Last day!

We've finally reached the end of our trip, and I'm still surprisingly in one piece! As hard as it's going to be to leave this beautiful country, I am truly blessed that I was able to get the opportunity to serve the Romano's. These last 10 days have been just amazing, and I can only ask and pray that God will continue to use me and the rest of the team in such powerful ways back home. I am blessed to have gotten to know such a great group of people, and I hope that the friendships that we've created and the memories that we've shared will last a lifetime! 

-The Biebs 

I've been so blessed to be able to come on this trip. I feel like God is working in me for every task needed. I was blessed to go to the cafe. Meeting the people there was amazing and I feel like for just bein there that God is working in their lives. I will definitely remember this trip for the rest of my life and I hope that of God calls me back to the Dominican Republic that I will be willing to do so. 

-Jonathan

This week has been so amazing. But these last couple days have been especially amazing. Talking with everyone and doing encouragements has been such a blessing. Getting to know the Romano girls has been so great. Just hanging out with them and talk with them has been a really great addition to my week, and I will definitely miss them and all the Romanos.

-Lauren

Later today

Today is the day of salvation. What an amazing God we have!  We witnessed a family of four plus one friend saved today as well as many children at VBS. definitely the highlight of our trip so far.

- Lynda

Prayer walk-Thusday

What an amazing experience at the prayer walk this morning. We talked and prayed with a family in their home for an hour and seeing all those people come to Christ was very inspiring. 

-Sydney 

Today's prayer walk was so refreshing.  The group of us there got to witness 5 people give their lives to Jesus!!! It brought tears to majority of our teams eyes.  The purpose of going down here is to bring the people of Dominican to Christ and share the gospel, doing that today brought an indescribable joy.   I thank God for the way his spirit has flown out of people and guided them to say things to the locals here.  Like this morning when Lynda shared her testimony and asked the 19 year old boy if he wanted Jesus in his heart.  There's no love like Jesus' love and He changes lives.  Today we gained 5 new brothers and sisters in Christ and I can't wait to see them again, praising God in heaven, when He calls us home.  

Thank you Lord! 

-Victoria 

We're done on the job site but we still have today and tomorrow for VBS, I love hanging out with the kids there. I get an extra work out because of the songs that we do with the kids

-Jonathan

Alas we are finally done construction , and on our way to a fun-filled afternoon of VBS! I remain in disbelief at the amount of work that we got done but at the end of the day, it was truly God that gave us the strength to get through the morning. These last few days have really showed me just how amazing and powerful God is, and how He will always be with us, no matter where we go or what we do. I have learned to put my faith and trust in God, knowing that He is the only way to salvation, and the only one who can provide for my needs, no matter what they are. I look forward to what the rest of the week holds, and I can only hope that God continues to use us to serve Him in such amazing ways, that whatever happens would be for His honour and glory. 

-The Biebs (Justin)

Everyday at VBS so far as soon as we get to the church the kids come and give us hugs and try to talk to us. On the first day a girl named Grisleidy was in my group for the craft. The next day when she saw me she ran up and gave me a hug!  Every other day when I got there she ran up and gave me a hug! On the second day the craft was writing the name of a friend you want to pray for on a paper leaf. Grisleidy asked my mom who speaks a little Spanish what my name was and how to spell it and wrote my name on her leaf. It was so sweet. I wish tomorrow wasn't the last day of VBS. I will miss VBS and all the kids when we come back to Canada. Also, today was the salvation message. We did the everything skit and made the bridge illustration on the floors to with tape. Then the kids who wanted to recive Jesus into their hearts came forwards. It was amazing! Almost every kid came up! 

-Naomi

Hospital

This morning 10 of us had the opportunity to visit the hospital down here in the Dominican.  We visited two parts of the hospital, the broken bones section and the kids cancer section. 

