Dr. Feeler outside the Lory Feeler Health Clinic.

Lory Feeler and I arrived in the Dominican Republic on Thursday afternoon to spend some time with our partners, Phil and Donna Williams.  It was great to see them and to jump right into updates.  We left the airport and went straight to Dr. Feeler clinic which was excited since the last time we saw it was the the trip where we began the construction.  We left that a year ago with the basic outside concrete frame built up.  Today, it is a fully functioning medical clinic in the community of Liberation – a compact housing area with hundreds of apartments.

Kristina provides some teacher training.

 

On Friday, we divided our day between the clinic and the Cangrejo school – the first school built by Servant’s Heart.  They have 150 students in grades maternal (ages 3) through grade 3.  The kids are on break until Tuesday but the teachers were present for a day of training.  They were led by a teacher from Canada who did an excellent job training the teachers in some new methods and techniques to make learning fun for the children yet successful! The teachers appeared to be very thankful and engaged during the training so hopefully it will transfer to the classrooms when school begins next week.

We also spent time at the Feeler clinic, bringing donated medicines for their pharmacy.  They were very busy with patients throughout the day.

Today (Saturday) we will be spending most of the day at Phil and Donna’s home to talk about future trips and future ideas.

A child at the clinic passes the time with his truck.

Pray for Phil and Donna.  Pray specifically for:

1. God’s presence to be evident and real to them.

2. For their personal health – physical and emotional.  24/7 ministry is draining.  They live it every day, their house is a hub of activity and people, there never seems to be a break.  Pray that they can develop healthy boundaries and that they can tend to one another.

3. Pray for their ministries – for the clinics and the school.  Pray for healthy volunteers and co-laborers.  Pray for financial support from churches and individuals in the States and Canada.

Thank you for your continued prayers for all of us!  Enjoy these pictures below.

Melissa and Lory

 

Leaving On a Jet Plane Again

Some of the children Servant's Heart works with.

I’m writing this at 5:37 am as Dr. Lory Feeler and I wait for our flight to the Dominican Republic. We are spending a few days with our partners, Servant’s Heart Ministries, in Sosua, DR. SHM is a Canadian-based ministry and we are their only US partner.  They want to grow their contacts in the US and need to develop the means for Americans to give charitable donations.  One of our major goals is to work through this issue to help SHM go to the next phase of their ministry.

We also want to spend some time talking about the future of our partnership. We’ve been partners going on four years and we have a commitment to evaluate after every three. I believe all sides want to continue on but it is the perfect time to discuss improvements, dreams, and where next. Which I find incredibly exciting.

God is doing some amazing things in the Dominican, in the lives of Phil and Donna Williams and the congregation of FBCJC as we embrace our call to be the salt and light in this world.

Blessings and we will keep you posted.