I want to start off by thanking you all for your prayers while we were gone. They were definitely felt right from the start. I was so nervous about the plane ride but once we got on and took off, I actually enjoyed it...for the most part :) We witnessed the most beautiful sunrise and I was reminded of God's presence and faithfulness in our lives.
Gabe and I arrived in the Dominican late Tuesday afternoon. The first night we just settled in and spent an evening with Jason Hilgeman (president of Freedom International) and his wife Pam and their 3 boys. We got to learn a little more about the ministry down there and what they are doing and also what they are envisioning for the future.
So who exactly is Freedom International? Here's a very brief explanation of who they are and what they do.
Freedom International believes in "Equipping people to engage culture according to their design."
Freedom International Ministries works in the Haitian sugarcane villages (called bateyes) in the Dominican Republic with a focus on creating disciples that can use their gifts and abilities to glorify God. They are invested in long-term impact through life on life discipleship. They use many tools to implement their vision including a bilingual Christian School, VBS, English, short-term teams and interns. They want to equip people to go back into their communities and impact their culture for Christ.
The vision of Freedom is to develop life-changing relationships with those most unlikely so that they might become catalysts for change within the Dominican Republic.
Freedom believes that there is no other tool that provides contact time like a school provides. From preschool to 12th grade, a student will spend over 18,00 hours at school. Coupled with the Christian way of thinking and godly teachers that love the children, lives will be changed. And this is where I spent most of my time in the Dominican. Freedom currently has 3 grades - Pre-K 3, Pre-K 4 and Kindergarten. I got the privilege of spending time in all 3 classes. While communicating was a bit of a struggle since most of them do not speak much English (not yet anyways!), it was such an amazing experience to be able to interact with them through play, music and teaching. They love to have their picture taken as you can see from the images below :)
The little boy in front is Deivi. He is 3 years old and one intense, tough cookie! I spent most of the school day on Thursday with him and I can say I was exhausted after those 4 hours! He started with Freedom just a little over a month ago. Pray that the Lord will take that intensity and use it for His glory!
They currently meet in two local church buildings that are located in one of the bateyes (Lima) they work in. But God has been providing for them in amazing ways! He has provided the funds for them to begin building their own school building. When completed, the three story school will contain 72 classrooms which will be able to accommodate 1800 students! They started in 2012 with just Pre-K 3 and just over 20 students and are finishing this year up with 90 students! They currently have 120 students enrolled for the 2014-2015 school year and will be adding 1st grade to the mix. Below is a print of what the school will look like. The section highlighted is what is currently under construction.
Gabe spent most of his time working on building the school. He had previously made a trip down to Freedom International back in December 2013. It was so exciting for him to go back and see the progress of the school since then. The goal is to have 4 classrooms completed by June so they can start the new school year in the new building!
These pictures are from his trip back in December. The school has come a long
way since then. I didn't get any pictures of the school on this trip :(
It's so amazing to see what God is doing in the Dominican Republic! The school not only allows them to build relationships with the kids but also provides an avenue for them to connect with their families and others in the sugarcane batayes. They also spend time in the bateyes doing VBS which allows them to connect with kids that do not attend their school and share the love of Christ with them. Gabe and I were so touched by the ministry and what God is doing through their obedience to Him.
Sooo...where does that leave us?! Well we are excited to announce that we are officially part of the Freedom International team!
Wow! It blows me away to just type that and think how far God has brought us in just a few short months. What an emotional roller coaster ride it has been! While we know this will be one of the most challenging things we will ever do, we also know that it will be one of the most amazing things we will ever experience. God is doing some awesome things in the Dominican and we are humbled that God is allowing us to be a part of it!
Please continue to pray for us as we now begin raising our support. That in itself will be a challenge for us but we know that if this is where God wants us to be, He will provide! It will most likely take us about a year to a year and half to raise our funds so we will still be around for a little while :) I will continue to keep you updated on our progress and journey! I've posted a link to Freedom's website below so you can learn more bout this wonderful ministry! There's so much to share and so little space to do it in :)
Galations 5:1 "it is for freedom that Christ has set us Free!"
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