Restoration Ranch

video update

2009-09-27T08:00:00.000-04:00

Catching up

2009-09-26T17:08:00.002-04:00

It's my plan to continue telling you about all that has been happening while we were so busy we didn't write. That means I now get to share photos about some of my family who came to see us two days after the the Breakthrough Outreach team left.

My Aunt Claire(who is my mother's sister), my Uncle Bobby, and their two oldest grandhildren came down to spend a week with us. It was a graduation gift for Cory and an early graduation gift for Taylor. It would be very hard for me to express with mere words how much it meant to me to have them all here, not to mention how much fun we had.

Of course the first thing we all wanted to do was take them to see Restoration Ranch. Aunt Claire has had her heart involved with RR since the very beginning, and it was special for all of us for her to be able to 'set foot' on the premises.

I think Taylor was most impressed with the mangoes and Bobo, our goat, who seemed to have developed a real liking for her very quickly.

Another Great Team

2009-09-11T14:57:00.000-04:00

On the very day that the Living Praise team left for home we received another great team. This one from Breakthrough Outreach Center in Spartanburg, SC. Long time friends, Scott and Shelly Clegg, made the arrangements to introduce their pastor to this nation and to our ministry here. Another match made in heaven. Literally.

We arranged for Pastor Mike Nelson to minister in one of our favorite dominican churches and then we took him out to the farm for some Restoration Ranch ministry! A lot of work with a dash of rest thrown in for good measure.

From there the group went out to San Juan where we have worked for years to add what support we can to Robbie Strickland, the missionary there. Along with a brief message of the gospel, the group provided rice and beans as well as some basic toiletries to the church people of one of the small villages near San Juan.

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

2009-09-10T14:36:00.003-04:00

It's hard to believe how long it's been since this site was updated. So much has happened since the last post so I guess I'll just sum up some of what has been going on.

When we returned from the US in May, we came right to work with a fun team from Living Praise in Taylors, S.C. It was an all male team, and we really enjoyed working with them. One of the men, Bob, has a PhD in the study of insects, and we had a blast at the local school near Restoration Ranch. Bob and I faithfully looked up the correct spanish words for the bugs that I was not familiar with. (Okay, Bob did most of the looking up.) That particular labor was not totally successful as the kids and even the teachers looked at me strangely until I actually described the creature. THEN they all told me the local word for it. Who knew we could have so much fun talking about bugs and insects?

The guys put in a lot of hard work in the construction there at Restoration Ranch also. And then they painted the bunk house. They stayed busy - and seemed to like it that way.

We're Baaack

2009-05-24T17:52:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone. Just wanted to let you know we are back in country and have so much to share. Our time in the States went beautifully, and we got to see so many of you while we were there. When we were in Florida we were able to go to Disney World with our grandchildren and their parents, Mark and Amanda. Pictures of some of our stateside activities will be coming soon.

Since we have been home we have hosted two teams. In fact we are in the midst of working with one of those teams this week. I'll try to get some things posted in the next couple days.

The biggest news of the moment is that THE ROOF IS GOING UP! The workers started last Monday, and in spite of many rainy days, are working quickly, and progress is easy to see. I hope to learn how to post a video of it on here for you. Just need time to sit down and figure it out.

Talk to you again soon.

School Time 2

2009-03-22T09:58:00.000-04:00

There are so many wonderful photos of the team with the kids or just the kids alone that I decided to give you day 2 of School Time. Hope you enjoy the photos.

School Time

2009-03-21T09:50:00.000-04:00

It is always special to arrive and see the children hanging out at the gate waiting for us. They all know who we are now and look forward to each visit.

The day we arrived with the Restoration team was a holiday. Actually it was a day that fell between two holidays. There were a lot fewer children present and many of the ones that were there were dressed in costume for Carnaval. Just another cultural experience for the team!

The team grabbed the goodies and headed in for the fun! They were rewarded with lots of beautiful smiles.

School Supplies

2009-03-20T09:43:00.000-04:00

We have been granted great favor with the local school near the farm, and the administrator has told us that we are welcome at any time and for any reason. Our goal is to make sure than none of the children in this school, to which we feel a certain responsibility now, lack for school supplies. Many of the groups that come bring various necessary items, and we take them into the classrooms and give them to these children who often are doing without.

This team brought hundreds of pounds of supplies. We unpacked them all there at the Restoration Ranch site, and repacked them for ease of distribution. We even had a few 'prize' items so we could have some extra fun with the kids.

Dinner with the Griffins

2009-03-19T09:37:00.000-04:00

It must have been really special for the team and for Shay and Gwyn Griffin to have dinner together in the Griffin's new home here in the Dominican Republic. The Griffin family was sent from their home church, Restoration Church, in Spartanburg, S.C. That makes them family to this Restoration Church team. It was Shay and Gwyn's desire to host the group for dinner one night, and what a delightful dinner it was. Everyone enjoyed the food and was excited to see the house. An extra treat was the presence of Shay's mother there with us. His parents had come down, but Dad had already returned to the U.S.

Jesus Film

2009-03-18T09:10:00.000-04:00

This team came to work on the construction project, but that wasn't their only goal. Team leader, Dick Rodermond, had asked us to put together all the equipment necessary to show the Jesus film. Because of the Ministry Training School we operate here we had a huge screen, the projector, DVD player, and the works so Danny put it all together to make sure each part worked properly with the other. The team looked forward to movie night, and we announced it in the local school the day prior to the event.

The night arrived and rain threatened, but everything went ahead as planned. The guys carried the all the heavy equipment over and got it all set up. An extension cord connected us to a source of electricity, and the neighbors brought chairs out. It is telling of their culture to note that instead of them sitting on these chairs, they gave them to us to sit on. Then they perched on steps, stood, or found other seating.

As usual in a developing nation there were a few glitches, but all of them were readily solved. The most interesting one was that the voltage for the electricity was so unstable that the projector would shut off every few minutes. So we brought out the small generator that Cornerstone Church had purchased and given to us nearly twelve years ago when we moved here! That little generator has seen so much use.

This time it was useful in seeing thirty six people come to receive Jesus as their Savior. It is still going strong. What a great gift it turned out to be!

Remember that previously I mentioned that rain threatened? It was really interesting to note that we finished the movie, finished the prayer for salvation, had a few moments to talk to those who had responded and to give out treats to all the kids around. Just as the equipment was almost totally packed up to go, the rain burst forth. We were all soaked, but the equipment stayed protected and 36 people came to receive Jesus. What a wonderful night!

More Electrical

2009-03-17T08:58:00.001-04:00

It's truly hard to explain all the work that was accomplished and all the labor, sweat, and sore muscles involved in doing it. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words so here are some more pictures. Enjoy!

These pictures of wires and conduit would have meant absolutely nothing to me two years ago! It's amazing how one's perspective can change. These are now some of the most exciting pictures for me to look at! It means progress;it means a job done properly;it means we're a little closer to our goal of bringing in children and 'parents'. Now that's exciting.

Electrical

2009-03-16T08:49:00.002-04:00

Another one of the most daunting projects has been the electrical system. We have been highly blessed to have electricians who choose to spend some of their time here in the DR, taking time off work and away from their families. Stanley Seay is one of those cherished friends. On his last trip here he and Steve Ruff, another electrician, worked extra early and exceptionally late trying to get more and more done before their days here ended. Stanley and his team outdid themselves again this time. It is amazing what these guys accomplish in just a week of work!

Sewer

2009-03-14T15:28:00.000-04:00

The goals this team set were to get the sewer lines run from the building that will house four apartments all the way to the septic tank. This was one of the most daunting tasks. Yet just when the time is right God sends the right people to handle the job. Joel Ball is one of those right people. He has a plumbing business in upstate South Carolina so he knew exactly what needed to be done and how to do it. Others on the team also had experience, and they got so much accomplished!

We are actually able to start talking and thinking about how to have toilet and shower facilities usable in that building. Although the structure is far from finished, these construcion guys know how to make things work around other things!

When we have usable bathrooms in that building, teams will be able to sleep right there on the grounds of Restoration Ranch. We've had a few already housed there, but we've been limited to a small number because we have only two bathrooms at this point.

It was hot and dirty work, but the guys sure seemed to have a good time in spite of being exhausted!

A little rest in the shade and regular water breaks are the only requirements we have out there. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to get these men to sit down, rest, and have a drink of water!

Work to be Done

2009-03-13T17:42:00.003-04:00

Today's title has a double meaning. There is always so much to be done in the weeks prior to travel, and we'll be heading to the US for some weeks of ministry, fun, and family. Somehow, in taking care of all the various things, I let several days go by without updating the blog. And there is still so much to tell you about the team that was here from Restoration! There was a lot of work to be done at the farm, and the team was ready and willing to do it.

At the same time, they have obviously learned the rule about working smarter, not just harder. One of the first things they did was rent a bobcat machine to start moving all those tons of dirt. Whenever you're digging sewer lines and such there is a lot of soil being moved. These guys knew the key to their productivity lay in using their talents for electrical, plumbing, engineering, etc., instead of spending all day digging holes.

But even with that in mind, they all got in their share of digging, picking, shoveling, and everything else!

The Ladies

2009-03-09T10:23:00.000-04:00

On this team were two ladies who were such a blessing to me and to everyone else. It had been decided to have almost all of the meals right there at Restoration Ranch so I had my hands full three times a day! Ginnie Rodermond and Carol Trotter made everything so much easier. And the truth be told, I don't think I washed a single dish. Those two were on top of it. And if there were no dishes left to wash they were likely to be found hand - washing clothes for the team.

Here they are trying to get ink spots out of the pants, trying all kinds of suggestions. I think this one involved warmed milk.

