Family Dinner

Whenever we have American groups come down for a work week, we always take them into the community one night to have dinner with one of the families. This is a great cultural experience and always one of the highlights of their trip. The last time that we had a group, our Dominican host, Katty, was curious about typical American food. So I decided to invite some of my friends from Mata Gorda to my house one evening for an American meal.

Here is Katty, Meri, Alberto, Enmanuel, Maira, Johanny, and Raffa in my living room.

The meal: Pork tenderloin, ravioli with pesto sauce, sauteed green beans, garlic bread, iced tea. They loved it!

Enmanuel especially enjoyed nibbling at the garlic bread and since that night mentions almost everyday at school about how he got to come to my house.

Cristian and I eating Molten Chocolate Baby Cakes for dessert. MMMMMM....

It was such a special night having these special friends at my house and cooking for them, which is something that I love to do.

Women's Retreat

A few weeks ago a group from Crystal Valley Church came to work in Mata Gorda. This church has been coming to the DR to work with SI ever since the beginning and they have strong connections in Mata Gorda. As they did in the previous year, some of the ladies from Crystal Valley put on a retreat for the women of Mata Gorda. It was really great for me to get to help out with this, since I have been doing Bible study with the women for some time now.

Every afternoon they started off by doing manicures or some other similar activity.

Then there was a talk and small group sessions. I had the challenge of translating everything from English to Spanish. Overall it was a great week and I know the women were really blessed. Praise God for this opportunity to continue connecting with the women and building relationships. The women here are so hungry for spiritual growth. Please continue to pray for God to raise up someone to come to work in Mata Gorda full time with the women and girls.

October Birthdays

We celebrated the birthdays of the kids from school who had birthdays in October.

Luis Angel - 3 years old Melany - 6 years old


I also brought Feliz to school that day to play with the kids, which is always a big hit. My class made dog masks as an art project that day.

Fruit of the Spirit

A few weeks ago a few students from a visiting group started a project that we had had in mind for a while. In one of our classrooms they painted a tree on the wall and I finished it a few days later by adding the leaves and apples. I then wrote each of the fruits of the Spirit inside the apples. We have been using the mural to teach the kids about the fruits of the Spirit. The mural turned out beautifully and the kids have really been enjoying the lessons that come with it.