MiBanco Esperanza from Los Higos

Monday, April 14, 2008

It's all coming together

Raising support has certainly been a challenge in many ways but God has strengthened us both through it. We've made substantial progress this month and we are now beginning to make specific plans about departure dates. They're still not certain, but I will update as soon as I know more.

I'm attaching 5 pictures we received from Daisy who is currently leading the Social Work Site (Caroline will be co-leading with her when we arrive in the DR). She's been leading the site for less than a year but is doing very well.

Finally, for the next several months I will be including a table that updates our finances at the end of each post.

Total Need Total Raised % Remaining Need
Pre-Field Budget $28,000 $11,000 39% $17,000
Monthly Budget $2,700 $1,874 69% $826


Daisy and a group of high school students leading
a bible study for the women of the community.


-a volleyball game involving the women at the
social work ministry


Daisy and several students praying with a woman
from the community.


Daisy conducting the final session of a series of
baking classes for the women.


Daisy teaching a young girl how to do embroidery.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Our Weekend Getaway

2 slices of bread, 8 slices of cheese, and 8 lbs of deli meat…All in one sandwich. It’s called “The Super Duper Colossal Sandwich” and it’s available at Chick and Ruth’s Deli in Annapolis for the low price of $39.99. Why am I telling you about this deli sandwich? Well, it was one of the highlights from a weekend getaway trip Caroline and I took in February.

We had both been working full-time and fundraising in the evenings since October. It was time for a retreat. We kicked it off Saturday morning in Annapolis with a US Naval Academy tour by my good friend Andrew, and enjoyed some Maryland Crab Cakes midway through. I already shared our dinner choice, although I should note that we didn’t actually order “The Super Duper Colossal Sandwich”, it feeds over 6 people. After dinner we enjoyed some homemade ice cream, and we learned that Annapolis was the first place ice cream was served as a dessert in the US. I’m glad it caught on. Sunday we headed for Baltimore’s Inner Harbor and the Maryland Aquarium. I’m not sure what we enjoyed more: seeing sharks swim by inches from our face, or seeing the little kids freak out every time this happened. That evening we enjoyed dinner and a movie before heading back home on Monday. It was fun to see 2 new places for the first time and even better to have a break.

By the way, I posted some pictures from this trip on our last post.