A group of faithful servants from Calvary Baptist Church from Murfreesboro  TN has been serving the people of God in and around LaCumbre for 10 years.  This was my third trip as a leader of the LaCumbre project. Along with 4 young adults from Elgin IL the team of 14 were a blessings to the LaCumbre Community.

Our Partner

Pastor Thelma and the Good Samaritan Church of LaCumbre has been a long partner with World Servants.  The community was excited and anxious for our servants to return. It has been two years since a group served in LaCumbre.  Our project this year was to pour a roof/deck on the classrooms build at the church on our last trip to the community in 2014.

Our Week

Mornings began with kid’s club held behind the church which always drew a large crowd from the community. While this VBS style ministry was a work behind the church servants were at work around the church bending and tying rebar to prepare for Thursday’s cement event! Two afternoons saw the community women meeting with members of the team in a craft and Bible Study. Community home visits were also a part of many of our days.

On our day off we took time to learn more about the culture and history of the Dominican Republic as we shopped in their market and toured the Old City historic sites in Santa Domingo their capital city.

Thursday was the big day – all hands on deck for the mixing and moving and pouring of cement. In my 20+ years of short term mission trips I saw something I have never seen – a cement mixer! and as if this blessing was not enough we also had use of a bucket lift which lifted our mixed cement to the roof/deck and dumped it into a wheelbarrow! Now before you think that this group just stood around with their hands in their pockets watching the cement dry, let me tell you what their day included:

• Moving a huge pile of Cement mix from the church to the construction site (one 70 pound bag at a time)
• Elevating the rebar mat with rocks to lift it off the wood deck and center it in the cement.
• Carrying buckets of water to the deck top to keep prepping the deck for cement.
• Tying in additional rebar for the future expansion of the building.
• Moving a small mountain of sand and gravel to the mixer to keep the beast filled!
• Moving a second mountain of sand and gravel as the second truckloads arrived!
• Build relationships with the many from the community who came to see this project unfold.

Friday saw a return of Kid’s club, and home visits as we moved and laid block on the new roof/deck for the classrooms to come! Late afternoon we gathered with the community for a special treat and send off by the members of Good Samaritan Church.

Next Steps

Thanks to the hard fundraising work and generosity of Calvary Baptist church LaCumbre will be receiving a new clean water system desperately needed by the people of the community. This project will most likely happen in the next year with much work to be done in the community as the system is installed.  Good Samaritan Church is going to continue to work as funds allow on the classrooms in hopes that they can become a Compassion Partner site to help even more children and families in their area.

Join us!

Interested in knowing more about our next trip to LaCumbre or another short term mission trip? visit www.WorldServants.org and watch here for more information as plans are made.  If you leave me a note below in the comments I will be sure to let you know when World Servants along with Shirley and I  plan to return to LaCumbre in 2017!

<>< Craig