Imagine...

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!

This week Lindsey, our daughter and Chad, a previous intern visited us for the week.  They said they didn't just come here to visit but to work, and work they did.  They painted the water building at the Children's Home, put the Manna logo on our new luggage trailer, played with kids, readied the camp for this weeks group and were an over-all blessing to the team her.  We love it when we have visitors that make themselves right at home.  Thanks Linds and Chadwick!

Chad, Ethan and Kyle painting the CH sign

 Lindsey showing Daniel and Lisea some pictures

Lindsey and Chad working hard

The finished Trailer looks GREAT!  

In January I discovered that my kitchen cabinets had become a science experiment.  I had mold everywhere.  Whenever I opened a drawer or a cabinet black dust would fall everywhere.  The last straw was when Tammie found a mushroom sprouted from our grout.  Thanks to the kindness of a friend (thanks Patty and Martin) the work has begun on replacing my cabinets. JB, one of our neighbors is making the new cabinets out of Cement.  They are really looking good! I will post a picture when they are done.