Bobin

2009-03-08T10:11:00.000-04:00

Many of you who have been here are familiar with our black goat, Bobo. He is the only goat or sheep on the premises that has a name. The family that work on the farm named him and have treated him like a pet. They even told us once of how he would come in their house and get up on the bed! He's bigger now and acting a bit differently, but still playful. His form of play involves head butting and love nips so we have to warn everyone to remember how adult male goats play! The point of this story is not just to tell the rest of you about Bobo. It's to tell you about his son. Bobo has sired many goats in the two years that we have had him, but all of them have had the tawny color of their mothers. Just before the team came, a little black male goat was born. And since he looks like his sire, he got a name too! That makes two that have names. The family called him Bobin (sounds like Bowbean). Basically it means little son of Bobo.

With the exception of the one white leg, he looks just like Bobo. The team was amused to see that he very much resembled a puppy as he gamboled around after his mother. He is really cute, but we are going to have to stop naming the 'food'! (No, he and his papa will never be food, but the reason we are raising animals is to provide food!)

First Things First

2009-03-07T10:02:00.002-04:00

All of the team, with the exception of Scott, arrived Saturday afternoon. Our faithful bus driver, Guillermo, took us to Bani where we stopped to let the 'hotel' know everyone had arrived. Then we headed off to Restoration Ranch where Marta had a wonderful dinner waiting for us. On this team were several people who had come last February with Carpenters for Christ. They had helped lay the first blocks and were eager to see what had transpired in the year between trips. While Fran and family were bringing the food out this crew disappeared to the job site! If their expressions and comments told the story well, they were amazed at all that had been done. Sunday morning we had a quick, but delicious breakfast and headed off to church in the capital. We decided to take them to our Dominican home church, and not one complained about having to climb four flights of stairs to get there!

Here's the team looking really sharp in their matching green 'Task Force" shirts.

Bonnie Goes to the Farm

2009-03-05T15:45:00.000-04:00

Whenever Bonnie sees the suitcases come out she gets a little worried. If the trip isn't too long, one of the Burge family usually tends to her here at home. She never knows whether we're leaving her or not so she has her own way of dealing with it!

This time she got to go with us. She's a good traveler and stays in her travel bag until I take her out. Here she is, on the bus having just been removed from her bag - Christian bow and all!

I should have combed her before the picture, but then, I didn't look good all week either!

Setting Up

2009-03-04T17:28:00.002-04:00

Part of the 'fun' of each team trip is setting everything up. This particular team decided to stay in two separate locations since a few of the most adventurous of them wanted to sleep at the farm. The others chose to stay in a hotel in Bani. Trust me when I tell you that the word hotel should be used lightly. We wouldn't want you to have a picture of a Hilton, or a Holiday Inn. Not even a Day's Inn or a Motel 6. Keep moving down the economic chain until you arrive at, "it's more or less clean; that will do". I tell you that so you won't think they were resting in luxury while the rest of us were housed either in a tent or in the bunk beds of the one room currently available at Restoration Ranch. Danny and I chose to stay at the farm in a tent so that I would be able to start breakfast before the team arrived each morning. Last year Dick and Ginny Rodermond left some inflatable mattresses here. This year some tents came along with the team. (Thank you Edgar.) So Danny set up a tent, and then the guys inflated the mattresses so we'd have something to sleep on, not just in. As things sometimes go, the batteries to operate the pump had been left at home so we resorted to another means of airing up those mattresses.

It was low-tech but it worked! Thanks guys. I slept quite comfortably. It was actually really cool to be able to see the stars and sky at night after we went to bed. The tents had a wonderful removable cover for the top that allowed you to be all snug as a bug or just screened in. It was so cold out there at night that after one night of enjoying the beauty of the sky, we had to leave the top cover on. And Bonnie, our Yorkie, absolutely loved sleeping in the tent with the two of us. Her crate wouldn't fit in there with the two inflatable mattresses so she got to sleep with 'mama'. She liked that, and truth be told, I needed her little bit of body warmth!

Team Time

2009-02-25T11:40:00.000-04:00

Many of you are already aware the we are currently with a team out at Restoration Ranch. This update was preposted to appear today. We've actually been at ther farm since last Saturday. The team will be putting on a movie production tonight in an area near the farm. We'll be setting up a huge screen and showing the animated version of the Jesus film. Please join us in prayer for this to be a successful event. When we arrive back home next Sunday I'll try to get everything updated and some pictures on line for you. We truly appreciate each one of you and we pray regularly for you.

Bunk Beds

2009-02-24T11:32:00.000-04:00

A few years ago the Burge family bought bunk beds for the Agape mission house, and we really liked the style. They weren't too bulky and heavy, yet they were sturdy and held up well. Last year we started looking for these beds because we wanted to show some of our friends and supporters the style of bed we were planning to use. Wouldn't you know that they were totally out of stock. And they have remained out of stock, 'but on the way' for an entire year! Just recently we stopped in again and found they finally had them. That was perfect timing for us since we had a team arriving, and four of the team members wanted to sleep on Restoration Ranch property. The last time that happened they had to sleep on cots or pads on the floor. We really wanted to upgrade their room situation this time around! So we negotiated a price and bought two sets of bunks, took them to the farm in the back of our Durango, then returned to the store to negotiate and buy the four mattresses. Believe it or not, we hauled all four of those in the back of the Durango as well!

SWEET DREAMS "FELLAS"!

Casa de Dios

2009-02-23T11:26:00.000-04:00

There is no telling how many years have passed since the day we met Pastor Mike Santos, but from that day until just recently we had not seen or spoken with him. Then we were suddenly reconnected, and that inspired an invitation for us to be in the 3rd year celebration of their church in Santiago. The church is called Casa de Dios (House of God), and is a thriving growing church in the second largest city of this country. (At least I think it's the second largest city, but this is my disclaimer if I'm wrong!)

We had such a wonderful time with them, and since the pastor is totally bilingual he translated for Danny. That gave me the chance to just enjoy the service after greeting the congregation. Danny's message was terrific, and the translation was excellent so it really was a treat for me.

Valentine's Day is for ... Preachers?

2009-02-22T11:19:00.000-04:00

St. Valentine's Day has become a popular holiday here in the Dominican Republic. This year we were invited to minister in a church in Santiago, a city about two hours from the capital. They had planned a Saturday night meeting and the regular Sunday morning service. We were, as always, excited about going in spite of the fact that we wouldn't be 'celebrating' the holiday. But what a nice surprise, when after checking into our modest room, we went down to a quick dinner befor supper and found a beautifully decorated holiday-themed dining area. It's really cool the way God seems to take pleasure in taking care of little things that would be a blessing to his children.

Cornerstone Crew

2009-02-21T13:37:00.000-04:00

We love having people come visit us here. We get excited about showing them Restoration Ranch and introducing them to our adopted nation. You can imagine, then, how much we enjoy having our own family or our own church family here. The Solid Rock team had three of our Cornerstone family as part of the group, and it was really special for us to be able to show them Restoration Ranch and what we are doing here in the Dominican Republic. We can't wait for them to come again - or at least send us some others! These are all Cornerstone folks! (Okay, we have to share the Burge family with their other home church in Columbia, but they'll always be part Cornerstone too.)

That's my barber

2009-02-20T13:29:00.000-04:00

One of the more amusing things that happened while the Solid Rock medical group visited us was when one lady stepped off the bus and saw our newest staff member. I think I wrote that Shay, besides being a general fix-it guy, is a master barber. He cut hair for 10 years back in SC. Now he's here at Restoration Ranch, working in both capacities. He is being a great blessing fixing the mountain of things that always need repairs. And when we finally house children he will be their barber.

We never knew Shay in his role as barber, but others did. It was a funny moment for us when this pastor took her first steps from the bus, looked up, and exclaimed, "That's my barber!"

It seems that he had cut her kids' hair for ten years, then they lost track. She didn't know he was here, and he didn't know she was coming. Funny how things work.

Still Solid Rock

2009-02-19T13:21:00.000-04:00

After the Medical Team had enjoyed the refreshments we went out to the construction site, and gave them a little tour. Like most of our visitors, the beauty of the place captured them. God truly did set apart a gorgeous place to be designated as a home for his littlest ones.

Solid Rock Visit

2009-02-18T15:07:00.003-04:00

We love hosting teams and we love it when people come to visit. We recently had the privilege of a short visit with a medical team that had come to work in the San Juan de la Maguana area of the country. Among this team were three ladies from our home church in Greenville, SC, Cornerstone Church. Through them it was arranged for the group of 31 to spend a little time with us at Restoration Ranch. It worked out that it was a travel day for them, and the farm is approximately half way from where they started to where they were going. I offered to provide refreshments, snacks, and two bathrooms so the team wouldn't need to stop again.
What a treat it was for us! Although I must admit I was a little concerned when the first person Ruth introduced me to was a neurosurgeon. He and I both agreed that it doesn't usually bode well!

Women's Retreat

2009-02-15T20:48:00.000-04:00

For many years a local missionary family therapist and her psychologist friend have hosted a women's retreat. Having no idea what an excellent spritual treat was in store, I never took the time out of my schedule to spend the weekend with them. This year another missionary friend who has been in the country many more years than we have told me that this is the one retreat she tries to make every year. That was enough for me, and I signed up. Within just a short time one of the leaders called me and asked if I would be willing to lead a small group during the retreat. Of course I was. What a blessing for me to have done so. The schedule was beautifully crafted, designed to provide alone time with God, time with your small group, and time all together in worship. My group was a delight for me, and I realize just what all I've been voluntarily missing all these years! After expressing those sentiments to one of the hosts and offering to help if needed, I now find myself as a general coordinator for next year's retreat. One year to soak it all in was all I got! And I'm already looking forward to next year with all the ladies again.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Changing Bulbs

2009-02-14T17:02:00.000-04:00

How many of us does it take to change a lightbulb? It depends!

