Saying Good Bye at Genesis.

    

The staff at Genesis for the Despidida for us on Thursday

       Karen's last day at Genesis was Friday of last week. The custom here is to have a despedida for staff when they leave. On Thursday after most of the kids had left, they had Chocolate cake and Coke and made sure that I was there too. It was an interesting time as there was only one teacher there that was there when I left Genesis a little over three years ago. That was probably the hardest part of being here was the constant change of staff, teachers, just always someone leaving with new ones coming.

Juan Carlos, one of the students that we especially bonded with

      Just like the staff changes, so do the students change.  They might move to another area or they might not have the money for the transportation or some of them go back to the regular school system back into a regular classroom. We have had a couple that have left to go back to the regular school system when they opened up their own special education program here in town. And then there are some parents that it is just too much bother to get them there so they leave them at home all day.

Marcy singing along with one of her teacher friends from Doulos

       Juan Carlos is a student there that Karen and I really bonded with his family. We made a lot of home visits to his house with teams and sometimes Karen and I would just visit with his dad and sisters. His mother died soon after he was born due to complications related to his birth. It seemed like some of the kids ended up being really special to us and Juan Carlos for sure fell into that category.
      Karen and I went to see a movie last evening with the girls, "Miracles From Heaven". There was a line in there that really struck me with our time here and it was quoted in the movie from Albert Einstein.  "There are two ways to look at your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is a miracle." When I think of our time here is is very evident to me that everything is a miracle from God. All those faces at Genesis, the loving staff, the supporters that we have back in the states, our health while we are here; every little and big thing. "Miracles are everywhere. Miracles are goodness, Miracles are love, Miracles are God, and God is forgiveness".
      Thank all of you for praying for us while we are here and we would covet your prayers as we continue to plan on going back to Northern Indiana the end of May. My job is still up in the air Karen is also exploring options regarding that too for her.

Road Trip 2016

Macry dancing the Merenge on the boat in Bayahibes

     In most Latin cultures, Holy Week (or Semana Santa) is a week when most businesses shut down or at least shut down on Good Friday and Saturday. SI usually takes Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday that week off and so Marcy and I took that opportunity to visit the southeast part of the island. We went to a part of the DR that I had only been in briefly about 12 years ago. We saw a lot of beaches, drove through a "National Park,. we visited some caves in Santo Domingo and went on a "rope pulley ferry" in the cave, we stayed at a couple of "lesser quality" hotels and experienced some foods we had not experienced yet. It really was a nice time away and since we drove the Tonka Truck, we drove 650+ miles on 13.6 gallons of gasoline. (that is one of the many things I will miss here is the Tonka Truck). One common culture experience you can see here is on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. On these days you will see men carrying a full size cross down the road usually for a long distance, maybe 20-30 miles or further. We saw two different men doing that.

Fish for breakfast

The rope pulley boat at Tres Ojos

      While Marcy and I were gone on our road trip, Janae was up translating for a team in the Santiago Base of SI. She enjoys doing that whenever she has the opportunity. Then back in Jarabacoa, Karen and Nina were working part days in Genesis, where Karen is finishing up a few things that she wanted to get done before she leaves that site in the next week or so. She has been working on the back playground for the younger kids. It is looking really good. We had a couple work teams in January and February in Santiago and I brought them down to Genesis for a couple days to put a roof over the eating area and then pour a small slab of concrete for that area. Then a couple days before Marcy and I left, I put new metal on the roof of the main building there. It had been leaking for some time and it was pretty much past the "patch and seal" stage. With the new roof, new gutter, and back playground area, that site is looking really good and will be ready for the students when they return in a couple weeks for the summer trimester. I also made a couple wheel chair swings. I am anxious to see how they work for the ones in wheelchairs that up til now, just had to watch everyone else swing during their recess time.

The Caverns at Tres Ojos

       As we begin to think more about coming back to Indiana we started to sell some of the things in our home. A new family from California will be moving down late summer/fall and they will buy most of our household items. Our vehicles will most likely end up going to the base in Santiago but that is not for sure yet. Pray for us as we prepare to transition back. The packing up, the finishing up small projects, the saying good-byes, and everything in between is what we have on our minds. I will be looking for employment when we return so also be praying for the "right job". We are really trying to take it slow and find out what God has for us in that area.

Marcy playing with her new friends at Bayahibes

Playa Diamate

The new wheel chair swings at Genesis

New roof and eating area

New playground for the smaller kids at Genesis

Small playground

Small Playground

Wheel Chair swing.

It appears that this lady is opening a can with a butcher knife. YEP!! Thats how they do it in the DR. No can openers here :)