Posted: 9/15/06
| About 2,200 children in the Dominican Republic attended Vacation Bible Schools staffed by workers from South Texas Children’s Home, in partnership with Quisqueyana Baptist Church and Time Ministries. |
Volunteers share gospel with
children in Dominican Republic
By Joanna Berry
South Texas Children's Home
VILLA MELLA, Dominican Republic—Eleven volunteers and staff from South Texas Children’s Home helped lead Vacation Bible School for children in the Dominican Republic.
The Texans worked in Villa Mella, a rapidly growing community north of the capital city of Santo Domingo.
They took part in Vacation Bible Schools at 15 locations in four days—teaching stories and songs to children in small wooden portable chapels, under trees in vacant lots and in empty school buildings. Some packed small homes, spilling out onto patios and surrounding alleyways.
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South Texas Children’s Home worked in partnership with Quisqueyana Baptist Church and Time Ministries. Together, 135 workers shared the gospel message with 2,200 children—including 421 older children and youth who made professions of faith in Christ.
“It was the kingdom of heaven coming down, and we were blessed participants,” said Sandra Downs, a member of First Baptist Church in Beeville.
Dominicans and Americans met first for worship and orientation, then organized into five teams for the morning locations and regrouped into 10 teams for the afternoon classes.
Working with the Dominican Christians had an unforgettable impact on team members.
“I wish I could bottle their enthusiasm and their faith. It would send a wave of revival across the United States that has not been seen in decades,” said Donald Wilkinson, a member of First Baptist Church in Sinton. “They have such a love for God and for the children.”
The children—and their physical needs—touched the hearts of the volunteers, said Jerry Haag, president and chief executive officer of South Texas Children’s Home. “Beyond their tattered clothes and dirty faces, they are exactly like our children—longing to be held, loving to laugh and in desperate need of a Savior. How grateful we were to be God’s hands of love.”
The volunteers delivered clothing and blankets to a family caring for 35 children of prostitutes who had been living on the streets before they took them into their home.
Printed on the blankets were, “Jesus Loves You” and “Jesús Me Ama.” The children at South Texas Children’s Home and the children of First Baptist Church in Beeville assembled and tied the blankets for the children of the Dominican Republic.
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