This is a picture of Amable's Family (Pronounced U-mo-blay). This is the family that we built the house for. They are members of the church we support in LaRomana. They were chosen by the elders of their church because Amable is a single dad. In DR, that's not a typical scenario. If the family doesn't stay together, it's usually the father's that tend to leave. But in this case, the mother was the one who moved out. I guess she lives close by in the same neighborhood.

Amable works for a sugar cane farm. He's a very hard working, Christian man, raising his three girls on his own, with Christian values. From left to right: Paula (pro. Pow-oo-la), the oldest daughter is 15 yrs old...Nirobi (like the country), the middle daughter is 12 yrs old...myself...Rachel (pro. like Rachel Welsh), the youngest daughter is 7 yrs old with much of the same happy-go-lucky attitude that my own 7yo has ,

Amable, and Stephanie.

Stephanie is our pastor's daughter who lives in Santa Domingo with her husband Mark. They moved there as missionaries sponsored by Willow Creek last March. It was wonderful to work and visit with her all week. She speaks nearly fluent spanish, and I'm sure she got tired of people calling "Estanfani!!" for translation every 5 minutes (although she never showed it ). It was neat to work with her because she was in high school  when Bruce and I were small group leaders for the HS ministry at church. It's amazing to see how God has worked in her life and how He's using her now to further the Kingdom.

All three girls, came out smiling everyday, eager to give hugs to all of us, work and be good hostesses. I can still see the images of barefoot Nirobi and Rachel waiting around with thick rubber-dipped gloves on their hands to mix concrete (spanish: mecla) or bring another 30 pound block back to the guys. They would show up out of the blue with cups of water for you. And at the first sign of a ball, they were ready to take you to the street to play. Being the soccer player I am, naturally I couldn't wait to kick around a ball with them. But most of the time, they loved to play a game where you stand in a circle and simply keep the ball up in the air (like volleyball). I think you were supposed to be out if you let it touch the ground, although they never asked me to step back.

Paula was a little shy at first, but by the end of the week, she was in full bloom, laughing and cuttin'up. I noticed what a "mother hen" she was with her younger sisters. I was impressed with how much she took them under her wing, played with them, did their hair, even corrected them at times.....and they listened! Everyday, she would come out with a little china coffee pot and a cup of coffee for you (actually, it was more like a little 1/8 of a cup...). Believe me, each shot was guaranteed to carry you through to the end of the day!! If it weren't for all the sugar, I'm not sure I could've drank it. There no telling how many of us drank out of the same cup that week!! Ha!!

Rachel was your regular 7 year old....energic, kooky, smiley, and mischievous. Each day we played in the street together. I could tell how proud she was to be able to ask the other kids to play with us. Although I have a feeling she was normally labeled "too small" to play the ball game, I was able to talk the kids into including everyone, matter what size they were....and they loved it. By the end of the week,

there was never even a question about it.

Another favorite game we played alot was STOP!.

It was a little like Hot Potato. All the kids would stand in a circle, with one in the middle. As the kid in the middle covered their eyes and counted silently to 20, the other kids would pass the ball around really fast. At 20, the mid-kid would yell STOP! Whoever was left holding the ball would be the next in the middle.

Nirobi was more of the shy sort. She met me every day with a hug and a smile. And we would just stand there and enjoy eachothers company. I was really impressed with how much Amable encouraged his children to get involved with the job and work where they could. On the last day, Nirobi was so excited to be sweeping out the concrete floor of their future bedroom. She painted the tresses, moved block, mixed concrete, fetched water for mixing, fetched water to drink, swept, served lunch, and played alot. At church on Sunday, she and Rachel were the first ones to come meet me. Okay, I'm going to cry....I miss them already!  

Stay tuned for more!!

May God Bless Your Day,

Deborah