Cielo on Sunday

What a beautiful day to start off my week in the Dominican Republic. This morning I was at Mission Emanuel for the morning worship service. There was a nice breeze, and in the shade it was a pleasant 82 degrees.

This is not the Dominican Republic people see on the tourist brochures. Mission Emanuel is in the midst of two very poor neighborhoods known as Cielo and Nazaret. Here people eek out an exisitance, living in conditions that make the poor in the United States look wealthy. Yet, they are full of joy in the Lord.

Worship was energetic and joyful as we praised the name of the Lord who created us. The Sunday morning and Wednesday evening worship services have become one of my favorite parts of our trips.

I also enjoy our Sunday afternoons, as we begin to re-connect with our Dominican friends from years past. We visited Raphael and Enelcida whose home we helped construct in 2006. They were so happy to see us and said that they are encouraged knowing that some body in the United States cares for them. Their son "little" Raphael and their daughter Brenda are living with Raphael's sister in another town. Big Raphael told me that "little" Raphael has grown to almost 6 feet.

We also went to see Bralio and Raina whose home was constructed by the First Presbyterian, Lexington Youth group in 2005. They were not home, so we will stop by later.

We had an excellent lunch cooked by some of the Mission Emanuel staff. Rice, beans, and chicken. Delicious. I wish I could learn how to prepare beans the way they do down here. This late afternoon is free time which is allowing me to update this blog and rest a little bit.

I am so blessed to be down here for this trip. I look forward to being able to share this with my family some day in the future.