Mission trip 2016

In about a month, our team from Murphy and North Monroe will be arriving in Dominican Republic to serve with Iglesia Bautista Central del Sur in Barahona, DR. For some of us, this will be our 10th year to serve in Barahona! We are so excited to see our friends there, meet new ones, and do what the Lord has planned for us that week! Please pray for us during this month of preparation; and during our time there (July 7-16), we especially need your prayers of health, protection from mosquitos, travel safety, and guidance as we share the love of Jesus everywhere we go and in all activities we lead and participate in. Thank you for supporting us with your prayer!

Follow us on facebook

Follow us on Facebook http://facebook.com/barahonadrmissions

Please PRAY for our 2015 Mission Team

June 24 - July 1, the "first" First Baptist Murphy Mission Team to the Dominican Republic will be serving with Iglesia Bautista Central del Sur in Barahona, DR. We look forward to seeing our friends again and sharing the love of Jesus Christ through English conversation with the English Immersion classes, teaching Bible studies, VBS for kids, constructing a restroom for the church, giving away several water purification kits, worshiping with three churches and many other ministries. One of the highlights of the trip for us will be to walk into the church building we helped construct last year and be amazed at how God has blessed this church! Praise God for the opportunity again to serve with these wonderful people!

Mission Trip 2014

Our DR Mission Team  just completed its 8^th mission trip to Barahona, Dominican Republic and we couldn’t have done it without YOU!

Your combined response, prayer and financial, was overwhelming this year. We thank you very much, and we thank God for your support.

Trusses up when we left

 

Boards up when North Monroe left

Most of your gifts went to finance the permanent roof structure for the church building. Your support provided for the structural steel (I-beams), hiring three welders, lumber to support the roof panels, metal hangers and metal screws, rental of a crane to set the metal roof trusses, and the roof panels. All materials for the roof have been purchased and were stockpiled for North Monroe to continue to installation.

While our construction team was not able to physically accomplish all that we wanted and the progress was slow to our liking, with two other construction groups coming down to provide labor over the next three weeks, the roof should be completed this summer and they hope to also be able to put in windows and doors. This will for all practical purposes complete the construction phase that Arapaho Road started four years ago. Praise God for your help! Praise God, our Christian friends in Barahona will now have a roof over their heads and can fully use the Temple to grow the church and reach their community for Christ.

Watch this page for more about what we did - coming soon!

2014 Mission Team Serving July 2-9

This team +Caleb (not pictured) will be serving again in Barahona, Dominican Republic July 2-9 with the Iglesia Bautista Misionera de Jesus church. We will be doing VBS, sharing Christ with a volleyball clinic, teaching ladies and men's Bible studies, working with English classes, helping put a roof on the church, prayer walking, worshiping with the 3 churches and doing whatever else God calls us to do while there. Thank you for your support and please pray for this team as it prepares to serve.

2013 Dominican Republic Mission Team Report

In July the 16-member Dominican Republic Mission Team spent six full days serving at our Dominican Republic SMP in Barahona, Dominican Republic. Then, a team of 4 remained in Barahona for an additional eight days continuing the work. THANK YOU again for supporting this work!

Construction of the church building extended the slab to the full building size and built four walls with openings for windows and doors. Church was able to meet for church on the slab the second Sunday.  The boards have been removed from the columns and entrance and it’s now ready for a roof, doors, and windows.

The construction team shared beans and rice each day with Haitians and Dominicans who were hired to work each day. The beans and rice were cooked by one of the women of the church who held one of the ladies Bible studies at her home. The workers also included a couple of young boys who enjoyed working alongside the team and church members who enjoyed helping with translation and physical labor.

The team’s children’s workers held VBS four days for over 100 children each day and taught Sunday School for children at three churches. They also held a volleyball camp for girls and did VBS for them.