Dad's Tools

2009-02-13T17:32:00.000-04:00

Many of you know that Danny's father passed away two years ago. He would have loved working outside at the Ranch I think. He was always working in his yard with his John Deere riding mower or his DR trimmer and brush remover. (Or whatever that thing is called!) When Shay and Gwyn were loading their container of furniture and appliances to be shipped down here, they asked if we needed anything placed on there. We had thought many times that the afore mentioned DR trimmer would be a wonderful tool down here on the 20 acres of grass and trees so Shay made his way to Williamston, where he met Danny's mother, Polly, and she entrusted the soon to be miracle machine to him. Now that the Griffin's container is out of customs and all is unloaded we have been able to take the machine out, replace the oil, and do all the other neccesary things to make it work. Apparently Shay ran it for about three hours the other day, and our caretaker, Fran, was super impressed. He said it would have taken him at least a week with his machete to cut that much. Even today when I talked to him he was going on and on about that 'cool machine'. I think Dad Stone would have enjoyed seeing the excitement on Fran's face, and I think he would be happy knowing that his machine is being put to such good use in his absence.

Two Weeks Gone By

2009-02-12T19:23:00.003-04:00

It's hard to believe two weeks have slipped by and I haven't taken the time to update this page. We've actually had a lot happening. I think I'll try to catch you up a little bit today and then go from there. The last post showed pictures from the first day of our two day toy give. I'll include some photos of day two in today's post. Our second day was just as successful as the first day, with one tiny little problem. I managed to fall that morning before we left for the ministry. So many people, not to mention the little children, were depending on me that day that it never occurred to me to not go. We had a wonderful day, and I did my best to coddle my left leg and my right ankle. I didn't even know how to hobble! I just leaned less on whatever was hurting most at the moment. I'm sure that Melynda's prayer for me helped get me through the day. When I didn't seem much better a week later we finally saw a doctor. What a blessing that I had not broken anything. The doctor said I should 'continue' staying off my feet for another couple weeks. He obviously doesn't know me! In case you're wondering, I am doing much better although there is still some stiffness and soreness. That is probably from the heavy bruising, but I'm good to go again. Some of our more exciting news is that we were finally able to get Shay and Gwyn's container out of port. They had basically been camping indoors for the previous two months. I know they were happy to have furniture, towels, books, etc. It took all of us and friends to get their things out of customs. The Burge family went with them to the port several times. We had a friend with 'connections' helping from his end, and then Danny and I spent a couple of full days along with all of the people above. Our reward was not only that the Griffin family finally had their belongings. They had put a new gas clothes dryer on their container for us since our electric one had quit working back in October. After having clothes hanging all over the house for four months I was just about as happy to get their container as they were!

Okay, that's enough for one post. Don't want to make it so long you get tired of reading it! More tomorrow. Seriously, I really will write more for tomorrow.

Toy Give

2009-01-25T09:17:00.001-04:00

Here are some more photos of our first day of the toy give away for needy children. This time we were in an orphanage in La Romana. I hope the pictures give some idea of the joy we experienced by participating in this two day event.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Toy Give Away

2009-01-24T08:30:00.002-04:00

In a previous post I told you pretty much all I know about King's Day. Today you get to read what we did about it! As I wrote Thursday, we are blessed with many wonderful friends. This year some of those friends invited us to be part of something they have been doing for quite a few years, taking toys out to poor children who may not have been given anything else during the holiday season.
Euri and Zinayda Cabral and their daughter Cheizi started this tradition one year by just taking the older toys that Cheizi and her sister had and giving them away in a needy area where an employee lived. The following year some people added their own toys, and now has grown to the place where businesses donate the toys. In the great tradition of our Lord Who is always more than enough, this year there were more toys than they needed for the area where they work. The Burge family suggested an orphanage in La Romana, and we suggested some poor villages closer to the Haitian border. Thus began two days of joyous ministry. The youth group from our church went along, most of them dressed as clowns. We were impressed with the organization. While the set up team was getting everything ready, the 'clowns' were painting balloons, flowers, hearts, and cat whiskers on the faces of the kids. What a fun way to keep them occupied while things are being readied. The youth, led by our friend Maria Tinedo, had songs, dances, and puppet skits prepared. Everyone had so much fun - those being entertained and those entertaining them! And then came the gifts. Something special for each and every child. There are few things more enjoyable than watching kids at Christmas.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Birthday Time

2009-01-22T12:11:00.000-04:00

We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends here in the Dominican Republic. They are truly our family here, and as is the case with families, we have established traditions. For 10 of the almost 12 years that we have lived here, we have celebrated Danny's birthday with friends, Charlie and Darla Finocchiaro. Often other friends were involved as well, but always Charlie and Darla. A few years ago, long time SC friends, Greg and Melynda Burge, moved down here with their family to assist us with Restoration Ranch. This year we had the treat of honoring Danny on his birthday with both families. We are truly blessed.

Most of you know that about 10 days ago I took a fall and injured my leg. I was supposed to stay off it and keep it elevated so preparing a birthday dinner and cake was out of my range of possibilities. Our friends jumped right in. Melynda offered to make a lasagna and host us at her house. Darla made the pound cake and fresh strawberries and ice cream, and we threw together a salad. We enjoyed a most delicous meal together and then spent the evening playing games. Danny won! How's that for a birthday gift?

BBQ - correction

2009-01-21T14:02:00.002-04:00

I just love blogs! The great thing is that we have a way of communicating with you without having to wait an entire month for the newsletter to go out. The not so great thing is that we have an immediate way of communicating with you! Sometimes information goes out without us realizing that we have incomplete details or even erroneous ones. In the case of the BBQ fundraiser, we didn't realize just how many people and churches are involved in accomplishing this tremendous goal. There is an entire steering committe working diligently, quite a few upstate SC churches and their pastors, a couple of area ministries, and many others. We want to express our appreciation and thanks to each and every one: the steering committee, Carpenters for Christ - Mike Ravan, United for Christ - William Renfrow, and several upstate SC churches and pastors for all their hard work in putting this together. We hope all of you reading this that are within driving distance will participate and enjoy some great food. Does anyone know how I could get some of that BBQ down here on the island? I would gladly trade you some rice and beans.

BBQ Mmmm

2009-01-17T10:26:00.004-04:00

Hi everyone! We have an exciting and tasty treat for you. Wish we could fly home and join you for this one! First of all mark the dates Friday and Saturday, January 23 and 24. Now make plans for the most delicious and easiest way to help get that roof built on Restoration Ranch's first four apartments. Here are the details.

The owner of Mutts in Greer has volunteered his time to cook for a BBQ fundraiser sponsored by William Renfrow and Restoration Church -all to raise funds for the roof project. On Friday they will be offering BBQ plates for $5. Bulk bbq can be purchased on Saturday at $10 per pound. It can be picked up at Spartanburg Expo Center or arrangements can be made for delivery or to meet you somewhere.

The key to making this successful is participation. So encourage your company, your church, your civic group to call one of the numbers below to preorder your delicious BBQ. Preordering is necessary so that we know how much bbq to prepare. Make sure to get some bbq on Saturday to put in your freezer for later or to serve Sunday after church so you don't have to cook! Remember: Pre-order!

The numbers to call are:
Mike Ravan 864-621-0916 or Dick Rodermond 864-415-5509 Checks are to be made to Carpenters for Christ.

Epiphany

2009-01-09T09:56:00.001-04:00

The day I posted the story of Kings' Day my daughter, Jessica, sent me the following article. It answered some unasked questions I didn't know I had. For example: "what is twelfth night?"

The following is an excerpt from an article in the Jan. 6, 2009 edition of The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor:

Epiphany, the 12th day of Christmas. It celebrates the day when the three Magi visited Jesus and gave him the gifts of frankincense, myrrh, and gold.

Christmas Eve begins the 12 days of Christmas, so January 5th, the eve of Epiphany, is called Twelfth Night. William Shakespeare wrote a play for the festivities in 1602, which is why it is called Twelfth Night.

James Joyce's famous short story "The Dead" is set at a party for the Feast of the Epiphany. The story ends: "His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead."

Kings' Day

2009-01-06T13:38:00.001-04:00

This is a special time of year in this nation where we live. It was a little surprising for us when we first moved here to see that Christmas Day is almost a non-event here for most families. Christmas Eve is celebrated with a huge family dinner, and we are always invited to be 'family' with someone each year that we are in country. Christmas Day, however, normally is drastically different than it is in the U.S. It's not really a day of exchanging gifts and unwrapping presents. Here, in the month of January, we celebrate Kings' Day which is to commemorate the time when the wise men brought gifts to little Jesus. In most families, on Kings' Day children are given as many gifts as the parents can buy - just like in the U.S. Christmas is, and always has been, a favorite holiday of mine. Yet I find myself drawn more and more to honoring the day when gifts were brought to Jesus. I don't suppose it matters when one honors Him, just the heart behind it.

We were talking with a pastor in the US about this holiday and custom here, and a wonderful idea was presented. In December Americans bought each other gifts and had a wonderful time celebrating the birth of our Lord and Saviour. We would like to offer an opportunity to celebrate Kings' Day with us by purchasing one more gift, this one to give directly to Him. If everyone who has requested to receive our newsletter would 'gift' one square meter of roof for the orphanage home, we could have the roof on in about 60 days! Once the roof is completed the rest of the work can be done - and done fairly quickly. What a wonderful way to honor our Lord - get that building finished so we can begin to take in and care for these abandoned and orphaned babes.

If you can afford to do so, would you consider a special gift of $75 this month to celebrate with us this time of year when we remember the giving of gifts to the little child Jesus?

