We are humbled by the faithfulness of God’s children during this extended COVID period. We expected our budget to be badly affected. Instead, our supporters and supporting churches gave priority to making sure support to their missionaries continued. Thank you for your help and know that God has not overlooked your act of charity during this time. The Lord richly bless you! Thank you for partnering with us.

Haitian Program Needing A Boost!

The staff of 86 teachers, cooks, and administrators of the Haitian schools by faith have received a good salary increase this school year. We are trusting the Lord to touch supporters’ hearts to provide for this much needed raise. They will still be way below the national average. If you feel the Lord leading you or your church to help with this contact Debbie at lavegaschool@gmail.com.

Construction began on the El Hatico Project in earnest after the new year.

This project is one of the most ambitious yet for a Haitian School. When finished i t w i l l have 10 classrooms and hold 200 children or more. This is the culmination of the efforts of RIP Ministries to take care of the two schools that they sponsor. By combining the two into one building they will free up monthly expenses and provide an excellent facility for the children. Making Christ the center of the education program is the chief goal in all this. Mitch has been overseeing this construction project. 

The combined Faith Church ministries from Summerville and Charleston, SC, brought a team of men to make sure the building was ready for the opening of classes. They welded the tr usses in place and setup for the industrial metal roof that covers almost 8000 square feet of floor space. Classes started October 4th in the new facility. The next phase of the project is to finish the second story and then build the sanctuary that will serve as an auditorium for the school and a church for the Haitian congregation.

The Limoncito Project is moving forward with the 2nd Story Sanctuary addition.

Pastor Petit Techner has been waiting a while to see progress on this church project. They have been meeting downstairs in the same area used for the classrooms for his school program. 70 children meet here daily for classes. Every corner is used for a classroom. This area is also used for his church meetings. Unfortunately there are many columns obstructing the view of the pulpit area on this first floor. This building had been a warehouse before and had rows of columns supporting the concrete roof that will serve as a floor for the 2nd story. The 2nd story will expand the size of the sanctuary almost 25% and this without the obstructions of the columns down below. Currently the trusses and roof have been installed. We are hoping to get the exterior walls up soon and are still $5000.00 shy of projected expenses. If you or a your church would like to donate to this project, please call us at 863-248-1119, or you can email Mitch Martinez at dominicanmissions@hotmail.com.

Congrats to our daughter
Sarah Joy Rios
Ordained as a Minister
In October
in Massachusetts!

Progress continues on the El Hatico Project.  This will be a 2-story structure with 10 classrooms for 200 children.  In a week or two we should see the walls rising on the 2nd story.  Our goal is to have the building ready for use by the end of August.  It will take some prayers!

We are starting to see requests for hosting short-term ministry teams.  This June we had our first team visit from Timberline Church in Colorado.  They went all out with end of school children’s programs for four of the Haitian schools. In Cutupu they repainted all the blackboards, all the school benches, and even built 8 more benches for the children.  This was a hardworking team of six. Their trip to Limoncito reminded me that we are still gathering funds for the badly needed 2nd story addition there.  Construction materials have increased on an average 40%.  We are estimating $22,000 for the cost of this addition.  We have received $10,000 and a promise of $3000 more.

Currently we are still living with curfews and mask rules but La Vega is one of four provinces with a late curfew because of the low incidence of COVID-19.  Your prayers are working!

On the Homefront

We had an opportunity to be in the States last month and were blessed to visit our children and grandchildren. From sunny Florida we travelled through North Carolina, where Paul, Nicole and their awesome four children live. We then visited Debbie’s dad, Mike (94 years) and his wife Roz in New Jersey. Then travelled near Boston to visit Sarah, Aaron and their five beautiful girls. They are all doing well. Our biggest concern is that COVID has held up Karina’s (Joshua’s wife) request for residency in the U.S. This means she can’t currently travel to the US. Their two boys are ready; Ken and Ethan have their US passports. Please pray for them, they have been waiting over 2 years now for this approval!

Haitian Schools Update

End of Year Parties – We are so thankful to our faithful supporters who provide funds to feed the children. More funds are still needed! Write me at lavegaschool@gmail.com.

These sweet girls above are thankful for a hot meal, a party and a gift to take home. Most of all they are happy they can go to school and learn about Jesus

The schools are growing

Pastor Gesner’s school grew from 12 to 20 to 45 in just two years. His landlord is building a bigger facility behind the present school.

Teacher Training – We had a successful teacher training on June 12. The teachers are hungry to learn how to effectively teach the children. They are determined to come, even like this!