The ladies Bible study leaders held Bible studies for four afternoons at the homes of three ladies who are church members. Over 60 ladies, a couple of men, and several young girls participated in these Bible studies each day. They enjoyed doing a craft, singing, studying the Bible, and fellowshipping together.

The ladies had a “girls only” beach party for some of the ladies and their children, translators and young girls that included a devotional time with Marilyn Lee.

 

The team attended Sunday services at four churches, two of which were Haitian churches, and Mike Pope preached at three of those services.

The team helped at the university’s English Immersion classes one to three times a day. Suzanne did caricatures of the students and the rest of the team met in small groups with the students who shared about their life and asked our team questions. We were able to openly share our testimonies and the Gospel with a variety of fun activities.  Young church members who were in these classes and who were only speaking Spanish last year, were so excited to be able to speak English to us this year. We were also able to help a young man from the blind church pay the $10 to take the English class next semester. He said he would be able to buy his books! As a result of these English classes, the church has begun an English worship service and Pastor Franklin said the first one went great with and three students from the English classes attended. They will offer this service every two weeks.

 

The team prayer walked throughout the community inviting children to VBS and ladies to Bible study, and prayed with those in each home.

 

Those on the team who had been on previous mission teams, made connections with their DR friends, gave lots of hugs, caught up on where they were in life, and encouraged them in their faith. 

If you are interested in being part of this mission team in the summer 2014, contact us at barahona@arapahoroad.org. 

Dominican Republic Mission Trip July 3-10...18



Front row: Brenda Metcalf, Miriam Rivera, Amber Smith, Tricia Simmons, *Mike Pope, Marilyn Lee, Cheryl Bounds / Back row: *Sandi Whisenant, Paul Siebenmann, Suzanne Berry, *Mike Whisenant, Karla Smith, Eric Simon, Rhonda Bownds, *Ken Bownds & Scott Everett.  Not pictured: Caleb Rivera.  *Those staying 8 additional days

The Dominican Republic Mission Team has been SO BLESSED by their churches, families, friends and others who have encouraged them with prayer and financial support as they have prepared to go to Barahona, Dominican Republic. Now we would like to you to pray for us AS WE GO...

• Pray for the safety of the team
• Pray for open hearts as we work, play, worship, sing, study, pray, fellowship and share Jesus’ love with the people.
• Pray for our families at home
• Pray for our health as we work, walk, play, and even sit in the heat and humidity and for the four team members who will be extending their stay for 8 additional days.
• Pray for the dependability of the vans we will be driving to and from Barahona and our drivers: Ken, Rhonda, Mike W, and Eric, as they navigate around the dogs, cows and motorcycles!
• Praise God for the hospitality of the people as they invite us into their homes to rest in the shade and pray for them; for the teachers who invite us into their classrooms to have conversations with their students; for the stores where we buy water and ice to keep us hydrated; for the gas station that supplies our gas; for the hardware stores where we buy supplies; for the hotel that provides us a nice, air conditioned room and wonderful meals that refresh for the next day; for our translators who help us communicate; and for the many other businesses and people we will interact with during our time in Barahona.

Next Mission Trip - July 3-10

Members of Arapaho Road Baptist Church, North Garland Baptist Fellowship and LakePointe in Garland, TX are making plans again for the mission trip to Barahona, Dominican Republic, July 3-10 to work with Pastor Franklin's church - Iglesia Bautista Misionera De Jesus. 

 

This is the way we left the church construction in 2012. They are proud to be able to use it for church services and the church work is growing. We need to continue the work on the church building in 2013.  We also want to continue working with kids, young adults, and men & women. How can you help? Please pray that we have the funds to do more work in July. Pray that we have workers to do the work. Pray that the church and community respond to the call of Jesus Christ in their lives. Pray for the other churches who have been working in this area to respond to the need for more money to do the work. Last year we had over $10,000 to do this work plus another $5,000 donated by another church to grade the land and put up the fences. Praise God! If you are interested in helping support this work, you may go to www.arapahoroad.org/missions/dominicanrepublic to give online or contact us at barahona@arapahoroad.org to see how you can keep this work going.

