The second group from the Liquid Church High School program is in the Dominican Republic right now.
The images from Day 1 can be found on the Handfuls of Hope Facebook Page!
Day 2 was a great day full of God's love. The team handed out food in different villages and took the time to face paint and care for those they encountered.
The team spent Day 5 in a village called La Rigola. It is a very poor village but it was a lovely experience. They distributed food, pampers, and clothes. They also were able to visit the village called Pica Pica.
The day ended by making 120 sandwiches for a day at the beach with the girls from the orphanage the next day.
The morning of day 3 included setting up for the events to come later on in the day. After the set up was completed, the team participated in face painting!
The rest of the day was full of fun activities in a fair held at the Handfuls of Hope School. At which about 175 kids from the school attended and participated in activities like water fights. The team put on puppet shows and dramas for all.
The 2018 Summer Team is currently in the Dominican Republic. They have visited the children's hospital and had plenty of activities through VBS, the Isaiah 58 Ministry and baseball.
Please see the pictures below!
The TCS Team arrived in the Dominican Republic on Thursday, March 8th. Since their arrival, they have worked in 2 villages, San Jose and Lemon Hill. They also visited the Children's Hospital on Sunday and have worked with our ministry friend, Jay Muños. The team will be visiting the Dominican/American School this afternoon March 11th.
We praise the Lord for the work He is doing in the lives - from here and there- that are being touched.
The team landed at JFK last night after about a week's worth of work in the Dominican Republic. Everyone is back home safe with countless praises from all of the great experiences had during the week!
We thank the Lord for always keeping the team safe and for allowing them the opportunity to serve together in impacting the lives of many in the Dominican Republic.
Day 6
Team Evangel and all the people they encountered continued to feel God's grace. Teachers, who teach grades Pre-K through 9, had their final day of participation in the Teacher's Conference. All received gift bags that they were able to fill with items that included crayons, pencils, pens, staplers, and folders. They also did a rocket experiment, filling water bottles with vinegar and baking soda.
After the experiment, the teachers were asked what questions they would pose after doing this with their students.
They shared that they would ask their students what they learned; the importance of the activity; what materials would they use; and what would they do differently next time.
Teachers also did a balloon activity with a CD and flip bottle top. They blew air into the balloon and put it over the top that had been inserted into the CD. As the balloon deflated, the CD spun and moved across the floor.
Team Evangel later met with the teachers to assess their classroom needs and assisted them in creating posters for their classrooms. Team members also were blessed by the opportunity to help furnish a Pre-K classroom.
Additional Evangel team members visited the village of Sabana Larga, where they played jump rope ball with some of the children. The atmosphere was joyful at a local church where Team Evangel helped lead and participate in a praise and worship, then listened to a Bible study. As part of the Isaiah 58 program, people in the village later received food and clothes while the children spent a good deal of time coloring pictures. They also received personalized backpacks that were decorated with a message about God's goodness.
For the past three days, Team Evangel was treated to delicious lunches and dinners cooked by several gracious women at Colegio Cristiano. Glory be to God!
~ Sonya Kimble-Ellis
Day 5
God's anointing shined today while Team Evangel visited the village of Beni. Team members walked through the village with members of Handfuls of Hope (HOH), canvasing the villagers to come hear the word of the Lord.
The townspeople were open to hearing and receiving God's best. Throughout the gravel-covered streets, the sound of music and the sweet aroma of an upcoming meal represented comfort, joy, and a sense of home.
Many children and adults joined Team Evangel and HOH to sing praise songs and worship in a tree-covered yard located behind the church. Afterward, the young ones colored onto sheets that had fun illustrations; did chalk drawings onto concrete steps; and received personalized backpacks.
The village residents were blessed with bags of food and were prayed for by team members. They also received items of clothing. Members also returned to another village to paint a home while several helped fill children's backpacks with school supplies. The day was truly a blessing to all.
~ Sonya Kimble-Ellis
Day 4
Team Evangel and those we ministered to had a blessed day in the Lord. Some of the team members participated in and conducted a Teachers Conference at Colegio Cristiano Esdras.
Team leader Yasmin Burrell led a session on "Blooms Taxonomy," which outlined in part what teachers should Record, Understand, Apply, and Analyze, Evaluate, and Create in their classrooms. The teachers were pleased to receive a gift bag with the phrase 'Reaching by Teaching.' On the back was a Bible verse from John 7:16.
