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!