 

Thank you to everyone who has had a part in this work in the past. Thank you to those of you who have worked with kids, done medical clinics, ladies Bible studies, sports camps, prayer walking, preaching and teaching, and many other ministries that have benefitted the people in Barahona. Thank you to those of you are continuing to support Pastor Franklin and the spreading of the Gospel in Barahona. God bless you!

Catching Up

Pastor Franklin & Mike Motley at Men's Bible study

FRIDAY: The construction team got the footer poured and it's ready for block tomorrow. They negotiated paying the workers by the block so we hope the project will come out less expensive. Sergio and Mike placed a Bible verse at the corner written in the cement. I asked if they had been drinking plenty of water and Zach said yes until Ken put the ice cold blue Powerade in the cement! Tori did her self defense class for about 20 kids - rather than teens, but they enjoyed it and wanted to ride with us in the van to the ball park but that wasn't possible.  They ran and beat us there anyway! Many kids were at the park today - too many to count. Jamie's ladies Bible study made barrettes with about 20 ladies. Suzanne's Bible study had 30+ ladies. This morning we went prayer walking around the park and prayed with many people. One lady we prayed with asked us to pray for her daughter who was having gallbladder surgery as we were praying. She was very worried about her daughter and grateful for our prayers. We prayed for jobs, health, and even a young woman who wanted to make a change in her life. She said that every time she prayed she got a headache. We told her that was Satan trying to keep her from praying and not to stop.  Mike M & Paul are at the men's Bible study tonight. Time to eat dinner, but I think we are the dinner for the mosquitoes!

SATURDAY: The construction guys and helpers laid 800 block today. It was a long hard day for them and they didn’t get to enjoy the beach in San Raphael, but they got a lot done. Ken gave his tennis shoes to one of the Haitian workers and told him not to sell them or he would be fired. So Mike washed the mans feet, and when Mike walked away as he was putting the shoes on, a couple of men came up and asked for his shoes and he gave them to him probably for a price. But…when Ken found out he told him to either go back and get his shoes or not come back. I think Ken got his shoes back. 

The rest of the group went to the beach with 45 young people from Barahona. Everyone seemed to have a great time. There were a lot of people at the beach, but it was beautiful. We also made a craft with them. Everyone had to pick up a rock from the beach and Sandi had wire and beads to wrap around the rock to make a photo holder. Even the guys wanted to do the craft as well as the jewelry salesman watching. He wrapped the wire around a piece of larimar!  Then we came back to the hotel and the worship team of the church and translators had dinner and fellowship with us. They are such fun people. Later, the worship team practiced the music they would be presenting Sunday morning.  We will be posting some videos when we get back. 

SUNDAY: HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUZANNE!!! We went to three church services today. We first went to the Haitian church at 9:00. A few people gave there testimonies at the end of the service. Fernando, the Haitian pastor shared his recent testimony about losing his job at the hotel. He is trusting God to provide at new one or he will have to return to his family in Haiti. Zach lead the children's story today, he spoke about David and Goliath. We then came back and had lunch at the hotel with the translators. We shared peanut butter and jelly, Dominican crackers, cashews, and bananas. We then went to the blind church at 2:30. We meet many of our old friends and shared lots of hugs. Some of the ladies even brought out the crowns that Suzanne had given them at a bible study last year. One of the church members named Ray is in the hospital at Santo Domingo with stomach cancer. Suzanne and Sandi took some special time to pray with his wife.  After that we rushed over to the "downtown" Church that we have been working with all week. We meet at the back of the property where Sergio (one of the church members) spent all day Saturday smoothing out and scraping down the dirt for Sunday's service. We had a shaded area to sit during the worship. The shade was provided by the center block wall the men had built last year. The music was both in Spanish and English. Mike and Page joined the local worship team and they also sang a duet. The last sermon was all in Spanish, but we were told there were a lot of visitors at the service tonight and Paul gave an evangelistic message. Scott was the most awesome Goliath tonight for the children's story. When the part of the story came when David hit Goliath with the stone Scott fell off of the half wall he was standing on (so he could be tall.) We all thought Scott had fallen down on accident and maybe even passed out, but we found out after checking on him that he was just a great actor. Most of the group went to the showing of the movie Courageous in Spanish tonight. Many lives were touched by the messages today including ours.  

