This past weekend our team travelled to Barahona, three hours away from Santo Domingo. As long as there was light to see, we were able to glimpse lush greenery and imposing mountains out our windows. Driving us on our way was Shannon's friend, Wilfrido. Wilfrido is true example of a Godly man; warm and welcoming to everyone he meets, his greatest desire is that his life be used to express God's love to all. His main ministry is working in the Batay's, impoverished communities that have been home to three or four generations of Haitian families. Wilfrido works to establish churches and friendly relationships with these communities, nd with the people of Barahona as a whole. Once a foundation of spiritual stability is laid, infrastructure and lifestyle changes will be easier to implement. On top of this, he has also started an eco-tourism business which allows visitors to the region to observe the Batay's. Wilfrido's house has become home to at least three local children who have nowhere else to turn, and he also talks about his dream to build an addition where short-term missionaries can live during their time in the area. It was an honour to work alongside him for the few days we were in Barahona. Our original purpose in the area was to cross the Haitian border, only an  hour's drive from the town where we were taying. However, due to the rising cost of entrance visas; we were prevented from doing so.

Instead, we have the chance to visit two of the Batay's, one each on Saturday and Sunday. The first community is one with which WIlfridois just beginning to establish relations; there is no church yet, and no other Christians in the village. As we approached the batay, the local kids began to run towards the van. As we stepped out of the vehicle, each of us was swarmed by children fighting to hold our hands and shouting "Americano!" Some of us ended up with two or three kids hanging off our bodies--Kody had about four at different points! We played "Duck, DUck, Goose" with them and looked inside one of the shacks which houses about twelve people in one or two rooms. This particular shack was home to two newborn babies, each of which has a red ribbon with a black amulet tied around its wrist. These bracelets are meant to protect the infants from evil spiritual forces. The bracelets indicated the common acceptance of voodoo belief in this batay.

The children who were so eager to welcome and accept us as visitors were very harsh with one another. At one point we pulled out a soccer ball and threw it on the ground, but instead of kicking it around, there was an instant pile up of kids fighting for possession of it. We had been told to expect this type of reaction from children who have nothing could prepare us for violence among kids so young, nor for the lack of intervention from the adults watching along the sidelines. We cannot possibly communicate our feelings about everything we saw that day in this blog. Talk to us about it one on one, because we'd love to share!

On Sunday, we visited Batey Seven, a separate community and a very different one. Wilfrido grew up here and has established a church and Sunday school program. During our visit, Josh led craft time with the kids and we put on a skit about Jonah for the congregation (Kody's whale impression was hilarious). What a change in this community compared to the one we saw the previous afternoon! The church has about thrity attendants and lots of kids; our team taught the Sunday school class craft, and Shannon helped us teach then a Bible verse in Spanish as well. These kids were well-behaved and didn't fight for our attention like the other group had. This community had a better understanding of who God is, and will continue to learn thanksto all God is doing through Wilfrido and his family.

Following lunch at Wilfrido's home, we returned to Santo Domingo. It was hard for some of us to leave the beauty of the countryside and the hopeful work that was being done in the batays. But it was time to settle in for a week of ministry to two different groups of children in the capital.