have the house, so right now we are just planning on going for a short-term trip in June. This trip will be about 2 weeks and we will be going to the new building in Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Currently we are raising funds for this trip, so if you are so inclined to help donations can be made to Helping Hands International here in Medford, Oregon. This trip, like many will be a combination of working on the facility there, ministering on the streets (or towns) and possibly doing something for a needy family.  The plans are never set in stone, since we have to go on faith. That is one of the cool things about the trips, we get to see God do miracles.

This Saturday, May 3rd is the jogathon, if you want to pledge per lap or just a flat amount. Jessica plans on running about 24 laps, I…. well, she will probably be lapping me since I haven’t ran any distance for quite some time.

Please pray for us and the others going on this trip. There will be a few from Cascade High School going, but none of our kids will go with us this time. The kids will enjoy a couple of weeks being spoiled by grandparents.

Plans for the Dominican Republic

As many of you are already aware that we are planning on moving to the Dominican Republic in the near future. Jessica and I both have felt the call on our hearts to move their to minister to the people. We are very excited about this call even though it is a giant step for us to take. When we bought the house we are in now, we thought this would be the last move for many years, but you know what they say about making plans and God laughing.

Anyway, we want to keep everyone in the loop. We really aren’t quite sure about raising support for us to live there, we will still be pulling some income from our business (www.northwestgifts.com and www.urnsnw.com) but will be needing more than that to live on. Our desire, though, is to be asking for support when it comes to a particular project or ministry need.

Currently we are waiting for a buyer for our house, which most people’s first response is how bad the market is. Well, good news, we don’t have to worry about a housing market – If God called us to go, He surely can handle selling a house. So, if you know anyone needing a large house for say a big family with lots of kids – see here: House for sale

Stay tuned here or leave us a comment below.

Blessings,

Shawn