Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Water, Paint, Soccer, and a Familiar Face

Tuesday in the DR brought more painting as we finished up most of the 3rd floor gym facility...we can't wait to see the women from the community that will soon be in this space! They are planning to open it to the public in just a few weeks...

It also brought a tour of the water purification system that they have here on site...they produce over 25,000 galllons of clean water every day that is sold at reduced cost to the people in the community, many who have no other clean water source...they even employ pastors as small business partners to distribute the water...and everyday trucks roll out of here and literally save and help make better the lives of children...clean water diseases account for more deaths of children than anything else in our world today...and I love the fact that this ministry is providing living water on both levels in Los Alcarrizos...in fact, we were here with the men's soccer team two years ago when the earthquake in Haiti occurred...and the Lighthouse project was able to bring over 100,000 bottles of water to church partners in Haiti...I love the passion here to not only change this community but also in the nation next door...and Dominicans serving Haitians is a powerful example of the church at work across traditional boundaries...

We continued in our soccer clinic work today...we hosted 30 or so students from the school ranging from ages 6-18...every time I come here there is a growing interest in the community in relationship to soccer and more kids are ready to play this game...even a few who who have given up some time with baseball to play "futbal"...Marissa Bliss shared her faith story with this group of kids after we finished our time with them...after te clinic we played a short match with some of the older boys who have put together the first-ever Lighthouse School soccer squad...the soccer field at the school is really the only facility in the area...

A highlight of today's time here was a visit from another CU student...Marcel, a member of our men's soccer team lives in the city of Santiago here in the DR...he was a Dominican high school student and soccer player who watched our men's team play last year and eventually ended up at CU this fall to begin college in the States...we've loved having him as part of the soccer and Cornerstone communities, and it truly is a blessing to see how God has connected him to us through our ministry and mission partnerships here in his own country...he worked and played alongside us today...it's a pretty great story...and we'd love to someday have a graduate of the Lighthouse School here attend school at CU...

Tomorrow is our final full day here in the Los Alcarrizos community...we'll conclude with work, visits to classrooms, time with kids, and a final soccer match...and some visits with children sponsored by folks in the CU men's soccer program...it will be fun to reflect on all we've experienced and what we will do in response to our time here...that's a huge part of what we are praying for...

Thanks for praying and following us this week...we enjoyed the most sun and warmest temperatures today...we love you and miss you much!

for the DR team,

CHIP

you can check out some more pictures and some videos at the UNTO website link below:

http://www.untoinc.org/news/

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