Progress

2009-01-05T13:27:00.003-04:00

Do you know how it surprises you just a little when it's been a long time since you have seen a particular child, and they have grown so much since that time? Although you know they are getting older and growing up somehow it just impacts you when you see those changes. If, however, you see the child daily those changes go mostly unnoticed. It was sort of the same feeling when we took Jessie and Pat out to Restoration Ranch this week. When they visited us last year, we had just purchased the land, and had not even begun the construction process. Yet a year later, they could stand in front of a two story building that is growing closer and closer to completion. It was a lot of fun taking them into the building and showing them the rooms and the lay out of the homes. Retired Colonel Jessie is like Danny, in that she understands a lot about the construction just by nature - and her upbringing. Retired Colonel Pat is more like I am, we might be able to repeat the words and still not know exactly what we are talking about! (That makes for fun translating too!) Both of these ladies are in their 70's and don't let a little thing like age or illness keep them down! We were delighted to have another chance to show them Restoration Ranch and all the progress that has happened in the last year. May their health allow them a trip to see the finished project in the near future.

Cousins in Town

2009-01-04T09:37:00.004-04:00

Because we live outside of the U.S. we don't get many visits from family so it is always special when we do. This week my mother's cousin (so therefore my cousin)and her friend, Pat, are visiting our adopted nation and spending a couple days of their trip with us.
Jessie was an officer in the military, but she's so sweet it's hard to imagine her giving orders.
The two of them and sisters, Julie and Sharon made plans to vacation here on the island and took time out of their schedule to come into the capital to have lunch with us. It's always fun to introduce friends to some of our favorite places here, and this was no exception. Their taxi driver brought them directly to Adrian Tropical, a nice restaurant situated right on the ocean front. We had a wonderful time getting to know the friends and catching up with the cousins. Then, of course, since no tourist trip to Santo Domingo is complete without a trip to the souvenir market, we all headed out to Mercado Modelo where everything you could possibly want to take home is sold. From coffee to machetes, from paintings to tarantulas, you can buy it! Of course not everyone thought shopping was a must-do. Some just watched the others shop!

New Year's Eve

2009-01-03T16:15:00.002-04:00

New Year's Eve is a fun time of the year, and this year was no exception. As opposed to Christmas Eve where we have a yearly tradition, the last night of the year has been unique on each occasion. It's always fun and always spent with friends and loved ones. This year we invited a few friends over to our house to bring in 2009, but we started at the Burge family home with a cook out on their roof top. (Aren't the tropics wonderful!) Friends Bud and Karen Simon joined us as we grilled hamburgers and enjoyed our meal there under the nighttime sky. From there we headed over to our house, which is just behind the Burge home. In May Brittany Burge will be headed off to the States, so this was our last 'bringing in the new year' with her still living at home. I will miss her a lot, but looking at this picture I think you can see who will really feel the void the most! We had several different games and a lot of food ready to pass the time until 11:00. As it turned out, we played CatchPhrase right up until the time we wanted to stop to worship the Lord and pray before welcoming 2009. The game kept everyone on their seats, thinking and shouting! In fact I wondered what my neighbors might be thinking. The noise level reminded me of the line from the country song, "All My Rowdy Friends are Coming Over Tonight". Most of us made through the night without a nap, but the slowed down pace of singing and praying put 12 year old Isaiah down for the count for a bit. He did wake up and join us on the rooftop to watch the fireworks though.

Christmas Moments

2008-12-27T13:15:00.000-04:00

Here are a few more moments from our Christmas season. These capture some of the fun moments, yet I wonder why I don't have any pictures of some of the more serious ones, like when we gave entire laundry baskets full of food to our employees. Wouldn't it have been wonderful for you to be able to 'witness' those moments? I wish you could see the huge smile on the face of the lobby guard from the apartment where we used to live when we took him a Christmas bonus in spite of the fact that we no longer live there. It made us want to take him another one! Well, in spite of all the photos you won't see, I hope you enjoy the ones you will. May the remainder of this year find you healthy, happy, and walking in the love of Jesus.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Christmas 2008

2008-12-26T17:00:00.001-04:00

Just a few photos of Christmas. They do say a picture is worth a thousand words. Anyone like to opine on what these pictures are saying?

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Redneck Christmas?

2008-12-19T10:29:00.000-04:00

Some time back I received an e-mail entitled redneck Christmas tree. It was a quite innovative 'tree' made out of Mountain Dew cans. We all laughed and that was it. This weekend we went to minister in a church in an area where we don't frequently go and we saw something we have never seen before - outside of an e-mail, that is. The following photos are Christmas decorations made entirely of Brahma Beer cans!

Even more interesting, although I don't have a photo to show, is the fact that lights had been strung through all those cans, and when it got dark and the lights were turned on it looked very Christmasy indeed! Innovation at work. I have to wonder who had the job of emptying all those beer cans.

Banana Picking

2008-12-18T10:13:00.003-04:00

When I first started making short-term mission trips here back in 1993 the desire grew in me to actually pick a fresh banana from a tree. It just seemed like such a 'tropical' thing to do! It never happened on any of those short term trips, but the house we moved into when we arrived in country had a banana tree. A dream was realized when eventually I was able to take bananas right off the tree. You cannot even imagine how flavorful a banana is that has not been picked green and shipped. A pastor friend of ours was telling the story of a boy who had grown up eating bananas straight from the tree, and after tasting a banana in the states said he didn't want any more fake bananas! This week friends from South Carolina were here preaching some crusades with Brother Robbie Strickland and took time out to visit us at our new home. Did I mention that we also have a banana tree in the backyard? It seems I'm not the only US girl who thought it would be cool to pick a banana from a tree. Donna Bowen of Set Free Chrisitan Fellowship was just about as excited as I was!

New Friends

2008-12-15T09:45:00.000-04:00

It many not make for much of a blog story, but I love this photo and wanted to share it with you. Jesse is only four years old, but is not at all shy about making new friends. When he saw our builder, Alberto, walking up toward the gazebo where we were talking, he ran out to accompany him the rest of the way in. The smiles they are both wearing is what enthralls me about this photo. They are a picture of contrasts with the exception of those smiles. Tall, short; blonde, dark; black, white; old, young. You get the picture. I hope you like this shot as much as I am enjoying sharing it with you.

To Restoration Ranch

2008-12-14T09:39:00.000-04:00

The Griffin family didn't have to wait too long to have their first family outing to Restoration Ranch to see where Shay would be working. They moved into their house on Monday, and since there wasn't any furniture to arrange or pictures to hang we took them to Restoration Ranch on Tuesday. No since wasting time.

It looked to me like the highlight for the kids was a toss up between a tired old tire swing and Bobo the black goat.

It's Just a Picnic

2008-12-13T09:36:00.000-04:00

When you move into a new home and have no furniture you just plan a picnic! It's all about the attitude, and the Griffin family has a great one. Afterall, it's quite an adventure!

Getting Settled

2008-12-12T09:29:00.002-04:00

It's always an interesting process to move your entire family to another home, but when that move becomes international it adds another dimension of adventure. The Griffin family moved out to their new rented home in Baní this week. All of their furniture and most of their belongings will be along later when the shipping container is released from the port. In the meantime, they arrived with somewhere around 20 suitcases full of stuff to keep them sane until the rest arrives.
It took more than one load to get it all to their new residence!

Here's Isaiah Burge helping pack up the second load of belongings.

We start them working young around here. Little Jesse is four.

Irrigation Canal

2008-12-11T20:37:00.002-04:00

We think we discovered a part of the problem that helped create the floating septic tank you have read so much about. Near the construction site there has been a section of land that has remained muddy and mushy. It seems that the cement irrigation canal that surrounds most of the farm had cracked and begun to fall apart in that section. Our wonderful worker, Fran, and the equally wonderful builder went to work to get it repaired. (We 'wonderfully' bought yet more cement!)Mission accomplished.

Staff Addition

2008-12-08T17:48:00.000-04:00

A little more than a year ago we met with Shay and Gwen Griffin and their pastor and began the process of accepting them as staff members here at Restoration Ranch. Their first job was to head off to Costa Rica to language school to get some spanish basic skills under their belt. Last August they sold everything and moved to Costa Rica. When they graduated from school this past fall they headed back to their home states to minister in some churches and get all their belongings ready to be shipped to the Dominican Republic. Their container should arrive next week - but they arrived on Thursday. We're glad to have them here and know they will be a great blessing.

The Tale of the Floating Septic Tank

2008-12-04T12:48:00.001-04:00

Many of you remember the dilemma we faced after Tropical Storm Fay when we discovered our beautifully built septic tank floating in its hole.

What to do? What to do? We talked to various people and eventually came to a conclusion. After a lot of pumping water, buying and shoveling filler, some block adjustments, and the final touches we now have that septic tank ready to go. We don't think it will ever float again either!

2008-12-03T20:23:00.000-04:00

We are excited about another family that is moving down here to work with us at Restoration Ranch. Shay and Gwen Griffin will be arriving tomorrow with their three children. We'll pick them up at the airport about 1:45 and we plan to give them the rest of the day off before we put them to work! Just kidding. Shay was raised on a poultry farm and knows a good deal about fixing just about anything. He's also a master barber. I think of all the work we have for him and realize we'll have to make sure he gets some time off every now and then! Gwen was exceptional in her work as a church secretary, and we are eager to get her started with some administrative and office work.

As you can see the ministry here is growing. It was just the two of us for so many years. Then we added a part time Dominican pastor to help with some of the work of the Ministry Training Center. A few years ago the Burge family arrived, and tomorrow the Griffin family. Please keep them in your prayers as they adjust to life in a developing nation and all the new responsibilities that await them.

