Chandler's Return

He is leaving the Score complex at 4:00AM to arrive home at 1:10PM.

Pray for everything to go as planned and everyone returns home safely! Thanks so much!

Dominican Republic - Day 4

Hola!

Hello again to all back home! Hopefully you all are not missing your wonderful children too much by now but just know that they are in great hands down here! Today we had a bit of an unfortunate case in which many students were taken ill. There seems to be a “stomach bug” floating around here at Score and unfortunately a few students came down with it. While many of these that did come down with this bug chose to stay here today the rest they got will be the energy they will need for tomorrow!

For those students that did make it out to the villages today we had a great time serving together! Over half the group went out and played and ministered to the children in the village we went to today. They had a great time playing basketball, running around, holding new born kittens, and just being a light for the Lord. While those students played with children a few other students requested to clean the local nursing home and hospital there. This was a very impacting experience for those that had never experienced those type of living conditions. We all had a great time today and saw the Lord through all the people we saw today. From the old people living in the nursing home to the young children needing love and attention each student was shown something different from God.

After enjoying a packed lunch in the local church, we headed off to one of our favorite places to go down here: Jumbo! For those of you who don’t know what Jumbo is, it is the local Walmart down here in the Dominican. The students love going here and getting food for villages we go out to serve. After making our large assembly line, gathering all the food, and checking out, we headed for our next village.

The next village we went to was owned by the government and was lived in by people who work in the sugarcane fields here. This was a smaller village and the students were really able to connect to the individuals that we saw. Here, we fed about 35 families. Each student was able to give a family a bag of food that we got at Jumbo. After they gave the food to the family they prayed for the family and got to see how happy and thankful each person truly was. Everyone really enjoyed the time that we spent at this village. Tomorrow we have an eventful day at the straw market and another familiar village for those who have attended this trip previous years. Be assured that all of your children that are not feeling well are doing much better now and are almost back to 100%.

Continue to pray that we have endurance, love, and “wellness” for all of us here!

Morgan Kirk

Dominican Republic - Day 3

Hola to all those in the United States!

Today, we finally had the whole group together and were ready to be a light to all the Dominicans! Although the rest of the group arrived yesterday, it was nice to have everyone together today as we shared the gospel of our wonderful Lord. As the day started off we headed for a house called Emmanuel House. This house, unlike many other houses here, was a school to 105 Dominican children ages 5-12. Unfortunately, all of these children were on a week of “break” because the teachers were off training on how to equip their students with more of Jesus in a school setting. Although we were a little sad at first, we were more than happy to find that there were other needs that needed to be tended to. We broke off into groups of 10 and were sent off to do various things and serve various people. Every group ended up going out into the homes of the people around there as well as aiding in painting the outside of the school. While in the homes of the Dominicans, students saw things from a grandmother giving her life to Jesus to sick children being taken to the local clinic to get medicine. All of these things impacted each student greatly and I’m sure they can’t wait to tell you about their personal experience involved in each of these things. Upon returning from Emmanuel house this afternoon, the students had a few minutes to eat lunch and cool off in the pool to rejuvenate for the afternoon events.

This afternoon we went to a center called Compassion. This center housed and schooled about 100 students from 7-15. Here, we were able to sing, do our famous “Daniel and Goliath” skit (with Mitchell Warner as King and Molly Hair as Daniel) as well as hear Chandler Sharpe’s testimony. After we were able to hear the gospel from one of the missionaries who attended this center with us named Kiko. The students really enjoyed getting to see the impact they made on these children’s lives. After hearing all of these things, the Dominican children began playing games and having fun with all of us. We did things from make bracelets, have pull up bar competitions, paint nails and even broke out into a paint fight. (Don’t worry, the painting fights were merely sweet Dominicans painting our faces with as much paint as possible). After being there for about 2 hours we headed home to Score.

We just returned from our first group Score night where everyone staying at Score during this time joined together in worship and fellowship to hear about how truly great our Lord is. The students have begun to wind down and are enjoying some friendly-competition with various games.

Hoping all is well with you all in the States and will be sending another update tomorrow!

Morgan Kirk

Better News

We've just heard that the mission group from Charlotte Christian has arrived safe and sound in the Dominican Republic!

God Is Good!

More Not So Good News

Chandler Schramm and others are stuck in Miami another night.  They will need to be at the Miami airport at 4:30AM to board a flight to New York's JFK!?  After arriving in New York, they will then take another flight to Dominican Republic arriving around 3:30PM.  Sadly, 2 days of missions lost.

A few of the team flew to New York today, then on to Santo Domingo.  Everyone is safe, but tired of the delays.