Continued Sunday night *On a side note we just heard Suzanne scream out her room because she had a crab wanting to keep her company.

MONDAY: Monday morning the construction workers went to prepare the stage area for the concrete to be poured. They also worked on finishing the walls for the stage area. Suzanne went to the park to caricature and the rest of the group went to the local university to converse with the students in the morning classes. We helped them practice their English and we also had the opportunity to share our testimonies with them. Then everyone but the construction group came back to the hotel for a quick lunch and then was out again. In the afternoon all but the construction team went back to the university to converse with the afternoon classes. We did similar things with the students in the afternoon. We had two ladies Bibles studies again today, one lead by Susanne and the other by Sandi. The ladies groups were still large around 25-30 people. After that all the groups meet back at the hotel. Some of the group went to the beach that is close to the hotel. The construction men got to wash their dirt off in the salt water. We also had some local vendors come to sell larimar, paintings, coconut jewelry and various other souvenirs. We had a great time shopping and some of us picked up a few gifts for our family back home. For dinner we had some fish and rice, it reminded us of a New Orleans dish.

TUESDAY: Today the construction team is working on pouring the concrete for the stage. We went to the university again today and had a great time with the students helping them with their English conversation. It has been interesting to find out about their life in the Dominican Republic. Some were from other towns and had to ride their bikes into town or were staying with someone in town so they could attend classes. Some were married, but most were single. Most weren’t working so that they could spend most of their time learning English. Many of their parents didn’t want them working until they got out of school. Others were learning English to help them in their job. Occupations they were studying for were architecture, doctors/pediatricians, nurses, teachers, and others. They all wanted to know what Dominican food we had eaten while we were there. The students kept asking us if we had tried Mondongo, and I thought they were saying McDonalds! Mike Motley came home with the recipe. Hope Jackie likes it! They also told us about the “Dominican Flag” which is chicken, rice & beans. We gave each student a journal, bookmark, Christian tract, and a pen and they were so appreciative. We encouraged them to write their stories, thoughts, prayers, praises, etc. in these journals. One student who was serving in a church said she would write about what she had read in the Bible each morning. One student I met on Monday told me the story of how Jesus had completely changed his life two weeks prior to our coming. He had accepted Jesus as his savior and had given up a life of alcohol. He said his parents couldn’t trust him – they would give him money and he would waste it on alcohol or girls. Now he said they were able to trust him again. I encouraged him to continue to attend church and trust God to continue his transformation. Pray for this young man – can’t remember his name, but I can remember his face. There were others who shared their testimonies of belief in God as we shared our testimonies. Two young men from the US who are missionaries with an organization are staying with Pastor Franklin and are also working with these students. They said they are very open to talking about their faith or their lives without God and are asking many questions. We also gave one of our mission trip T-shirts to each teacher and we had two RoughRider baseball caps to give two of the teachers also. Following the morning and afternoon classes we went to the baseball field area again to work with children and ladies. Again many children enjoyed the Bible story and activities. Mike M finished giving out his Goldfish crackers so he wouldn’t have to go home with them – but they were given to the children who came and heard the story and participated in the activities. The ladies groups were full again with 25-40 ladies and again lots of hugs of appreciation. During their hugs you can feel our mutual love for Jesus passing through us. Not knowing the language gives you the opportunity to just look at each other and know that Jesus is speaking through your touch. LOVE these women! Following these activities we went to the church site and had a closing time with music, sharing, and goodbye hugs. While we were beginning the closing time the construction workers were pouring the last of the concrete for the slab and the cross in the window. They finished about halfway through and came as they were (very dirty and tired) to the praise of the people. The construction workers were church members, mission team members, Haitians, and neighbors. Franklin is encouraging the church to help do more work on the property through the year – there is much they can do – even without much money. Pray that they will accept that challenge. Back at the hotel we packed our bags, ate another delicious meal prepared by Robby the chef, and shared the day with each other. Ken will remain in Barahona through part of Saturday and will return to Dallas on Sunday.

