We are coming to the close of a fabulous week at The Lighthouse Project in Los Alcarrizos. The 65 teens and adults have been able to pour an entire concrete floor of the Open Walls Church and had over 250 people worship our Lord and Saviour in that facility on Wednesday night. The teams have had many opportunities to interact with the local people. They have been walking through the community everyday to access both work sites–the Open Walls Church and Pastor Maria’s church in which they completed the majority of the foundation. Positive comments were received regarding the ESL classes, the time at the CBOQ school and the afternoon playing games at the Lighthouse School.

We were challenged with sickness but all are ending the week well. Looking for “God Moments” throughout the week and recording them on a public wall, doing private devotionals and praying helped all the team members to remain focused on our Lord. Turner and Sarah lead the team in daily music worship and we were privileged to have a different speaker each evening before breaking off into debriefing sessions.

The theme for the week was Romans 12:2 NIV: Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

With all the exposure to poverty, another culture, a different country and many people from different church groups we pray that a transformation occurred and that the experience will have a lasting impact when they return home.

There are so many events to talk about and share. Please encourage any of the team members that you know to keep the flame burning for God when they return home as they are to make a plan and follow up with devotional time and with group sessions. The team appreciates the support and prayers that have allowed this ministry. We ask that you continue to pray for a safe travel day and we cannot wait to share what God has been doing in the DR and in the lives of each team member.

Thank you and God bless.

Submitted by Wanda Huntington, team coordinator

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7:00am: Worship in the basement followed by personal devotions, prayer partner time and breakfast – pancakes and sausage, fruit, cereal etc.

Then maybe our most strenuous day of our time here: our day off.

29:00: We headed out on a bus for the market downtown Santo Domingo. The shopping/bartering lasted just over an hour. Then, we headed out by bus again to do a very hot walking tour of the old cobblestone streets city with cathedrals and national monuments.

Next, by bus, we went to the Dominican “caves” for lunch in the park – cheese,ham, ham and Che’s sandwiches and of course pbj sandwiches (packed for us from the compound).

3Then we went down into the very hot caves and two levels down, 10 at a time, took the hand pulled barge across to the “3rd eye” lake. Even though we walked down through caves, three of the four fresh water lakes had light holes to the surface.

2:30pm: The last of us (me) finally made it back to the surface exhausted looking for cold water from the container on the bus. One of the Doninican “bracelet sellers” who gave me a seat to “recover on” at the top said there were 1,000 stairs in the caves. They were uneven stairs also some being 10-12 ” deep.

4Afterwards, we slowly headed back through the Santo Domingo rush hour traffic with half of our bus load sleeping through the bumping and jostling around oblivious to the honking horns and loud boom box music coming from the every which way traffic jams.  Santo Domingo now blends into Los Alcarrizos with the noticeable difference being the road changes from four lanes of congested traffic to two, unless we take the back roads as we did today where the road is windier and narrower (almost only 1 1/2 lanes) with lots of deep potholes. 5

3:50: Finally, back home. A late “siesta” until supper at 6:20pm featuring chicken and beef for make your own fajitas.

7:15: We met downstairs to say goodbye to Rivers of Life and Compass groups who leave the compound at 3 am to go to the airport.

7:45: After group prayers and the hugs and goodbyes the CBOQ Youth team finished the evening with worship with the leader of Rivers of Life, Brad Brodhagen, speaking to us, noting that we have been here as the hands and feet of Christ and to give a cup of cold water and we have done that and we have received that here also. His hope is that we will go home and be willing to do the same thing.  Following more choruses we participated in communion.

7Thanks again for your prayers