Our Dominican Thanksgiving meal

2008-12-01T02:22:00.000-04:00

While Thanksgiving is not a Dominican holiday, we do have a few Dominican friends who have adopted this wonderful holiday and its meaning. Each year we celebrate our second Thanksgiving meal of the day with the Cabral family. Our local pastor always explains the meaning of Thanksgiving for those who have been invited for the first time and to remind the rest of us as well. Then we eat - again. Here are a few pictures of our time there. You won't see me in any of them! That's one of the 'benefits' of the taking all the photos.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Welcome back

2008-11-29T12:51:00.000-04:00

Actually the welcome back is for me! We've been without internet and phone lines again. That sure does make it hard to stay current on a blog. Fortunately the phone technician was out late yesterday and repaired whatever problem they had in the lines in our neighborhood. He never even had to come into the house. For today I thought I'd post a few pictures of our 'missionary' Thanksgiving - one of them today and one of them tomorrow. Then we'll get back to business.

Our first meal on Thanksgiving day was at the Burge home where Betty Poppe had prepared a scrumptious meal of all kinds of favorites. Since the six missionary families present are from all over the States some of us also prepared regional favorites. For example I just had to prepare the cornbread dressing that is traditional in the southeastern US and a pecan pie that is a favorite as well. The sweet potato dish that I usually make has become such a favorite, even with the dominicans, that I also made a dish of those. I wasn't the only one preparing favorites to add to Betty's already plentiful meal either!

Turkey is quite expensive here, and we were all blessed by the friend of Betty and Jerry who provided the two turkeys for our feast.

Enjoy the photos.

Make a Smilebox greeting

Continuing the Story

2008-11-19T11:08:00.000-04:00

Soooo... the move. After seeing the rental sign we were interested, but didn't expect anything to really come of it since we had the two primary concerns: 24 hour security and someone to take care of paying the bills during our travels. Imagine our delight when we discovered that not only did the housing development have a guard gate with guards 24 hours per day, but the rental administrator gladly accepts the responsibility of paying the bills when the tenants travel! (I should probably make clear that in both cases we leave the money for those bills to be paid. It's just that here we have no viable mail service so bills and their payments are all hand delivered.)With that great information in mind we went to talk to the rental administrator. Normally a two or even three months worth of rent is required as a deposit and an automatic 10% increase is built into the rental contracts. We negotiated with Mr. Chan, who is from Hong Kong, and he agreed to accept only one month rent as deposit and assured us that he would not be increasing the rent each year. We made a pro/con list and the pro list was three times as long as the con list. We had prayed to see God's perfect will in the situationand we both felt a great leading to make the move. It all happened so quickly that within a few weeks we were moving! We are now happily ensconced in a two level house that will actually give us a guest room. Previously my office always had a bed in it, and became the guest room when we had guests. The poor guests had to share their room with my office. We have a much better situation now. One of the beauties of the whole thing is that our monthly expenses did not increase! We thought they would be about $75 higher, but the reality is that some expenses lowered so much that it brought us right back down to the same monthly living expense. Isn’t God good!

THE MOVE

2008-11-17T17:14:00.000-04:00

In the midst of all the teams, a cold virus, and the construction at Restoration Ranch we also moved from the apartment where we had lived for the last 10 1/2 years. I think that is the longest I have ever lived in one place in my life. My father was military so we moved a lot when I was a kid. A decade ago a wonderful Christian lady and her husband offered to rent us their upscale condominium according to our middle of the road budget. It was a gift from God and its timing was perfect. The condo is in the center of Santo Domingo and was perfect for us since we didn't have an automobile during those early years. However, the very thing that made it so perfect is the thing that had begun to make it less than desirable. Being in the center of a city of 4 million is interesting! We actually grew to like city living in spite of the fact we thought we would never get used to it. As the city continued to grow we began to see more and more high-rise apartment towers taking the place of single family dwellings. On our block alone we could count about 14 such undertakings. The results are that in the same place where a single family lived and had their one or two vehicles there is now a multi-family tower with 80 or so families, each with their car or two or even more. The pollution in our neighborhood began to show the effects of the increased traffic. Because of the amount of construction occurring, we also have had an influx of large diesel trucks pouring out contamination. We don't have the same pollution laws here that we have in the States! Anyway, to shorten the story a little, we had been thinking that we'd like to make a move. We had two major factors inhibiting us; the security of the 24 hour guard at the apartment building and the fact that when we traveled the building administrator paid all of our bills in our absence. Recently we had a family visiting us here, and we housed them with our staff members Greg and Melynda Burge. One day as we took them 'home' we noticed a rental sign on the house that sits right behind the Burge house. To be continued...

What CAN $75 do?

2008-11-16T17:13:00.000-04:00

What can $75 do? It could fill your tank with gas. It could buy a dinner for two in a nice restaurant. It could take a family of four to the movies complete with popcorn, candy and drinks. Or it could help build a square meter of roof on a home for underprivileged children.

We have had a number of responses to our newsletter post and e-mail with the idea of people helping build the roof by 'purchasing' a square meter. With Thanksgiving right around the corner, assisting in the construction of this home for the underprivileged may be a wonderful way to acknowledge the multitude of blessings in our lives.

Our goal is to get this roof on, put the stucco on the exterior walls, then begin to finish out the apartments one by one. As soon as we get that done we can begin to bring in parents to train and finally to start the process of receiving children. How exciting it will be to see children running, playing, and learning right there on Restoration Ranch!

What Can $75 Do?

2008-11-14T17:03:00.000-04:00

Most of this post is from our November newsletter, but it is worth sharing again!

Building number 1 at Restoration Ranch is ready for a roof. As you can see in the photo all the second floor walls are up, the bond beam has been poured and the angle walls finished up to the peak. The hip style roof (with sloping sides and ends) will be a poured slab of 4 inch concrete, which will not only help prevent water from filtering through and damaging the paint and the walls (a common problem here), but will also be strong enough to withstand hurricane strength winds.

Because of the design of the roof an enormous amount of wooden support poles and plywood will be needed to build the form. Into that form will go a mat of rebar, electrical conduit, and outlet boxes for the lights. Once that is prepared the cement truck will be required to pour the mixed cement. These materials along with labor costs are estimated to be US$28,438. The roof is approximately 400 square meters in size, so that comes out to $71 per meter. To allow for cost increases we are thinking that $75 per square meter will cover the cost of building the roof. We are seeking donors who will help build this roof, meter by meter, with gifts of $75 per square meter. We currently have 30 meters worth of donations. That leaves just 370. How many would you like?!

THE BIG DAY

2008-11-13T15:02:00.001-04:00

Today's post will be just a little different, but so near and dear to the core of my heart that it must be the topic. You see, 27 years ago today our baby girl was first laid in my arms, and a nearly 3 decade love affair began. A beautiful autumn Friday afternoon and a perfect new born baby girl; It doesn't get much better than that! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESSICA! Ireland is lucky to have you.

Building One

2008-11-11T23:11:00.000-04:00

Building One is ready for a roof! The builders are finishing up some interior walls on the first floor, and then will need to build with plywood and wooden posts the platform that will hold the 4" cement slab. The roof will be slanted as opposed to the very common flat roof that we see so often here. It will actually cost a bit more to build this roof, but it will eliminate a host of future problems that begin with water filtration.
As you can see, there are construction materials all over the place, even in the resting areas.

Preliminary Trip

2008-11-10T16:56:00.000-04:00

While the group from the DC area was here with the Burge family, we personally hosted two pastors from upstate South Carolina who flew in to spy out the land and the opportunities for missions here in the Dominican Republic.

Pastor Fred Bachman and Bob Kelley seemed to enjoy their time with us and are excited about Restoration Ranch and about bringing a team in the spring of 2009. When I write 2009 it seems so far in the future, and yet we are in the midst of November, and 2009 is less than 60 days away!

MInistry to the Kids

2008-11-09T07:56:00.000-04:00

On the same day that the group planted all those little bushes and hauled all those heavy blocks, they ministered twice at our local community school. We have developed a close relationship with the school director, and she allows us liberty in when and how we minister to the 350 children she has under her care. The kids really enjoyed the puppets, skits, and 'magic' tricks that the team used to minister to them. They were having so much fun that they would answer "si" to whatever Jim said, without a word of it being translated. It honestly didn't matter what he said; they were just agreeing with every word he spoke!

What to do with all those Plants

2008-11-08T07:20:00.000-04:00

The day after we (I say we loosely since I didn't dig a thing!) dug the plants we made our way to Restoration Ranch to plant them. Since we didn't know when we went to get the plants just what kind of plants we were being given, we also had not decided where to put them. When we are through digging water and sewer lines and the big cement trucks stop marking their path we want to plant some things in front of the building itself to make it even prettier. Since it isn't feasable to do that just yet, with Melynda's help Danny and I decided to beautify areas where we and team members sit and have lunch, rest, or chat. When they had finished planting and watering they wanted more to do so our builder showed us where he needs more cement block, and the group gamely headed off to move cement blocks.
Special note to "Dentist"" I so enjoyed reading your response to yesterday's blog. I knew a little of what you told me, but certainly not all of it. It would be great to be able to respond to you, and if you choose to, you may include an e- address where I can do so. If not, thank you so much for taking the time to fill me in on more ways in which these two men are wonderful heroes.

More on the Plants

2008-11-07T16:07:00.000-04:00

One of the few inexpensive things in the Dominican Republic is labor. A day worker can be paid with very little and be glad to have it. The Haitians work for even less. When the American teams come and pay someone from here they always pay more than the going rate so it's a real blessing for the workers. The leader of this team, Jim, after digging up plants and cutting back weeds for a bit, saw one of the workers with nothing to do. It didn't take him long to hire himself a helper!

This guy was worth every peso too. He was given his money up front and knew he was being well rewarded for less than an hour's work. After he had worked hard for a while, Jim gave him some more money to keep him going. The guy went home blessed. And we went home with about 40 plants to be planted at Restoration Ranch.

Melynda insisted that with that long a drive, we were going to put every thing that would fit into those two vehicles - and we did.