Pray for Ken and all of the people we met. Pray also for the North Monroe group that is coming at the end of next week. They will continue working with the same people and will hopefully be installing bars and gates on the property.

Please know that your prayers were felt. We can testify to the power of your prayers for us during this trip. We had no serious injuries, on-time flights, strength to withstand the heat, money to do the project and stories to tell when we got back. Thank you!

We're Here!

We made it to the Hotel about 9:00 local time on Wednesday night, and have already started working hard.

The men's construction team (Ken, Mike W., Scott, Eric, Zach) built cages for the concrete foundation yesterday and used a machine to help them work quickly.

Suzanne did caricatures yesterday at the university and lead a local bible study for some of the local ladies. The ladies in Suzanne's group made Holy Spirit Beaded necklaces.

Sandi and Jamie had bible study at another house in the area. Sandi talked about seeing God and the ladies made fun sun glasses.

In the afternoon Mike M., Tori, Page, and Tricia had story time with the local children about Daniel and the lions den. They had about 100 children come to the park for story time and games.

Please pray for strength and patience for the day. Pray for Mike M's driving as he has been driving everyone around time to activities. We are all dragging a little this morning for a long day yesterday.

Must run but will try to keep everyone updated.

All the Way our Savior Leads Us

Mike W and Sandi leave at 5:45 am and Mike M, Paige, Tori, Tricia, Suzanne, Scott, Eric, Jamie, Zach & Ken leave at 7:30 am. We will meet up in Miami. If we stay on schedule we should arrive in Santo Domingo a little after 3:00 and then begin our journey in vans to Barahona. We should arrive at our hotel by 8:00. Please pray that all of us and our luggage arrive safely. We will try to keep you posted along the way. Which reminds me of the song, "All the Way my Savior Leads Me" and we're trusting him to do just that.

Arapaho Road Baptist Church is A Church that Loves the Whole World and we are participating with several other churches in spreading the love of Jesus Christ to the people living in and around Barahona, Dominican Republic this summer. From July 4-11, 2012 the Arapaho Road team needs your prayers as we work on the construction of a wall of the chapel, do Bible studies with adults and children, show the movie "Courageous" in Spanish, and converse with 80 English students at two universities in Barahona. Pray also for Pastor Franklin and retired missionary Paul Siebenmann as they prepare for our arrival. Pray for the machinery and all of the arrangements that need to be made in order for us to construction the wall of the chapel while we are there.



Watch this page and/or our facebook page at www.facebook.com/arapahoroadmissions to see what's happening! While you all are watching Fouth of July Fireworks, we will be traveling and preparing to share God's light in Barahona.

2011 Mission Trip

Postings from 2011 Mission Trip
July 14, 2011

Following a Bible lesson on the Kingdom of God, imagine this group saying the Lord's prayer in English, Creole & Spanish all at the same time, then holding their hands out to receive a blessing as we do each Sunday at ARBC. It was a blessing for Rhonda and Sandi to experience this with these wonderful people!

July 2011

Latest 2011 construction photos (7 photos) (See more on Facebook.com/ArapahoRoadMissions)

The side column by the tree will be done tomorrow and one of the sides column of the front door. and some pouring of concrete over the beams make of the blocks.

