Day 5

Hello from the Dominican Republic/Haiti!!! First of all I just wanted to say thank you on behalf of myself and our team for your generous support, prayer and encouragement being faithful followers of our blog and ministry. God’s transforming hearts, lives are being forever changed and God’s kingdom is advancing by the outpouring of Christ’s love through my fellow teammates/friends. So thank you from the bottom of our hearts Crossroads for making this trip happen and for the generous donations and faithful prayer warriors consistently lifting our team up in prayer.

Each member on our team has their own personalexperience/feelings/attitudes/insight about a specific moment or memory that tugged on their heart strings. Today’s blog will be in 3^rd person capturing a variety of the teams personal testimony about a cherished moment in the day. So here we go folks!!! Happy reading and enjoy the pictures!!

Patty- Kevin & Shannon are missionaries who joined Crossroads during our trip to Haiti. The church they represented is called “The One Church” in Spokane, WA. They brought 200bs of medical supplies which Patty and Sandy were in charge of sorting through.

Anonymous- The experience of the team and seeing the stark reality of the difference between Danita’s and the village.

Kristen- man handling the chickens before we blessed a Haitian family with rice, beans and oil enough to feed a family of 4 for a week.

Rich-Helping Sean supervise 12 kids putting together rice and beans for the chicken runs. It was mass confusion but fun interacting with the boys who we’ve been so eager to help.

Kevin-Today we celebrated one of the girls 15^th birthday. Her name is Jeanette and she wants to become a doctor someday. We sang happy birthday to her and gave her presents. She told me later how blessed and thankful she was for the gifts. She got chocolate, nail polish, and lip gloss. She asked how long we were staying and if I was coming back. I was speechless. I need to remember these children hold onto promises and we need to be careful not to give these children any false promises. It is a lesson I hope to never forget. I would love to build the kind of relationships with these children where they know it’s not a one time deal, but that we are truly commited to them.

Pat- I was in the kitchen this morning with Murard and my little helper Samson. Just another amazing day at Danita’s lying on the floor trying to repair one of the two sinks that have both been leaking. It’s just a humbling experience daily especially in the kitchen which is very warm and constantly busy, but in all the chaos the Haitian women are smiling and cooking through it all. Another big eye opener was the “REALITY” check realizing that things don’t always go as planned and everything down here is a lot harder to come by, and I do mean everything from food, to clothing, and daily necessities we constantly take for granted in the US.

Erin Gonzalez- When we dropped off the chicken, rice, beans, and oil to the local village family today, the family daughter greeted us with her brother. He pointed to the chicken and asked her by motioning with his hands if she was the one that was going to ring the chickens neck, pluck it and cut it for her family. She nodded “YES”. She couldn’t have been more than 14 or 15 years old. I know most 14 & 15 year old girls in the US will not be doing this tonight. To God be all the glory.

Tess-Today being my first official day in Haiti, I was still overwhelmed and nervous. Seeing the joyous kids at the orphanage completely made me forget about about my own issues. True love they have for life and each other will forever stay with me.

It’s neat to see the unification of our team coming together to serve at Danita’s orphanage. God is so good. Our team truly has a great sense of humor and not a day goes by without giggles and endless laughter. Our key word this week is to be “FLEXIBLE” which every team member is putting forth with great efforts.

Kristen Overstreet

Update from Yesterday

{This post was written late last night by Sandra. In the middle of her posting this, she came down with a horrible migrane. She said she tried her best to give everyone the facts considering her headache and that is also why we are posting tonight...New updated post and pictures from today coming later! Thanks for following us!}

Ah, Where to begin tonight. There is so much that I would like to share with you. But, first I would like to ask all of you to pray for a young man from the orphanage. He is 19 years old. He is very sick. He is running a very high fever and vomiting violently. We would like you to pray for safe passage across the border. And the Lords healing hand to touch him, and restore his health.

I would like to thank all of those who were praying for our safety from the hurricane. We were very fortunate that we were not hit with the gusting winds but it sure did rain. I have never seen it rain so hard in all my life. When we crossed the border yesterday the water was very low. We were told that it rose, at least 4ft today.

Our day began with a truck ride to the orphanage. We had several bags to take with us from all the donations that we received from you. Yesterday was more or less like an orientation. We meet the staff and played with the children.

