Devastation came to the island of Dominica….Tropical storm Erika hit and took many lives and washed away villages.
…. it also destroyed a little church that meant so much to me….
it meant so much to me because it meant a lot to the people I have come to love.
Soon, the news picked up our story….
It didn’t take long for people to step up and help…I would be in the grocery store or the bus stop and people would come up to me and hand me money to help. When the storm hit it was devastating…but I want to talk about a different storm…a storm of compassion and giving that blew into so many different hearts. I am still amazed…donations came in to help this congregation get back up and dust off their knees. Faith…that’s all they had, and that’s all they needed because God was taking care of the rest!
The news covering our update!!!!
The night I actually saw the church for my own eyes…sadness filled me but those feelings were overshadowed by the greatest sense of HOPE!
The cross still stands….but in order to rebuilt the church, we have to move it to a new location.
But God had that covered:)
It just so happened that the Church was able to buy a little plot of land several years ago (roughly 12ish years?? 15 keeps coming to mind???) Anyway, there wasn’t any funds to build so the land sat empty all those years overgrown with weeds with the dream that “someday” they could build a school on it. Then, just last year they were able to build a little one room school house…and it was that school house that the Berean congregation has used as their church since the storm. God was working long before the storm….
So, let the work begin!!
These tree things were holding the cement roof up….
My first job was to pick up all the little scrap pieces of wood and I’m thinking “yep, I can totally handle this! Simple!!” So I start gathering and one board was stuck so I’m yanking and pulling with all my might and Pastor Desmond walks by and says (in a thick Dominican accent)
“Ketie, dat board is nailed into the ground”
……”oh”…….
(insert awkward moment now)
So then my job was to pick up nails to reuse….this is a VERY important job….either that or just gave it to me to keep me from getting in the way…(I’m going to go with VERY IMPORTANT) lol
Dominica is such a beautiful island so in the evenings before dark, Pastor T and Debbie would take us to a new part of the island to see.
Cabrits (Portsmouth)
Coconut Beach
One night right before the sun set…we hurried over to Trafalgar Falls. It looks much different after Erika. This time we got to climb up to it.
It was actually kind of challenging climbing over and around the boulders
….my long legs came in handy.
Feeling quite proud of myself…
We had to swim in FREEZING cold water to get to the fall.
The waterfall is HUGE so the water just pounded down on top of us.
Right below this pool of water from the waterfall was HOT water coming out of the mountain. And I mean HOT! The island sits on a volcano. Everything was steaming but it felt so good…I didn’t want to leave.
This is the one room school house that has been built so far.
The church will be built on top of the school.
I loved seeing the kids everyday but it made me miss my boys a lot.
Adding onto the school.
Mixing cement Dominican style
Pastor T
Dad working hard
So once we got to remove the tree poles, I started making a pile. All week I was extremely careful because I sorta forgot to get a tetanus shot and there were rusty nails EVERYWHERE….and I wore flip flops everyday. I never did STEP on a nail….I didn’t realize I could stab myself with one though. I was doing really well until I took one of those poles out. When I tossed it as hard as I could on top of my pile it bounced back off and a nail in the pole stuck me in the arm. It happened so quick I didn’t even knew what hit me! Blood started dripping down my arm and the Haitian who was working on the outside of the building saw me standing in a daze looking at my arm and yelled down ” You ok?…You be careful….You get hurt” (be cool, no biggie…is that my jaw tightening up? Am I getting tetanus poisoning??) I smile and wave “No worries…I’m fine” (then I went and hunted down my dad like a little girl to have him assure me that I was fine and not going to die)
If you look really close…you may see my arm flesh stuck to one of those poles…..:)
I got pretty good at using this thingy…
Island life is quite different than Iowa life……birds flying around the kitchen getting into food…
Lizards….everywhere…(I slept with one eye open)
Everyday I got to sit on this porch and look at this view while I used FaceTime to talk with Ryan and the boys.
“Eating” dinner with my family via FaceTime 🙂
One night, right before dark we went to Emerald Pool….it was by far one of the most majestic places I have seen on the island. I should of swam out to it but dark was almost upon us so we had to hurry. (next time) 🙂
Gerry Gregoire from the UK saw my video and contacted me about helping the school through the organization “Operation Orphan”. We spoke about some needs and details of the school and to our surprise, God had our paths cross in Dominica! He happened to be on the island doing some relief work the same week we were so he came and gave a helping hand!
It most of the bridges on the island were destroyed…
If you look close at the mountain, you can see the brown mudslides…
This was the bridge we took last year to get to the place we stayed….
One night Pastor T took us HIGH up into the mountain over his house to look at his trees and garden. It was a CLIMB but such a beautiful view!
He hacked steps and trails with his “Cutlass”
The goal was to get all the students in one location….
And because of prayer and donations… as of Jan 2016, all of the students are in one location!
“BEFORE” pic
“AFTER” pic
Just amazing….God is good…and always faithful.
I have returned to Dominica three years in a row now. My favorite thing about this island is the friendships I have made. We just pick up where we left off. I love going to church where I get to hug and “catch up” with everyone. I remember the first year I was there, Lessie and Netty had brought their brand new baby boy to church for the first time so tiny and every year I get to see him growing…this year he was running all over the place! It’s the little things like that.
As I flew away from Dominica…I couldn’t help but be in awe of such an incredible story that God is unfolding there. Before Tropical storm Erika, many people didn’t even know that there was an island called Dominica let alone know about a little church there. Now they have a voice. Now they have prayers from all over the world. Now they are an amazing example that when you go through difficult times, even if you don’t understand “why”….you trust that God will take care of you. You walk in faith. Their Story has just begun.
