DR Update on Children’s Ministry Center

January 24 from the Miami airport

I was able to sit down with Pastor Rudy and Luis Pichardo, contractor, while in the DR to discuss options for the Children’s Ministry Center.  I had originally thought we could take our time to finish the third floor, not understanding the destructive effect of tropical rains on unfinished concrete structures.  We are so very grateful for the donations and the sacrifice of hard work that went into finishing the first to floors of the CMC. This has provided the children’s nursery; classrooms for seminars, classes and tutoring; a Samuel’s Fund office and storage space; plus a wonderful dental facility.  To protect what we have already built, it is urgent to be able to get the third floor dried in before the rainy season begins in April.

The cost estimate to get the third floor dried in is $25,000. To finish out the third floor (which will provide a space for a medical clinic as well as a music education classroom for the children) will cost an additional $20,000—total of $45,000.  After conferring with Rudy and Luis, in partnership with the Quisqueyana Baptist Church, we are moving forward by faith.  Monday the loads of sand, cement blocks and steel were ordered and work began!

“Nothing is impossible for God” is the Dominican church motto, and we are learning from them.  So I ask for your prayers and know we will together give God all the praise as He provides this need.  Paul says in Ephesians that we were created in Christ Jesus to do the good works He planned for us long ago.  This is a good work, and it is His work, and we have been chosen before the foundation of the world to declare His glory throughout the nations.  He will provide.

Raising the Chapel Day—Driving the Dark Away

January 3, 2012

All week snatches of a hymn echoed in my mind, “Joyful, joyful we adore Thee God of glory, Lord of love.”  I watched as children and adults ranging in age from 7 to 87 years and from nine cities formed one team for one week for one purpose.  Our ministry activities included construction, medical clinics, painting an orphanage, skits, cookie decorating, clarinet duos, games, delivering supplies to schools and orphanages, and more.  “Father-love” reigned over us, while “brother-love” filled our hearts.  And finally, we erected the chapel, and then dedicated it to the memory of my father, Zeral Brown, who began ministry in the Dominican Republic over 65 years ago.  As my 87-year-old mother handed the key to Carlos as the new pastor, his wife tearfully shared, “When we first moved here, I was so depressed. It felt like God had forgotten the people of Monte-Adentro.  Now I know God has not forgotten us. We have a place to worship.”  Our mission team joined her with celebratory tears.  We had erected a place where God’s love and light can “melt the clouds of sin and sadness.”

Just one week, but we have all been changed, and our hearts filled with the music of heaven leading us Son-ward in the “triumph song of life.”

Excitement Builds!

December 30, 2011

Chapel building continues—more hammering, drilling, screwing, and painting, and the stacks of panels, windows, and roof sections pile up. So does the adrenalin as we look forward to Saturday, New Year’s Eve—“Putting-Down-the-Chapel Day.”

The young woman and her husband who will now have a building for their growing Bible classes can barely contain their excitement! “We are missionaries!” she says. And when we respond with quizzical facial expressions, she explains, “We are missionaries for the Lord in our neighborhood. There is no evangelical witness there except us. Our children’s Bible classes have been held outdoors on a patio. Now we will have a building, and now we can reach some of the parents!”

Mornings are for chapel building. Afternoons are for children’s ministries. First, separating supplies—school resources, clothes, sheets and pillows, shoes, belts, Christmas treats. And then, organizing and practicing for the programs we will present. Puppet shows, Christmas songs, crafts, cookie decorating, a dramatized Bible story. Oh, and we need paint, brushes, rollers. Part of the group will paint a fence in Hatillo and the outside of the Betesda orphanage in La Romana during the program. Don’t forget tables, small papers for prescribed meds, suitcases with medicines, vitamins for the Medical clinic. We can adapt a well-known Christmas song, “Oh what fun (pause) it is to come (pause) on a STCHM mission trip!”

Christmas 2011—The Chosen Ones

There are 28 people on this mission trip—only God could have put this trip together. From Montana, Iowa, Alabama, Houston area, Dallas area, Corpus Christi, and Skidmore! Five children, several adolescents, university students, young adults, parents, and grandparents. Doctors, engineers, nurses, students, teachers, a speech pathologist, a jeweler, and others I have probably not remembered.

And we have the privilege of serving God together in the Dominican Republic, expecting to leave behind a new chapel, plus supplies for schools, orphanages and churches, while taking home with us a lifetime of memories and a heart full of gratitude, love and prayers.

Our first few days in pictures—

So Many Ways to Give

October 25, 2011

STCHM mission team blesses children, families and orphans through funds from Texas Baptists Offering for World Hunger.

During our vision trip with ladies from University Baptist in Clearlake, we have crammed every moment with ministry, visits, testimonies, and activities! However, we’ve also made plenty of time for dreaming, for prayer and conversation, and for information-gathering as we consider ways to serve in the future. A Sunday night service at Quisqueyana Baptist inspired us with impromptu Scripture memory verses shared by young and old alike. I think they could have continued all night! Our visit to the Bani school on Monday was followed by a teacher’s meeting with leaders from the 27 outlying children’s Bible classes. Lora shared a teaching method for the plan of salvation that could be used with all ages, followed by a time of fellowship and crafts as the ladies enjoyed making jeweled frames for scripture verses to hang on a wall.