When we arrived today the staff was amazed at all the supplies we brought. After we unloaded the truck we began sorting through all it. (Clothing, diapers, baby food, school supplies, shoes etc.) It didn’t seem like we were working very long and it was time to go to lunch. After lunch we had a short meeting and the staff assigned us jobs to do.

Patti and I were assigned to separate the supplies that were provided by all of you. Sean and Mark set up rattraps around the storage trailers. Carly and Kristen cut material for the children’s uniforms. Danita’s ministry provides additional education to hundreds of children outside the gates of the orphanage. Bill, our guide informed us that the kids outside the gate are provided with the fabric. But it is the parent’s responsibility to either make the uniform or find someone who can. Maurad was charged with tracking down all the supplies needed to begin several plumbing projects. Kevin, Jerry, Pat and Rich unloaded a truck of clement bricks.

The walk back across the border was quite interesting because of all the rain. Lots of puddles and yuck.

Sandra Long

New Pictures!

As soon as we got to the orphanage the kids were hugging us and smiling from ear to ear. They were so sweet! All of us at one point, were holding a child. We were so wet because of the down pour as we walked across the border from Domincan Republic to Haiti. That was an experience. We were so happy to finally arrive at Danita's Children's Home.

We went to the special needs area of the orphanage and had the opportunity to love on them. It was heart-breaking seeing the little one that Kristen is holding. His name is Peterson and he is 5 years old. When he arrived at the orphanage he was 15 lbs. now he is a whopping 25 lbs. They call him Fatty Peterson. He's precious.

The lady in the purple dress is Karis. She is one of the beautiful missionaries that lives here. She's from L.A and has been here for 9 years. We think these women are courageous and sacrificial heros. They've given up so much to be here and they have real joy!

This little boy is Lubenson. He showed up yesterday and followed us on our walk to the border. He is deaf and can only see out of one eye. He has a beautiful smile. Our missions leader, Bill said that every time he comes to town to lead a group, Lubenson knows he's in town and follows him around wherever he goes. He won over our hearts and late last night we got him a room at our hotel because a hurricane was coming in and we just couldn't leave him to fend for himself on the streets which is where he lives. He lives mainly on the streets or with his mom who doesn't like him. Can you imagine? You should of seen his face when we handed him his key to his room. He was sooo excited, we also gave him new clothes and a pair of tennis shoes. All that was donated from Crossroads people. Crossroads, you are here with us, all your donations are changing lives and your prayers are felt. Thank you!

We walked through the market on our way to the border and it was crazy.

This is the Masacre River. There were over 30,000 Haitians massacred here in the 1930's when the government of the Dominican Republic was getting tired of the immigrants coming into their country. People drink, bathe and wash their clothes in this river. The poverty is more than any of us imagined we would see with our own eyes.

The animals here are starving and treated horrible.

This is Emily, she is the missionary nurse here and works at the orphanage 3 days a week. She sees 30-40 patients a day and mainly deals with wound care. This little boy is off the street and had a deep motorcycle wound. It was too gory to show. Our friend Mark Gonzales is a compounding pharmacist and he is helping her develop a custom medicine to help with certain open wounds. There is a boy who may lose his life from an infection and he could use your prayers to be healed. It is amazing to see the people and the skills he brought here to help with His work.

We took a tour of the clinic they are in the process of building. This is the view from one of the windows.

Marc was so generous to buy a huge bag of candy for the street kids but he got swarmed. This is him trying to run into the orphanage to get away from the mob. Kinda like our kids in the US after the pinata gets cracked open. It's mayhem!

This was a little street boy who wanted me (Carly) to take a picture of him so he could see his face on my camera. They love that! He was naked and came running up to me with a huge hug. My husband still is laughing at the look on my face as he came running up to me. haha

Jerry is the life of the party!

We have a BIG God!