Thank you Ken for all you have done for us!
Lord Bless you !
Franklin

July 13, 2011

First thing this morning Paul got Steve and David off to the bus station for a bus ride to Santo Domingo to catch their 4:00 p.m. flight. Pastor Marthyn that we worked with in Santo Domingo was meeting them there to take them to the airport. They will arrive late tonight - continue to pray their safe travels. The kids played games in the park again and Suzanne did caricatures this morning. The games group taught the kids to play 4 square today - they are thinking about teaching them bowling with coke bottles tomorrow. Rhonda and Sandi took Johnny (the translator that speaks English, French, Spanish & Creole) and they went visiting in the area around the Haitian church. What we discovered was that many of the people around the church and attending the church are not only Haitian, but Dominican (Spanish-speaking) and are happily worshiping together - with a Haitian pastor. We met a sweet couple at one home. The wife was blind and you could tell they really loved each other. He was 83 years old, she looked a little younger, but when she came out, he walked over to kiss her and later wanted to kiss her in the photo below.

After lunch break the we had Bible studies at the Haitian church and the blind church. At the blind church they had about 6 adults waiting on their arrival and eventually had about 11 adults. Also, about 15 kids participated in the children's Bible study. Sandi & Rhonda had about 15 adults at their Bible study at the Haitian church. For some reason it takes the people a long time to get there - so Johnny went out to round them up. We realized that they may not have clocks in their homes or maybe time just isn't as important to them as it is to us. There were about 40 kids at the kids Bible study there and it was led by the Glovers. Both groups are expecting more tomorrow!

The construction crew just got back and the photo below is of the curved wall on the front right corner. We have the right hand wall halfway up and the back wall is complete. Mike has the rebar ready to go for the motor entry columns. The front wall is under construction and will be halfway completed tomorrow. Mike Motley - Ken is sorry but he replaced you with Mike Whisenant as his rebar bender. Hey Steve, Ken had to hire 3 Haitians to replace you! We miss you!

July 10, 2011

Payton, Tori & Tricia singing with the kids when we were prayer walking.

 

Please pray for the following 21 people who will be serving on the Dominican Republic mission team July 8-16: Suzanne Berry, A.C. Blair, Ken Bownds, Rhonda Bownds, Bobby Bownds, Scott Everett, Caidon George, Kathy Glover, Steve Glover, Jeremy Glover, Andre Glover, Patrick Pryor, Miriam Rivera, David Rogers, Steve Runnels, Payton Runnels, Paul Siebenmann, Tricia Simmons, Tori Turner, Mike Whisenant & Sandi Whisenant. There will be a special prayer time for the team during the worship service on July 3.

Our schedule includes David preaching at Sunday services to a Haitian church, a blind church, and the church that meets on the property we purchased for them last year. David will also be sharing his testimony at a men's Bible study, the prison in Barahona, and the fire station. We will also cook breakfast for the firmen, have afternoon bible studies for women and children; play games with kids each morning; work side-by-side with Dominicans and Haitians constructing a concrete block wall on the church property; visit and pray with families in the neighborhood of the church and pray with teachers in the local school and present them with some Spanish language children's books; have a movie night at the ball field; do caricatures at the local park and fire station; meet with teens to follow up with their promise from last year's purity discussion groups; meet with men and women to help them with their budgets; identify those that we can help with physical needs and encourage and enable church members to meet those needs; and whatever else God calls us to do that week.

If the wi-fi connection allows us to we will update this blog as we can.

Barahona Here We Come!

Want to serve on the 2011 Mission Team?

The Arapaho Road Baptist Church mission team to Barahona, Dominican Republic is planning their next trip for July 8-16, 2011. A short meeting is planned for next Sunday, January 23, at noon in the Fellowship Hall. We will have mission trip applications available and we will answer questions you might have. The next meeting is scheduled for Sunday, February 27 at 4:00 p.m. in the FLC Conference room.

