Paso a Paso!

Earlier this month I learned a phrase that is quite common among the Dominican folk; frequently I heard the words, "poco a poco" coming out of their mouths.  This means literally, "little by little"; I immediately adopted the phrase to my own growing Spanish vocabulary only to be corrected by another missionary friend that the more correct way of saying this would be "paso a paso"or "step by step", however both phrases are technically correct, (of course my Spanish teacher may have another opinion!)  So now I use both, depending on the mood.  The point is this; little by little, step by step, we are moving ever closer to the realization of the fulfillment of a dream!  Only now, I can say it in Spanish too! (Tambien!)

Today we watched the work crew working on what seemed the most tedious job I have ever seen on any job site; see the video!
http://vimeo.com/38519364

 These guys are putting a smooth coat of concrete on the entire structure beginning with the outside.  Later they will move to the inside and do the same.  It adds up to tons, (I guess) of what we would call stucco, they call "panietta" all over the outside and inside of the walls.  Before it is completely dry, the workers smooth coat the panietta with water and sponge, leaving the surface remarkably smooth!

This gives great definition to the phrase "poco a poco" which is used by the Dominicans for just about every job; after-all, it takes so long do do this work!  Take note in the video as you see the co-worker bring more mud to the applicator, two pails at a time...all day long...wow!
I'm tired just watching them!
All jesting aside, Laura and I are pleased with the progress the crew is making with the Guest House.  By the end of the month the crews will be finished with the panietta as well as all of the plumbing inside.  Then the crews will move outside again and begin work on the water cistern and the septic tank which need to be dug into the ground and then built.
The first floor of the house will be almost complete by this time; with only windows and doors to add, floor tiling and paint!
I would like to encourage our readers and supporters at this time to consider a donation to these remaining projects, you can join our support team as they raise funds for the pending Mission Trip on April 19, 2012.  Gary and Shannon, Amos and Sarah will be traveling here to help us with some final details for the Guest House...Painting!   Yeaahhhh! (bring your old clothes guys)
There is still room for more people to join this team as I believe there are still flights available for that date!    Please join us as we are encouraged by their pending arrival, it has been many months since we enjoyed close fellowship from our home church!
On March 18, 2012 at ROL Church in Lethbridge after the morning service, anyone who wishes to support this Mission Trip can come to the luncheon at the church.

Thank you in advance for everyone's support!  Of course all of your donations are tax deductible!
Mike and Laura

NCMS Advocates!

Hello again everyone and bendiciones from sunny D.R.!
Laura and I are well here and I want to use this opportunity to preview another Mission Group whose work is pivotal to the progress and development of some of the people who live in the area on the North Coast of the Dominican Republic.
When Laura and I first met Kim and Josie Pensinger in 2008, we had no idea how God was directing us; how He was establishing His people around us.  The Pensingers hail from San Diego and Vermont, but have spent many years on the Mission Field, working in places like North Bay Ontario, Costa Rica, Buenos Aires Argentina, and now Sosua Dominican Republic.  That first meeting with them seemed very comfortable, even now, looking back, it seems as though we have known them for much longer.
Dominican Advance started almost 6 years ago with the establishment of a Mission outreach here in Sosua; at first Kim and Josie Pensinger worked to develop relationships with other organizations which led to the establishment of a school in a local village near Sosua.  The school in Nazareth was built in 2007 and children began to attend classes that fall.  At first the school started with only three grades; adding a new flock of children each year since.  The education program at the school is based on standards set in place by the Ministry of Education in the D.R.  The fundamental difference in Nazareth is such that most of the children attend school each year with the help of funding from international sponsors.  Each child receives a uniform, books, backpack and school supplies from sponsorship funding on a monthly basis.  The children also receive a meal every day they attend school; the meal program is funded separately from sponsorship.  Nutri-Ninos provides a much needed food supplement as many of the children may only eat once a day at home.  After the successful launch and progress of the school in Nazareth, Dominican Advance was asked to step in and administer education programs at another school which was built nearby in another village.  The school in Paraiso was built by another Canadian Charity called Samaritan Foundation.  S.F. has built many villages surrounding the area providing much needed houses, schools, clinics and trade schools designed to empower the people in their own communities. 
The second school in Paraiso began classes in the fall of 2010 with children up to grade four.  When school began almost 90% of the children had little to no knowledge of the alphabet or numbers.  Today the school educates over 100 children and will add 50 new children each year up until grade 8.
Dominican Advance is now a registered Canadian Charity, incorporating 2 years ago to comply with a requests from a growing Canadian support base.
Today we see God position Dominican Advance to expand the Mission with the construction of a secondary school which will continue the education of all of the children leaving grade 8 from Nazareth and Paraiso.
The secondary school will be built to receive students in the fall of 2014.
Dominican Advance has always been a strong voice for God as they have obediently moved forward with Him.  We have watched from a short distance and stand witness to the blessings Dominican Advance had given to the people of the D.R.  Dominican Advance is bringing more and more teams to the area to administer education programs and other areas of empowering the people. 
Dominican Advance will be starting a capital campaign shortly to raise the necessary funds for the construction of the secondary school.
 Please join us as we acknowledge the importance of continuing the work that God has started within this Ministry.
You can view details about Dominican Advance through their website.
www.dominicanadvance.org
www.dominicanadvance.ca