CONTINUE TO LIFT THESE KIDS, PARENTS AND ADVISERS UP IN PRAYER!

Not So Good News

Chandler Schramm, 24 other kids and 2 adults are stuck in Miami.  Their original flights from Charlotte yesterday afternoon were cancelled.  Other flights were scheduled and the group finally arrived in Miami late last night.  They arrived at a Miami hotel very early this morning.  Needless to say, they missed their flights to Santo Domingo.

We still don't know at this time if everyone will be able to get a flight out of Miami to Dominican Republic today.  We all can imagine that the remaining families and loved ones are very anxious about any decisions and news from these missionaries.  

God has a plan!

PLEASE LIFT THESE KIDS, PARENTS AND ADVISERS UP IN PRAYER!

Good News!

I'm sorry...  I forgot to post this news from Sara Armstrong and Randy Ross earlier...  "Sara said that she visited with Roberta last week and that she is doing remarkably well and plans to cook for us in August"!

Chandler Schramm Returns To The Dominican Republic

Dear friends and family,

I want to share with you a ministry opportunity God has presented to me. During June 9-16, I will be making another journey to the Dominican Republic with a team from my school, Charlotte Christian.

Our trip will focus on playing with, and ministering to, children in orphanages and who live in poverty. We will do this in a number of ways, but primarily we will spend time getting to know them, and then hosting a “vacation bible school” experience for the kids.

We need your prayers of support:

• For allowing God to work in our lives through the personal enrichment that comes from this type of a mission trip.
• We need to pray for the people of the Dominican Republic.  We pray that God may open their eyes and hearts to the message of Jesus.
• We will be visiting many of the children we visited last year.  Pray that Charlotte Christian School can continue to develop a presence in the Dominican Republic on these yearly trips.
• Pray that we will encourage local Christians and missionaries in the Dominican Republic. Our presence will bolster their spirits and support their work through SCORE International.

I'm excited about the experiences that lie ahead. I hope you see the value in what we will accomplish. I need your prayer support. Prayer is the fuel that will allow us to be successful as we follow God's leading in ministry in the Dominican Republic. Without prayer, nothing will happen.

Thank you for your support and prayers!

Chandler Schramm

Mick Jagger Named Perú's Environmental Ambassador

Music legend Sir Mick Jagger has been drawn into a bitter row over an ‘illegal gas grab’ in the Peruvian Amazon.

Peru’s government has provoked fury from indigenous groups after it was discovered that it is attempting to explore for gas in an Amazon reserve despite explicitly promising never to do so.

The reserve is the territory of several vulnerable uncontacted tribes, and a crucial buffer zone for the Manu National Park, listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site for having a biological diversity that ‘exceeds any other place on Earth.’

After visiting the Manu region Mick Jagger was made an Environmental Ambassador by Peru, who described him as a ‘great support in our fight to protect our ecology’. Survival International has written to the Rolling Stones’ frontman, saying ‘Peru’s last uncontacted tribes are in imminent danger… please ask the Peruvian government to stop endangering their lives.’

Peru’s plan to expand its massive Camisea gas project has been clouded in secrecy. Nine years ago it confirmed it would never expand the project eastward into the Nahua-Nanti Reserve, home to several uncontacted tribes, and passed a Supreme Decree confirming the pledge.

More...

Mission Opportunity

Sharon Presbyterian Church's Western North Carolina Adult Mission Trip will take place from October 4 - 7, 2012. We will partner with the Bryson City Presbyterian Church to conduct mission work in and around Bryson City, NC. Bryson City Presbyterian Church has identified families in poverty and with poor health who need assistance with basic repairs to their homes.

The group will depart Thursday, October 4, at 12:00 noon and return Sunday afternoon, October 7.

Anyone can participate, regardless of prior construction experience or skill level. We are planning for a team of 16 Sharon volunteers for this trip. If you are interested in participating please contact David Spivey at spiveys_@msn.com for additional information.

Mission Trip Update

Hola Everyone:

I am extremely happy to report that international flight reservations have now been made for all participants. WE ARE GOING TO PERU!!!

A very, very special THANK YOU to Amanda Boelke who introduced me to a new website over the weekend, www.tripadvisor.com. This website searches airline as well as discount airfare websites. I purchased tickets for the six (6) Charlotte participants via this website at an average of $500 less per person than those published on Delta.com.

I will be circulating a trip travel memo in the next few days that will include the international travel arrangements for all participants.

Sara and Rusty are in Ayacucho and Huanta this week with teams from the San Gabriel Presbytery in southern California. These teams are continuing their efforts to bring safe and affordable drinking water to our brothers and sisters there. They send greetings and hugs to each of you.