I didn’t sleep much last night. Maybe it was from the 10pm walk to the ice cream shop J, but more likely from being excited and anxious about this day and what we would experience. While sitting outside at 7am, waiting for breakfast to arrive, I could hear the city waking up. The roosters were crowing and the sounds of motorcycles were beginning to fill the streets. We started our breakfast with amazing coffee! Good thing I have room in my suitcase to bring several pounds home with me! We had a wonderful breakfast of pancakes, toast, mango, and scrambled eggs. After breakfast, Bill, our guide, discussed things we needed to know about crossing the border. After a few moments of gathering some of our things back at our rooms, like the essential passport, we met out in front of the hotel to start our walk to the border. (Wait… where’s Jerry? Oh, here he comes!) We had to pass through a crowded market place on our way to the border. Think of the Farmer’s Market multiplied by 100! We walked through the narrow center of it trying to stay out of the way of the motorcycles zipping through. There were so many different kinds of fruits and vegetables, some I had never seen before. Smells of fresh cilantro, charcoal stoves, and motorcycle exhaust. Suddenly it started to rain. We stopped and stood under some of the vendor’s tarps while the rain, which turned into a downpour, passed. The people were nice and didn’t really pay too much attention to us. Someone bought a bag of an unusual fruit which most of us tried. Different! When we got to the border, Blake, another volunteer at Danita’s gathered our passports and took them to the officials. We each had to fill out a form and then we were on our way. Monday and Friday(?) are market days which makes the border very crowded as the Haitians cross into Dominican Republic to buy food and supplies. As we crossed the Massacre River, the scenery changed dramatically. On the Haitian side there were people washing clothes in the river. There were no buildings, just a mass of tarps and people hauling market items any way they can. They loaded them on trucks, busses, wheelbarrows, long heavy carts, and women carried items on top of their heads. There was trash everywhere. Bill led us through this maze of people, trash and goods until we came to a paved road that took us to the Danita’s Children’s Center. The security guard opened the iron gate to let us in. Kariss and many of the boys came over to greet us, shaking our hands, smiling their beautiful smiles and exchanging names. Bill took us into the church which is now used to house about 36 bunk beds for the boys. In one corner of the church we found a group of Haitian women holding many of the special needs children. Our hearts melted as we also held them and played with many of the little boys. Many of their stories are on the danitaschildren.org website. Bill filled us in on others. Our tour resumed as Bill took us through the four floors of the medical center currently under construction. I found myself praying through each room and for the medical staff that the Lord would provide, not to mention the lives that would be saved in addition to the safety of the construction team. It was amazing to see and hear all that God had provided. We went to another building where we met Danita who happened to have just returned from the US last week. We sat around the lounge area as she told us the story of how God began this whole ministry. I hope you can check it out on her website. There probably wasn’t a dry eye in the room. I am in awe of God’s amazing and continuous provisions for the center. We serve a BIG God and nothing is impossible for Him! Later we had another wonderful meal of beans and rice, fresh fruit, plantains and fish. Even Carly, who doesn’t like fish, said it was very good! We talked for quite awhile around the table. Danita kept apologizing that it was raining. We were antsy to get started on a work project, but found the slower pace of talking and playing with the children for the rest of our time there very enjoyable. As we left the gates of the center, the “children on the outside of the gates,” as they are called, swarmed us for any food we had. Some people passed our granola bars. Mark became a target as he tried to pass out candy and was immediately taken over by reaching and grabbing hands. It was quite a sight. How excited these little ones get over a piece of candy! It really makes you think about our own appreciation for God’s provision for us. One last stop was at the girl’s house about 100 yards from the Children’s Center. As we arrived in their courtyard, they came out of the door and immediately greeted us with hugs and smiles. They were all beautiful and very much girly. Their hair was braided, they had necklaces on that they had made and had polish on their toes. We could only visit with them for a short while. We had to walk quickly to get to the border before it closed. As soon as we crossed we heard, “STOP!” Bill was thinking it was Dominican Republican soldier. Actually it was a Major Bennett who was a U.S. soldier who wanted to know if we had been treated well by all the authorities at the border. Bill explained to him about Danita’s Children and the possible need for the security services he offered at the orphanage. Major Bennett gave Bill his contact number. Another God moment and answer to a need at the children’s center. Wow! Did I say we serve a BIG God?! We stopped at a store for a much needed cold bottle of water or soda, then headed beck to the hotel. Wait …. Where’s Jerry? Oh, here he comes! I love how Jerry just greets and talks with anyone! We got cleaned up at the hotel, had devotions, another amazing dinner, and debriefing. We had a guest at dinner with us, a deaf boy by the name of Lubenson. He also has one eye permanently closed. He lives on the streets and has become a friend of Bill’s. We knew the storm was coming in tonight and the thought of him sleeping on the streets was difficult to accept. It was arranged for him to have a room at our hotel. Because he can’t hear, the question was written for him to read if he wanted to stay at the hotel. With a huge smile, he nodded his head. Some of the clothes we brought were given to him. He will be safe and warm tonight. Good night, Lubenson. Good night everyone …

Patti Ruona

*pictures are taking too long to load, we will upload them tomorrow morning.

