Today was our second full day in the Dominican Republic.\u00a0 This morning started a bit different but ended much the same.\u00a0\u00a0 We split up to accomplish different objectives.\u00a0 Scott, Mark and Bart went to visit a chicken farmer.\u00a0 One goal in the D.R. is to provide income for the ministry and jobs for those who so desperately need one.\u00a0 The poultry industry is huge in this country and they\u2019re trying to find an independent producer who they can partner with.\u00a0 Bart thinks they made some progress.<\/p>\n
Dustin, our photographer and I visited the site where the water filters are manufactured.\u00a0 Our true goal on this trip is to deliver water filters to families in Haiti.\u00a0 To be honest, I just thought we were purchasing them from a company.\u00a0 The cabin we\u2019re staying in here actually has one and it is one of the simplest inventions I have ever seen.\u00a0 The only water filters I\u2019ve seen attach to our faucets at home.\u00a0 Fortunately, the Memphis area has some of the best water in the world.\u00a0 Friends of mine in other cities sometimes install filters at home to remove impurities, but primarily improve the taste.\u00a0 In the part of the world municipal water systems are non-existent.\u00a0 Municipalities really don\u2019t provide much of anything in this part of the world.<\/p>\n
The filters consist of two parts.\u00a0 One is a plastic, five gallon bucket.\u00a0 Many of us have one in our garage or storeroom.\u00a0 The filter is a specially designed clay pot with a thin layer of charcoal in the middle.\u00a0 This is what removes most of the impurities.\u00a0 The beauty of the filter is you can pour any type of water in it and it comes out drinkable.\u00a0 You wouldn\u2019t think sometime so simple would work as well or better as any manufactured filter made in the U.S.\u00a0 The process in and of itself was interesting to watch.\u00a0\u00a0 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.\u00a0 He is a pottery maker and also makes roof tiles.\u00a0 Dustin and I photographed and videotaped the entire process.\u00a0\u00a0 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.\u00a0 We will arrive tomorrow night and begin the distribution process.<\/p>\n
Later in the afternoon we met the rest of our group to speak to men in another church on the outskirts of La Venta.\u00a0 I grew up in a small town in West Tennessee and have lived around Memphis for the past twenty years.\u00a0 I\u2019ve seen those who have lived in poverty and have been in a number of homes that I considered to be very poor.\u00a0 While that is still true, I witnessed the poorest conditions I have encountered in my life tonight.\u00a0 It\u2019s really hard for to describe on paper.\u00a0 Shacks, literally structures made of some wood and tin, propped up and used as shelters.\u00a0 Most homes didn\u2019t have electricity.\u00a0 The ones that did were hijacking it from utility poles along the streets.\u00a0 None of the homes had running water and there were children playing in very unsanitary conditions.\u00a0 There was a large field by the river bank that was full of ruts and barren of any grass.\u00a0 There were about five or so small games of baseball being played.\u00a0 Some had what looked to be baseballs and others makeshift balls of varying sizes.<\/p>\n
For about forty-five minutes before the meeting we made our way through the neighborhood inviting men to the meeting.\u00a0 We had one interpreter so using anything but the most basic Spanish was difficult.\u00a0 We had no idea what to expect but a little after seven I counted about twenty-five men.\u00a0 Fifteen or so minutes later we had about fifty.\u00a0 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\u2019s lives.\u00a0 It was evident in that neighborhood that few men took that role seriously.\u00a0 When the sinner\u2019s prayer was prayed, most confessed that had accepted Christ.\u00a0 If that was the case, that neighborhood would be transformed by tomorrow afternoon.\u00a0\u00a0 Hopefully, a handful of men will step up and be leaders in their household and community.\u00a0 Hope is what is needed and I wondered to myself if I lived in such conditions would I have any hope at all.\u00a0 What I have discovered in the past few months is hope doesn\u2019t come from our expectations or how someone treats us.\u00a0 True hope can only come from our personal relationship with Christ and His promise to us of eternal life.<\/p>\n
Tomorrow we are off to Haiti and I am told the conditions are even worse that we say tonight.<\/p>\n
Blessings,<\/p>\n
Paul<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[114,126,283,327],"class_list":["post-7","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-paul","tag-dominican-republic","tag-earthquake","tag-haiti","tag-paul-stanley"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n