The Cercadillo Project

“It’s been such a hard year,” Marcelina said. “Do you think there is any way we could give an apple to the children in our programs? That would be such a special Christmas gift for them.”

How could I possibly say no to such a simple gift that brought such joy?

This very difficult year of 2020 ended with an apple for Christmas, some crafts, and a bag of candies for 3 Kings’ Day.

Even moms get involved when the weekly kids packet is delivered. I am now producing 80 packets per week consisting of a Bible story with coloring pages, word searches, mazes, and/or a simple craft.

I can hardly wait for the day we can all be together again!

“Do you think we could buys some chicks for the children in our programs to raise?” Marcelina said in early summer.

“We could have a raffle.”

How could I say no since some money had been given for chickens? Marcelina (pictured above in the pink shirt) independently handled the raffle and the purchasing of the chicks.

We have continued providing food for 19 families who are not receiving the governmental help offered to others during the COVID crisis here. We are so thankful to those who have donated for this.

Most days my living room looks like either a stockroom or a food distribution center as I buy in bulk, repackage items and then fill grocery bags with an attached label for the designated families. I take the bags out to my leaders who take it from there. Our leaders have definitely taken on much more responsibility this year. A positive that has come out of the difficulties!

Not only have people given to provide food for our people and to support our ongoing ministries, they have also generously given so that we can purchase a Mission Base! The Mission Base will house staff, provide office space and storage as well as providing space for guests to stay. I’ve been waiting, and waiting, and waiting to write about the Mission Base until everything has been finalized. (We aren’t in Kansas anymore.) We are still waiting on one more paper to be stamped by the appropriate Dominican government office. Therefore, I guess this isn’t 100% official yet, but maybe soon? As soon as the last “t” is crossed and “i” dotted, I will be sending many more pics and details!

A thousand thank you’s for all the prayers you’ve offered during this past year for our people and for me personally. We’re ending the year a little battered, but excited about what is in store for 2021! Happy New Year!!!

I just returned from delivering a very full SUV of food for 19 of our families.  Our community leaders determined which families in our programs were in the greatest need due to not having the identification required for the trickles of government support that some are receiving.   The same leaders also suggested which foods we should buy and the quantities for the different sized families.   I personally would have never chosen sardines or thought to buy as much rice.   It’s a mighty good thing we have Carmencita, Marcelina and Valentina!  As I’m writing this they are delivering the groceries to the families.  These three have upped their leadership game tremendously during this crazy time of COVID.

Buying in bulk and repackaging has made it possible to keep the costs quite reasonable.    We were able to provide a week of staples for approximately $30 usd per family.

By buying in bulk and repackaging last week,  we were able to give the 19 families laundry detergent, a bar of soap and some bleach for approx $2 per family.    Being able to wash clothes after more than a month without detergent was quite a treat for several of our families.

Manna Packs are pre-packaged nutritional meals that only require water.   Handsful of Hope here in the DR shared some of their packs with us.   This is especially generous during a time when their communities are also in great need.  We hope to be able to secure more of these packs from another source.  Please pray for that

An inspiring verse is added to each bag of groceries.

Each week I make a packet of children’s activities. This week’s is about the life of Joseph.

I am thankful for so many people who have been helping meet physical needs of our communities.

• Handsful of Hope for sharing Manna Packs
• Pastor Alberto Felix who is always looking for a little extra to share with us.  He has called different times to share extra bags of food he obtained while trying to secure food for his community.
• Peaksville Christian Youth Group for providing the funds for today’s groceries.
• Bravo supermarket and PriceSmart for allowing us to buy in the quantity we needed.
• Keny Paredes for picking up the groceries and manhandling those 100+ lb bags into my house so I could repackage the contents.
• Our community ladies who are continuing to make face masks for their neighbors or even strangers.
• And of course, I’m thankful for you!   I couldn’t be here doing what I love to do without your multi-faceted support.

Prayer Requests:

• Pray that the communities will be guarded from COVID.  As of this morning there were 13,989 reported cases of COVID in the DR and 456 reported deaths.   We are unaware of any cases amongst our people.  I have great concern about how quickly it could spread due to their living conditions.
• Summer.  It seems that our summer, like yours, is going to be quite different.   We have cancelled our camps, after a 12 summer run.   Pray that we will find new ways to serve the children and youth this summer.
• Ryan and Cayla Quinley are planning to arrive in late August. Please pray for their month of pre-training and for their visa process.
• Housing/Mission Base.  This has been on hold due to the quarantine that has been in place since mid-March.   It is still a necessity, but is on a back burn for a bit longer due to closed offices, etc.