Luperon - November 26-29

Our ride to the Kingdom Hall

On Saturday, November 26,  we were picked up by our friends, Joe and Amber Amyat.  Well, actually it was only Joe.  They own a Nissan Pathfinder and needed to pick up all 6 of us, plus 5 large suitcases, 3 small carryons, 5 backpacks and a garment bag.  Yes we fit all of that, plus Joe, in the vehicle.

We were able to enjoy 4 wonderful days with friends and meet some great new brothers and sisters.  The Luperon area only has a Spanish congregation of 24 publishers.  Going to the Sunday meeting there really made me appreciate how more funds are needed to be donated towards the construction of Kingdom Halls.  First, the Kingdom Hall is located on the other side of the river from where many of the brothers and sisters live.  Up until July you had to cross the river via a passenger float, which was oared across to the other side.  As of July there is a new bridge that allows the congregation, and others, to access the Kingdom Hall and the surrounding area without the treacherous river crossing.  On our way to the meeting it started raining, and it rained continually throughout the meeting, and I mean hard.  I asked what would have happened in the past if it rained like that and I was told that the meeting would have been cancelled as soon as the rain started, so that they could get back across the river safely.  In a country that rains all the time, imagine how many times that had happened. 

This is a point I wanted to share that really impressed me.  Sometimes we in the states don't really realize how spoiled we really are.  I had heard stories in the past of our faithful brothers and sisters and the great lengths they go to in order to go to the meetings.  It is really a true testament of the love, faith and appreciation for Jehovah and what he has to offer.  As I mentioned on the way to the meeting it was raining very hard.  Remember that there were 8 of us in our group, so Mike and Joe rode seperately to the meeting in the other car, since Amber needed to pick up a Bible student.  Out of the 24 publishers, the only ones of cars are Joe and Amber, the special pioneer couple and one brother that sometimes is able to use his work truck.  So as you guessed, the others all walk.  As we were driving to the meeting we see some sisters walking to the Kingdom Hall.  Now, being a visitor I had no clue how much further it was to the Hall, but it was well over a mile from where we saw them.  These faithful sisters, with their umbrellas, were walking, even despite the downpour.  They had not turned around and headed home, but were going straight ahead.  My heart hurt for a minute, thinking of the times I have taken Jehovah's arrangements for granted, and the ease it is for me to get to the meetings and yet these ones had it so much harder and wouldn't have considered missing because of rain and the obstacles they were going through.  My heart also rejoiced at the same time, because my family (especially the girls) were being able to see the lengths our brothers and sisters will go to to serve Jehovah.  Oh and by the way, Mike and Joe were not far behind us, so they picked the sisters up and brought them to the hall. 

Little did I know how my heart would fill when we arrived at the Kingdom Hall.  I had seen pictures of small foreign Kingdom Halls, places where it would only take $30,000 to buy land and build a new Kingdom Hall, but little did I know I would be in one that day.  Here are a few pictures of the Kingdom Hall in Luperon:

Luperon, Dominican Republic Spanish Congregation Kingdom Hall

Literature supply for congregation

Information Board - average attendance was about 38

Mom and Dad visiting with a sister

"Fancy" sound system - notice the whiteboard covering the sound system from rain drops indoors

Keep in mind that it rained very hard throughout the meeting.  Yes, the white dots you are seeing on the roof are holes in the tin.  So it dripped on most of us more than once.  As you can see on the right of the picture there is light shining through the walls.  Those are not louvers, but gaps in the building.  At one point the brother giving the talk had to all but yell, since the roof is metal and you couldn't hear him for the rain, even with the "sound system"

Yes sisters, this is the bathroom - the Kingdom Hall was built on some property next door to a sister's house - this is her outhouse and she is kind enough to let the brothers and sisters use it

Yes this is the toilet in the outhouse - no toilet paper provided

Now you can see we got alot of rain - this herd of cows passed in front of the hall twice during the meeting - I could see them through the slant in the wall 

