All is well here in the DR. I received an email from my mother saying that there was an minor earthquake in the DR, but we haven't heard anything about it... must not have been nearby.

The team is doing well... Patty Gilliam is just a bit under the weather but God is faithful and she has had a great time ministering to the kids... Melanie Glover also needed a little extra rest yesterday to keep from getting run down, but come time for VBS, it's all hands on deck, and they both are doing great. I (Pastor Scott) have been fighting against sniffles since we got here but I think I'm turning the corner on that – I stayed on the bus when we visited the handicap orphanage to avoid getting any of them sick, but am able to “keep up” the rest of the time. (By the way, thanks to whomever contributed small pack of Kleenex, sorry to say they have not gone to the folks here but HAVE gone to good use!)

We arrived safely Saturday with no problems or luggage problems (though a cell phone is missing... lost on the plane?) We all have rooms in the main building of the Score complex and so really have some of the better accommodations here (not that the others are bad, these are just a little more convenient and comfortable.)

Sunday's activities included two church services – don't you wish you were here? Pastor Eric preached the first at Pastor Henry's church (Pastor Manny traveled with us to translate) while we all worked with the kids... without a translator! In the afternoon, I got to preach at Los Fundos with Pastor Nate while the team worked with the kids there – the kids of our VBS activities. Los Fundos has a new church building thanks to Pastor Nate's home church in West Virginia.

Monday morning was a trip to Ole! (a new Walmart-type store) where we purchased supplies for some of our stops of the day...

First stop? Casa de Luz (house of light) – an orphanage for disabled children. We were sad to find out that the young girl with “water on the brain” that we had met last year just passed last week during an unsuccessful surgery. However, other new friends were made and ministered to and Lydia (one of the girls) especially enjoyed the team's visit as she “directed” everyone around. Cute kids with great needs who are being well-cared for in this private orphanage funded by a family from St. Petersburg, FL. We brought them beans, rice, and oil along with diapers and other necessities that we had brought from your donations. (The girls LOVE hair clips and bands!)

We returned to the Score complex for lunch and then out to Los Fundos for day 1 of VBS. I'd guess we had about 35 kids – equally divided between girls and boys. Pastor Nate and his wife Erica translate for us and a couple ladies from the village help us to keep track of names and “puntos” (points) that they earn for participation (which will be “spent” at our “store” during the celebration time on Thursday). Songs, a Bible story, a craft (paper bag puppets) and some sports (relay races and kickball) kept the kids (and us) busy for over two hours and then we sent them home with a snack... Oh, and “Abuela Linda” (Grandma Linda Farley) started to teach the memory verse: Jeremias 29:11.

Lastly, we stopped at Los Montones – the village we helped last year to start a “restaurant” where some of the “disciples” good work and minister to the needs of the village. We brought them some beans, rice and oil to help them in their re-start of that project. We also saw their new church building – really quite nice!

Back to score for dinner, a little swimming for the girls, devotions on the beach, and, generally an early evening to bed (except for Melanie Denning who was up pulling together the supplies needed for the next day).

Tuesday morning we went separate ways for a few hours. Pastor Eric took Hannah Curtin, Jon Gillette, Kayla Gilliam, Megyn Denning and Olivia Napoli to visit Hannah's sponsored Compassion child – they only had a short time to visit with her but they all really enjoyed seeing the Compassion complex and meeting the girl and her family (sorry, I don't remember her name). Meanwhile, Linda Farley, Melanie D. and I went with a couple of the Score guys to clean the new church building at San Pedro! They are in construction next store for two boys' orphanages and so there was dust everywhere; we washed windows, floors, and a couple hundred plastic chairs! We also got to walk through the orphanage buildings – they are based on a template from Africa where a host family lives with up to 8 boys. There will eventually be 4 of these homes in a large courtyard right next to the church. They have a vision of a clinic, a Christian school (open to the village) and a playground/ball field all on adjacent property that they already own (and have for years – just waiting for the right project).

The cleaning crew got back for lunch – the Compassion crew... not so much – but they got pizza while they were out so we didn't feel to bad for them :).

Back to Los Fundos for day 2 of VBS. More kids and I think it may have run even better! Some of the kids already have the verse memorized and they are warming up to us with smiles, winks and even a few hugs. This day they had an activity sheet and the story of “el primer pecado” - the first sin. Adam and Eve bag puppets were “hiding” in the church – those who find the puppets get... extra puntos!

At the end of our time together, one of the native Spanish speaking Score missionaries presented the gospel using the colors of the wordless book (using the shirt colors of “volunteers” from the kids) and several children raised their hands to acknowledge that they had prayed a prayer of salvation; Pastor Nate, Erica and others will be following up with them!

Back to Score for dinner and “Challenge Night”. We heard testimonies of a couple of missionaries (Brandon and Ashley) who just arrived three weeks ago with their two young children... their apartment (which is in a different town and does NOT have armed guards like we do here) was broken into last Thursday and they were robbed at gun point. Praise God there were no injuries to anyone, just the loss of cash and computer, etc. Then Sarah shared her testimony of losing her husband Hugo to a brain aneurysm last December – she returned to Score a month later with their two small children, certain that God had called her to missions and that He was Sovereign and would receive glory from Hugo's death. Tough stories to hear – missions work is NOT a vacation in foreign lands... but God's call in unmistakable and there is joy in following Him.

Some stayed up for games – others a bit earlier to bed... and they've been a few more trips to the pool for the young fish among us :)...

My alarm just went off to start Wednesday morning... a trip to the straw market for souvenir shopping and track distribution and them to Los Fundos for day 3 – Christ on the Cross!

Please continue to pray for health and safety and that the gospel would be understood, received and lived out among the people we meet.

Thank you for your gracious, generous, and loving support!

Serving our Great God!