     During morning prayer someone asked God to break our hearts with what breaks His, and my heart was broken.  I feel so blessed to have had this opportunity to visit these children.  Some showed joy and hope even amidst their sickness; and some were sad and seemed hopeless.  I have felt so blessed to have been able to share the gospel with these children as Jesus is our hope. He is there for us through all our tough times, and when we give our lives to him we get to go home to our Heavenly Father and live in perfect heaven where there is no sickness.  I pray that what was told to these kids and their parents will go to their hearts and I ask that you guys pray for this too. 

     We finished our visit by handing out stuffed animals to the sick kids including some kids who were going through chemotherapy and the smiles on their faces just broke my heart (but in an amazing way) What a fantastic experience, praise God! 

-Victoria 

Really good experience at the hospital this morning. The kids were very positive and happy despite their situation. 

Giving the kids in the orthopaedics section stuffed animals and watching their faces light up will definitely be a highlight of the trip for me. 

-Sydney

I've been so blessed and moved today as we shared God's love with these beautiful children. This young girl specifically was a patient in the cancer ward and she hugged me and held my hand and continued to show me around. The amount of joy and faith this girl had was amazing and her smile and laughter when she found the mirrors we brought lifted my heart. This is a moment and an experience I won't forget, praise the Lord on high for this. (Amazing Photo creds to Victoria)

- Madi

When we entered the cancer ward, the first thing I noticed wasn't how sick the children looked, or what they looked like, it was how happy they looked. When we were giving them snacks and a beanie baby, they were just so welcoming and happy. They smiled so much and even laughed. It was a truly humbling to experience.

-Lauren

It was a joy to share gods love through an illustration such as the everything skit at the hospital. Seeing the smile on everyone's face and the joyous laughter is amazing.

-Emanuel

Vbs

Teaching the kids at VBS the beatitudes was very fun. We especially enjoyed the skit featuring Greg's barking. Intense jam session on the bus in progress now.

-Sydney + Madi + Vikki 

Just lead a VBS I think I did well but I could improve. On the bus Emanuel and Caleb are acting out songs 😆 it's really funny

-Jonathan

Our youth are letting their lights shine down here. Not only do they engage joyfully with the little ones at VBS, but they volunteer to do dishes and other chores. Hopefully that servant attitude will continue at home!

Diana

Church

Was in a good church service I enjoyed it even though I didn't understand the Spanish but I enjoyed it!

-Jonathan

Had the opportunity to attend a local church service, it was amazing to see the Spirit working and I certainly felt being drawn close to God

-Gregory

Today I truly felt God speaking to me. I was overcome and still am by his great love for me and for the work we are doing down here. Also, read some letters from family members and it brought me to tears to see all the support I have from them back home.

-Emanuel

Tuesday!

Today we went to the dump and we preformed the everything skit. Everyone there was so sweet and welcoming. When it came time for our skit, I remember standing in like and doing my part, but I was so nervous. But I kept telling myself, "focus on God", "this is all for Jesus". And at the end, we realized that we actually did an amazing performance.

-Lauren

After the skit we ate lunch and talked with the people. It was great getting to talk to them. I met a couple there names were Nani and Carlos. I also met man named Abraham. He spoke very good English. As we were leaving he asked for an English bible so I gave him mine. It was amazing experience. 

-Naomi

Today has been life changing so far! After packing up close to 70 sandwiches, as well as water and toothbrushes and toothpaste we travelled to a dump, which was 4km by 3km of garbage upon garbage. The people who worked there were digging through the garbage looking for anything that could be of use including plastic. There were also about 20 cows who were being fed all the food remains. Some of these mountains of garbage could be as tall as a small house and still truck after truck came each hour packed full with more garbage for them. Seeing all that was seriously humbling and being placed on bathroom duty at work will most likely never be as big of an issue again. Following that we got to preform our everything skit which they seemed to enjoy. And then I shared my testimony with the group with translation from Saul. This was an amazing but nervous experience although God was ultimately in control. If everyone is reading this back in the Seeley family I just want to welcome Maria to Canada! See you guys soon!

-Laura

Having done VBS these past 2 days have been incredibly amazing. Once you see how the kids join in and hug you before you leave, it really shows you that what you are doing pays off and is not just a thing you come to the D.R. to do.

-Lauren