Missionaries in DR

Missionary Danelle L. Putnam and Pastor Walter Ries Junior.

Danelle who served six years in Panama, has been sent by LCMS World Mission, at the request of Bethesda Lutheran Home, to serv people with developmental disabilities. Pastor Walter is a church-planting missionary sent to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil.

The first wedding in Palmar Arriba

That be a great day in Palmar Arriba. The first wedding in the church. Eduar and Yordania get married the 04-19-2008. Eduar an Yordania is a member for the Lutheran Church in Palmar. Eduar play drum and make drama for the Church. God bless both.

God in Palmar Arriba

Several years ago, St. Michael’s Lutheran Church, together with Diamela Pascasio, one of our principal partners here in Santiago, began work in a rural community called Palmar Arriba. They set out to build a Lutheran School and home for children. Today there is a very active school, a church and a soon to be home. There are approximately 120 children. I and Danelle have been doing weekly chapel on wednesday morning with the children. It has been uplifting and encouraging to us to see the response of the children as they lift their voices in praise and interact with us as we teach the Bible lessons. They are like the Word of the Lord and Jesus’ love.

Another thing we have noticed about Dominicans, and especially in Palmar Arriba, is that they all have the gift of hospitality. Now we have service in the church every wednesday in the nithg for the adult peoples the community, about 15 youth people and 20 children come regularly to the church.

Dominican Republic mission work

Hello all.

My name is Pastor Walter Trescher Ries Junior, misionary for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil. This blog is for the show you the God's work in Dominican Republic. This first picture is a map for the location in the world.

Climate:
Always warm and TROPICAL!
Population:
About 9.5 million
Language: Español
Favorite Foods:
Arroz moro y habichuelas (Rice & Beans) and Platanos (Plantains)…made 101 ways!
The DR is famous for…
Merengue music, baseball players and beautiful beaches
The DR’s importance in History!!!! COLUMBUS landed in the DR on his first voyage in 1492. The Island of Hispaniola (DR and Haiti) became a springboard for Spanish conquest of the Caribbean and the American mainland. How big are we? The DR is slightly more than twice the size of New Hampshire or 48,730 sq km. About 40 porcent of people live in poverty.

We live in the city of Santiago, which is is the north of the country, south of Puerto Plata.

History the mision:

The member of St. Michael Lutheran Church, Fort Myers, Fla., became aware of the needs of people in the Dominican Republic when they began mission trips a few years ago to Santiago, their Dominican sister city. In 2003, St. Michael approached Bethesda Lutheran Homes and Services of Watertown, Wis., an LCMS reconized service organization that serves people with developmental disabilities. Bethesda began providing training and resoucer for the Home of New Hope. This led to work with other local agencies, such as Dominican Childcare, to train workes in sharing Christ's love with children with desabilities.

In fall 2004, LCMS World Mission, LCMS World Relief and Human Care, Bethesda Lutheran Homes and Sevices, and the Cantral American Lutheran Mission Society (CALMS) signed an agreement to expand the work of St. Michael and Bethesda. This first-of.its.kind coalition sought to bring a collaborative approch to opening full-time mission work in the Dominican Republic.

By God's grace, in August 2005, the partners celebrated the instalation of missionaries in the Dominican Republic, Pastor Walter T. Ries Junior and the missionary Danelle L. Putnam