Our 8 days in the Dominican Republic culminated in both a series of blessings and challenges. For me (Alvin), this was my second time serving with a team in the Lighthouse Project. Those 8 days consisted of: Morning devotions together on the rooftop of our residence building Delicious meals provided by the Lighthouse staff Building projects in Villa Altagracia specifically with their vocational school and first attention clinic Finishing
CBOQ Next Gen hosted its first Centre Court Jr event. Our marker of success: when a family/small group attending initiates a deeper faith conversation about Jesus and his impact on people. After a very entertaining Raptors 905 game (in a last-second loss), we were joined by Courtney Charles, VP-Basketball and Franchise Operations with Raptors 905. He took time to share about his own walk of faith both
On this final day, we took time to pray for the water purification plant, the vocational school, the gym, the Lighthouse school itself, the bus (and the places it brings people to), future teams, each other and the items being donated. We are grateful for the hospitality of the Lighthouse staff. They took the 3 hour drive to drop us off
On our final day, we visited two different locations. First, we visited the old city of Santo Domingo. We began with visiting Basilica Cathedral of Santa María la Menor, the oldest cathedral in the Americas. With reverence, we explored different areas of the main sanctuary. Afterwards, we had a chance to shop in the tourist area of the old city. In the afternoon,
This was our final day of work. We wanted to leave a positive impact in the communities we worked with. As we returned back to Villa Altagracia, this time, we had a chance to walk around the community. Felix (a Lighthouse staff) shared some of the future plans they have in the area. We got to hear briefly about who lives in this particular neighbourhood. Then we completed a
This morning (around 4:30 am), some of us were awakened by an earthquake located approx. 80 km away from us. It was very brief and there was no damage at all; some of our team members didn't notice it. Our morning brought us back to the CBOQ school. This time, the morning classes were there i.e. those ages approx. 4-6 and 11-13. We rotated through some crafts and outdoor
Today was a day of rest from work. We started our morning by joining the Open Walls Church within the community. Their congregation welcomed us by teaching us a song and praying for us. In the afternoon, we were up against one of the softball teams in the neighbourhood. We were told they practice twice a week; we became their practice round. While our
There was one key word that summarized our day: PAINT! In the morning, we divided into 2 groups: one that joined a ESL class and another painting the interior and the washrooms for a satellite school (that was named after CBOQ). In the afternoon, we continued painting, this time some metal storage unit that will be used in the Lighthouse compound itself.
This morning, we started our day with devotions on the rooftop of our residence - a nice cool breezy morning. In the morning, Felix guided us through the area around the Lighthouse school. We briefly visited some local churches, satellite schools and neighbourhoods to familiarize ourselves both with the community's history and its relationship to the Lighthouse. After our community walk, we took time to
7:04 pm local time: After getting through security with some minor delays, we took off on time and have now landed in Punta Cana. 8:09 pm: We have all our bags and are on the Lighthouse bus. Plus pizza as we travel! 11:09 pm We arrived safely at the Lighthouse compound. It's been quite the travel day. With some great food waiting for us, the Dominican hospitality