We had plenty of help to go on a World Hunger shopping trip for homes of Samuel’s Fund children, and then made deliveries. It’s hard to describe the reaction of these children and families to the provision of resources that have been so desperately needed and prayed for. One young mother confided to Rebeca that after we left, she opened the boxes of food and cried. But what was even more of a blessing to her was the effect on her daughter, Crisbel. Crisbel took ten percent of each donated food item and put it in a separate box.  “Mom,” she said, “we have to tithe this gift also.” A young single mother with two children received a “tithe” of the food that the World Hunger offering had provided!

The boys at the Betesda Children’s Home and the caregivers there were also excited to receive our visit. A new baby and another little boy have joined their home. They are truly bursting at the seams in their little three-bedroom home. Too short the time, but we enjoyed lunch with them, and a craft. As we left, the director of the Home, Ramon Castro, prayed for us—for hands that were the hands of Christ that day in their lives, for our families, for our going out and coming in to be God-blessed.

Our hearts were full as we headed back to IBQ and met with about 30 mothers of Samuel’s Fund children to talk about parenting. “My child talks back.” “My child doesn’t want to help around the house.” The complaints were in Spanish, but the issues of parenting were the same. Principles from Proverbs were shared, and another very full day came to a close.

Bendiciones,
Joanna

Giving Thanks

October 24, 2011

Twenty years ago Junia and Leonel, husband and wife, were motivated to begin a small school in their tiny home. Classes in the living room, patio, and other corners grew as did the burden to provide the hope of an education for more underprivileged kids who would never be able to afford a regular school. With the help of God and the founder of TIME ministries (Zeral Brown, my father) they moved to the barrios, deep in the center of poverty and ignorance, and began classes in four newly-constructed wooden chapels.

The Bani school – children densely crowded into hot, unventilated wooden chapel-rooms. One-hundred-twenty-five for three hours in the morning, and 125 for three hours in the afternoon, living in poverty, coming hungry to class every day. The school is taught by three teachers and a pastor, no books, no resources. Pencils and paper are treasured, chalkboards and memorizing are their only option for teaching methods. STCHM, with the help of four ladies from the University Baptist Church of Clearlake and Jackie Thurston from Corpus Christi, brought reams of paper, flip charts to teach mathematics, pencils, pens, crayons and four dictionaries and three children’s story books to read aloud and share between classes. From Texas Baptists World Hunger Funds we also brought large cans of powdered milk, oatmeal, and chocolate for their daily “merienda,” a nourishing morning snack that they try to provide. A paltry amount by our standards, yet treasures beyond words in this needy place. They are poor in resources yet rich beyond description in love for God and love for His children.

Junia bowed her head and wept, overcome with gratitude as she tried to express what these resources meant to them. “God really cares about us. He knows our needs. He has heard our prayers. He provided through you today. Gracias….gracias…gracias.”

The children and staff were eager to demonstrate what they were learning. They sang and repeated Scripture verses and facts about math and history. And then they begged to sing some more. We passed out bread and boxes of milk as eager hands received what might be the only meal of the day for some of them.

Pray. The wooden chapels are rotting due to age, termites and tropical rains. Their enrollment is double what it should be, 125 kinder through third grade in the morning, 125 grades fourth through sixth in the afternoon. They do not charge anything for these children. They have so little and do so much. We all left with humbled hearts, overwhelmed by their needs, and blessed by their love for children, their faith in God and their passion to use all they have in His service. I thought of words from the contemporary song, “To God be the glory, to God be the glory….just let me live my life, let it be pleasing, Lord to Thee.” For of such children is the kingdom of heaven!

 We plan, God directs

 October 22, 2011

Typical ministry day…make a plan, and then adjust!  “Man proposes, God disposes.”

First, off to buy groceries for the Monte Plata orphanage with funds provided by World Hunger offering to which many of you have contributed through your church — 150 pounds of rice, 120 pounds of beans, tomato paste, spaghetti, oatmeal, powdered milk and much more. After a one-hour-plus  check out process due to a credit card snafu in the DR processing center, we werefinally able to begin the loading process in Rebeca’s small car. Oops! Sma-a-a-all car just got sma-a-aller! The rice and other items had to be tied down on the roof of the car. We stuffed the inside of the car, making a small cave for me in the back seat to sit in with rolls of bathroom tissue and large boxes of cornflakes on my lap. Then, dodging sacks of bread and beans as they slipped forward, we bounced our way to the orphanage.  New experience even for me!

So the day began—the credit card wouldn’t work, my Blackberry battery died, my pen ran out of ink, and we were two hours late for our visit! We are repeatedly reminded that we are NOT in control, but that we ARE in God’s hands. Dominican grace was extended to our tardiness for the orphanage visit, as we unloaded groceries and new shoes, toured the homes and heard Ramon Prensa recount the continued blessings on their ministry there (which STCHM helps to support). Joyful at God’s provision!

