The Final Exit...

As we depart from the D.R. - please be cautious of the overhead exit signs....See you all soon!

A day in photos...

Once again, an amazing day...we spent the day at DR 503 - engaged in home visits, lunch and best of all - an afternoon playing with the kids! Below are some of our favorite pics from the day....

Message from Shane...

In the short time that we have been here, we have truly seen the work that the Lord has done in the lives of these children and the staff of the DR. We are so fortunate to work for such a great organization. Jeanne and I have sponsored a child for 9+ years with Compassion and seeing what a difference it makes in the lives of the kids, their family and the community and giving hope to the otherwise hopeless is..............well........................incredible! I guess the best word to describe this adventure thus far is WOW! Just know, the work that is being done by you at the GMC is bearing fruit beyond our imagination.

3 Full Days!

Normally, we do our best to do a daily recap - however, as you may have noticed, we did not have an internet connection for the first couple of days. Special thanks to Haley for her guest appearance on the blog.

After a looong and somewhat uncertain day of travel, we arrived in Santo Domingo around 11:30pm on Monday night. Praise God that the tropical storm brewing in Florida did not keep us from this amazing experience!

We started Tuesday morning with a visit to the Dominican Republic country office where we were treated to a special chapel program by the children of a nearby CDSP project. It was a wonderful opportunity to worship together in two languages!


Following chapel, we toured the DR office and enjoyed lunch with the staff - then it was off to DR 387 for an afternoon learning about the Child Survival Program. We were able to take part in a community meeting with over 30 CSP moms & babies all learning together about vitamins and nutrition.
That evening, the Country Staff treated us to a wonderful dinner where we learned in detail about each of Compassion's core programs.

On Wednesday we set out bright and early for Santiago. At DR 500, we toured a Child Development Center and served lunch to the children. This was no small task as we dished up hundreds of plates of food! What an incredible amount of work that happens daily on behalf of these precious little ones.

We went from the project to a vocational center where we saw how they are teaching the young teens vocational skills through a beauty salon, computer lab and kitchen. The day ended with an LDP dinner in the evening where we were blessed by the testimonies of 2 participant's in Compassion's Leadership Development Program.

Tomorrow is another full day! Here's a couple more pics to enjoy...

Message from Tawanna...

Here we are! After only one full day of being here in the Dominican Republic (DR) our hearts, my heart is being filled by the Holy Spirit. This is the first chance we’ve had to blog and that might be a good thing. I say that because Monday was a blessing just getting here in spite of the potential hurricane in Florida. Tuesday was absolutely powerful. In my heart is forever etched an eight year old boy affectionately called “Pastorsito”, which means “Little Pastor”. We’ll share more about him later. We met him during the morning worship at the DR Area office with others from his project and their Pastor Josaphina.

Lots of wonderful information was received from and given to the area staff. What a blessing to see how our efforts back in Colorado Springs are received and processed. After a delicioso lunch we were off to visit a CSP (Child Survival Program). We sat with a large group of moms and their children as they learned about vitimans, what they are and why they are vital for the entire family.

Then off to the home of one of the CSP moms. What a wonderful experience. The hope and joy in their eyes was contagious.

Today we’re on our way to Santiago to serve and have lunch with the children at a CDSP (Child Development Sponsorship Program). After that we will do a little shopping for our friends and loved ones (that’s you).

Until next time, may the peace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be with you. ~ Tawanna

Message from Ben...

I have to say that this is my first time blogging on anything or even knowing what a blog site actually is!

Needless to say, I have had a fabulous time taking the photos and seeing first hand the amazing handiwork of God through Compassion. Visiting the CSP program made me appreciate the work being done here and how it impacts not only the mothers and their new born and young children, but how it has a rippling effect to the community as a whole.

Beyond that, this trip is really bringing our group closer together with discussions and fun games that people play on bus rides. How many fun ways do you use to entertain a group of eleven adults trying to pass the time traveling across the DR countryside? “I’m on a trip to the DR and taking….”

We’ll post more pics real soon.

Message from Bethany...

Wow, words really don’t describe the people here. This beautiful country is filled with beautiful people with an incredible heart for our Lord. They love our God and they aren’t afraid to show it!

They wear their love on the outside...the kids are happy and and laughing. God is working here. Its humbling to see just how much they love God here.

As I look out my window at the beautiful mountains, it reminds me of home and our own beautiful mountains and I wonder, what can I take back and how can I empower others to have the same passion and love that they have here?

