Rockin' the Batay

North Ridge showed up big today. We shoveled in all the dirt to fill the floors and then got started on mixing the concrete to finish them. In the batay you shovel in concrete one bucket at a time. We decided to rent a mixer. When we asked Pedro if that would be o.k., he said "No it too expensive". We said "How much?" He said "$30". We got the mixer.

At the end of the working day we still had half of the house floor to finish. We were told it was time to pack up and come back tomorrow. We knew that if we didn't stay, we would not finish the house on time. North Ridge put in two more hours and rocked the batay!

Shovel and Bucket Day

In order to pour concrete floors for the house we have to bring in dirt to raise the ground to the proper level. Why they like to build the walls THEN bring in dirt - we do not know:) What we do know is that the way they bring in dirt is one bucket at a time. We have two shovels and four buckets. We have to bring in enough dirt to bring up the floor 1 1/2 feet! Everyone got a chance to try it! By the way...tomorrow we bring in the cement the same way:) Here are some pictures from our day! 

Meet Anita

Today we were able to spend some time with Anita, the mother and wife who has been praying that God would give her a house for 5 years. We walked to her house and introduced ourselves and I told her that I was the pastor of a church called North Ridge. She immediately grabbed me and hugged me as she said "Glory to God - Amen! Amen!". John told her we wanted to show her picture to more people so that more people would come and more houses would be built. She started with "Glory to God!" all over again.
When Anita saw that so many women had made the trip to build her house, she cried.

We made good progress today. The walls are up and tomorrow we start with the interior walls and roof. the team gets a little discouraged because they want to all be working at the same time and get it done efficiently and excellently.  Things just don't operate on the same time table down here:)

First trip to the Batay

Today was our Teams first trip to the Bateyes. A Batay is a village in the sugar cane fields. The Haitian people live in these villages and work the sugar cane when the cane is ready for harvest. The pictures explain more that my words will, and it will take us several days to absorb what we have seen. You would not believe the incredible beauty of this country. Coconut trees are everywhere. Mountains and blue green oceans side by side. And right in the middle of it all there is extreme poverty. The children are amazing, and we have had a lot of fun playing and talking with them. I have included some before and after pictures of our work today.
Everyone is tired and will not even notice the barking dogs, moped races or 4 am roosters:)

Good Morning North Ridge

Good morning North Ridge! Hello to all of you from the Dominican Team! We are praying for you this morning as you will soon be starting your day and worshiping together. Did I mention there are a lot of roosters in Barahona?

Last week we started more than a new series. We went to the words of Jesus and listened as He gave us His terms for following Him. I look forward to diving into these words with you as we try to get our minds around what it means to abandon everything for Him, love God will all our affections, and take up our cross and die to self. These are the places where Jesus says we begin to follow Him.

Today at North Ridge my friends Chris & Mary Herndon will be sharing their story of how God has restored their relationship with each other, called them to abandon the life they once knew and follow after Him as missionaries to marriages. I am praying God will use their story to speak to us about our own.

Have a great day at the Ridge!

We Have Arrived!

We are in our home for the week. It is hard to explain what we have already seen. We will post a few pictures to help. It is hot. Our hosts are awesome. Many of us have not slept in more than a day, but we are glad to be here.  It is 9 pm and the music in the neighborhood is LOUD! Children are playing under the street light (singular) and people are sitting on their porch. We would close the windows, but there are no windows:) Just open walls from about 4 feet up to the ceiling. There is a cool breeze and lots of Spanish. We wake up in a few hours and begin. Here are some pics!

Airport

We are in the air and on our way to Santa Domingo! We are about half way in on a 3 hour flight. Once we land and get through customs we will take a 4 hour bus ride to Barahona. Tomorrow we play games with the kids and worship with the local church. Our schedule for the rest of the week goes something like this:

7:00 am -breakfast

8:30 am - Work in the batey (sugar cane village)

4:30 pm - back to the city

Please continue praying that God will encourage those we meet!

Everyone is doing well (for you Moms out there:)

Dean

Barahona '10

The NR Barahona '10 Team will be leaving at 3AM on Saturday, October 23 for Barahona Dominican Republic. North Ridge has already sent $10,000 ahead of us to purchase building materials for our projects.  This trip we will be building a new home for a family of 12, installing concrete floors in two more homes, building 2 latrines, and installing a water purification system in the mission team house. Please pray for those who are traveling as well as the new friends that we make along the way. We are asking God to open some long term windows for reaching people and helping them walk with God.
I will be posting pictures and video of our trip each day as long as we are able to find an internet connection. Thank you for your financial support and your prayers for the people of Barahona.

Radical

Tomorrow we start a new series. It was only supposed to be a one Sunday deal. Just a simple message on Mission to send off our Dominican Team for a week of work in Barahona. The problem is, in preparing for this, I read a book by David Platt called Radical. I was reminded of how Jesus said His followers would actually live, and what their lifestyle would actually look like.  Jesus said His followers would leave behind security, money, convenience, even family for Him. They would abandon everything for the gospel. They would take up their crosses daily.
Do I live like that?
Do you?
All of this brings me to one big question: Do I believe what the Bible says?
If I do, then it has radical implications on my life and the way I live.
Have we manipulated Jesus to fit the American dream?

I honestly don't know what this means for me or for my family. I don't know what it means for our church family. I certainly don't know what it means for you. But I do know that if we believe what the Bible says and if we choose to obey what God says, it will mean radical changes in how we live and how our church operates.