Day 4 – February 27, 2018 By Mike Enslen

Hello CABC Family!  This has been quite a journey, and I am glad to be able to bring a blog update to you from the group.  Our Tuesday adventures began with packing the bus at Elza’s with food bags, clothing, and personal care items that we would be distributing at the Alta Gracia Batey.  Along the drive we came across a section of the road with sugar cane fields on both sides that were being actively harvested, with many men hard at work.  We stopped the bus and set up an area right there in the field to hand out clothing items to the men.  From what I am told, this is something that our groups have hoped to do but never had the right opportunity presented.  It was quite a sight to see, men leaving their work areas from all over the fields to come and see us.  We gave each of them a clothing item and a blessing and I saw many excited, thankful faces.  I believe this is what the ministry is all about – serving this population of people that work so hard for so little!

From there we went to Alta Gracia, and set up for clothing and food distribution inside their church.  There are some very sweet people that live in this Batey, and I had the opportunity to help some men find clothing and shoes that were desperately needed.  We also had many young kids come through and find clothes that suited them, as we had been blessed with so many donations of children’s clothing. (Thank you!)  As these families left they received a food package, and each individual was given a toothbrush and toothpaste.  Many connections were made here, and we prayed over the village as we returned back to Elza’s – this is something we do at the start and end of each day…sometimes it’s one of us, other times a translator or someone else working with the team, but always a blessing to see us all come before the Lord as one body!

Tuesday afternoon/evening was our beach excursion – a tradition for our groups that come to the DR, but a first for Me, Pastor Josh and Pastor Gusmane.  We enjoyed the water, had a meal, and saw a beautiful sunset.  The highlight of the evening was a birthday celebration for Polo, the administrator of our school at Batey 35.  It’s been an honor to meet and serve alongside Polo – he has such a heart for the kids, and works very hard on behalf of the mission.

I thank you for your continued prayers as we are getting close to the end of the week. (It’s Friday as I write this, as we have had WiFi issues and have been unable to make timely updates.)  It’s been a wonderful adventure so far, but we still have more to accomplish before we’re through!

-Mike Enslen