Dohms in the Dominican Republic Jan 24th Update

"Amen", "Gloria", "Nombre de Cristo",

these words are chanted as a response from congregations we have been blessed to share in worship with throughout the Dominican Republic.

Despite the language difficulty we know for certain we are taking part in "adoracion", worship of our Lord and King "Jesus, Senor y Rey". Last week Gordon and Glen took part in completing a kitchen addition to a Santiago barrio church run by Jose Rodriguez. William Gomez picked them up and drove them to this modest church that is next to a canal where hurricane flood waters had overflowed the banks in December. Reclaimed wood was used for framing and enclosing, nothing is wasted here. Two or three windows were framed in to provide light and ventilation.

While this construction took place women from the church were in an other area cooking up a delicious meal of beans, rice and chicken for the malnourished children of the area. This is a practical means for the church to meet the needs of the people, body, soul and spirit. The love felt for Gordon and Glen from the children and workers was seen in the smiles, hugs and the desire to include them in the activities.

A day later our entire family drove up in William's truck to the cloud forest above Santiago. Our destination was Refugio Pinos del Cielo, a Bible Camp set high at the peak of the mountain. Local men had already gathered awaiting the truck with it's load of reclaimed lumber that was to mend the broken rafters of the chapel. The hurricane had literally torn off most of the tin and cracked the timbers. Our family integrated into the lives of the local family serving the Lord in that area and assisted the work. We experienced an element of poverty only seen in magazines or t.v., a real eye-opener for our children. Yet for the local pastor this was a choice, he could live in Santiago, but he chose to stay and minister to the mountain residents at their level. William's sister, Ramona, is the pastor's wife. She told me that she would be my Dominican Mama, I accepted!

We are now settling into the Kingdom Builder's mission house in Santiago. There will be other outings for us to share with you. Man makes his plans but God directs his path, where will Dios lead us to next?










Until the next blog, Adios,

Gordon, Melissa, Glen, Rachel y Jesse Dohms familia

My Brother Jamie in Bogota, Colombia

My Brother Jamie's life has been pointing at a work in Columbia for many years. He read about the atrocities done to the street children there in the 90s and has always wanted to put action to his convictions by going there and exploring ways that he can help. *** This is what Mercy League is all about*** a. Helping the destitute and hurting of this world, especially children b. Helping people (you) to put action to their convictions about it.

Jamie Mattenley, a man with a heart for God and desire help people, took a month of work so that he could realize a dream of going to Bogotá, Columbia. He picked up and did... That's what you have to do... make a decision, set a date and do it. And he did. I am so proud of him.
(He is still single ladies...)

Here is what he is doing...

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The Journey Begins!

I was picked up by a friend of the burghers', cousins of the Dohms’…Through Gord and Mellissa Dohms (In the Dominican Republic at the moment). Then I went to Christine and Estaban’s home my first day - for one day. Since then, I have been staying with an amazing family, Mauricio and Marlene with their children Nico and Santi. They are great people and would not accept anything(monetarily) for the trouble of having me in their home. We have hit it off very well. Roger Seiber was the friend that refered me to these wonderful Columbian families. (check the facebook and you weill see). Roger also gave me a contact to the director of a YWAM base here in Columbia (Steven Bartel an American).

I visited foundacion children’s vision on Wednesday and went to some of their children’s homes. I believe that there were four of them… they were also in the midst of building a school. The people working at the mission were very helpful and encouraging about my involvement in this kind of work in the future… in Bogotá. Angelica, one of the directors, helped gave me a cheerful tour of the whole project. There is much love in this place. Furthermore, Rich gave me a full tour of the new school that they’re building in the south.

I spent some time with my host family, who are the greatest, when we went to church together. They have a wonderful Church. (lugar de su presencia) You should be able to google all of the places I’ve mentioned so far.

Tuesday I will go with my friend Grant and visit two farms that house street children. On Wednesday I will visit a place called “La Mesa,” which I feel really hopeful about (finding a place to begin/join a work here one day. I was introduced to the director of a project there (Martin by-chance at a birthday party-through my friend (very special person) Martha-whom I met through the internet last year… Do you see how this is working!?! Thursday I will volunteer at foundacion children vision and then off to Barranquilla for 8 days, to visit more organizations and projects.

Jamie

If you would like to make a donation to his journey... click the "donate" button and make sure you designate it to "Jamie". He will be able to access it in Columbia within a day or two.

Blessings to you all,

Shane

Dohms in the Dominican Republic! 2.0

Hola,

From what Gordon is believing it's heaven...

we have officially made it to Santiago, which is a 46 mile drive inland from Puerto Plata. We spent 4 nights at a Hotel that was old spanish colonial, columns, huge stairways outside and all solid concrete. The hurricanes have not left much of a mark, which was reassuring. The kids have been thoroughly soaked in salt water and perhaps have drank a fair bit too. The hotel was $33/night! Complete with two double beds, one child slept on the couch and had mini kitchen area and and a large bathroom, a balcony completed the room. The kids really liked the pool as it was calm and salt-free! Good coffee at the little coffee bar (thatched roof) next to the pool.

On Wed. we went to Sosua and hung out a beach section that is run by William Gomez's friend, and no cost for us to use his bathroom and hang out at the beach he rents out. It was full of tourists from around the world. Jesse was swimming with a boy from Sweden who speaks 4 languages. Unfortunately at beaches like this you are bombarded with hawkers who are wanting to sell you overpriced shrimp, dulce (sugar and coconut mix) and women who will corn braid your hair.

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Did you ever notice that blondes should never have cornbraids?

