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A Huge Thank You! | 2023 Mid-Year Update

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A Very Special Thank You to Our Donors and Visitors in 2023!

The Summer ushered in funds from teams and donors that propelled our needy projects forward. We are excited about the progress of the Barranca parsonage for Pastor Frantz (shown in the photo below). The foundation has been laid for the parsonage for Pastor Danis in Cutupu. By the time you read this newsletter, the roof should be in place for the El Pino church and school. All this in spite of increased construction costs. Thank you for responding to the nudge of the Spirit of God and lending us a hand. As you can see from the list at the left there are still some needs. Debbie had a great Summer with our U.S. teams as they provided awesome VBS (Vacation Bible School) programs for many local churches. This was an effective outreach to neighborhood families. Many decisions were made for Christ!

The teams also blessed and helped train our teachers in the Haitian programs, and also at our Dominican school, La Vega Christian School. Attendance at LVCS is at 350, and in the 14 Haitian school programs, the enrollment is 800+. Classes started up this week. We still need many sponsors at only $25.00 monthly for the children. (Click here to learn more about sponsoring a child with our program called: Teach Feed Love) Providing an education and feeding these children is a burden that Debbie carries on a daily basis. Thanks for your help and prayers as these programs move forward.

  • Progress at El Pino!
  • Summer teams helping with various projects.They came from Colorado, North Carolina, Ohio, and Georgia. What a blessing they were!
  • Barranca Parsonage for Pastor Frantz Progress
  • Pastor Alex needs a home for his family in Sabaneta
  • Ranchito students ministering in their church!

Ongoing Church/School Projects Happening Now

We are excited as funds begin to come in to help with some of our ongoing church and school projects. We believe this to be in direct response to the prayers of pastors, churches, and school directors. Join with us in praying for the following needs:

  • EL PINO CHURCH/SCHOOL $11,000.00 for completion
  • BARRANCA PARSONAGE $7000.00 for completion
  • CUTUPU PARSONAGE $11,000.00 for completion
  • RANCHITO PROPERTY $26,000 to purchase the land for the church/school project.
  • SABANETA PARSONAGE $25,000.00
For Info on how you can give, CLICK HERE TO GIVE
call us at 863-248-1119. Your gifts are tax-deductible.

 

Teach Feed Love | Spring 2023 Update

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Note from Mitch & Debbie: Contrary to popular belief, we are not slowing down while the Lord gives us strength and good health. God is so good to provide through the generosity of His children for all the financial needs of the Haitian children. May God bless you richly!

Mitch & Debbie Martinez, Missionaries to the Dominican Republic

Teach Feed Love

At every one of our 14 schools for Haitian children living in the Dominican Republic, we teach them the Word of God and the academic subjects, we feed them a hot meal every day, and most importantly, we love them. They love to come to school with the pastor and teachers and their friends. Most of the children have made decisions to serve Jesus. This is only possible with the help of generous donors.

The Haitian School/Feeding Program is now called “Teach Feed Love”!

You can sponsor a child for only $25.00 a month. Please contact Debbie at her email lavegaschool@gmail.com to get started. Donations can be made on our teachfeedlove.org page also. Help us to teach, feed and love these 800 plus children, who otherwise would not have a school to attend

  • Coloring Time for the little ones
  • Chapel at Rose of Sharon
  • Lunch at Las Lagunas!

Ongoing Church/School Projects Happening Now

We are excited as funds begin to come in to help with some of our ongoing church and school projects. We believe this to be in direct response to the prayers of pastors, churches, and school directors. Join with us in praying for the following needs:

  • We still have a great need to help Pastor Etienne Altes in Sabaneta with his home!
  • The Cutupu Parsonage will launch in June with most of the funds on hand for this. PTL!
  • The Barranca parsonage is just $5000.00 shy of completion. Pastor Frantz is excited.
  • Ranchito: Still a great need for funds ($25,000) for a property for the church/school.
  • El Pino church/school: The walls are rising! PTL!
Pouring the foundation in February for the El Pino Haitian Education Center. Currently the walls are rising.
For Info on how you can give, CLICK HERE TO GIVE
call us at 863-248-1119. Your gifts are tax-deductible.

