My latest email update

Dear Friends and Family,

I apologize again, as I often am obliged to do when I write an update, for the infrequency of any news coming from me about things that are happening here in the DR. It’s been several months since I last sent out an update, so there is plenty to cover. I’ll try to be concise.

As a whole, the ministries on the island here are advancing marvelously. There are new houses being opened at the children’s homes and new classrooms built at the schools. Our ministries are growing, but it’s not just for growths sake that we keep expanding. Every new classroom or house built means new lives being given hope. In the midst of advancement, however, it’s essential to focus on maintaining or increasing the level of effectiveness of the programs as they grow. On top of the emphasis needed on improving programs as we grow them is a need to increase funding as well (that’s where I, being the sponsorship guy, come in). Our child sponsorship program is suppose to cover all of the daily operational costs of our programs, but never really has. When I arrived here, sponsors covered about 80% of the costs, since then, we’ve added lots sponsors, but have added even more kids. So, the money coming in through sponsorship now covers only 60% of the costs. This is obviously less than ideal. Eventually, probably sooner rather than later, we’ll have to stop the advancement because we don’t have enough funds. So, I’m on a hunt for sponsors more than ever before.

Here’s a few highlights from the last several months:

-In late April I was able to take a trip into Haiti to help set up a sponsorship program at the small orphanage that Kids Alive has in the country. This was an amazing opportunity to experience the poorest country in our hemisphere while using an expertise that I’ve gained to help our program there continue to grow. I had an encouraging time with the American and Haitian friends there. It’s a special thing to be able to spend time with people that are working within a different country, but with the same purpose and goals.

-In mid-June, we began bringing work teams into our school in Caraballo, the program that deals primarily with Haitian immigrants into the DR. The inaugural team was a group from my home church in Missouri that included my parents and younger sister. This was an amazing time with an incredible group of people. These 20 friends were so intense and intentional in serving everyone they came into contact with. By the end of the week, lots of work had been done and many of their lives had been changed. One of my favorite aspects of living here is having an opportunity to see how facing true poverty can rock people’s perceptions and ideas and thoughts. The feeling of responsibility to face this problem and respond was heavy on this group and the results were incredible.

-On a personal note, I’ve been blessed to have visits from several of my friends and family. On top of having my parents and younger sister here on a work team, my other sister and her husband brought their youth group here for two weeks. Also, my good friend Greg visited for a week in May. Another great friend, Aaron Roth, has come to work with us for the summer, helping lead short term work teams in their construction projects. Finally, more friends, Layne and Caitlin Beller, arrived a few months ago to begin their 2 year term here on the island.


Thanks to all of you for your support, thoughts, and prayers. Communications will come more frequently now, I promise.

Jonathan