Bless you all as you make your way through another day God has made!
Michael

One Year Later!

Blessings everyone and hello again from the D.R.  I pray you are all well and enjoying the mild winter so far...we have heard that the colds of January's past were not so bad this year as well as the snows!  We are also enjoying a mild winter! 
Yesterday was the anniversary of our arrival here on the island, February 22, 2011 we landed in our foreign home; complete with luggage and dog, we settled in for what has seemed like a very fast year.
A quick synopsis of the last year has revealed many encouraging facts about our journey so far.  At first we jumped right into the process of trying to get the Guest House up and running, but God had other plans for us and we quickly came to a grinding halt with process, language barriers, cultural barriers, transportation barriers, and even some health issues.  Patience He said...wait on Me, He whispered; do not run ahead, He cautioned; Trust me, He assured us.
All these things combined together have grown us more, building us up on the inside, rather than tearing us down.
It has always been through God's people, through the situations you find yourself facing, that the answers for the direction of your path become apparent.  In the last year we have received counsel from elders and friends, advice from our missionary neighbors here, and much love and support from family back home.  We greatly appreciate all who would listen to us and care to pray for our keeping while we establish here in the Dominican Republic what God has seeded deep within my soul.

We are blessed to have such people as you around us who continue to encourage and pray for us.
I am pleased to announce that we have just finished the rough build of the first level of the Guest House just yesterday; on our anniversary one year after arrival!  Yesterday the work crews poured the second level floor.  Now the work will continue inside the first level to complete room enough for teams of ten people. Once the terminations are completed by the work crews the first level will be ready for paint and tile work, as well as installations of bathroom fixtures, windows and doors, and electrical work.  Within a few weeks we will begin to build the outside, open air dining room with kitchen attached.  We are encouraged with the announcement of a Mission Team from ROL and look forward to seeing those who come in April!

I hope that the pictures we have been sending give rise to encouragement within your own lives, knowing that your prayers and support have gone into a project that we are only a part of.  God leads and we only follow, walking through doors of opportunity and creating lasting relationships with those around us who He places in our path.
Be blessed each of you as you awaken to a new day, what opportunity will you be given today?

Laura and I extend a warm invitation to all those who read this blog, please visit us anytime!  The Guest House is on track to receive teams of about ten people sometime in June or early July of 2012!
Thank you all
Bendiciones!
Mike and Laura

Finally in the ground!

Day 1  Thursday January 12, 2012

Yes!  We are finally in the ground!  Officially the work began on Thursday morning with the erecting of the counstruction frame, actually the framework represents the height of the base wall which is built atop of the footing.  The height of the base wall will ultimately determine the level of the floor which is about 15 inches above the highest point of the land, so we can have proper drainage away from the building!



Day 2 Friday January 13 2012

The next picture shows day 2 when 6 Haitian workers began to dig the outline of the foundation after it was marked with lime chalk.  Yes only picks and shovels here.

 This is a picture of our lovely supervisor who will oversee the project with an iron fist, note the adequate attire for this type of work!  Day 2 ended with about 1 foot of trench dug out.

Day 3 Saturday January 14.
After 2 full days of digging with pick and shovel and a crew of 15 Haitian workers, we have reached a depth of 80 cm or 30 inches below grade.  I know that some of you must be thinking this is a strange way to dig a foundation however, here it makes sense.  The ground we are digging in is virgin soil and very compact clay.  Very good for laying a concrete footing in for our project.  Because the footings are so close together outlining all of the walls of the Guest House, we only need to dig out the space for the footing; much less expensive to build this way.  Heavy equipment here is not always easy to hire and can be over $2500 pesos per hour to use.  On Monday the concrete work begins, walls will be going up within a week!
All that waiting and now so much is happening!

