HdY - Hato del Yaque

For the last almost two weeks I've been in Hato del Yaque. It's been really great. Getting some time with Greenville was awesome. We got a lot of work done and also had a good time visiting. To sum up that week rather quickly, we did construction for three days in HdY and for one in Saint Mark on a church there. Pastor Gumercindo, the pastor that Greenville supports, lives in Saint Mark. We were also able to do a VBS there - including a very animated puppet show/skit that the kids LOVED! and some evangelism. Here are a few photos from that week:

Picture #1 & #2 is of the worksite. Greenville helped move and cement most of the block work in these pictures.
Picture #3 & #4 show a part of the baseball clinic that Evan, Nate, Andrea, Angelique and Dad all helped with.

Picture #5 is of the house we stayed at while in Saint Mark. All of the ladies stayed here...I think there were around 15 of us. The picture shows half of the house. We also ate all of our meals out of that little bitty kitchen you can see in the back of the picture.

Picture #6 is of Adam, Kerlyn, and Evan playing cards with the group. It was a very popular evening activity.


During week two in HdY, and no, the week is not yet over, we've done more construction on the same building that Greenville worked on, and we've built a brick fence. We've also done some major clearing of weeds behind the church to start making progress toward a basketball and volleyball court area. Yesterday we got to evangelize in Pastor Fabio's mountain village and do a VBS program. I haven't taken many photos but do have a few to share.


This first photo is of the view from Pastor Fabio's house. The picture does not do it justice. It was gorgeous.
This photo is of the group I got to evangelize with. Isabella, the Dominican lady, was our group leader. She did the main evangelizing because she speaks Spanish. However, she doesn't speak English, I was able to translate a little bit so that the rest of our group had some idea of what was going on. We spent the most of our time visiting at the assistant pastor and his wife's home. They were thrilled to see us. It also just so happened that they remember the two guys in our group from previous years. We prayed specifically for the wife's health (she's been struggling to eat because she has stomach ulcers) and her ministry with the children of the church.
These next couple photos are of the "kitchen" we used for lunch and dinner. This is underneath Fabio's mountainside home. It was an awesome setting. I got to help smash plantanes and transfer spaghetti. I didn't help much because Nena had things under control, but I enjoyed being there to help out a little.


At this point, you could be wondering, "how does Rachel have internet since she's in HdY?" Actually...currently I'm in Hoya del Caimito in the ministry house. My group is spending the night at a resort, so I get the day/evening off. It's been really nice to have some alone time, get a bit of needed sleep, and catch up some online. I do have more to write about, but I think this post is long enough, so maybe I'll get to write more later.