Santiago..day two

We made it!

This little boy followed us around all day and he kept going around to each of us saying, "I hungry, one dollar?"

This was an old jail where they used to shoot prisoners execution style. The bullet holes were all over the cement wall.

Hey Everyone! We arrived safely to Santiago, Dominican Republic and made it through customs smoothly! God is so good. We have all just been so excited to get going and do what God brought us here to do. After traveling all day yesterday, we stayed in a very nice hotel in Santiago. We enjoyed trying to communicate with the locals here, it was pretty funny. Jerry Linchied always has us laughing. His energy is so unique and contagious. It is neat to see all the different personalities God has brought together to fulfill a special purpose. Our unity is great! We are almost headed to the airport to pick up our Mission's coordinator, Bill from Danita's Children. We also have two members who are friends of ours (Sean and Carly Peters) from Orange County, Ca. They are both in the medical/health field and are bringing much needed supplies and information.

This morning, we were led on a small tour of the city and figured out real quick that you can get taken advantage of very easily. We have since learned to have more discretion and stick together as a group. We met back at the hotel and did our 40 day study "A Call to Die" together. We are on day 31 and it was all about prayer today. We learned to be still and listen to what God is saying, also to pray for discernment and to have times of private prayers when no one is around. We also learned to ask everything in Jesus' name because it is only through Him that we can come to the Father.

There is so much to tell but for now, we gotta run! We are on our way to the airport in a few minutes then off to stay at the Hotel Masacare. Pray for that experience. Enjoy some of our sightseeing pictures for tomorrow we will be posting much more serious posts I'm sure.

In Christ,

Carly Peters

(JUST SO YOU ALL KNOW, THE WEATHER IS FINE OVER HERE AND THERE IS ONLY A 5-10% CHANCE THAT THE STORM WOULD EVEN HIT THE ISLAND.)

GOD'S GOT US SAFE IN HIS ARMS!!!!

On Our Way!

As I am typing right now, most of our team is sleeping on the plane due to a lack of sleep as we are en-route to Miami, where we will have a 4 hour layover before we head to Haiti . Let me fill you in. Our morning today started at 2:00 am where we met at church to load everything up for our trip to Haiti. It’s amazing to think that so many people can be that excited so early, but that was definitely the case. Once we got to the airport, then we had the sheer joy of checking in 24 large bags and suitcases. (Not fun!) Once we finished with that, off to the gate where we all waited for about an hour and a half. That brings you up to this point. I know, not to exciting but we’re trying our hardest to keep our family, friends and church family in the loop!

We do know what the first day is going to look like so let me fill you all in. We will arrive in Santiago, Dominican Republic at 8:15 pm on Saturday (which is today). By the way for all those that don’t know, the Dominican Republic and Haiti share the same island. In fact, our hotel, which is called, Hotel Massacre (no joke) is on the D.R. side so we will be crossing the border everyday to work with Danita’s Children, the orphanage where we will be spending most of our time. After clearing customs, we will be off to the hotel by the airport, different from Hotel Massacre which is where we will be staying for most of the trip. Tomorrow when we wake up, we will stick around the hotel until about 3:00 pm because we are waiting for Bill Waterman, a Danita’s Children representative that will be our host for the entire time we are here. He’s flying in from Florida cause he’s actually in transition from a career in the states that he gave up to answer God’s call to work at the orphanage. After we pick him up, we will be in for a 3 hour bus ride to the Hotel Massacre which should put us in at around 7 or so. Then finally on Monday, off to see the children at Danitas and see what the Lord has in store for the team.

The hotel that we are staying at does have Wi-Fi so we will be able to blog each night so please keep checking in. Continue to pray that the Lord will use us in a big way and that we will be a blessing to the orphanage. Thank you again for all your prayers and also for all those that financially supported this trip. Until later, God bless!

Until the Whole World Hears,

Sean Peters