Laura and I wish to thank all of you who are supporting our project with your comments and emails and prayers.  We still require more funding for the additional projects of a security wall and the dining area. All donations, both Corporate and Private are eligible for tax receipts through our partner in this project; Bridges of Hope International Organization of Development Agencies is handling all of our construction funding.  Please follow the link at the bottom to donate to this project!
Bendiciones todos!
Michael and Laura
http://www.bridgesofhope.ca/index.php?p=International_Projects

NCMS Advocates

Hello everyone!  I hope you have all recovered from too much turkey and the festivities of the season; we have also settled down back to working as it is.  The D.R. has returned to a state of normal after much celebrations amid a very rainy December.  It seemed as though there were fireworks going off every night around us, (very much legal here!)
But with the passing of another week, the children in the D.R. have all returned to their school programs in many schools today; quiet again!
As most of you know, (and for those who do not) North Coast Missionary Services is an organization which is dependent upon the other Non-Profits and Charities who work near and around us on the island.  When I say dependent I mean that our Guest House will house many of their mission teams who come to the island to work in various mission fields.  I wish to take the opportunity through this blog to introduce our followers and supporters back home to these individual groups who we will be supporting.

The first group I will profile is a group headed by fellow Canadians Phil and Donna Williams; originally from Nova Scotia, the Williams have called Sosua home now for more than six years.  Servants Heart Ministries was spawned all those years ago after Phil and Donna had worked on the island with another organization.  After dedicating a year of service to New Missions here in Sosua, they stepped out on their own, after counsel and much prayer, to form Servants Heart Ministries.
Of course like most starts it was small as they managed teams for other organizations and then eventually began to manage their own teams in projects that they believed God was directing them into. Inspired by the preventable death of a little Dominican child, Danica, who lived in Villa Nazareth; Danica died from a simple infection that was left untreated, a five dollar medication would have cured her; they pursued a location for a medical clinic.  Eventually they found a location and started sourcing staff and materials necessary for the clinic.  Supported solely by donations, they ventured forth to establish not one, but two clinics today.  The Ministry continued to expand and they were approached by a local church in another community who were building a school for their children but had run out of money and resources.  Servants Heart agreed to help and today they manage the school with Pastor Cliebert in Cangrejo; all of the children in the school are sponsored by people all over North America.  The school adds 50 students each year as a new grade comes along.
Servants Heart also manages a construction program with teams who visit from all over North America.  Each team raises the necessary funds, about $5000 USD, and comes to the island to build a new home for a very poor family.  In many cases the families receiving homes have more than 6  people already living in shacks.

This is one home that was replaced after Hurricane Irene blasted through the North Coast area in late August.  A new home was built within a month.  You can see where the foundation of the house was before the storm, look where the house ended up, thank God nobody was hurt.  The rubble around all of the other houses is rocks that were thrust up and out of the ocean during the storm surge.
Servants Heart is constantly working on the next project that comes along, and there is always a steady stream of requests from the local poor who cannot provide for themselves.  Currently Servants Heart is working with another Pastor to build yet another school in a mountain village about 20 miles deep in the hills on the North Coast.  Cevere is the name of the village and is mostly made up of migrant workers who used to work in the cane fields.  If you recall a previous blog I wrote during the summer, the will remember that there is no work still in these lush cane fields; this time of year is normally harvest time for the tons of sugar cane which will grow until the land owners eventually burn them down.  There is no market to sell the cane and the fields must be cut, with no money to pay wages the landowners have no choice but to burn the fields; a sad sight indeed.
No matter the need, Laura and I have watched Phil and Donna dedicate their lives, their services and talents to the fulfillment of God's will for their lives; they would tell you that nothing they have done is for them for they are only servants for God's will; I have seen their hearts and I have seen the fruit of their labors, a testimony of a man and his wife, living for the Lord.  They are blessed and only because they have been a blessing to many here; blessings that change lives. Servants Heart has changed their lives and certainly the lives of those God puts in front of them.
I invite all of you to view their website as well as their short docu-video which can be found on the website below.

http://www.servantsheartdr.org/

Rio Vista Guest House will be housing many of the teams who work with Servants Heart.  We ask you to send your continued support as we push forward together to establish the Guest House in a timely manner.

Bendiciones
Michael and Laura

Navidad!