The dear older couple have been serving Jehovah for many years - he has a wonderfully contagious laugh - warms your heart - he is in his 70's and is walking home with his wife

James Hosier, Rebecca Davila (our daughter), Michael, Joe Amyat (the one to the right of Mike) and a brother that moved with a friend to the DR from Japan to help out in the Spanish 

Rebecca and Adelina Rivera 

The brother with the contagious laugh - Gilberto Polanco



The river after the meeting - after much heavy rain - this picture was taken from the new bridge

So thus far, our visit to Luperon has been the highlight.  We were able to see how it is to live in the country, but not in the city, and we love it.  We thank you dearest friends, Joe and Amber, for their hospitality.  Tomorrow I will post about the totally secluded beach that we were able to spend the day at on Monday, along with some of the food that Amber made for us.

Beautiful flowers blooming outside the Kingdom Hall

Don't give up on me

We are staying an extra day in Luperon with our friends. Electricity and internet is spotty. We will be in Santiago tomorrow night. At our apartment we will have better connection. I have so many stories, experiences and pictures to share. Will do more tomorrow.

Damajagua Waterfalls - 27 Waterfalls

Every year on November 25, our family uses that day to celebrate our oldest daughter officially becoming a part of our family.  To us, that is family day.  So today was planned ahead and set aside as a special day.  We had some JWs, that we met here at the resort, join us.  They are from Greenville, South Carolina. We rented a van and drove about 30 minutes into the mountains and visited the Damajagua Waterfalls.  It is a series of 27 waterfalls.  You pay your entrance fee according to how high you want to hike.  You can hike up to the first 7, 1-14 or 1-27 (all the way to the top).  It was a 20 minute hike. sometimes through the river, in order to get to the base of waterfall #1.  We only paid to go to waterfall 1-7.  Once we got to the base of the waterfalls most decided that they did not want to climb, but would stay at the water pool at the bottom.  Mike wanted to go, and I wasn't too sure.  The water was FREEZING.  Also, once you hike up, the only way down was to slide down the waterfall.  The guides assured me they would help me along the way, so off Mike and I went.  Rebecca, Michaela, Mom, Dad, David and Marie all stayed behind.  I must say that it was a little rough going at times, but it was awesome overall.  There were times we were swimming through littel caverns, with the water about 12 foot deep and only about 5 foot wide.  The main reason I chose to go ahead and hike up is my little one told me I was a whimp if I didn't.  Sounds so familar of something else involving water and a cliff (for those of you who know what I am talking about).

David and Marie from Greenville, South Carolina

Suspension bridge that you have to walk across to access waterfalls - the bridge has only been there for 7 months - prior to that when the river was high after heavy rains, they would have to shut down the park because it was too dangerous for anyone to walk across on foot

Our group heading to the waterfalls

After crossing the bridge you then have a 20 minute walk into the jungle area

This is the base of waterfall one and two - it is a swimming hole that those waiting can swim at while waiting - in order to get up to the other waterfalls you must climb up the little waterfall on the left and then up the wooden ladder - only real way down is to slide

Yes that is me sliding down waterfall one - it was a blast!!

Mike and I at the base of one of the waterfalls we hiked up

This is the caverns that you have to swim through to get to the next waterfall - it was breathtaking

Some trying a fresh cocoa pod that our guide had just picked for us and busted open - he let them suck on the white fleshy part of the meat (inside the white meat is the cocoa bean - that if left in the hot sun for a few day would dry up the meaty part and it would fall off and out would come the dried cocoa bean)

This is a typical scene along the roadside in the DR - it is kinda like in Texas when you see a man on the side of the road selling his fresh pecans, peaches and honey - see those coconuts

Sunday Meeting - Santiago Deaf

Michaela with Brother John Alvarez - ASL Circuit Overseer

Sunday we took at bus into Santiago to go to the ASL meeting there, as they were having Circuit Overseer visit.  It was a beautiful meeting experience.  The CO was awesome.  He did not speak English, and I speak limited Spanish, but we were able to communicate just fine.  His talks were awesome.  He used A LOT of pictures on the screen throughout his talk and several clips from the dramas.  I really liked his style of teaching. 