Working for the Free Plants

2008-11-06T20:51:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we headed out to beautiful place where a botanist grows all kinds of beautiful tropical plants to sell in the US and Europe. We had been told that there were some we could have free of charge. Although the pick up truck we were hoping would accompany us didn't come through, we headed out in our Durango and the Burge family's Trooper - led by Mandy Speegle in her car. Where there is a will there is a way! The owner of the business is a friend of Mandy and her husband so that's how this all came about. After an entertaining ride of about 2 1/4 hours or so we arrived and were lead out to the cultivation area. We saw acres and acres of beautifully tended gorgeous plants;Those weren't ours. There was another field that had some of the crotons growing, but they were covered in weeds. The team's jobs were to cut back the weeds, properly dig out the plants, put them in the pots, and then transfer them to our waiting vehicles.

This they did with great gusto. With only one little machete mishap the afternoon went smoothly. (They say you should never trust a 'gringo' with a machete!)

Fortunately on the team were two fire fighters, both trained in emergency work. The whole emergency treatment thing was fairly mundane until Troy took out his pocket knife to shave Jim's leg so the bandage would stick!

THAT was worth taking an extra picture or two.

Plants

2008-11-05T10:46:00.001-04:00

I've been pondering just how to go about catching up with the lost time so that you know all that has been happening without missing out on the 'goings on' now. I think I will just start with today, and as we go along I'll back-track and fill you in on the wonderful things that happened in the last month while we had little or no internet access.

Through our co-laborers, Greg and Melynda Burge, we have been presented with a wonderful opportunity. It seems that in another city here in the the DR there is a botonist who is willing to donate to us a supply of plants that we can use on Restoration Ranch. The Burge family has a small team of five people here, and the team is willing to spend their afternoon digging up these plants and potting them so that they can be transported to the farm. They have also volunteered to plant them tomorrow! We do so love our teams. They are always so helpful and such a blessing.

I'll try to have some photos on the blog for you tomorrow.

2008-10-28T10:03:00.001-04:00

Hello all my dear friends and prayer partners! It's been a while since I was able to get on line to update the blog. We suffered through two weeks of being disconnected while we were in the apartment and the phone line was being replaced. Then we moved to another neighborhood, and it took almost two more weeks to get phone and internet again. Danny was able to connect his laptop to a neighbor's wireless a few times and connect that way, but I was stranded! We've been busy during all of this and I'll try to catch you up as soon as possible. Be blessed

2008-10-15T17:36:00.000-04:00

A Day at the Farm

2008-09-30T01:25:00.000-04:00

It appears that Restoration Ranch is made of the things that bring excitement to children, boys especially. On the last full day of the Geary family's time with us we took them and Rosita and Priscilla to the farm. We planned to have a big lunch of typical dominican food, minister to the people in the small community across from the farm, and enjoy the land and its benefits. We added Matthew and Isaiah Burge to the group as well, and the 10 of us loaded up in our Dodge Durango.

Marta prepared us a great meal of pollo guisado, arroz con habichuelas, tostones, aguacate, y concon. It was wonderful, and even the kids enjoyed it. I bet you non-spanish speakers would love to know what it was we ate!

After lunch the Geary family, the two Burge kids, and Prisicalla and Rosita went across to the neighboring community and ministered to adults and children alike. When I finished working with the master builder and went to see if they needed any help, they had the crowd participating in everything and smiles everywhere. Everyone had either an animal-shaped balloon or a hula hoop and a lollipop. Priscilla did a great job translating for them and freed me up to take care of construction business while they worked over there.

I have to admit that one of my favorite parts of the day was watching the boys having so much fun chasing and catching chickens! Who knew it could be so much fun. No GameBoy or other electronic gadget in site, just pure free fun.

The Local Community School

2008-09-28T16:06:00.000-04:00

Last year around this time we were able to take a team from Boiling Springs to a school about 20 minutes from the farm. The team had purchased back packs, school supplies, candies, hats, etc. The decision was made to bless this particular school because Fran's kids go to school there. Later that afternoon as I sat on the patio at the farm a lady came to visit. Her name is Fausta and she is the director of the school that is only a minute or two from the ranch. Fran's kids no longer go there because they have passed the 8th grade and this school doesn't include high school. This sweet lady spent a little time with me, and in the course of her 15 or 20 minutes of chatting she must have mentioned the 'local community school' a dozen times. We got the message! Here was a school within walking distance of us, and we should keep them in mind when we had blessings to share. So when Gloria and boys wanted to share at a school we knew exactly where to go - the 'local community school'!

Lucy's Orphanage

2008-09-25T11:23:00.000-04:00

You all know that we just can't get enough of visiting all the precious children in this country. We included in the Geary family itinerary a trip to Lucy's orphanage in Santo Domingo. That's where our girls, Rosita and Priscilla, live.
I told you yesterday that we always have fun. Here's the 'funny faces' shot.

Danny is always a favorite with the little girls at the home. Here he is with Amorosa, a precious child who was discovered as an infant lying in the mud under a bridge.

Fun Fun Fun

2008-09-24T11:16:00.000-04:00

We have fun wherever we go! We took the Geary family to Pastor Manning's favorite dominican restaurant, Adrian Tropical. While we waited on dinner the boys enjoyed entertaining the large parrots in the cage on the balcony overlooking the ocean. After dinner, while waiting on those who were in the bathroom, the two youngest boys tried their hands at typical dominican musical instruments.

Fun Day

2008-09-23T10:49:00.000-04:00

Not every day is supposed to be chock full of work. We try to make sure that each team gets some play time too. The Geary family had just such a day at a little stop called Biyeya Beach. It's a local place where there is usually almost no one there. Yet the water is the beautiful tropical blue, and the mountains outline the distance for a spectacular view.

One of my personal favorite things about the day was watching the boys be boys. They had been so mature while doing all the ministry work, and now here they were creating games that only boys dream up! You can see that in the photos below.

I love it! What better place to mud up for soldiering than a beach where one can jump in and rinse it all off!

Girls This Time

2008-09-21T18:23:00.000-04:00

After having an exciting action-packed afternoon with the boys at the orphanage we went across the street to the new girls' home. What a change of pace! Five precious little girls living in the house with the lady who cares for them sat quietly in a row while we talked with them. Now that just doesn't really happen at the boys' home! We enjoyed both places tremendously, and we visited them in the proper order I think. Action first, tranquility next.

Boys, Boys, and More Boys

2008-09-20T17:50:00.000-04:00

Our second ministry stop with the Geary Family was just outside of San Juan de la Maguana where we visited the children at the orphanage there. The Geary family had purchased some snacks, some balls, a few hula hoops, and a couple basketballs. As you might imagine, the kids were happy to see them! At the boys' home there are currently 52 living there. We added 'our' three and rounded up to 55. One of the things the boys enjoyed most was their time playing together. Baseball, basketball, hula hoops, and love seem to have no language barrier.

Another World

2008-09-19T20:15:00.000-04:00

Monday we headed out west with Gloria Geary and her three sons, Hatcher, Reed, and Harrison. They had enjoyed a rousing Latin church service Sunday morning, and we were now taking them to another area of the country. This family has spent the last year of their lives traveling to 17 different nations to share the message and love of Jesus Christ with others. They primarily have done so using a bracelet with six colors that each represent an aspect of christian life (heaven, sin, Jesus, forgiveness, Holy Spirit, and growth). Even the youngest child, 7 year old Harrison does an excellent job of sharing the colors and what they represent. Our first ministry stop with them was in a small primitive village called El Copey. We have been there so many times over the years that they felt quite free to lovingly chastise us for having been away for most of this year! The Geary family hit the ground running, wasting no time heading out to meet the residents of this small community. They were loving on children within minutes.

Two Families - Five Boys

2008-09-16T18:20:00.000-04:00

On Saturday we picked up another family. This time it was mom, Gloria and her three boys, Hatcher, Reed, and Harrison. We arranged for a taxi van to take all of us, the two families and Danny and me to the old colonial zone of Santo Domingo for a little history and tourism. It went much better than I had actually hoped! All the boys were truly interested in what they were seeing. With five boys 12 or under we were quite a group. We kept the number of sites to visit to a minimum, and everyone had a good time. The sites we chose to see were the exterior of the Ozama Fortress, the Pantheon of the Heroes, and the Diego Columbus house. The Fortress was the fort built when the spanish first colonized the island over 500 years ago, and was later used as very dark and dingy prison for political prisoners. The Pantheon has an eternal flame, tombs of national heroes, and guards to make sure no one is disrespectful to this sacred shrine. The guards, however, did allow us to take pictures of the boys with them, even the one on duty! One of the most interesting visits was our tour in the Diego Columbus palace. Diego was the son of Christopher Columbus, and he and his wife ruled the island as governor for 14 years. The old palace has been refurnished with pieces for the appropriate time period, and the tour is enhanced by the english-speaking guide. It was a great way to blend the families for the day before we had to say good-bye to the Bradner family.

A Spirit of Adventure

2008-09-15T17:59:00.000-04:00

One of the things we enjoyed so much about the Bradner family was the great sense of adventure they brought with them. They were not only willing to try most anything, they were eager to do so. The boys even wanted to try things that they knew they might not like! For example, agua de coco (coconut water) is not a favorite with American visitors. Danny once described it as tasting like swamp water! Ben and Deb brought two boys ready to taste it though. Ben has traveled to many different countries and has 'enjoyed' coconut water in many of them. Both he and Deb have been to the Dominican Republic before, as has their oldest son. The boys, Kavin and Micah, reminded me at times of "The Swiss Family Robinson". They tasted the coconut water, searched for mangos and peeled them with Fran's machete, and both enjoyed a stalk of sugar cane. When you add in the fun the had with the animals it just reminded me of the way the kids on the movie enjoyed their temporary island home.

