My Boyfriend's Back!

Just in case the title of this post made you nervous, boyfriend = husband/Jim. Ha! I'm a funny girl.

Jim returned this week after taking a mission group to Hato Mayor (see previous posts). A group of twelve individuals, some from Horizon, some not, spent a week working on the mission house being built there.


"A typical Dominican house" set up at a city museum. This was much nicer than many of the country homes we saw.

Let me ask you this---have you ever gone to visit someone you've never met before and when you left they started adding an addition to their house just so you would come back? Me neither, but that's what happened to us after our first trip to Hato Mayor. I told in an earlier post about Pedrito's dream in Hato Mayor. His son and daughter-in-law's dream is to someday have a mission school connected to the church. There is so much need in the barrio where they live. Our little church has latched onto the dreams and we hope to make them come true. We will eventually arrange medical missions and more in the barrio. It's all about being a light in the world, not just in this little community where we live in Indiana. It's about building relationships and telling people they matter---to us, to God. It's not about preaching the Word. It's about living the Word. Words fall on deaf ears. Actions say you mean it.

So Arelis and Pedrito build. They are able to build because of generous hearts across the great divide. (I hope my friends don't mind me sharing this). Steve and Amy were blessed by some unexpected funds. They could have put in a new pool. Steve could have built a bigger and better pen for his beagles. Amy could have expanded the garden of her dreams. No, they wanted to do something more, something worthy. So, the mission house outside of Santiago is built with much love. Steve and Amy have received a little help from friends, but it would have taken years for the dream to come to fruition had they not given generously of their time and money.

There is more to do to complete the Mission House, but it is lookin' gooooooood! I am looking forward to my three-week adventure there this summer. I'm going alone at the moment. Steve has created a laundry list of "projects" for me to complete. Wait a minute! Wasn't that supposed to be a vacation?! Not really. I'll be visiting family, my Dominican family. And they will welcome me with open arms and ginormous hearts. Can't wait.

The reason we go:
A few miles outside Santiago

Sunday afternoon at Children's Church



Waiting for baseballs, bats, and gloves that we brought from the U.S. Much better than the sticks, milk jugs and bottle caps they are used to using instead.








For more about this recent trip, see Jim's posts and Todd's posts. If you would ever want to join us on the adventure, send me an email! Anyone with a heart for serving is welcome to join us.