Busy times in the DR

New cabinet and counter top

Lauren Unternahrer used her artistic talent to bless us.

       As I read the title of this Blog "The best of times, the worst of times" I think how pertinent that is to our life here the last 6 weeks or so. I had been in Santiago since January 5th and returned this last Sunday the 14th of February. I was able to be back home in Jarabacoa for 3 days in between teams and then I went back again. It was great to be there to help lead 4 different work teams from our home area in Northern Indiana. One team was our home sending church, Shore Mennonite, and then another was our son and daughter-in-law's home church, River of Life. As good as that was, it was also really hard to be gone from the rest of the family for that time period. But God is good and we got through it. There was a lot of painting that got done, two different roofs were put up, a swing set was put up, a pad of concrete was set, a set of 4 cabinets was made, a lot of general clean up was done, a lot of guttering on the roofs was installed, two Styrofoam buildings were put up - it was just a lot of everything.

Watching the rain as it washed the paint off of the freshly painted roof

       I had the opportunity to work along side Lowell and Cheryl Troyer for 3 of those weeks and Fritz Bontrager from Shipshewana for all of that time. He was a huge help and a real encouragement to me personally. Blessings to you Fritz, for giving up over 6 weeks of your life to come help out with these teams. I now settle into a bit of a slower life as we try to catch up on a few things that I have been neglecting since last Summer/Fall. 

New roof started and floor poured at Genesis for Karen and Courtney

Dave Wenger putting the finishing touches on the concrete at Genesis

Fritz Bontrager. We could not have accomplished this without your help. Your helping hands, your sense of humor, your ability to work with a great attitude and much more. Blessing to you Fritz.