Dominican Happenings Winter 2021

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Relief Efforts

THANK YOU!

A Total of over 3200 Care Packages distributed since November

Debbie and her faithful team of missionaries have delivered over 3200 care packages of food to the 800 students and teaching staff in the last three months. She was accompanied by missionaries Sandy Poe, Chris and Doug Wilson, and Leomar Sirit. They also gift wrapped and delivered over 400 presents to students in the Haitian school programs as part of the Three Kings Day Christmas celebration. Families were given rice, beans, oil, sardines, etc.

 

This would not have been possible without generous donations from our friends in the States. The need for food during COVID continues. If you would like to help please call Debbie at our home phone 863-248-1119. Or email: lavegaschool@gmail.com.

Various Project Needs Met in the Past Year

It was amazing to see how the Lord provided for the Cutupu project (below). This is probably one of the most ambitious school projects to date (besides La Vega Christian School). This was built for the neediest school among the fourteen schools we are helping. 130 Haitian children were meeting in a dilapidated wood and tin structure, no more than 20 by 60 foot long. Seven classrooms were crowded into this building with their separate blackboards. Actually, if the weather permitted it, two classes would meet outdoors. There was no bathroom for the children or the staff. Permission to use the bathroom was asked of the neighbors in the tenement building next door.

The purchase of the property itself was a challenge costing $32,000.00 dollars. It is over an acre of land and was purchased planted with rows of banana and plantain stalks. As soon as a section was cleared for the building, we poured the footer and the columns for the foundation. Two teams came and helped with this, one from Colorado, and the other from Florida. As funds were provided we began to raise the walls for the sanctuary and the classrooms. By the end of January 2020 rumors of the virus began to filter in. Again finances came in and the walls, the roof and the floor were finished. Then in March everything was stopped by the government as a complete nation-wide shut down was put in place. No work could be done. Only pharmacies and grocery stores could be open. Finally, months later businesses were allowed to function again. From February 2020 until now no teams have been able to come and help and yet God used churches and individuals with a burden for this project to provide the finances to finish. $50,000 dollars later, it is ready to go. Nice clean bathrooms in place, and a nice kitchen setup only lacking for stoves and a refrigerator. Praise the Lord!

In Villa Altagracia teams came in late 2019 and early 2020 to help work on the second story area which would serve for the offices of the different ministries and staff. Recently I was able to visit and see the finished product. Our US teams worked extremely hard carrying materials to the 2d floor and digging footers under very difficult conditions. It was exciting to see this area come to fruition. You can see by the photos how nice everything was finished. In spite of the current living situation God is still on the throne and His kingdom advances!

Church offices and stairwell (above) completed in Villa Altagracia Project

On the Home Front:

We are doing fine, PTL! Our kids are fine and our 11 grandchildren are fine. We are a little nervous as it seems the virus is getting closer to us all the time. Our daughter-in-law Karina just got over it.

Watch our brand new video on our home page.

 

Dominican Happenings Summer 2020

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Relief Efforts

Since March we have been busy delivering food for needy families. Early June we teamed up with Missionary Joseph Kim and his family to hand out 890 food packages for each of our Haitian students and staff. The funds raised were used to purchase rice, beans, cooking oil, etc. It was a joy to see the smiling faces of the children.

 

Cutupu Project Update

The COVID-19 saga took a toll on our Cutupu project here in the DR.  We had all our teams cancel and lost our project funds also.  We are still praying for the $9,000.00 needed to complete the school facility for the 130 children attending in Cutupu.

Cutupu Church Dominican Republic
Help us get this building ready before the next school year! 130 children need it.

Updates on Covid-19 Curfew in The Dominican Republic

We are going into the fourth month of the government imposed curfew here in La Vega.  Businesses are beginning to open with some restrictions.  Our students at La Vega Christian School finished the year online.  Churches opened their doors for controlled fellowship and worship June 7th.  The Rose of Sharon Church where we are active in ministry saw a good renewed attendance in spite of the obstacles of the last three months.