The congregations is in the process of splitting. They have meeting separately for the Watchtower study and public talk, but together for the service meeting and school.  Prior to coming I had been in regular contact with a missionary sister (30 years in missionary service) that had helped us make all of our arrangements, so it was nice to finally meet her.  There were 116 in attendance, 44 were deaf.  I noticed a real difference in the deaf here, than those in the states.  Here most are deaf from birth, and a lot of them have major sight issues.  We found that with some we were needing to sign our names right in front of their eyes.  Here in the DR the deaf are treated like dirt.  They do not have the educational opportunities like they do in the states.  Most only know home signs (meaning only the signs their families made up for them to use – no ASL).  There were three there that were tactile (meaning blind and deaf) – and the meeting were interpreted for them.  There was one little girl, about 12, that the missionary sister studies with and she is tactile.  The best way to describe her would be like Helen Keller.  She was totally uneducated in ASL or home signs.  She is unruly, because she has never been taught properly and of course yearns to communicate.  She wasn’t even able to sign her name to me; all she would do is stand there and hug you.  It was a beautiful feeling, that even though I could not sign much to her, she could still feel the love I was trying to “communicate” to her. 

What impressed me was the number of Bible students that were commenting at the meeting.  Most were in plain street clothes.  You could see that the “truth” was reaching their hearts.  The meeting was a little different as far as the technology was concerned.  We are SOOO spoiled in the states.  Here they had a small pull down screen with a little projector shining on it.  When you wanted to answer there was a small camcorder that zoomed in on you and projected you on the screen.  The Kingdom Hall was nice and modest.  No air conditioning, but it was very comfortable in there, with many ceiling fans.  The brothers and sisters were so welcoming.  There was one sister that came up to me and said that she had seen me before.  Of course, I had to say where, since I had never visited here before.  She said she remembered seeing my family in the hotel elevator in Denton for the ASL assembly this year.  She is here for 4 months from San Antonio ASL (Brandy Gonzalez).  Too funny.  Again small world in Jehovah’s organization.   

We had planned on preaching today with the Puerto Plata congregation and were dressed and ready to go, but the brother called and cancelled on us since it was raining.  It does rain here frequently (almost every day), but they are such a small congregation and would not be able to have many out when it was raining.  So we are using today to relax.  Mike is going to go to Sosua and go Scuba diving.  Will try and post again tomorrow.




Michaela with her new little friend - she speaks no English - but they communicated just fine








Imbert Kingdom Hall - Santiago - upstairs - two story hall

  

This is the “Lifestyle”

On Saturday we took a bus from Santo Domingo (the capital) to Puerto Plata on the north coast.  This was the “Cancun” of the DR twenty years ago.  The main area for all-inclusive hotels these days is Punta Cana on the far eastern coast.  We booked a special deal at an all-inclusive hotel here in Puerto Plata called Lifestyles for $15 per person per night.  For those that have never stayed in an all-inclusive that means your hotel room, food and alcoholic beverages are all included for the one price.  Michael and I had stayed at several different all-inclusive hotels in Mexico, so we were familiar with the concept.  We found absolutely nothing wrong with this resort, considering the price we paid.  We knew we were not here for a “vacation”, but to preach.  So staying at the resort was an added bonus.  We arrived here on Saturday and will stay here for one week.  If anyone is ever interested in booking a room here, let me know and I will give you the contact information of finding the specials for that month.  Some months they run it for $11 per person per night.  Can’t beat that.  This resort is very popular with Americans. We found that there are over 80 witnesses here.  Funny thing is yesterday I was walking around and ran into Keren Khunkhun, her daughter and mother (we were in the  Cypresswood congregation – prior to us moving to the ASL - and now they are in Research Forest).  Small world.  We have met a group of 24 from Maryland, 6 from Atlanta and many others.  Many are here to preach for the week with the English congregation.  There is such a need here.  There are so many people wanting to study, so there is a waiting list. 