Bradners at Work

2008-09-14T20:47:00.000-04:00

The Bradner family from Restoration Church in Spartanburg was able to spend two days working at Restoration Ranch. What a fun two days it was. We don't normally get to host young children of 7 and 12 years of age so it was a real treat to watch them learn about block laying, cement mixing, leveling, etc. It was just as much fun to watch them just be boys. The saw the new baby sheep, and one day helped herd them to the corral at dusk. The boys chased the chickens, learning how to catch them and how to hold them. They watched everything the workers did, observing each and every job with fascination. We've been working at the farm for over a year, and I have yet to chase a chicken!

Construction Work Goes On

2008-09-13T10:24:00.001-04:00

Construction on the second floor continues, and we are pumping water out of the hole where the septic tank sits. We are thankful to have had a couple of dry days in spite of the constant thunder and threat of rain. At the same time, our hearts go out to those in other areas that are being affected by this season's hurricanes and tropical storms. Today the citizens of Texas and Louisiana are deeply in our thoughts. On Wednesday of last week we picked up the Bradner family from the airport. Ben works in home remodeling, and Deb home schools their two boys, Kavin and Micah. They were here to do a couple of days work on the construction, and then spend some time with missionary friend Jennifer Malone Rodriguez before enjoying a couple days at one of the DR's resorts. It's quite an educational trip for the two boys, ages 12 and 7.

Water and Mud

2008-09-12T01:30:00.000-04:00

While we have not personally suffered much damage from the storms, others are digging their way out. An uneven floating septic tank seems less problematic when there are folks who are digging mud out of their homes or riding a horse across flowing streams looking for food for the family. The two photos shared with you today speak volumes about what some of our Dominican brothers and sisters are going through. Please keep them and us in your prayers.

Rains wash away homes and bridges

2008-09-10T15:02:00.000-04:00

This week, as well as the last few weeks, has inundated the country with heavy rains. The newspaper tells us that one of the bridges close to Restoration Ranch farm was washed out. We heard today, however, that it is now passable.

More than a few homes have been washed away or caved in due to heavy rains or instability caused by those rains. This is one of three homes caving in right outside the capital city in San Cristobal. We pass through San Cristobal on the way out to the farm.

A room with a View

2008-09-09T13:17:00.000-04:00

It seems that all the photos on this site are of the construction itself. Today I'd like to show you what the people who will live there will see. This photo is taken from the first floor; the second floor view will be even more beautiful. Can you picture it without all the construction materials? It will be gorgeous!

7500 blocks

2008-09-08T16:53:00.000-04:00

I thought you might like to see what 7500 blocks look like piled high waiting for the workers to place them in the walls. Actually this picture doesn't really show 7500 of them since some have already been carried upstairs. For us, it is nice to have something to actually see as the money keeps changing hands - from ours to theirs. When we can see loads of block and piles of gravel and sand it helps us visualize the progress to come.

The front of the building is where all the block is waiting, and in back we have several truck loads of different kinds of sand and gravel. Each one has its purpose in the construction process.

Measure it twice

2008-09-07T18:33:00.000-04:00

We are learning so much about the differences in construction between what is typical in the US and what is typical here. Danny has always told me that he was taught to "measure it twice and cut it once". There seems to be a different rule of thumb here. It's more like "If it's not precise we can still make it work." A friend of ours has a window factory and told us recently that the manufacturers he represents asked him if he knew of a non-profit organization they could donate some materials to! Of course he thought of us. We met with him and a representative of the company from Spain on Thursday. We were told to go measure all the windows. We showed them the plans and the measurements indicated on them. After measuring all the windows, we now know why he wanted us to do so. I'm not sure if any of them were the exact measurement that the plans called for. Okay, there was one, but it was one that Carpenters for Christ did when they were here so it doesn't count!

We are excited about what the Lord is doing with this project. When we wrote about the budget for raising the walls to the roof, we weren't even to the point of talking about windows yet, and here a company from Spain may well donate them! We've been asked to write a letter of request, providing details of the project and the information on the windows. Our friend says it is really just a formality because they have already discussed it. Is our Lord cool or what?

The Damage

2008-09-05T19:23:00.000-04:00

We finally got a sunny day and made our way out to the farm to see how we fared during all the storms and rain. Due to roads washed out and such there was a detour in one place, and in another place we just had to take turns in the one lane available. Fortunately that spot was temporarily repaired with a load of rocks by the time we were returning to the capital. The rains have been so bad that our workers all went home on Wednesday, but we expect them back Monday. Santo Domingo was spared a lot of the rain and damage, yet we still had streets like this.

The government has set up a hotline for those who need help because of problems with the hurricanes and tropical storms. This is the photo they used in the newspaper article, and I liked it so much I wanted to share it with you!

Rain Rain Go Away

2008-09-04T09:58:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was an interesting day. We got up in the morning to find water in the floor of one of the offices. It was promptly cleaned up, but as the wind and rain from tropical storm Hanna picked up, more and more water entered our sieve-like windows! At one point I called Danny in to see a truly amazing sight. At the top of one of the windows, apparently where a screw is holding the frame to the wall, water had begun to pour in. It was not dripping in, leaking in, or trickling in. Seriously it was if we had turned on a spigot and allowed water to flow. All we could really do was stuff newspaper up there. We already have it stuffed in the tracks of all these sliding glass windows. That's where so much of the water comes in. The paper doesn't stop it all, but it does mean less mopping and flooding. Today I am seeing a bright light behind these clouds so it looks like we may have sunshine today at some point. Perhaps Hanna has finished with us. Now if we can just dry out a little bit before Hurricane Ike gets close! In the previous blog there were photos of the outside of the building where the second level is being constructed. Here are a couple from up on that second level. (Danny was willing to climb the rickety ladder and go up there with them!)

Hanna

2008-09-02T11:13:00.000-04:00

We thought that Tropical Storm Hanna wasn't going to be an issue for us here on the southern side of the island, but that was before she took a turn to the south overnight! On Monday we made our way out to the construction site again, where a small load of the large number of blocks we ordered had been delivered. That was a good thing because Saturday mid-day saw our workers out of block. The block that had been promised for last week arrived today, Tuesday. Thank goodness it arrived before the heavy rains of Hanna soaked the ground yet again, making them impassable to a large truck like that. The construction continues, rain or shine. Progress is on the second floor is good.

In this photo you can't really see the interior walls that are going up at the same time as these exterior walls, but you can start to get an idea of the size of the building I think.

As you might expect, with all this rain, the septic tank and the hole it sits in are both full of water. With tropical storms Ike and Josephine on the way and two more months of the hurricane season to go, it looks like that part will be wet for quite some time!

Estimate

2008-08-31T20:41:00.000-04:00

We now have an estimate on what it will cost to raise the second floor up to the level of the roof. All I can say it that it's a good thing we are doing it now before costs increase even more! Labor, materials, etc will total approximately US$20,000. It has been wonderful to see how the Lord has moved various people at differing stages of this work to support the effort financially. Many individuals and a few churches sow gifts every month. Others give offerings quarterly or as they feel led of the Lord to do so. We have had a few people ask if we can accept offerings by credit card, and until now that has not been a possibility for us. We are excited to tell you that we can now accept credit cards or Paypal. For convenience a link has been provided right here on the blog site. Everything is hosted by a secure site with Paypal. They even provide the donor with a receipt and send us a note to make us aware of the donation. Please let us know how it works for you. As always, we appreciate your prayers as we move into this second stage of building this home for chilren.

More blocks please

2008-08-30T20:30:00.000-04:00

The morning started off as if everything was in order just as we thought it was. Until that is, the morning phone call from Fran to tell us that the block we had ordered last Friday (not yesterday, but LAST Friday) had not arrived. He summed it up by saying that there was only enough block on hand for the workers to finish working today, but there wouldn't be any for Monday morning. As it happened they actually used all the available block by 1:30! Thank the Lord that He has given us relationship with so many wonderful and helpful people. We called our Baní hardware store owner, and he agreed to get a load of block out there today so the guys could keep on working. Now to be fair, we had ordered the block from him to start with, but he was waiting for the factory to bring it directly to us instead of delivering it to him. That saves him transportation costs. This particular block factory is known for the good quality of its blocks, but it is also becoming quite well recognized for its lack of urgency in making deliveries! We're delighted that Ramón, the hardware store owner, is so willing to work with us to facilitate what we do. It's good business for him, but it's a blessing for us.

Second floor

2008-08-29T14:03:00.000-04:00

In the Bible Job says, "That thing I feared the most has come upon me." I feel a little bit that way right now. My biggest concern about starting a blog was that there would be times when the work load or travel was such that I would not be able to remain current. Here it is Friday; I let two days go by! I will certainly strive to keep that from happening.

Yesterday we were out to Restoration Ranch and the construction site again. Because of the string of storms and tropical waves we've been having, the septic tank and septic tank hole are still full of water. The tank does look to have settled down some though. In the meantime work has begun on the second floor of this first home for children! It's exciting to see those walls going up. They may be going up a little slower because of all the rain, but up they are going.

We had originally planned to work on finishing out the inside of the first floor instead of proceeding with the second floor, but two things have motivated us to alter that a bit. One of those things is the constantly increasing cost of building materials. In one day last week cement went up by 17%! Rebar has doubled since we first started construction earlier this year, and builders are telling us this is just the beginning. Economical wisdom requires us to take advantage of the prices we have now before they climb even higher. The other factor is that we have seen how much water enters into the first floor with the second in its current state. We have always asked the Lord to guide each step of this project He has given us to do, and we certainly are thankful that He is doing so!

