We leave the house at 9 am. Rick and Becky on a small motorcycle (moto) drive about 35 minutes to Boma. The road is windy and hilly. When the pavement ends, the dirt road quickly becomes unpassable for most vehicles. The moto has no problem. Sometimes two wheels is much better than 4!
After crossing a bridge and a beautiful field, we climb a steep hill to the house of Enrique. Enrique is the community leader. He meets us and shares that the mom of Valle had died a few days earlier. Valle is in the Bible study. Enrique wants us to go and spend time at the house, perhaps have a Bible study there. And so we go, continuing on the dirt road/path.
We are well away from Jarabacoa. We are past the reaches of electricity and running water. It is quiet and very peaceful for us, but we can tell that life is tough here. It is a farming community. They are pretty self-sufficient and they work hard to be so. They have learned to live off the land planting and raising animals who will be butchered (cows, pigs, goats, rabbits, chickens). And when one family has extra, it can be traded with neighbors or taken to be sold in town. They are within reach of the city but probably don't go there often.
We arrived at Valle's house and found him, his dad (in photo) and other members from the family. When someone dies it is typical for extended family and friends to come and be with the family for a full week. In this area, most people are related in some way. So the whole community was coming and going from the house.
We spent some time with the family and then went off to a shaded area to have some time with Valle. We shared some encouraging words from Philippians.
Enrique then suggested we hike up to the home of Feyo and Paula. Feyo is the brother of Valle. Feyo isn't able to walk. We aren't sure what happened, but he has been in bed for the last 10 years. Feyo's wife Paula attends our Bible study (pictured in her kitchen). We have wanted to visit him and finally have the chance. So off we go!
We hiked along a river, climbing up and up. Eventually we came to a small gate and a leveled clearing that had 3 small stick buildings. We entered the clearing and Enrique led us to meet Feyo. We had a wonderful time getting to know Feyo. He is a believer. He shared some of his story and we shared a little of ours. We asked about his needs and shared some verses from Scripture.
We hope to help Feyo get a solar powered radio/cd player and the Bible on cd. Feyo doesn't read. He told us, he only spent one year in school and then his dad pulled him out of school so that he would help on the farm. We hope to help him in this way. If this something you would like to help with, please let us know.
After some time with Feyo and his family, we returned to Jarabacoa. We left the house 4 hours earlier thinking we would minister in one way but ended up ministering in a totally different way. That happens a lot here!
The team brought about 350 turtles! We have been giving them out at kid's clubs, at schools and even the hospital. Having given out a few of them, it has been interesting to see the reactions. The Turtle itself is cute and the kids love it but the drawing and message is loved by all. For example, a girl named Isabella made a Turtle and the message inside it ended up in a prominent place on the wall in Feyo's room! [To find out who Feyo is, read the blog entre "A morning in August".] I saw it yesterday when at his house.
