Mission Trip to Dominican Republic
Christmas in Santiago 2010
Holy Cross is partnering with a missionary that we support in the Domincan Republic to aid in the work being done there.
From March 31 through April 9, we will help with the construction of an LCMS Lutheran Church in las Americas, near Santo Domingo. The church already has members and a Vicar and--hopefully--will have a completed building by this summer. Vicar Gaspar hopes to be called to this congregation as their official pastor after he is ordained on March 12, 2011. This church not only serves the local community, but also gives outreach to Haiti.
We have a team of 13 people going on this trip with an even larger team of "Senders" and those praying for the team and God's work that will be done in the Dominican Republic. At Holy Cross we hope to continue a relationship with this church and with Together in Mission as they continue the mission God has called them to in this part of the world.
Watch this website for more information as we will keep it updated with stories and pictures when we have computer access.
We appreciate all who keep us and this mission in your prayers.
If you would like to support our mission work monetarily, please send your tax-deductible donations to:
Holy Cross Lutheran Church
7307 N. Nevada
Spokane, WA, 99208
Please place the words "Dominican Republic" on the memo line. Thank you for your support!
nWe are on our way!! We have safely arrived at the SeaTac airport and have had dinner and are now waiting for the flight to depart. Lindsay and Hannah are glad they brought a Math tutor with them as they sit and do homework. Rhian had a fun time going through security and learned that wearing overalls with lots of metal won him a trip to be patted down. :)
We will be heading to our gate soon and doing our first day's devotion. Then it's time to sleep on the plane ride to New York.
Thank you to our drivers: the Bolen's, Cooper's, Roche's, and Selset's.
Also, Thank you to all of our friends and family who have helped support us. Please continue to pray for us! We will be checking in again tomorrow. Good night.
Day 2 started somewhere over South Dakota. Between the excitement, the full plane and for the most part no sleep we staggered off the plane at 3 am Spokane time (some of you were awakened with that news). Within feet of the arrival gate were lounge chairs!!Luckly they were empty because we became perminent fixtures in them for the next 4 hours. Still sleep did not come easy thanks to the constant loudspeaker shatter and maybe just a little anticipation. Passing through customs went well an our driver was waiting for us. Some 30 minutes later we arrived at the "Spanish House" (espana casa). A wonderful place to call home. A wonderful meal, an outline of what we were going to do tomorrow a city tour and devotions followed. Then finally, a mattress and a pillow for our weary heads. ~Shelly
Day 3: woke up bright and early at 5:30. we were all excited to start our day! when we managed to stumble down the stairs after a much need rest, breakfast was awaiting us. soonafter, we made our way down to the construction site. it basically looked like a couple uncompleted cement walls. we know that we have much to do and are extremely excted to be the hands and feet of christ. after briefly talking to pastor willy and his family, we get to work. it is amazing the amount of people that just showed up out of nowhere. before we knew it, it was time for the luchbreak that we so badly needed. cody, hannah, and lindsay played soccer or 'futbol' with some of the children that have gathered around the worksite. another hard couple hours of work, and it was time to go back to our casa. we took what felt like the best showers of our lives and gathered around and had some relaxation time. with clothes in the washer and food on the table, we had a delicious meal made by terry. now i have to get to devotions, and off to bed! thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers. adios! ~lindsay
Day 4: Well it's been another action packed day. Fortunately (for my tired msucles and sun burn) it was just a half day of working at the site but we made the most of it. Two more column footings poured and the draing field installed. After reutrning to the house where we're staying we meet another mission team that just flew in from St. Louis. They are here for the week doing medical work. They had dinner with us then we all went to church together. Just as the church sevice was about to begin it started to rain, which was causing a problem becasue we were under an open sided canopy. We quickly packed up and moved the service into Pastor Willy's garage. It was packed with people praising the Lord and I'm very thankful that we were able to attend with them. After the service we returned to the house for a time of devotions which is always a great time for sharing our experiences from the day. Now we're winding down and getting ready for another full day of service to the Lord tomorrow. ~Mike Littrel
Day 5: Oohhh oooowww- between the sunburns and tired muscles we are all feeling the "blessings" of service. Chipping thru rock and coral with brute force- okay- Rhian the ":Conquerer"; no stone too big that can't be broken and pulled out thru lesser rock. Ya, all the sand is on the beach not on-site! It really is a joy to see the local children soo enjoying any playtime with our young kids. They have so little that 2 girls spent 15 minutes measuring each glass, tools and height of anything not moving. We had some extra gloves we passed and they all thought they too were now official workers so could help throw rocks in the drain holes and pull a rake, as young as 2 years old! Kids so eager to help; if only I could bring them back home with me I might get my deck finished??! :-) The vans driving by all stop to see the Gringos and honk their horns- we believe of course it is in appreciation further motivating us to beat the heat and get back to chipping away at the work God has so richly blessed us with. More rocks more challenges tomorrow!!??? Kerry
Day 6: No electricity this day so no posting. Sorry we will cach up on Day 7.
Day 7: Woot another hard day of work down!! Getting up is always one of the hardest things now, but once your up your set, eat breakfast which was toast today i beleive, hmmm that sounds good now.. anyways, set off for the job sight and instanly started on anything ranging from puttin up towers to setting up pipes for plubing, which in that case I would like to say that we got all three bathrooms done, YEAH!! we also got to spend time with some more kids, always a pleasure. :) one of the new kids to the group, had to be about seven maybe, soon became attached to anyone who would play with him, we also introduced him to piggy-back rides, he thought that was the best invention since the big red dump truck that came and pourred rocks/dirt for us. All these people here impress me, they are coming out of a depression and can still be so go happy and ready to work, earger to please. only a few more days.... don't know if I can leave.. ~Cody Littrel
Day 8: You would think that the hardest part about being down here in the Dominican Republic on a building mission team would be all of the labor trying to build a church in the heat. Most of us today found that is not the case. I believe that the hardest day that we have encountered was today having to say goodbye to all of the people that have been there helping us on the site throughout this week. I know that all of us have developed relationships with the locals here that will last a life time. Saying goodbye to them whether or not this is our last time seeing them or not proved to be extremely difficult. In the begininning it started out pretty awkward for not only our group from our church but also the group of church members and the local community that were here helping us to come together and work to build a church. As the days went by everyone began melting together and creating friendships while working to complete our tasks, even though there was sometimes a language burrier. The expectations that we were going to touch the lives of people down here were changed when we saw that it would be the locals that were touching our lives. Watching people such as David, Wilson, and Octavio (A few of the church memebers that have worked every day with us) work with us to get the job done has been a real blessing for all of us and a perfect example of service. Not only were we working with them, but also the children in the neighborhood. Even though they were small they were still doing everything in their power to help us get this church up. We are all very blessed to be part of this mission team to not only be able to know we helped with the church building, but also to have been touched by all of our new friendships on this journey. They will never be forgotten! *Kali*
Day 9: Kristin spent time this week painting a wonderful sign for the church. This was a blessing as now the people in the comunity will know what exactly this building is going to be and when they meet. We started today by putting up the sign then it was on to Santiago to see the other mission sites that our missionaries support. These included a group home and a Lutheran School.