Storm Season

2008-08-26T09:27:00.000-04:00

Monday provided us with two surprises. We were headed out to the Ranch with the specific purpose of repairing the generator so we could continue to get water out of the septic tank hole and begin to assess the situation. The first surprise was when we talked to our builder, and he told us that he had repaired the generator on Saturday, and that the guys were busy removing water even as we spoke. That was great news! The second surprise was when the strong thunder storms moved in, and after checking the weather report, we realized that we were in the outer bands of a developing hurricane! That was not such good news. We decided not to go out to the farm as there was nothing we could do, but our plan was to go today. It looks like Hurricane Gustav has other plans. We really aren't getting that heavy of a rain here in the capital, but the satellite image shows the heaviest parts of the storm south and west of here. The farm is south and west of here as well, so prudence leads us to not travel those roads today. Those of you who have been here know that the road to the farm is interesting enough without adding flooding, possible washouts, etc. We talked to Fran, and he is doing his best to stay dry and keep things in order there at the farm. His goal during the rains is to make sure that the channel we dug for the rain water to flow away from the building site remains open and not clogged with mud. Hopefully this will help lessen any possible water damage.

A Real Treat

2008-08-24T08:46:00.000-04:00

Saturday night was a really special evening for us so I thought I'd share some of the delight with you.The majority of the team that was here the first week of August enjoyed a cook out together at the home of one of the team members. Roger Tinsley and his wife Lynne had invited the entire group over. We know that many teams do something similar, but this was one of the few times that arrangements were made to make sure we could be a part of it with them. First an e-mail from team leader Dick Rodermond, then a follow up phone call to see if we would be able to call at a specific time that night to talk to the group. Someone set it up so that they could all hear us and we could hear all of them, and we had such a joyous time laughing and reliving some of the fun of their trip. We heard the chicken cooked on the grill was really good, and we believe it. But it couldn't compare to the sense of love and fellowship shared within the team, their spouses, and the two of us.

This photo is especially for Cathy who taught me I could blog!

Technology vs.

2008-08-23T12:26:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was one of those great missionary days when everything takes longer than you think it will and nothing goes as planned. Our quick stop at the hardware store to order yet more cement and more blocks turned into a quite enjoyable, but long visit. In order to get the best deal we had to wait on the owner. We had a delightful visit with the staff while we were there, and Danny was able to select a lesser expensive electric pump so we could pump the water out of the septic tank hole. We have had somewhat conflicting suggestions on how to resolve the problem. We had instructed Fran to begin to take the water out using buckets. The master builder told him not to do so, but to begin to fill the tank itself with water. So Fran, a man who obeys orders, began to do so.

He started filling the tank, but had to stop when the electricity went off and stayed off so long that he couldn't pump water anymore. In the meantime the engineer here who is helping us told us to fill the septic tank with water; this would force it to settle down to the bottom. The only problem is there is a lot of mud under there and it's not settling anywhere! So Fran and another worker began to dig out the mud from the sides of the septic tank.

While all this was going on I had the opportunity to communicate with Mike Ravan, who led the Carpenters for Christ team that helped us back in February. He had seen the same problem several times and was able to give us some great counsel. Following his plan, we headed to the hardware store to buy a pump so we could get the water out a little quicker and see just how the septic 'boat' would settle. We were not going to fill the tank with water because we had learned that if the tank settled unleveled, we would need to correct from inside the tank, thus needing a dry surface. However, we saw when we arrived that the tank was partially full anyway so we allowed that to continue. In fact, Danny regulated the well pump to allow more water to flow so it could be accomplished a little faster while we had electricity. Then he went to work building the piping system we would need to use the pump to take out water from the hole. He's so very good at things like that and built one that worked perfectly. That is, it worked perfectly the few minutes that the generator providing power was working.

It seems that at some point in the last few months a bolt holding the carburetor was lost. People had been making it work and rigging it to do its job, but it was no longer cooperative. So it was back to the bucket brigade. It's so funny sometimes when all of our great inventions and technologies are reduced to a 'bucket brigade'.

Memories

2008-08-21T08:49:00.000-04:00

We are so blessed to have Fran and his family working at Restoration Ranch. He has such a tender heart, and I want to tell you a little story about him today. He absolutely loves the land where Restoration Ranch is being built - the entire acreage. His desire, he tells us, has always been that the land be improved and more things planted and new things started. The fact that we are doing so makes him very happy. He is, however, never as happy as when there is a work team there on the premises. He's such a hard worker, and when a group of more hard workers comes in and he gets to be a part of them he is just ecstatic. When they leave it is always emotional for him, but I didn't realize just how seriously he takes it all until recently. The last team that was here included an electrician named Stanley. Stanley really wanted to have a banana freshly picked from a tree on the farm. The fact that the bananas were all still green did not deter him! He had Fran cut a small bunch of bananas and hang them in the patio area where some of the group slept. He was hoping they would ripen before the team had to leave. It didn't quite happen that way, but here we are more than two weeks later and the bananas are still hanging there! I told Fran he could take them down, and he responded that he didn't want to take them down because they were a memory from the team that was here! Then he proceeded to tell me how he had cried when they left, and that his wife cried so much she couldn't come out and say good bye. What hard-working sweet people with such tender hearts. The Lord has truly blessed us with them.

2008-08-20T08:27:00.000-04:00

Many of you commented that you were just as surprised by the floating cement septic tank as we were. We still don't know exactly how we are going to solve the problem, but we do believe it is something that can be resolved. Like I said yesterday, the engineer is looking at photos and going to give us a recommendation as to what we should do. The first thing Danny did yesterday was look around to see what had caused so much water to accumulate there. He noticed where the water had flowed down a hill, carving out a path, and assuring that more water would follow that path of least resistance. He immediately set the men to working on a temporary ditch that would allow the water from any future storms to flow into an area that would not create a problem.

We are currently in the season of tropical storms and hurricanes so we are likely to have a good bit more rain between now and the first couple weeks of October. We'll keep you posted on the solution for the floating cement boat!

On a grandparent note our two oldest grandchildren started school in Florida this week. Miranda is in the 4th grade, and Luke is starting 1st grade. Of course they went on Monday and then had Tuesday as a hurricane day. They didn't really experience any bad weather there in Ellenton where they live, but you have to be prepared for the uncertainty of a storm's path.

May the storms of life avoid you today!

A Little Flooding

2008-08-19T11:53:00.000-04:00

The phone call did not do it justice. On Sunday afternoon the builder called to tell us that his employee had called him to tell him that because of the tropical storm Fay, we might have a problem with the septic tank we have been working on. So on Monday morning we all met out at the Ranch to see just what the situation was. Danny and I had both suspected that the tank was full of water and might need to be drained, and that perhaps the hole that the tank sat in was also full of water that would recede. We were only partially right - which in this case was like being totally wrong!

Imagine, if you will, a huge cement block structure attached to 8 inches of rebar reinforced cement slab. Now imagine it floating like Noah's ark! I had no idea anything that weighed that much could float.

The problem is that a lot of mud is now under that floating structure, and the septic tank itself is no longer level. All of that presents challenges. We have our engineer working on a solution. His degree is actually in civil engineering so hopefully he'll know exactly what needs to be done and how and when. Right now the master builder and our farm worker are not in agreement about what should be done. (I think we'll go with the builder on this one until the engineer tells us something different!)

Here are a couple of photos for you so you can get an idea. The first one is the septic tank when it was still in the hole where it belongs and the following two are from yesterday morning after the rains. Notice that in the first one the top of the blocks is below dirt level. In the two flooded ones the top is about a foot above. Perhaps a bit more.

2008-08-18T08:34:00.000-04:00

It's a bright, but cloudy day here in Santo Domingo. Hard to imagine that 48 hours ago the wind was howling and the rain was coming INTO the house. Yesterday was a great day with our two girls that we sponsor at the orphanage here in town. They looked beautiful and they are both growing up. Rosita is the baby and she's 16 years old now. We took them to church with us and then on to shopping for school shoes and then out to lunch. To make the day even more special I took them to YogenFruz afterwards. We don't have YogenFruz in the US, but we sure are missing out by not having it!

I forgot to take pictures of the girls yesterday. We were just enjoying the 'being' that we forgot the 'doing'. I'll try to remember the next time. We had a little trouble finding them shoes because both of the girls have these tiny little feet and hands. In fact, we asked a man working at the store to bring us a shoe in Rosita's size, and he told us that she'd have to go to the little girl department. I said she's 16. "She may be, but she's got little girl feet" he responded good-naturedly. We finally found something for each of the girls and stood in a line that reached 'forever'. Every check out was like that. As we stood in line we realized that everyone had done pretty much what we did: wait until the last day before buying the needed school items.

Our builder out at the Ranch called yesterday and is concerned with the amount of water in the septic tank. Danny and I think it is just an accumulation of the huge amounts of water that fell over the weekend during our tropical storm. We're headed out today to take a look. You can pray that if it is anything other than that, and we need to know about it, that the Lord would show us.

2008-08-16T09:20:00.001-04:00

What a great blessing that we got the ceiling poured when we did! We have been in the midst of a tropical storm, with almost non-stop rain. The cement had time to cure and all the rain won't do it a bit of damage. Not only that, but the inside of the first floor will stay dry. I doubt that keeping it dry down there is very important, but it is nice to know.

On the other hand, here at home we have been cleaning up water. In spite of the fact that all windows were closed, the construction of our windows allows water to enter if the rain isn't falling straight down. Since we had high winds all evening and most of the night, we had pretty much every towel we own soaking up water somewhere! This morning is clean up.

On a much more fun note, the two girls we sponsor at a local orphanage are coming over today and we are taking them shopping for school shoes. Yes, in the stormy rain. School starts Monday, and the girls need new shoes. I'll take some pictures to share with you tomorrow. Speaking of pictures, I got my new charger cradle for the camara in yesterday's mail. My wonderful little pocket camara is charged, emptied of photos, and ready to go!

Have a great day!