Today was our second full day in the Dominican Republic.  This morning started a bit different but ended much the same.   We split up to accomplish different objectives.  Scott, Mark and Bart went to visit a chicken farmer.  One goal in the D.R. is to provide income for the ministry and jobs for those who so desperately need one.  The poultry industry is huge in this country and they’re trying to find an independent producer who they can partner with.  Bart thinks they made some progress.

Dustin, our photographer and I visited the site where the water filters are manufactured.  Our true goal on this trip is to deliver water filters to families in Haiti.  To be honest, I just thought we were purchasing them from a company.  The cabin we’re staying in here actually has one and it is one of the simplest inventions I have ever seen.  The only water filters I’ve seen attach to our faucets at home.  Fortunately, the Memphis area has some of the best water in the world.  Friends of mine in other cities sometimes install filters at home to remove impurities, but primarily improve the taste.  In the part of the world municipal water systems are non-existent.  Municipalities really don’t provide much of anything in this part of the world.

The filters consist of two parts.  One is a plastic, five gallon bucket.  Many of us have one in our garage or storeroom.  The filter is a specially designed clay pot with a thin layer of charcoal in the middle.  This is what removes most of the impurities.  The beauty of the filter is you can pour any type of water in it and it comes out drinkable.  You wouldn’t think sometime so simple would work as well or better as any manufactured filter made in the U.S.  The process in and of itself was interesting to watch.   The part of my day was not spent speaking or witnessing, but rather running a video camera as the man who lived on the properly described the process.  He is a pottery maker and also makes roof tiles.  Dustin and I photographed and videotaped the entire process.   Michael and Lisa, two of the developers also purchased a used delivery truck that was loaded with two hundred filters and is now on the way to Haiti.  We will arrive tomorrow night and begin the distribution process.

Later in the afternoon we met the rest of our group to speak to men in another church on the outskirts of La Venta.  I grew up in a small town in West Tennessee and have lived around Memphis for the past twenty years.  I’ve seen those who have lived in poverty and have been in a number of homes that I considered to be very poor.  While that is still true, I witnessed the poorest conditions I have encountered in my life tonight.  It’s really hard for to describe on paper.  Shacks, literally structures made of some wood and tin, propped up and used as shelters.  Most homes didn’t have electricity.  The ones that did were hijacking it from utility poles along the streets.  None of the homes had running water and there were children playing in very unsanitary conditions.  There was a large field by the river bank that was full of ruts and barren of any grass.  There were about five or so small games of baseball being played.  Some had what looked to be baseballs and others makeshift balls of varying sizes.

For about forty-five minutes before the meeting we made our way through the neighborhood inviting men to the meeting.  We had one interpreter so using anything but the most basic Spanish was difficult.  We had no idea what to expect but a little after seven I counted about twenty-five men.  Fifteen or so minutes later we had about fifty.  Three of us shared our testimony and like the night before, we stressed the importance of men being the spiritual leaders in their homes and being involved in their children’s lives.  It was evident in that neighborhood that few men took that role seriously.  When the sinner’s prayer was prayed, most confessed that had accepted Christ.  If that was the case, that neighborhood would be transformed by tomorrow afternoon.   Hopefully, a handful of men will step up and be leaders in their household and community.  Hope is what is needed and I wondered to myself if I lived in such conditions would I have any hope at all.  What I have discovered in the past few months is hope doesn’t come from our expectations or how someone treats us.  True hope can only come from our personal relationship with Christ and His promise to us of eternal life.

Tomorrow we are off to Haiti and I am told the conditions are even worse that we say tonight.

Blessings,

Paul