I will lift up my eyes to the hills – From whence comes my help?

My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 121:1-2 (NKJV)

The Backstory

As some of you may know, the Dominican Republic has been home to many bateyes (sugar cane “plantations”) for many years, and since the 1930s most of these sugar cane fields have been worked manually by Haitians. A batey usually consists of a small settlement of houses and perhaps a church and a school for the workers and their families.  As the world has become more and more automated, so has the process of harvesting sugar cane.  Thus, in 2025, Batey El Salado which is about an hour north of La Romana was “eliminated.”  Not only were the people displaced, but the settlement of small wooden houses and a church were bulldozed to the ground. We have had a longstanding relationship with this batey, and we want to share with you how God’s spirit and faithfulness has been evident in this situation.

The Building

Pastor Isaias lived in Batey El Salado most of his life, and he and his wife raised their six (now grown) children in that community.  Several years ago, these adult professional children were able to build a home for their parents nearby in the town of La Higuera. In 2024 Pastor Isaias started having evening worship services for his congregants in the backyard of his house to help everyone transition. This was important to him and to them to continue their sense of community – a church even though they didn’t have a building.  With encouragement from the worshippers and especially from Pastor Isaias’ adult children, as well as through lots of prayers for discernment, land near the house was purchased for constructing a church building.

So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Gebalites cut the stones, and they prepared the timbers and the stones to build the house.  I Kings  5:18 (NASB)

By faith, in early 2025, the family and the congregation started building a foundation for the building of Iglesia Bautista El Tamarindo.  In the summer of 2025, First Baptist Church of St. Albans, W. Virginia, gave funds and even worked alongside the congregation to help build the walls.  Little by little, step by step in faith, more and more of the building was erected. Also, some of this team from WV combined with young people from Ketly’s discipleship class to lead a Vacation Bible School for the church.  Even three sets of global servants – us, the Reeses, and the Bonillas united to assist in leading the teams.

Over the next months, community-building continued as the congregation was able to build the roof thanks to generous donations.  Then in April of this year, men from the ABC of the Rocky Mountains came and did the electrical work for the church. The church still lacks windows, but by faith we believe this too shall come to pass.  Vital has been instrumental in the logistics of the construction work for this church, and Ketly has been discipling four young adults from Iglesia Bautista El Tamarindo.

UPDATES 

Mi Roca y Mi Fortaleza, the senior day care at the Community Center in La Romana, continues to make a difference in the lives of the attendees and the staff.  The seniors are beginning to look for others in the neighborhood who might need support, and some have been doing visitation to extend an invitation.

In the past year, three seniors in the program have died, and we accompany those who are grieving as we have become family to each other.  Some in the program who previously had never known Jesus as Savior have come to seek God and have been transformed by Christ’s peace. One widow who attends said that all she did before joining us was cook, sit, cry, and sleep; but now she’s found purpose in her life. 

Our activities, meals, and devotions are making a difference, and we praise God for this renewal in the lives of seniors.

WORK TEAMS

We are now in the planning stages to host work teams for 2027.  Please contact us with your availability.

WORLD MISSION CONFERENCE

We would love to connect with you at the 2026 World Mission Conference in Orlando, Florida from July 29 to 31.  Please come!  World Mission Conference.