At the Long Beach the locals totally accepted us and Juan and I made a pact that he would learn some English that day and he would teach me some Spanish, we both made some inroads. Gordon's Spanish is coming along well too. Glen is perhaps the one making the most effort to speak, Rachel uses some sign language and counts in Spanish and Jesse just plays.

William works mostly with the Haitian poor people in the slums. We have seen perhaps 4 slum churches, some we drove to and others we walked to. In spite of the poverty these people are joyous in their faith and that is perhaps also their strength. We have been kissed, hugged and "hola'd" more than a Dohms family reunion! One pastor in Puerto Plata informed William that he is praying that we will move there to work with their people. That is a powerful word, "praying"! We stopped at one church on the way to the mission house today and discovered where much flooding had occurred at the last hurricane. It was right next to a neighborhood where Mercy League has church and community kitchen. Jose Rodriguez is the pastor. He lives in Santiago but comes to the church nearly everyday. He is a real sweet man and was constantly encouraging the little ones who had come to check us out. The little church was full to 100 people last night, standing room practically. The children lead much of the service, so they demonstrated a couple of songs for us. Two little girls led the dozen or so onlookers and a boy played a drum and a little girl "whisked" and metal tube that resembles a grater. Our kids just sat there dumbfounded and Glen caught it on video. I will try to download on the Flickr in the next day or so but wanted to catch up with the letter first.

The house here is just a couple of blocks from the main monument, (in Santiago)for those with Google Earth, we are east of the monument. The house is incredible. There are 7 bathrooms (we think), 7 sleeping areas. The top section is like a penthouse, but all open. Glen thinks its the best spot in the house . So here we are. Our adventure has really begun and we are more than excited about it. God has led the way and we have not faltered. The people are warm, the climate just hot enough, and we are open to what God would have us to do. The first agenda may be for Gordon and Glen to help William put the roof on the Mercy League Church kitchen area. This is an incredible work in the village as they put on a meal several times a month to help feed the malnutritioned children. A normal meal would be rice, beans and some form of meat. A church in Kimball, Minnesota supplies the funds for this and it has been probably a very fulfilling ministry for the group up north. So yes, there is a certain amount of culture shock, but nothing time won't cure.

The prayer request may be for driving protection. Tomorrow we will follow William in the ministry van that David has loaned us, to the church where William will preach at tomorrow. He promises to go slow. Dominican style driving is "loco" crazy. I suspect several people would have refused to drive if they had to learn here. The motorcycle taxi's go several abreast in lanes, the cars are sometimes three abreast depending on their size. The van taxi's travel mostly with the side door either open or off completely. There seems to be no emissions control so you breathe in lots of fumes. The side roads are like deactivated logging roads with spring runoff playing havoc with potholes and large rocks.

We love everyone and if you have Skype let me know and I'll give you our address. We talked to Sharon (sister) tonight and it was very good, our video didn't want to work, but audio is great. Just remember we are 4 hours ahead, so don't call too late in your evening!

Buenos Noches,

Melissa, Gordon, Glen, Rachel and Jesse

Touch-down for the Dohms Family

The Dohms family, from my home town, have touched-down in the Dominican Republic. They will be available for the month of January to oversee upgrades and repairs on the children's home. Some of the repairs include:

• mosquito screens
  
• repairing the flooring
• Back Patio
• Painting the Kitchen
• building bunk beds
• more repairs as needed

Gordon and Melissa will hire local contractors to do the repairs and will help out in any way they can while they are in the area. Mercy League has some limited funding to make available to them for these improvements but any gifts to this project would be greatly appreciated. You can make a donation by using the website and designate how it is used by using the donate button on this page.(it is finally set up!!! and remember... it is tax deductible in the USA)

Please read what Melissa wrote today about her family's journey the Puerto Plata...

Hola!

We are presently at the home of William and Jacqueline Gomez where we just enjoyed a dinner of rice and beans and barbequed chicken. William met us at the very warm airport that is surrounded by palm trees and sugar canes right next to the ocean, wow. Vancouver to Toronto was a four hour trip where next to no sleep was had, so Toronto was very difficult. We were there for four hours and then a three hour flight to Puerto Plata. Only a bit of turbulence had me in a fairly anxious few moments and even Gord admitted it was the first time he had experienced such a fierce movement. That was over the first flight.

We checked into a respectable hotel. The one that we first chose was a poor choice and this one is better. It is right at the beach and has the right price for us, just over $100 for three nights. The hotel has limited electricity though and probably no internet connection. But over the next few days, until Sat., we can check from Williams. The kids were over awed by the ride we had through the city of Puerto Plata, definitely not of the resort variety the rest of the tourists will have, pretty hair rising traffic here! But a wonderful variety of smells, plants, people, and everything. Our spanish is already improving rapidly!

We are exhausted so will leave so we can get a ride home. No vehicle and totally dependant on others right now, not a bad thing. Love to all from the Dominican Dohms clan.

I totally forgot it was my 43rd birthday until we finished supper, what a wonderful time. Rachel wants to let Sarah know it is absolutely wonderful and green and tropical.

Buenos Noches.

Stopping to Smell the Roses

Doing what is in your heart... It's "stopping to smell the roses" with resolve. I just finished my last official Sunday two days ago... I have decided to do what makes real sense to me. Yes it is scary to buck the status-quot and take that step into the unknown but... reason is not always truth.

You have to get crazy to stay sane sometimes... and here I am. This is the first day of the rest of my life...

What is all this about? Kristie and I have decided to go for it and have me work for Mercy League full time. This is an interesting decisions being that Mercy League doesn't have any means of financially supporting me in the slightest. (Why should that stop me?)

If you have any ideas/suggestions please send them my way.

Onward and upward,

Shane