Today we finish the business seminar classes, and will enjoy some down time before we are joined tomorrow by a group of ladies from University Baptist in Clearlake. God has blessed us and our cups are full to overflowing.

Full Plates, Served up with Love

October 21, 2011

Banquet of locrio and yucca - Jackie’s a good sport!

The “flavor” of a mission trip is never the same from group to group — plates a bit too full,  but always seasoned perfectly with love! Hatillo and the Rosa Elena School continue to bless me each time I visit. Rosa Elena calls STCHM her “angels” as she recounts early struggles. We will visit classes and view her buildings and facilities today. The children welcomed us with WELCOME signs, posters, special hand-drawn cards and songs. The light of Jesus along with the individual attention and mental stimulation just shines from their eyes! We were treated to a banquet of chicken and rice (locrio) and yucca fritters.  Jackie Thurston has pronounced this her favorite Dominican food!

Stopping briefly at a store on our way back to the tutoring classes at Children’s Ministry Center, Jackie spent her birthday money from friends on underwear and socks for Samuel’s Fund children. Imagine! Joy! New underwear and socks—some have rarely had that privilege. First, tutoring, then re-arranging the classroom and it began to fill up with eager adults of all ages for the micro-business seminar. Ramon inspired, and on Friday, Esperanza will discuss finances, and Jackie will present on what has been identified as MOST important in this struggling economy—customer service. We count on your prayers, as the business seminar is both exciting and stretching for us. Attendees (of all ages) include many single moms who are determined to find a way to make a better life for their children and also young men with dreams for their future as well.

A Witness to Dreams Come True

October 18-19, 2011

As our October mission trips commence, we take joy in the blessings already bestowed: our flights were all on time, luggage revolving on the carousel as we cleared customs, and we were greeted by Rebeca’s incomparable smile! It was 9:45 p.m. and as we weaved through dark streets, avoiding potholes and cars, the phone was ringing. Ramon Laureano was waiting to discuss the business seminar and get organized. And so our mission trips often begin….

What joy to drink Dominican coffee made in the unique “greca” and then head to the new Children’s Ministry Center. Thank you to everyone who contributed the sweat and prayers and gifts to make this wonderful facility available. Tutoring classes were in full swing in the Samuel’s Fund classroom. Some of the IBQ ladies are receiving a small stipend to supplement the sparse attention and teaching available to these children in the public system. This week Jackie Thurston from Corpus Christi brought special activities and teaching interventions to work with the children and they were delighted!

The dental office is more than I could have imagined—with mahogany cabinets (termites eat anything else!), granite tops, and dental units donated by the local dental school.

In between all of this, we met and planned and rehearsed the business seminar for individuals who until now only dream of having a small micro-business. We pray that the business seminar will provide the opportunity for them to learn how to move dreams into reality in the days ahead.

If you haven’t had a chance to make a mission trip to the DR, I hope you will be able to share this joy soon.Your prayers keep us with wings like eagles, though by the end of the day my wings can droop a little!

Bendiciones,
Joanna

Contrasts

July 26, 2011

Here in the Dominican Republic we see many contrasts—the ugliness of trash piled under graceful palm trees; toothless leather-skinned women sitting beside beautiful children smiling through dark eyes and curling lashes; an explosion of flowers and foliage framing leaky zinc-roofed shacks; traffic jams of wrecked cars beside the turquoise Caribbean rising up and curling forward onto shallow beaches.

Looking at the contrasts I could almost hear palm trees, crimson blossoms and the turquoise sea groaning together as I remembered the words of the Apostle Paul, “Creation looks forward to the day when it will join with God’s children in freedom from decay and destruction.”

We are finishing an incredible week of ministry with New Life Church from Beeville, Texas and a team of dental professionals and helpers. In addition to six dental clinics, the teams accomplished construction and repair of a classroom on top of the Rosa Elena kitchen, a teachers training seminar, VBS classes in four locations, an all-day seminar for adolescents on True Love Waits, and a visit to the Monte Plata Orphanage.

On Sunday, the teams enjoyed a day of celebration at Iglesia Bautista Quisqueyana (IBQ). STCHM was pleased to recognize contractor Luis Pichardo and electrical engineer Russell Jerez for their many hours of voluntary service to construct the Children’s Ministry Center. Along with a check—an offering of gratitude—they received a standing ovation from the congregation.

The service climaxed with the presentation of an honorary diploma to Pastor Jacinto (Rudy) De la Cruz by Dr. Moises Rodriguez from Baptist University of the Americas in San Antonio, Texas. Plans are moving forward to expand the Berean Bible Institute into a fully accredited school offering degrees in theology and Christian ministry.

The week was so packed with blessings it is almost impossible to select just a few highlights. But perhaps pictures will tell the story best. For the many of you who have prayed, who contribute, who have participated in so many ways, we gratefully affirm that together, Americanos and Dominicans, we have been adopted into God’s great family and we are heirs of His glory.

South Texas Children’s Home Ministries is a tax exempt, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.
P.O. Box 759, Beeville, TX 78104 • 361-375-2101
All Contents Copyright ©2008 - Site Design by Jonathan Malm