If you have any questions, please contact Sandi at news@arbcgarland.com.

Afternoon Bible Studies

We had an awesome time with the people at the afternoon Bible studies. This year we presented the gospel with a color each day. We also taught the ladies to make a fabric yoyo wall hanging. Each lady made several yoyo circles and then Esmerelda (pictured here) stitched them together. We encouraged them to continue to make things from the fabric we left them and possibly sell them in the market for money for their family.

Because our translator, Robert, was a man, 3 men felt comfortable joining us for the Bible study.

On Monday we talked about heaven and sprinkled gold glitter on the ground for them to walk on and think about how wonderful heaven will be.

On Tuesday we talked about sin and they marked their sin on a pure white cloth with pieces of charcoal and then used a disappearing marker to illustrate to them that Jesus erases our sin.

Wednesday we used pebbles to lay our sins at the foot of a cross, then covered it with a red cloth to talk about the blood of Jesus cleansing us from our sin.

Thursday we talked about growing in our faith using a tomato plant kit with a pot, seeds and soil. We encouraged them to read their Bibles, attend church and share their faith.

In the mornings during the week, we visited and prayed throughout the neighborhood. Some of these ladies went with us and it was evident that they loved God and wanted to share Him with others. We even had children going with us to invite people to our activities.

We pray that these people continue to share their faith and invite their neighbors to the church.

Sandi

Playing Catch Up! (Written July 14, 2010)

Hola amigos!

Today we are playing catch up on the blog because our wifi has been down the last few days. Sunday we had two great services. One was at the blind community and the other was at the lot where Franklin’s church meets. Mike Motley taught Franklin a few new songs, and he was very excited to translate them and teach them to his congregation immediately. Now our fellow Dominicans are singing “What A Mighty God We Serve!”

Monday started out bright and early with construction, prayer walking, baseball, and Suzanne drawing at the park. Suzanne had a great experience while she was drawing, and an older man actually came up to draw her! Later on during the day we did our women’s bible studies while others worked with the kids. We then hurried back for dinner and washed up and went back to the baseball field for a movie night. We couldn’t get the Jesus movie to play in Spanish, but we watched a few episodes of Veggie Tales. We had a HUGE turn out of over 250 adults and children. We hung a white tarp on the fence and used a projector to play the movie. The kids all sat on the plastic table cloths from the service in our gym, and they worked out very well! We were so excited to have such a great turn out and they seemed to really enjoy the movie!

Tuesday morning a few of us went to the local fire station to cook breakfast for them while Suzanne drew. We had about 25 people for breakfast and Weldon gave his testimony. They were so appreciative of us coming back each year. Construction continued with the help of a few of Franklin’s church members, along with our guys, and some Haitians. We learned that if the Haitians don’t get paid every day, then they don’t eat that day. During this time the rest of us prayer walked around the community where the new church will be located. Tuesday was the last day of baseball and Will Riley did a lesson with the boys. He did so great and shared the lesson with all of us of dinner.The women’s bible studies grow each day, as do the children’s. The kids LOVE to sing “Christo me ama”! (Jesus loves me) Sandi and Rhonda’s bible study had 3 guys that came. They didn’t stitch yoyo’s, but they paid very close attention. One lady in the group is about to give birth to her 8th child, and was experiencing a few contractions during the lesson. Pray that none of us have to deliver a baby this week! After dinner we went back to the baseball field for part 2 of the movie night and watched 1 episode of Veggie Tales and parts of the Jesus movie. We had another great turn out of about 150 people. It was an amazing yet difficult experience to watch what our Jesus went through for us. It was during that time that the field went silent and every eye was focused on the screen. (Which does not happen very often in the Dominican!)

