130413 With Joy Shall Ye Draw Water

Isaiah 12:3  With Joy shall ye water out of the wells------.

A year ago we started working on a project to purchase a pump to deliver water to Hogar Crea, a home for men trying to recover from drug addictions.  They have had to haul water up a steep 4-wheel drive road for the last 3+ years.  It took us a full year to secure the project, work with INAPA to get the right design, import the pump from the US, get it through customs and finally get the pump.  The men from Hogar Crea shouted for joy when we pulled into INAPA’s water treatment plant yard with our horns honking.  The men in Hogar Crea prepared a delicious meal after which we showed a Windows Movie Maker movie of all the pictures and videos we had taken over the course of the job.   It truly was a joyous time.  Water is everything!  We gifted 36 copies of the Book of Mormon while we were at it.

2 Cor 6:4,6  But in all things approving ourselves as ministers of God in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses---  By pureness, by knowledge, by long suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned.

Our greatest challenge at the present is to try to figure out the chicken projects.  We have tried to help the members understand and accomplish what they need to do to have a food project, but so far nothing seems to bear fruit.  We have had glimpses of hope, but nothing seems right yet.  This week we went to Monte Plata and visited with an Agronomist who actually was a lot of help to determine the quantities and costs of a lot of things.  However, based on his calculations and the market value of poultry and eggs, none of these home projects seem to be economical.  We are plugging along and hope to see something come to reality soon.  Your prayers on our behalf in these regards are appreciated.

Proverbs 12:4  A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband.

Proverbs 31:10,11  Who can find a virtuous woman?  For her price is far above rubies.  The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her.

Wallace just wants to add as part of this blog his feelings about his companion Edith.  I acknowledge her wisdom, patience and long suffering on my behalf.  I am very grateful for her insight and counsel.  She has a great desire to learn Spanish and has made very significant strides.  She can read and understand most everything and can catch the drift of most conversations.  But her greatest contribution to our mission is her ability to keep us on the straight and narrow and her ability to listen to the Spirit.  Thank you Edith.

EASTER CELEBRATION

We saw one street celebration during the Easter weekend in Los Llanos.  We were on the only street out of town when we saw a mob coming up the road.  We were a little nervous when we saw a number of men carrying long machetes, but it turned out to be a festive celebration of sorts.  They passed by without molesting us.

One of the goals for the humanitarian efforts of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is to reduce the mortality rates of the new born in the world.  The Dominican Republic set a goal to reduce maternal and infantile mortality rates in their country this year.  They plan to concentrate on ten hospitals to accomplish their goal.  Currently the mortality rate in the DR for the new born is 27/1000.

 Dr. Lloyd Jensen, our neonatal specialist came to set up two trainings that will concentrate on the doctors and nurses from the ten hospitals that the Dominican government has chosen to focus on.  Normally the church will provide either Neonatal Resuscitation Training or Helping Babies Breathe, but this year the NRT course will be taught to doctors and the HBB course to nurses.  The meeting to begin plans on this important event took place in the Pan American Health Organization’s facility with representative of the Ministry of Health, USAID and UNICHIEF.  Here we are in historic meeting

Joy Crismon and Edith Haws

This country is known for the many ways they can improvise and make do with what is available.  Here’s a cute picture we saw displayed in the Ministry of Agriculture-small animal production facility.