This is an article from the Dominican Republic newspaper on February 13, 2012:

The rector of the Catholic University of Santo Domingo (UCSD), Ramon Alonso Beato, described the low educational quality of high school graduates as "humiliating" yesterday. He said that out of every 100 students trying to enter the UCSD barely 40% manage to pass the entrance examination. Father Alonso answered questions about the problems associated with the low quality of education in the country and the challenges that these students face in the universities. He said: "At my university there is an entrance examination and statistically speaking, barely 40% of the students who take the exam, pass it, and this is humiliating." He said that the university was "discriminating" and taking the best students of the country so that the professors can make them perform. He said he regretted that so many people were left out of the university, adding that ideally some 90% should pass the tests.

Pastor Enelsido of Hato del Yaque with gifts 100 kids....

Joel was born in 1990 with Down's syndrome. I came to know him when I began working for G.O. Ministries, he was one of the children in the Los Guandules nutrition center. When I meet him he was a "big" kid! He was sweet and just wanted to be with the other children.

When I visited the church in Los Guandules this May I saw Joel's mom. She told me that Joel was sick. I prayed with the mom and said I would stop by to visit him the next time I was in the community. The mother did not seem stressed or worried abnormally and told me he was having stomach problems. The next time I was in the community I went to Joel house to visit him expecting him to be fine now. When I entered the room where he slept with the rest of the family, I nearly fell over! What I saw was a boy who resembled one of the pictures I have see of children who are starving or had been in a concentration camp! He was now just a sliver of the boy he used to be!

He was laying on the bed with an IV bag suspended from the cross beam in the room. I began asking questions of the mom, much more specific questions! Joel had been "sick" for about four months now. A woman who lives in Los Guandules and knows a little about medicine had put the IV in. I went outside and called the G.O. Ministries doctor, Vladimir Canela, to inform him of the situation. I asked if he could visit Joel and try to determine what was wrong and what needed to be done.

Vladimir went to Joel's house and said that blood test were needed. The lab results showed Joel had a severe infection in his intestine and pneumonia. Vladimir ordered eight bottles of IV and six different medicines to be administered. Vladimir called in our newest G.O. Ministries doctor, Belsebeth Augustine, who happened to live not to far from Joel. Together they would alternate checking on Joel and supervising his care. After much work a vein was found and again Joel was on IV fluid....suspended from the beam over his bed....

Joel improved a little but then took a turn for the worse. More test were ordered and xray was taken. After the results came in, Joel was taken to the hospital. He was in the "observation ward" for four days. This ward reminded me of a scene from M*A*S*H. The beds are ancient, there is no medical equipment in the ward that I could see, HIPPA is not heard of and people passing by will stop and stare trying to determine what is wrong with the patient who is in so much pain. Once when I was visiting, a nurse came to check on our sick Down's patient. She asked Joel if he was better and he responded weakly 'yes'. She wrote this on her pad of paper and left, I guess she thought her job as done.

Joel continued to worsen, his stomach was distended, his legs were swollen. More xrays were done of his chest and stomach and he was transferred to the ICU unit. I thought this would be an improvement but the only improvement I saw was now there were only four beds in each room instead of the ward configuration. Joel continued in pain that worsened each day. The wife of the patient in the bed next to him would rub Vick's on his head stating this would help with the pain. Then Joel's mom pulled out a bottle of alcohol and would rub this on his chest also stating this would help with his pain. I was overwhelmed at the mixture of smells now filling the room and I was just sitting by Joel!

Joel's veins had collapsed so an IV port was put in his clavicle area. This was done in his bed with me and Griselda present helping to hold Joel down during the procedure. While the port was being placed, people passing by came into the room to stare and again try and figure out what all the screaming was about. At this point the hospital doctor decided to try a different medicine. In the Dominican Republic hospitals do not provide anything, the patient has to purchase the item and then give it to the nurse. So the medicine was purchased from a pharmacy and then brought to the hospital. Only one dose had been administered when I next visited and noticed that Joel's breathing was slowing and labored. On the morning of October 10, Joel died.

Joel was born with a handicap, or at least the world would view it this way. Joel lived in a third world country, in one of the poorest communities, in a small house on the side of a hill with the rest of his family. Looking with worldly eyes, Joel did not have a chance!

BUT that is not the full story. Because of the work of Rafelito and Griselda, the pastor and his wife who work in Los Guandules bringing the love of Christ to this community, growing the church body with the support of their American partners through G.O. Ministries, Joel is now with Jesus!

Joel may have not had a lot by the world standard but he had everything by Jesus standard. Joel
was able to learn about God, experiencing the love of Christ in word and action. It was the love of Christ that brought Rafelito and Griselda to this community teaching of the redemption found only in Jesus. It was the love of Christ through the G.O. Kids! program to be able to provide food for Joel for many years. It was the love of Christ through the Dominican Republic and America church that helped the family buy some of Joel medicine. It was the love of Christ through his American sponsor also helping to purchase some more medicine for Joel. It was the love of Christ through G.O. Ministries having doctors available for the poor in the Dominican Republic. It was the love of Christ through church members who visited the family all through Joel sickness. It was the love of Christ through the church who provided juice, coffee, and crackers for the funeral. It is the love of Christ through the church who now stand beside the family as they deal with their loss.


G.O. Ministries seeks to empower passionate, local leaders serving inside their own cultures to Redeem people, Renew communities and Restore Creation by developing dynamic International, mutually transformational Partnerships.

Phaeton, Haiti. A small town, population around 2,500, in a northern bay of Haiti between Cap Haitien and Fort Liberte. It once was a major world producer of sissel, fiber used to make rope. Today the factory is gone with just a few of the buildings ruins remaining.

Today, G.O. Ministries is there to support and encourage Lucner Jean-Pierre and his wife Marie who live and work to grow God's kingdom in Phaeton Haiti. Phaeton has no running water, fresh well water is hard to come by due to infiltration of salt from the sea. No paved streets, dirt roads and dirt floors. No lights, and no electricity. I felt like I had gone back in a time machine when I recently visited there for four days with the rest of the G.O. Ministries field staff.

The people of Phaeton are fisherman. Every morning I would get up around 4AM and the fisherman would already be out in their row boats having dropped their nets for the day. In a few hours they would return with their fish to dry in the sun and sell to others. Then in the afternoon they would check and patch their nets getting ready for the next day.

Some of the children of Phaeton:

January 10 I left Santiago for Jacmel, Haiti. In Jacmel are many organiztions that G.O. Ministries helped immediatately after the earthquake, one of which was The Art Creation Foundation for Children. This organization has no Christian association and was established to help children develope their skills as artist enabling them a trade to support themselves and their family. In doing this they also help the children attend school and feed them during the week. After the earthquake Jacmel was in shambles and cut off from food supplies. The Foundation contacted G.O. Ministries for help to feed the children. The head of the organization said G.O. Ministries was the only organization that would help them without having any religious affiliation. Through this new relationship the Foundation invited G.O. Ministries to attend the one year rememberance ceremony in Jacmel. Please join me on this journey as we travel together through the photos below....

This is the main road leading to the Jimani boarder crossing, one of the three legal border crossing.

Yesterday I received a phone call from Griselda, Pasor Rafelito wife in Los Gundules. She told me there was going to be a baptism today! I was excited to go and hoped that Evelin would be baptized. When I arrived in Los Guandules not only did Evelin greet me with the news that she was going to be baptized but her mother, Juaquina had decided to also be baptized along with three other people! I think at that point my heart burst!!!!