As an icebreaker, they participated in an exercise that required them to line up in the order of their birthdate. Each teacher had to communicate their birthdate to the other teachers without speaking a word. There was a lot of laughter and recognition of various communication techniques during this exercise.
"I realized what it was like when students don't know how to communicate well," said one teacher. "I saw that there are times when you might not understand the child at that moment. But will time and work, you will understand," shared another.
In a morning activity, teachers worked together to create a hands-on writing/drawing activity of what a teacher is, says, does. Their responses included the words mother, companion, clown, banker, educator, and more. During the afternoon, teachers participated in a hands-on painting and writing activity that encouraged them to share and illustrate their 'gift'. The activity was based on a passage from Proverbs 18:16. The afternoon ended with an anointed time of prayer.
Several team members also visited and blessed the people of Melon Hill. Members canvased the village for people with whom to share the Gospel of Jesus. The time in the village included handing out clothes, food, and praying for souls. Children were joyful as they played basketball, games and drew and colored pictures onto backpacks. God's grace was shown throughout the entire day.
~ Sonya Kimble-Ellis
The team arrived in Catalina for our first day of ministry there. Jeanne and Ceres and Alesha poured into our teachers. It was an amazing time, with so much progress. What an eternal investment. The rest of the team went, in the morning, to La Rigola and to San Jose in the afternoon. We presented the good news of Jesus to all, sang beautiful songs, played with kids, and handed out 12000 meals worth of food and also shoes and clothes. Heading back to the capital now, for a quick shower and dinner at Provacon. Yum yum. Keep praying for us throughout the week. God is working in so many ways.
We woke up Sunday with new energy. Shared a few minutes after breakfast learning about the HOH ministry and then off to IBI, an awesome church in the capital. We worshiped the Lord and heard a great message. Lunch at Pollo Victorino and the the Robert Reed Children's Hospital. What a great time! Some of these children are so sick. We were blessed being able to visit and pray for the children and families. God is so good. We are excited for Monday as we start ministry out in Catalina working with the HOH team there. Pray for us, that God be glorified.
Today was a fun but sad day. We got to sleep in today. We went straight to Catalina to spend as much time as we could with the guys and the girls, Yasmeroly and Esmeroly. One of the guys, Miguel brought his horse named Samantha to the party! We played many games with the guys and the girls and had a real fun time. We had lunch but we didn't stay for dinner. Saying goodbye was the hardest part. We promised them that we would see them again and we left back to the hotel. We had two hours to rest and swim. We went back to the mall for dinner. We went to a nice Italian restaurant. The food was great and we all had a fun time. On the way back to the hotel we stopped for Ice cream. To finish off the day we are having a debrief of our Trip and a possible snack party. It's sad to leave but it will feel good to be back in the states. Please pray for a safe flight and no delays, all the villages we went to and served, school starts in three weeks in Catalina.
~ Nate
Hey everyone! Today we woke up really early then drove 2 hours to Bayaguana for Isaiah 58. When we arrived, we were instantly welcomed by a crowd of at least 60 people. We sang Eres Todo, Light The Fire, and Sinking Deep then performed our skit. After that, we stayed there for lunch because the pastor invited us to stay and brought up soda and juice. Then we drove another 45 minutes to the next village, Monte Plata. When we arrived, we helped clear out some planks of wood and encountered the first of two wolf spiders. We started painting the building with wood finish (extremely sticky by the way - Nate got covered in it and it ripped out his arm hair) then encountered another wolf spider in a concrete block. When that was finally finished, we set up for another Isaiah 58. We handed out bracelets and lollipops and face painted. When we left, we drove 30 minutes to Pollo Victorina and ate so much chicken to end this amazing day. Now we are on our way back to the hotel.
-Angela
This morning we woke up (I woke up late as per usual) and got ready to leave for Catalina. We got there relatively on-time and packed up the bus with Manna Packs and headed to a village called Matanzas. While there we sang songs, performed our drama, face painted, and handed out food. On our way back from Mantanzas we all ignored language barriers and sang our hearts out to Justin Bieber and Sean Kingston. We got back to Catalina and ate lunch. Soon after we headed back to Matanzas to an English school to help new students with pronunciation and the basic things they've learned so far. (It was a lot of fun). We then headed back to Catalina, ate dinner, and got ready for evening church. Church was great, we sang a lot, Jeff preached, Alesha Kollert translated, and together we all learned about anchoring our souls in Jesus Christ. As I am typing we are pulling up to our hotel and our day has come to an end.
Goodnight
- Carson
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