To God be the glory.

After a week of ministry in the Dominican Republic in the Batays of San Pedro, our team made it back to the United States safe and sound. Many of us came back different than when we left just 6 days before. Relationships were built, trust was established and God was brought all the glory.

On Thursday, we were able to measure and count the children in Batay Pinones, so we could purchase the shoes we needed to give the children. On Friday, we loaded up 35 pairs of shoes, 8 pairs of gloves, 4 towels and some buckets in order show the children the love of Christ through a simple act of kindness. The team was overflowing with anticipation as the time came to explain to the village our heart and purpose. Seana began by telling the children that we enjoyed spending the week with each one of them and how we love playing games with them. She explained that we wanted to bless each one of them by giving them a pair of shoes. Jason translated this and added how we want them to experience Christ’s love through these shoes. We lined up the kids from smallest to largest shoe size and brought each one to a bucket one at a time, washed the dirt and sores on their feet, dried them with a towel and placed the new pair of shoes on their feet. The smiles on their faces showed how a simple pair of shoes could make someone’s day! Each of the children walked away with an excitement. Each member of the team walked away knowing we had just experienced something special. We got a glimpse of the glory of God right here in this village in the middle of the Dominican Republic.

If I had to sum up this week in just a few words, it would go something like this: to God be the glory. The desire of my heart is to use the gifts and abilities God has given me to bring him all the glory and make God smile.

-Madison

No Bare Feet.

July 21,2011

Thursday. I can’t even believe that our week is almost over. The Lord did some amazing things in the hearts of our team and among those we are ministering to in the Batays (villages). God has challenged us to a newer level of living for His Glory and what that looks like in each of our lives. One way that the Lord has challenged us is in the way that we us our talents and abilities that He has given us to reach those that need Jesus. One of the girls in our group has a medical background, which has given her a different perspective on some things. Seana had the idea that our group put our money together and buy one of the village’s shoes. The team agreed and collaborated on how to make this happen. Today, when we went to the village, we were able to line the kids up from the shortest to the tallest (even the little ones that could barely walk!) and measure their feet. This was an interesting task because the kids don’t really know how to make a proper line or stay in some order without pushing. We took paper and had the kids step on the back and drew a line to measure about how big their feet were. After we left the village for the day, we went to the local “Jumbo”-grocery store- and purchased 35 pairs of “croc-like” shoes. The team was just beaming as we were thinking of specific children who would wear the shoes. As I walked away from the store, I was filled with this overwhelming feeling of the goodness of the Lord. For about $150, we were able to put shoes on an entire village of children-in Jesus Name. No longer do they have to walk the paths with broken glass and rocks with their bare feet. They have shoes.