Gloria a Dios

Today was a very busy and wonderful day. We started the day at Estellas house to try out the food packaged by Trinity UMC Gainesville. The package has rice, protein, vegetables, and daily vitamins. The plan was to make sure they liked them and would use them before shipping a crate down full. We taught Estella how to make it and she will in turn teach Los Cocos and Cuesta Arena tomorrow.
The food ended up being a hit. They love the rice and will Dominicanize it by adding herbs and garlic. We think we will also buy beans in country to distribute with the food. Tomorrow will be the true test as we take it into the communities.
We left Estella house and drove to Cien Fuego. Ramon, one of the members of the church, his father passed away so we attended his memorial service. Ramon was so grateful for us to be there. They crowded a bunch of people into someone’s living room for the service but it was really amazing. So many members of the church came to support Ramon and his family.
We left Cien Fuego and headed to Los Salados. Today is Dia de las Muejeres (Day of Women) and the church is celebrating all week. Today was in Los Salados and they had a women’s group meet.
After Los Salados, we headed back to Cien Fuego to a church that Sairy knows the children’s pastor. Every Tuesday night they have a children’s service. When Sairy called her to see if we could visit, the pastora told Sairy she has nothing for the children. No supplies, no crayons, nothing. So we headed to Cuesta Arena where we have a suitcase of just crayons, a suitcase of just tennis balls, a suitcase of just teaching materials and packed up 2 suitcases of supplies to take to her. We came up with a lesson for tonight and a craft and songs. The pastora told us they usually have 100 children in the service. We got there and were greeted by a vibrant pastora. As the children arrived for the service we greeted them and loved on them. Sairy did the lesson and the songs and when it came time for crafts we counted 250 children! Luckily God multiplies and we had enough supplies for everyone. The children were wonderful and the pastora was so thankful for the supplies. This is hopefully a great relationship we can build on and continue to help this pastora as her ministry grows.