Wednesday morning started off again bright and early with a breakfast at the Civil Defense center. They fed breakfast to about 50 people in very challenging conditions. They used a roof top stove to cook pancakes while trying to avoid a German Shepard that was eager for anything to be dropped. Suzanne drew while Weldon gave his testimony. Pray for Mabel, a new friend that was made that fell off her motorcycle on the way home from the breakfast. She injured her head. Construction is coming along slowly but surely. We have almost 3 sides of the foundation for the wall poured. With the help of the fire trucks tomorrow, we will be able to use their water to help finish pouring. Today was all hands on deck since the boys were done with baseball. The girls continued to prayer walk and one of our groups met an older lady who is in desperate need of our prayers. She has lived alone for 6 years in a VERY unsafe neighborhood. She has a massive tumor that covers her whole shoulder/back. Her home contained 3 plastic chairs and a small cooking pot that she had on the ground with charcoal trying to boil water. We continued on our way and then met up again later with the lady (Ramona). We all emptied our backpacks and gave her all the food, water, and gum that we had. She immediately raised it in the air and thanked the Lord over and over. She obviously has huge faith in the Lord that he will provide for her needs. We plan to take Franklin to her house later in the week to see what else we can do for her. Please remember her in prayer this week. Later on today we have the kids and women’s bible studies. After dinner tonight the youth are meeting with a select few of teens from Franklin’s church to talk about sexual purity. Sexual immorality is very common here and we hope to make an impact on these young impressionable kids. Pray that their heart will be open to hear what we have to say. Also pray that they can stay strong and pure for the Lord. Continue to pray for our guys because it is extremely hot and they are quickly growing tired and weary! As always, we covet your prayers and ask that you continue to lift us up daily.

We hope to have internet again tomorrow to give you more updates, so check in!

Adios amigos!!

-Brooklina and Paintin

We Made It (Written July 10, 2010)

Hola amigos!

After leaving at 3:30 am to get to the airport and a few delays (including a dead battery on one of the vans) we are finally in Barahona! Our morning started out with a one verse Bible study from Hebrews that reminds us all that God never leaves us. What a great way to start the day! We got a glimpe of the newly purchased land where a trench has been dug in order to start building the wall. Our boys are dirty, dirty, dirty… which brings us to the Spanish word of the day. Sucio=dirty. The property used to be a land fill where the Dominicans burned the trash, so the whole property is like walking in soot from a fireplace. The boys worked on the cutting wire to prepare for the cement while the girls prayer walked with members of Franklin’s church. The translators have not yet arrived, so communication in some groups consists of a lot of hand gestures and sign language.

There has been a slight delay in the building process because a trench on one side of the property is too far out. It did not allow room for a sidewalk and the city requires it. Please pray this issue can be resolved so that we can continue to build without extra monetary expenses. This afternoon we will continue to prayer walk in order to pass out information on tomorrow’s church service. It is definitely hotter this year then it has been in years past, and we are all already starting to feel it. Pray that we can continue to push through and that everyone will stay hydrated. We are all so excited to be here and have even already met up with friends from the past few years. We will try to continue to keep everyone updated on a daily basis.

God bless,

Brooklina and Paintin (Brooklyn & Payton)

To check out daily photos go to http://barahona.shutterfly.com/

Please pray for the following ARBC mission team members:

Leaving tonight and early in the morning: Weldon Ritchie, Riley Wentz, William Riley, Andy Bunn, David Largent, Warren Matlock, Mike Whisenant, and Sandi Whisenant.

Leaving early Friday morning: Suzanne Berry, Bobby Bownds, Ken Bownds, Rhonda Bownds
Jon McCaslin, Mike Motley, Steve Runnels, Gina Runnels, Brooklyn Runnels, and Payton Runnels.

Preparing for our arrival: Paul & Peggy Siebenmann and Franklin & Benita

The Ashburn's group at North Monroe Baptist Church will be in Barahona the following week and their blog is http://tothenations2010.blogspot.com - Pray for them as they prepare to go also.

Watch for updates from the "Runnel's Girls" soon! And we appreciate your encouraging comments!

Sandi