The double bed on the bottom right was our bed for the entire day (no charge) - loved it - stayed there all day and read - yes I do know how to relax - daddy was in charge of the girls for the day - so I had a break from mommy duties

Bellini Italian Restaurant

Rebecca with her Hearty Lasagna Dinner

Our girls' favorite meal at the resort - they must have eaten several of these sushi rolls every day

All of us together for big BBQ dinner at resort

DR Branch Visit

We decided to sleep in (well maybe our bodies chose that for us) until about 10 am.  We needed to purchase a cell phone and get something to eat before our tour.  When we first started making these plans, our first contact was the branch.  We wanted to make sure we did things "by arrangement", so we contacted them to see where they saw there a need for us to help.  We were given several locations to choose from.  We were encouraged for our first stop in the country to be a visit to the branch office.  We were greeted by Brother Pena, from the missionary/need greater desk.  We were given a "need greater" orientation which lasted about 30 minutes.  During this time he let us know of the real needs there were in the DR for the preaching work.  Further in this post I will share some of those figures.  Here are some pictures of the branch itself.

The Branch (along with the Assembly Hall) was dedicated in 1996 - the property was purchased in 1989

This branch houses 80 Bethelites - 4 of the Bethelites are single sisters

As you can see there are multi languages represented in the DR - Spanish, English, American Sign Language, Creole (Haitian), Chinese congregation, Italian group and Russian group

There are 6 Missionary Homes with a total of 32 missionaries in the country

The branch is located very close to the ocean - therefore the property contained much of the original coral rock still in place - there is alot of the original coral still in place around the property - they have incorporated many piece of the coral in the designs - this reception desk of made from said coral rock

The country contains 2 districts, 22 circuits, 453 congregations total

The dining room deats 140 persons - on a typical day there are 120 seated, included in that number are the commuters, etc.  You see the gleaning cart is out for the Bethelites to "glean" for the weekend - also I noticed that they cover the tables once the table is set for the next meal

This map shows the delivery routes for the literature - the magazines are shipped to the DR from Canada, and the everything else from the US - it generally takes 3 months for delivery once the order is placed - There are four main routes where the literature is delivered to the local congregations or delivery depots - three of the routes take 1 day each to make and the larger one takes 2 days - these deliveries are generally made once a month - FACT OF HAITI:  The literature of shipped first to the DR and then the brothers deliver it via big truck to Haiti

This is the interior of the open-air assembly hall - it seats 2500 persons

NOTE - the huge fans in the middle of the ceiling

Dining room in the back of the assembly hall

Baptism pool - paradise

Additional points brought out during our tour:

The fields here are "white for harvesting".  Here are some Memorial attendance figures shared with us:

Restoration Spanish congregation - 26 publishers had 809 in attendance for the Memorial - When the Branch asked then what they needed in the way of help, their answer was sisters - Usually in the states we are willing to study with anyone wanting to learn - in that congregation they needed sisters to conduct the Bible studies - they could not study with everyone, so they had to narrow it down to those making the most progress - don't you wish you had that problem.

Barahona Sign Language Congregation - southwest section of country near Haiti - 10 publishers - 263 at the Memorial - sounds great right? - 216 of them were deaf - We spoke to a Brother working at the need greater desk who is in the sign language congregation in Santo Domingo - he said that in one of their territories you can actually go door to door preaching for the deaf because there are so many of them.

English - We were told that the English started a group 2 1/2 years ago - since then there are now 7 congregations - persons who are interested in learning the truth in English are: college students, expats, those that work part-time in the states.

There is more information I want to share on Haiti and the earthquake, but it will have to wait until tomorrow.  Nite!

We have arrived!!

