A Day of New Hope

Through God's grace, our team has settled into our Dominican home comfortably and on Thursday morning we began our first full day in the Dominican Republic.  We traveled 30 minutes to La Vega, Dominican Republic to visit the New Hope Girls Academy.  In 2011, Grace Baptist church sent their first Dominican Republic mission team to La Vega to work alongside New Hope Girls Academy to help build a Women's Workshop.

The Women's Workshop is built onto the back of Rosa's home and is the location where women in the area can gather together and have fellowship with one another.  As these women gather together, they sew handbags and make beaded flip flops to sell.  The income from their time spent together sewing helps them to care for their families and a small portion of the proceeds goes to help support New Hope Girls Academy.

    A VIEW OF THE CITY

We trekked up a dusty road to view the city of La Vega from above.

   

Joy Reyes, co-founder of New Hope Girls Academy, shares with the team stories of how New Hope has developed over the years and shares her vision for the girls of the barrio.

The vista looking over the city of La Vega, Dominican Republic.

Erin and Kenna smile for the camera.

       THE COUNTRYSIDE OF LA VEGA

       IN THE BARRIO

 A public school in the same barrio as the Women's Workshop and New Hope.

     NEW HOPE GIRLS ACADEMY AND WOMEN'S WORKSHOP

The workshop in the back of Rosa's house.  A mission team from Grace Baptist Church began work on this workshop in 2011.  

Rosa (left) and Joy sit at one of two sewing machines in the workshop.

Straps for the clutch purses hang above the sewing machines.

Thomas taking a break in the workshop.

Sarah, Cindy and Brenda managed a visit to New Hope Girls Academy too!!

Amber and Katie show off their beautiful new purses!!

Katie and Amber show off their beautiful smiles!!

FELLOWSHIP

Following our time together at New Hope Girls Academy we were blessed to fellowship with one another at a local restaurant.  

Throughout the day we were surrounded by new sights and sounds as well as many different people and different families.  While many of us have met the Reyes before, a few had not but with their family there was an instant bond.  The bond was also seen among the ladies at the workshop.  A bond ultimately in Christ which came through in our communication and in their gifts and abilities in the workshop.  Colossians 3:11 is a verse we used in this morning's devotions:  Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Sythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.  

Our relationship with Christ transcends our countries, it transcends our race.  Christ unified us within himself and we find our hope in him and a strong foundation for relationship... from there we can live in  hope for the barrios in La Vega, Santiago, and Grand Forks, North Dakota.