Just a little over nine weeks before our adventure begins!

Randy

2012 Perú Mission Trip News!

With the help of a few dedicated friends, (Natalie Schramm, Janat Schramm, Robin Shealy, Brenda Paredes, Connie Dale and Randy Ross), we were able to complete the packing of the additional donation bags for our upcoming 2012 Perú Mission Trip.

All 12 bags were packed with YOUR donations of shirts, dresses, shoes, sweaters, coats, small toys, balls and candy.  Each bag was weighed and packed to the 50 pound limit!

Each year, we often have to meet for 2 to 3 times for sorting, packing, weighing and packing again.  But this year with the wonderful help, we were able to complete the job in 1 afternoon.  Thank you to all!

Perú 2012 Mission Update

Dear 2012 Adult Mission Team:

I wanted to give you a quick update on our upcoming trip to Peru , now just a little over twelve (12) weeks away!

The members of the 2012 team are:

Amanda Boelke
Rose Boelke
Connie Dale
Van Dale
Cheryl Judd-Magee
John Magee
Wes Manus
Randy Ross
Sarah Ross

Sara Armstrong, Rusty Edmondson and Brenda Paredes will join us in Lima.

I am checking daily airfares between the U.S. and Peru from Charlotte , Washington and the gateway cities ( Atlanta , Miami and New York ). International airfares have been stubbornly high this year and only in the past two weeks have shown any sign of decreasing. We have traditionally purchased tickets for the international portion of the trip from 12 to 18 weeks from the date of travel. At the present time, the best airfares between the U.S. and Peru are just one month from the date of travel. I am not confident, however, that I have the intestinal fortitude to wait that close to our trip to purchase tickets!

The majority of the team will depart for Peru on Friday, August 3, 2012, and return to the U.S. Monday, August 13, 2012.

Cheryl and John will depart for Peru prior to the mission trip to visit Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. They will join the rest of the team in Lima Saturday morning, August 4, 2012.

That Saturday will be a low-key day. We will probably visit the Larco Herrera Museum or the National Museum of Peru. We should then be fairly well rested for our ten 10 hour overnight bus trip from Lima to Huanta.

Amanda, Rose and Wes will travel to Cuzco after the mission trip to hike the Inca Trail, ending up at Machu Picchu .

I am looking forward to seeing pictures from the pre- and post-mission trip excursions!

Just in case you missed it, there was an article about Cuzco and The Sacred Valley in the April 29, 2012 edition of the Charlotte Observer.

Our hotel accommodations in Lima , Huanta and Ayacucho have been made. Daily breakfast at the Hostal La Posada de Marques in Huanta has been confirmed. Chapla and salt cheese, anyone?

Our project this year is to assemble, sand and paint 40 tables and 160 chairs for the churches in the Presbytery of Huanta for use in their children’s programs. Rusty is checking to see if the tables and chairs will be assembled prior to our arrival. That was such a blessing last year when we only had to sand and paint the bookcases and lecterns. I am sure that pre-assembly (by the Peruvians and not the Americans) made for a better piece of furniture!

We are also donating the funds to the Cristo Rey Church in Huanta to allow them to purchase 50 new mattresses, replacing those that were purchased 23 years ago. Quickly, what were you doing 23 ago?

The mattresses will be used by the students of the Huanta Bible Institute and by others who gather at the Cristo Rey Church for training, seminars, synod and presbytery meetings and other programs.

Our donations of clothing and shoes will be used by the Presbytery of Huanta to establish a community outreach program. Our ministry will in turn, enable their ministry.

This will be the fifth consecutive trip to Huanta. For me, each year I travel there becomes even more special than the year before, in part, because I am in awe for the blessing that I have yet another opportunity to go.

I am looking forward to our week together, one of faith, fellowship and service to Jesus Christ.

Sara and Rusty were in Ayacucho and Huanta during the Easter weekend and report that the members of the Cristo Rey Church are looking forward to our visit with much anticipation.

I have received the second trip payment from most, but not all team members. If you could arrange to have that sent to either me or the church (if the latter, clearly mark your check “Adult Mission Trip”) that would be great.

Oh, I was just kidding about the overnight bus ride. The plan is to fly between Lima and Ayacucho.

Please let me know if you have any questions or need additional information about the trip.

Grace and peace to each of you!

Randy

Peruvian Cuisine

I've honestly never thought of Peru as a place where foodies visit, but here's a guide from Frommers: http://www.frommers.com/slideshow/?group=1037%20

Connie Dale