We flew from Houston to Santo Domingo, DR via Panama City, Panama (with a 7 hour layover).  The fun started when the taxi brother came to pick us up.  We know have learned about being flexible and traveling the DR way.  I had made contact with him weeks prior and mentioned that we would have 6 extra suitcases (which really were boxes) and the 5 suitcases for our family, all of our backpacks and three carry on suitcases.  His answer was "no problem".  He did decide to have one other brother come with his car also.  Thank goodness, since as you can see from the pictures there is no way it would all fit in one car, especially seeing the size of the car.  Here are some pictures of all of our stuff trying to figure our how we will get it all loaded.  There are a couple pictures of the cars loaded the "DR way".  Remember, the larger of the two cars was a Toyota Camry and the other car was even smaller.  Thank goodness for rope. 

We finally made it to the apartment which we had rented for $40 a night.  It was about a 10 minute walk to the branch.  I will post another post about our visit to the branch.



"How Do You Even Start To Plan a Trip Like That?"

I have to say that is the questions we are asked most is,  "How can you go away for a month" and "How do you even start to make plans".  The main answer is planning.  We have had a goal of serving in a foreign country since 1996, after the completion of the Rosenberg Texas Assembly Hall.  Although the situation was not right at the time, that did not mean that we had to give up our goal.  As time went on, and a couple of kids later, we really had the desire to serve.  We, as a family, put it to prayerful consideration, and started to get to work.  We were very specific with our prayers to Jehovah.  We took one small step at a time, awaiting his answer after each step.  It would not have been appropriate for us to move ahead, without his clear direction, if we were wanting him to bless this "adventure".  As we saw Jehovah's spirit moving us to continue planning, it was time for us to work in accord with our prayers. 

First, was to start trying to become debt-free.  This would enable us to make this trip, without having to have concerns of bills needed to be paid.  Are we there yet, no, but by the end of this year we should only have our trailer payment.  For those familiar with Dave Ramsey, we are "gazelle intense".

After the financial end was taken care of, the planning could begin.  We started out with 6 countries that would meet our needs.  Since my parents are joining us, and they are in the English, we had to consider countries that had needs that supported ASL/English.  Those countries were Guyana (Northern South America), Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Belize and Dominican Republic.  Guyana was a choice we couldn't go with, since Continental (nor its partners) fly into that country.  We had been saving flyer miles for some time, so that was a huge determining factor.   Next step was to contact the branches.  All but Dominican Republic are handled by the Mexico branch.  The Dominican Republic is handled by their own branch.  We talked at length with the need greater desks.  We then determined, with Jehovah's direction, that the Dominican Republic would best suit our concerns, money, safety, etc. 

Please know that the first two steps were not something that happens overnight.  It took several months of planning just to get to that point.  After we decided on a country, wrote our letter of intent to them, wanted for their reply as to the areas needing assistance, then our part of the planning could begin.  We then were able to make contact with some of the friends that live in the areas.  We really wanted our children to "taste the way the locals live", so we wanted to make sure that some of the trip was "living as a local".  With the Dominican Republic having over 650 need greaters, it was easy for us to find an apartment to rent, while they were gone on vacation.  To give you an idea of the cost of things in the DR, we are renting a sister's apartment, the agreement was a cover her monthly expenses.  The expenses for one month, for rent, electric bill, internet bill and phone bill came out to $215, which we will pay half, since my parents are sharing expenses with us.  So for $108 we could have an apartment for one month, although remember it is VERY small. 

We did opt to visit several areas while in the DR, so we had to plan for more than one accommodation.  We will be staying at an all-inclusive resort in the town of Puerto Plata.  This is a beach town, very well-known with the Americans.  The hotel runs specials regularly.  We took advantage of one of their specials, $15 per person per night.  So the entire family will be there for one week.  Not bad for $60 per day for food, lodging, activities and liquor.

We will also be able to visit a friend that used to work with us at the Rosenberg Assembly Hall, named Amber Amyat (some may know her as Amber Bono or Amber Ross).  We will stay 3 days with her and her husband in Luperon on the Northwest shore.  Another location we will visit will be Jarabacoa.  It is up in the mountains (so alittle cooler).  We will be there for 3 nights.

I will do my best to share experiences and pictures as the trip progresses.  Please feel free to leave comments or questions on the blog, if you like.  We look forward to sharing as much information with you as we can.  See you when we get back!!