We will be returning to our partners, Servant’s Heart Ministries, in Sosua, Dominican Republic, March 10 -17, 2012.   Will you join us?

Depart Saturday, March 10th and return Saturday, March 17th.

Cost is $1,800 and includes almost all expenses except meals to and from the DR, entrance fee to the DR ($20), and any expenses associated with attaining a valid US Passport (typically $120-$150).

A $500 deposit is due by January 18th to reserve your spot on the team.

Projects vary for this trip and could include some work at a local school with children, some light construction, and some teaching opportunities.  Dependent on the skills and gifts of the team.

Questions? Contact Melissa Hatfield, Pastor of Youth and Missions, at 573.634.3603 or by email.

Good evening FBC church! We are finally back on line this evening. We have had big days yesterday and today. On Wednesday, Dale and Andrew worked on the shelves at the school in Congrejo. They also put together some more of the canvas frames for sound proofing and educational purposes in the classroom. Their work was cut short by power outage. They did not get to finish the shelves. So, they plan to return to the school on Friday to do that.

Sandra and Lucy showing off their new hand-painted signs.

Norma and Lucy worked on completing the calendar templates and started on the ¨Word of the Week¨ canvas work. They were able to bring them back to the hotel and finish them when the power outage occurred.

Sandra worked with the early primary and kdg. teachers from about 9 am until 1. She helped them with planning and developing age appropriate skill lessons for their young students. In the afternoon, Donna took Sandra to Nazarath to tour the school at Nazarath and the clinic. It was very exciting. It was great to see the work the school is doing in Nazarath after about 5 years in existence. They are currently building on more classrooms. The teachers were working on the student grade cards for the completion of the school year. The Nazarath Medical Clinic is amazing. It has a great pharmacy inventory. Gary and Jairo were working on updating the inventory. Gary taught Jairo the proper procedures for disposing of expired medications. He helped Jairo reset the pharmacy shelves for better product organization. Patients were being seen at the clinic. Dr. Raquel and our own Dr. Lory was working with Miseal-nurse/pastor. I had the opportunity to meet the staff at the clinic and many of the darling children. It is awesome to see the progress of education and medicine in this village within the past five years.

Whitney and Stephanie were able to do some well-baby checks with new mothers in the Nazarath village. It is apparent that the children are receiving care, love and ministry. They have shining faces and open arms that warm your heart. Today -Thursday, Phil took everyone on the team to Mt. Isabella. We took a tram up the mtn that was over 5200 ft. high. It was beautiful. At the top is a replica statue of Christ, like that of Rio de Jenario. Lucy and Norma rested at the hotel. Donna picked them up at the hotel and met the team at Agua-Negra in the afternoon. We arrived at the school in Agua-Negra as they were preparing for their 1st grade graduation. Sandra, the teacher-pastor and leader of the mission work in this community, spoke with our team about the history of the progress in this village, the current projects and the future dreams. God has richly blessed Sandra and continues to provide for the school. She is an awesome Christian and represents endless faith. She was an inspiration to all of us.

After we left the school, we visited the pharmacy in the neighborhood of Agua-Negra. Then, the ladies went to Sandra´s shop and made some handmade purchases of local crafts. The money raised from this shop goes to fund the needs of the school. The women, who make the items in the store, are so proud of their merchandise. They are excited when you choose to purchase merchandise that they have made. We were taken on a tour of the Agua-Negra community. They have raised many humble homes above the street level to avoid the flooding of sewage into their small personal living space. They plan on beginning with raising another home the 1st of July. We returned to the hotel with a variety of emotions flooding our hearts.

We regrouped at dinner time. Phil and Donna took us to Franklin and Jairo´s home. Franklin is an interpreter for Servant Heart Ministries in many capacities with the missions teams that work here. Jairo is the new pharmacy technician that Gary has worked with several times this week. They are both very generous young men with a sweet spirit. After dinner we returned to the hotel to get some rest. Donna and Dr. Lory plan to talk with the cook at the Congrejo School tomorrow morning regarding preparation of nutritious snacks for the students. Dale and Andrew will complete shelves at Congrejo School. The remainder of the team will work at the Feeler Medical Clinic at Liberation most of the day tomorrow. Dr. Lory will join us at the clinic following her nutrition education at the school. It promises to be another hot, busy day. The team anticipates serving many medical needs and provide Christian counseling.