The Bridge English fellowship will continue meeting via Zoom until July.  It is hoped that the University across the street will open up later this summer and the El Cafe Coffeehouse Ministry can start reaching out to the students again.  Every one is still required to wear masks out in public, though not everyone is following these rules.  Word of businesses closing down are starting to circulate.  Certainly, it is not a time for the church to stop praying!


We hosted 12 stranded Guatemalan Missionaries for two months.  The Guatemalan ambassador paid us a visit to check on them (in black suit).

Spring 2020 Quick Update from Your Missionaries Mitch & Debbie Martinez

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Corona Virus Impact:
All missions team visits for the Spring and Summer have been suspended. We have been advised not to travel out of the country. As of this newsletter (March 17) 80 cases have been reported here. Please pray for a solution to this epidemic!

The Cutupu project on hold due to Corona Virus and suspension of US short-term mission teams.

Why is this project so important? In Cutupu we have over 139 Haitian children receiving an education in a building that should hold 40 or 50. It is a poor wood and tin structure with temperatures running in the 90’s during warm days. They have poor lighting and no bathrooms. They ask the neighbor permission to use their bathroom, or the boys find themselves a corner outside. Yet, incredibly, of the 14 Haitian school programs (800+ children) that we assist, this is one of the most orderly and organized. The location of the 6 blackboards shows you where the six different grade levels meet inside.

Education is happening here for these children who otherwise might not be able to attend a school. Why do they not attend a public school? They don’t speak Spanish, Dominican schools are full and over-crowded, and often Haitian children’s legal paperwork is incomplete. Without this program they would be home alone, or wandering their neighborhoods without supervision, or with their parents working in the fields. We are committed to providing a good Christian education; an invaluable investment for their future.
As of the writing of this newsletter the last of our funds for the Cutupu project will have been used to pour the floor for this church/school facility. WE would need approximately $9,000.00 US more to equip the bathrooms, the kitchen, buy windows and doors, stucco, and electrical work. If you or your church would like to help, please contact us at Vonage phone: 863-248-1119, or email Mitch at DominicanMissions@hotmail.com.

Sponsors are needed to help us continue to feed and educate these precious children. We are experiencing what averages to an $1800 a month deficit, which may not seem like much for a program that takes care of 800 children monthly and the salaries of the teachers and staff of the 14 education centers. Would you pray about being a regular supporter? We need 72 more sponsors giving at least $25 a month to overcome this shortfall. Your tax deductible donation goes 100% to support a child in school. You can send your check to TMCI, PO Box 1761, Columbia, SC 29202. Or to give online to DR Schools click here.

Calvary Academy Visits La Vega Again

The Calvary Academy Senior Class from Lakewood, NJ has been working with us on a once yearly basis since 1995 (25 years). It is a school tradition for them. This February they participated with dramas in the United For Him event at our school on stage. They ministered at 6 of the Haitian school programs, helped lay blocks for a parsonage, painted two churches inside and out, and ministered in local churches. Thank you for your faithfulness and help over the years!

Corona Virus Impact (Continued):
As of March 18th, all schools have been closed until April 13th by order of the president of the Dominican Republic. This will put a great economic strain on private schools. Please pray for the ministry of La Vega Christian School as financially this will affect the staff and operational budget. Pray the parents will be understanding and continue to make their monthly contribution for their child’s tuition.

Flights from Europe, China, Korea, Iran have been cancelled, and possibly by the 20th of March all flights from the US will be cancelled due to Corona Virus contingency plans being put into effect here. All but necessary businesses for public health are being asked to close.

Ministry projects have been halted and up to 9 short-term missions teams have been cancelled. We pray this pandemic will be stopped soon.

For Info on how you can give, call us at 863-248-1119. Your gifts are tax-deductible.

 

Meet Mitch & Debbie in this short video…

Will You Sponsor A Child?

Will you sponsor a child?
Click here to learn more about Teach Feed Love.