My prayer is that my own teens could have this same passion and fire for God and how can I empower them with that same fire.

I love you all and miss you a lot, see you soon ~B~

Message from Justin...

Words cannot really express how big my God really is. The joy on the faces of these children confirms in my heart that what compassion does really works. Everyone at home needs to know that when I come home I am going to ask everyone to consider how they might be able to partner with what God is doing here. I met Scarlet yesterday, a 14 year old girl expecting her first child and my heart truly went out to her and it caused me to ask myself , what is in this child’s future?

Colleen be praying now about supporting a CSP program! I love you very much and miss you a ton. I cannot wait to share with you all that I have experienced and what God is doing...and to think its only day one!

Message from Carl...

A slice of heaven, that is what I used to call a good piece of cheesecake, a good book, or anything that caught my attention. Today, and going forward, using that term has a whole new meaning for me. A slice of heaven was seen in the Dominican Republic office, singing with the children, all in our own languages.

God quickened my heart and reminded me that heaven will be like that. As we all walk in through the pearly gates of heaven we will all be singing praises to our savior in our own language. We all have the same subject of our affection, and he speaks in all languages and at all times.

This Blog has been Hijacked!

Ladies and Gentlemen - The Call Center DR Field Trip Blog has currently been hijacked by Haley. (See what happens when you write your passwords down and leave them for the world to see?) I have hacked into the system because I thought that you would all like to know the many new tricks that my two dogs have learned this week...

What's that?  You say that's not why you tune into the blog each day? Oh, I guess you would like an update of how our teammates are doing in the DR. I guess I can provide that for you:

• Bethany has chosen to stay in the DR; she loves how the humidity makes her hair bounce!
• Tawanna is well - she has taken over the children's choir in at least 4 child development centers. The children have never sang better
• Justin is currently missing his lovely wife, Colleen, but has decided that it is not so bad to have to room with Sean. . . though he talks in his sleep
• Ben has decided that he did not bring enough empty suitcases - there's no way he's gonna be able to fit all those loving children in his one empty bag.

As for the other members, you'll just have to tune in tomorrow to hear their stories!

You may want to know that the reason this blog was hijacked is because the DR team has not had access to the internet. I spoke with Brad tonight and he asked if I would issue an update. The team really is doing well, and everyone is safe and having a wonderful time (of course!). They will be moving to a new hotel in a new city tomorrow (Santiago), and should be able to post to the blog tomorrow night, so please check back. They intend to give us so many posts that our eyes will water as we read them!

This blog has been brought to you by the letter "M" and the number "12".

So far.....so good!

We have arrived safely in Miami. The weather is beautiful - wish you were here! We have nearly 3 hours to kill - and in spite of a slight delay (30 minutes) all indicators point toward a successful departure from Miami at 7pm. It's raining cats & dogs!

You'll be happy to know that Tawanna has found a way to stay occupied during the layover!

We'll write more soon. One more flight to go!

Pray for Fay!

Hmmm......could be interesting. Every time we go to the field, Sean does his best to provide new experiences for each team. He has outdone himself this time! :) Thankfully, he wisely advised us each to carry an extra set of clothes in our carry ons. May come in handy in Dallas!

We are currently in Colorado Springs getting ready to board our flight to Dallas. From there, we don't know how it will go. We'll find out once we're on the ground whether or not the Miami flight will be cancelled - in which case we may be cooling our heels in Dallas for the night.

Please pray for safe travel and that we are able to get to the D.R. as early as possible with no delays. We'll keep you posted!

~ Brad

Welcome!

Welcome to the official blog for the 2008 Call Center Field Trip to the Dominican Republic! We are so excited to be returning to the D.R. this year and can't wait to see what exciting things the Lord has in store for our group!

Our adventure will begin on Monday morning at 6:30am and we will be returning Friday. It's sure to be a whirlwind experience!

This year, we will be adding some new elements into the trip experience, including staying in 2 different cities (Santo Domingo & Santiago) - and an expanded home visit experience called "A Day in the life of a Compassion Child" where we will begin our home visits in the morning with a sponsored child and their family, engaging in their activities, chores & daily routine at home prior to attending the project with them that afternoon!

Please pray with us as we prepare for the upcoming trip! Pray that God will open our hearts through these experiences and that we will return even more passionate advocates for children in poverty!

Thanks for following along with us and be sure to check the blog daily! ~ Brad