Feliz Navidad Todos y Dios los bendiga! Laura and I had an awesome opportunity to attend a traditional Dominican Christmas Celebration this past Dec 24.  We have become very close friends with our Dominican Lawyer and her husband (who is also our building contractor!) and we spent the day with them in preparation of the fiesta that night.  Yamilka and Francis always have a traditional Navidad with their closest family and some friends.  This year Francis and his brother Miguel organized the festivities by preparing the farm they own with a new structure.  The small casita was built out of local materials gathered from the farm, smaller trees make up the roof support and larger trees make up the columns.  The roof is put on using hammer and nail and has been built this way for generations; a "canas" roof or palm leaf is very easy to apply and keeps everyone dry for many years.

We are going to build a similar structure on our project, only it will be slightly larger than this one.
During the day the brothers had contracted a local friend to attend to the meal, a fire roasted pig.  The 100 lb pig is butchered in the morning and then hung on a green pole; held on with wire.  Then the pig is slowly roasted over an open pit fire all day.  The process takes about 8 hours to fully cook a pig, talking as a chef though, this one was definitely well-done!  Not surprising though as this is typical of roasted meat on the island, cooking it thoroughly is very important here as animals are not always raised with the same standards we may enjoy in North America.  After the pig was cooked we watched as the chef prepared our pig for transport, placing the pig on a clean piece of plastic sheet and then dividing it up into manageable pieces with a very sharp machete!  From my perspective this was just incredible as each blow with the machete went right through the animal cleanly.  Three of us then gathered up the ends of the plastic sheet and lifted the pig up and carried it into the back of our waiting jeep, onto clean cardboard, we closed the back of the jeep and headed back to the apartment to prep our dinner.  The pig was so hot the rear window of the jeep steamed up quickly and the heat radiated throughout the jeep, smells of sweet smoke and the roasted meat tempted everyone to try a little piece of loin right there on the spot, wow!

  Our Dominican friends insisted I gather my knives and use my culinary skills to separate the animal from his bones, I jumped right in and soon a bag of bones and about forty pounds of roasted pork was separated nicely.  The rest of the meal consisted of a typical array of Dominican Foods from "moro de guandules" (rice with spices and chick peas)  potato salad, coleslaw salad ( more like regular salad only no sauces and made from cabbage) Dominican bread (like pita) and desserts.  The family trickled in to the fiesta as the evening wore on and finally by 9:30 everyone had arrived; finally!  I was starving!

Yamilka gave a prayer and blessing for our gathering in Spanish, (I actually understood most of it!) then we all bellied up to the buffet line and filled our plates.  The food was amazing and the experience was one that we will never forget; even with cultural differences and significant alternatives to the way we might celebrate a traditional Christmas Dinner, we found the nature of the event was entirely centered on the relationships within the family.  How the families involved each other and their children and genuinely created an environment of love within the room.  Laura and I watched and listened (trying to understand as much as we could with our limited Spanish!) as we participated with this family's Christmas.  After the dinner was over, and yes, only 20 minutes of madness to consume food here as it is in Canada, we relaxed a bit with the conversation never even skipping a beat throughout the meal!  They began a gift opening soon after and the eight children at the fiesta enjoyed a couple of frenzied minutes of paper tearing and excited banter between them; the parents all watching intensely as their children received each gift.  Parents only gave to their children and nothing to themselves, although this might have been traditional, we did not know for sure.  After the gifts were opened it was near 11 pm and we excused ourselves and went home with everyone telling us it was very early and the fiesta was just starting!  I must be getting old.

Thoughts from Laura

Christmas day brought us to another Canadian missionary's home for the traditional turkey dinner and games day. First sharing tears for the family missed in Canada, we soon began working together to lift each other up and encourage each other throughout this day. It was hard for us, but thank the Lord that we weren't the only ones that needed the others. I believe that God kept them here in the country for us and vice versa. We celebrated the Lord's birth together with other friends and missionaries. That's what is important.
Watching the news this morning, there was a broadcast about young teen girls who video tape and air on the internet their "haul" they received this Christmas. My stomach started to turn as there is so much more to Christmas than what we get given to us. I felt so sad for those girls as they don't even realize the true meaning of this festive time. We are to celebrate The Only Gift that matters, not stuff. Sitting down to the beautiful 2 celebratory meals we received made us think of the people who were literally just down the road from our feast. Some with just the beans are rice that were given to them, some with nothing. Humility in this season has gone the way of the dodo. Yet Christ came to us with nothing but humility. Being born in a barn and with straw for warmth. This is the King of Kings showing us how we need to be. Come before Him and each other. Heirs in Christ yet humble servants with thankful hearts. God, help us never to commercialize this time of remembering in our hearts.