Please pray for us. Pray that the people we see tomorrow receive the Lord´s love through us. Thank you for your prayers while we have been in the Dominican Republic. We have felt your thoughts with us.

Good night, God Bless you for tonight….Sandra Hemphill

I was unable to send a message last night – Tuesday.  The computers are off and on many times a day.  I didn’t get lucky with my timing, yesterday.  However,  the staff was working on the computers this afternoon.  Hopefully, we will be able to communicate better.

On Tuesday,  the team divided our efforts.  Dale and Andrew worked on a wonderful shelf unit for the school.  Norma and Lucy painted blocks for the children, stretched canvas over wooden frames to help with sound-absorption in the classrooms, and they began with the calendar template for each classroom.  Sandra spoke with the new director for the school.  She joined the teachers as Sandra inserviced the teachers on supplies brought to the school from JC and ideas for planning age appropriate lessons.  She was assisted by a wonderful interpreter, Jessica.

Gary, Whitney, Stephanie, and Lori spent the day at Nazarath Clinic.  Stephanie, Whitney and Lori inserviced Nazarath staff on new baby checks for the first  2 weeks of life.  Gary worked with Jairo-the new clinic pharmacy tech on reading information on the medicine bottle and reading a prescription.  It was very productive for all.

Today, all nine of the team left the hotel, and went to a new area for medical clinic.  We were told that the clinic had not been advertised. However, there were people waiting when we arrived.  It became a very busy day, very quickly.  We completed our day at the clinic around 3 pm DR time. The doctor´s had seen over 200 patients with a wide variety of disease and some serious wounds.  The patients ranged from 22 days old to 80 years of age.  Most patients received 4-5 prescriptions each.  The pharmacy was extremely busy and dispensed over 1000 medications.  The team has discussed that this is probably the largest number of patients seen through a medical clinic to date.  The pastor from Nazarath provided Christian counseling if he did not personally know the patient as a Christian.

We recently completed our Bible Study this evening.  We are planning to divide up again tomorrow.  However, the medical team is going to visit the school tomorrow morning in Cangrejo and see the progress before they go back to Nazarath for inventory of the pharmacy meds.  Stephanie and Whitney are planning on doing home visits with the clinic nurse, following up on new baby checks.   I will try to add pictures to the communication this evening.  Hope this finds our Christian brothers and sisters well. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

Sending you our love,  Sandra

Hey FBC family,

The internet service has been done until this evening.  We arrived at the hotel in DR about 3 pm.  The team is shocked. Our trip was rather uneventful without security questions for us, with the exception of St. Louis.  We really thank God for his travel mercies for the team.  Donna and Phil joined us at the hotel for dinner on Saturday evening. The team was heading to rooms about 8 pm DR time to rest from the long day and prepare for our busy week.  Sunday morning our team met in an extra hotel room for devotion time following breakfast.  Phil was able to check out this room for the team.  We have put all the supplies in this large room.

Today we spent all of the morning sorting supplies and counting medicine.  After lunch we head to church at Liberation.  The church was full. There was much worship through prayer, chanting, and singing.  Franklin translated the message for us.  The church members were glad to see the MO team.  The services lasted til around 4 pm.  After returning to the hotel, the medical members of the team short meds and met with the doctor from the clinic.  After dinner, Dale, Lori, and Gary completed medicine counts for the clinic on Tues.  The non-medical people on the team had a chance to rest this afternoon.  Lucy and Norma have had some air conditioner concerns in their room. Otherwise, the hotel is great and the staff has been very kind. A youth group from Indiana is also at this hotel on a youth mission trip.

Tomorrow, Donna is picking up Dale, Norma,Lucy and Sandra to go to the school.  We will be meeting with the new director and teachers.  We will also be doing some light construction work – Dale, and painting- Norma and Lucy. The medical team members are moving supplies to the clinic.  Gary will provide inservice for the pharmacy staff.  Stephanie and Whitney will be doing some home visits with the pastor. I will try to post more information on Monday evening.  Hopefully, the service will be working for me.

Christian Love to All–

Sandra Hemphill