GO Site - Hato del Yaque

Hato del Yaque is about 30 minutes away from Hoya del Caimito (which is where I live and our ministry is "centered"). I fell in love with this town the second I got there. I think it is because in many ways it reminds me of Constanza, it is way more laid back and slower paced than in Santiago and there is a ton of poverty. The church there has gone through its ups and downs over the past few years, but Pastor Elido is a great Godly man and I am excited for where the church is going. Hato del Yaque is a dark place, and seems like a really tough place for kids to grow up in - but the Church has a ton of outreaches to the youth through Music, sports, and events.

 These pictures are taken on a field that GO Ministries purchased and we are in the process of turning it into a baseball field! I love it. Its got a long ways to go and is by no means a perfect piece of land for a field, but what a great way to reach the kids through something they love. It is also great because it gives us a nice field to do events of just play with the kids when we have groups out there.

Love these kids! Waiting patiently for a mini VBS presentation from the group.

One of my first friends at Hato del Yaque, she definitely keeps things interesting whenever she's around!

Dorothy Sayer's group worshiping outside in the streets outside of the Montan family's house. This family is largely responsible for keeping the church alive through some tough times! A great example of a faithful family.

This is the daughter of one of the nutrition center's cooks. We have a love/hate relationship .. I love her and she runs away from me! But in the end of the day she's my little buddy.

Here are a few pictures of the littlest kids in their sunday school class. It was great to be in Hato del Yaque for a Sunday to see all the different age groups break up into their individual Sunday School classes.

A few of my favorite kids at the nutrition center. I have really gotten to know a ton of the kids at this site and look for any opportunity to pop over and visit if I have some free time. I know that God is doing awesome things through Pastor Elido and all of the leadership in the church.

GO Site - Batey 9/Batey Cuchilla

I got a little behind in my blogging this summer (no excuses!), so I am going to post a few blog posts about my time spent at a few of our sites. It may not be in chronological order, but it will be fun to share about a few of these places that have become so special to me in just a few short months!

 I didn't do a good job of taking a lot of pictures (surprise), but here are a few that I took during the week. Starting with the seemingly endless number of cows that were ALWAYS in the street. The Bateys are a series of little villages that are built around the Sugar Cane fields. They are about 95% haitians living in them, and a majority are mistreated workers from these fields. There is a long history of abuse and mistreatment from the cane field owners and the living conditions and poverty are very tough.

 These are a few of my new favorite kids in the whole country! They wanted me to come visit their house, so I came one afternoon after we had finished a medical clinic and when I got there they were all really excited and were actually baking me a cake! Obviously those who know me well know that is a GREAT way to earn a special place in my heart...what meant the most to me is that it wasn't just baking a cake, but it was so different seeing them "bake" it in a rice bowl on a charcoal fire in a tiny kitchen. Not sure if these pictures do it justice but it was incredible. I've visited a lot of houses and families in the DR, but this is one I will never forget.

3 Kyle's at the medical clinic! Never thought I'd see the day in the DR...

This is my new little friend Esperanza from Batey Cuchilla. She is sweet little girl, who lives in maybe the smallest house I've been to in the country. Her name in Spanish means "hope" and what a great name when it seems like there is no hope in these Bateys, to know that our ultimate hope comes from Christ Jesus' sacrifice for us on the cross.

One of my favorite parts of the whole week was our final day when we had 2 church services! In the morning we went to Batey Cuchilla and were part of a very vibrant (and hot!) service in a small, small church. GO partners with Pastor Francisco with his church and nutrition center, and he had a very powerful sermon and 2 ladies came forward and dedicated their lives to Christ!

At night, we had a final church service with Pastor William and all of the kids and people we had gotten to know that week piled into the church. We had a great time of singing and dancing and Pastor William gave a great message. We also had the chance to share a bit about what the week had meant to us and I had the chance to really share with the group about the hope that we have and why we sacrifice so much to come serve and live in community with our brothers/sisters in the bateys! It was a powerful and emotional night.

God is doing some amazing things in the Bateys and I look forward to many more trips and developing these relationships even more in the future!