2 Cor 10:17-18
17 But, "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."   18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
NIV

How to Fiesta in 122 easy Steps!

Hola todos!  Y Feliz Navidad!  Laura and I would like to extend our Holy Days blessings to all of you at this special time of the year!  May God bless you richly as you spend this time with friends and family.  We are more mindful than ever at this time of year as we spend our Christmas away from our own friends and family, we miss you all; especially our own children.  We are encouraged with recent emails and Facebook posts from our support team and friends back home!  Progress has been slow however, as we are enduring a most wet December here in the D.R.  This is "normal" according to the locals, but we are hopeful that the sun will soon shine and dry up our land so we might begin the foundations of the guest house.
We are still planning on bringing the first mission team to assist with the construction in March, however the dates have yet to be confirmed; more details will be forwarded early in the new year.

We recently assisted Dominican Advance with the gift giving fiestas for over 300 children at the two schools they manage in the area.  We went with Kim and Josie to Santiago (about 2 hours over the mountains) to purchase the gifts for the kids; sponsors donate gift money for this purpose, many of the children receive only one gift each year.  I write about this experience because of the joy we witnessed on these little faces as each received either a doll, or a car, basketball or hula hoop!

The journey to the first village was uneventful for Laura and I except for the start; we stopped at the local pasteleria (cake baker) to pick up the two cakes for the two schools.  Simple enough task, except these two cakes were large enough to land planes on, built up two layers high and beautifully decorated; supported by two large trays but no boxes.  Now most of you would see this as absurd, transporting two large cakes, in the back of a car, through Dominican traffic, up windy gravel roads, muddy in many spots, to the first village of Paraiso; but we did it!  The journey to the second village of Nazareth was different though; even though it should have been a five minute drive not far from Paraiso it turns out trials must be endured.  Rounding the final corner to the entrance to the village of Nazareth we cam across a man who was digging several trenches across the road for water lines to the houses which surrounded the area.  The road was impassable as the trenches were numerous and deep running right across the road; good thing there was another way into Nazareth.  Our caravan turned around and headed back down to the main road (about 4 miles down and around a hill through several small villages and back up another muddy road which incidentally joins the road we had been on when we discovered the ditch digger.)  Confused?  Rounding a bend in the road we encountered yet another crew working on the other side of the entrance to Nazareth, digging a large trench right down the middle of the road, this time with a backhoe.  Now normally this would not seem to be a problem however, two construction digs on either side of the main entrance to Nazareth (the only entrance) blocked all passage into the village by car.  Hmmmm....we could see the village across the valley but could not get there.  I jumped on the phone to call Josie  and explain our predicament, she informed me that there was one more way to get up into Nazareth.  So Laura and I jumped into the car, turned around and headed back down and around the mountain yet again, continuing around through to another village which was located in another valley, directly below the village of Nazareth; only a few hundred feet below.  We jumped out of the car and unloaded our last cake which I managed to perch on my shoulder, now remember, this is a cake about three feet by two feet, about 25 lbs and beautifully decorated.  We followed a path through the village of Redemption, (below Nazareth) and came to a set of stairs, concrete (mostly) and winding up the hillside out of site; 122 steps to Nazareth.  Good thing I had been exercising, finally we made it to the top of the stairs and meandered our way to the top of the village where the school was. Yeah! I shared this with all of you to help put a smile on your faces!

I hope you all see your journey as something similar, you may not be delivering a cake to a Christmas Fiesta for deserving kids, but something may distract your attainment of your goal on your journey that is beyond your control, that sometimes you might encounter a trench in your road, or even a backhoe digging it up right in front of you.  Know that there is always a way around your trial, another way that may prove arduous or even dangerous, causing you stress or physical strain.  You see we could have complained bitterly about our trial while it was happening or even worse, given up; but God wants us to keep our eyes on the goal, entrusting us with patience and wisdom that we must lean on when times arise.  Trials will always come and go, patience and wisdom give us the strength to endure; these gifts are from God.  Each of us has the ability to reason, trust in your gifts that God has entrusted in you, patience will allow you to endure, wisdom will allow you to find your way around your trial, have Faith that these gifts are yours to use wisely, trust that you are moving forward in the steps available to you at the time, as God has given.
Bless you all with all the Joy of the Holy Days!  May your Fiesta be as fulfilling as ours!
Michael and Laura Boisclair