Advance Team Update Page

Posted January 27, 2008:

Ad Boyer and Fred Bromm traveled down to the DR on Saturday, a week ahead of the rest of the crew. Their job, other than entertaining "the missionary" and getting beat by Kasandra in dominoes, will be to scope out the jobs that need to be done, prioritize them, and make sure all the materials are on order. Please check back often for updates. I have posted some pictures below that show the progression of work at Los Girasoles, the second church plant by the Vallettes. This will be the third year that we will be working at this site. If you check out the pictures below of the church, you will see that they were taken on the same day, three years apart!

Posted January 28, 2008:

Ad sent a few more pictures of the church building in Los Girasoles. You can see them at the bottom of the page. The weather is good down there. They have been looking over the situation, especially at Pastor Ramone's church and according to Ad "The needs are many and great." They got hit very hard with a few of the tropical storms this past year. They are making a list of jobs and I've already started receiving a shopping list of materials to buy and bring down. Some things are just too expensive or hard to get down there. They've asked me to bring the electrical tools down as well.

They sent me a message that they started off the day with "gun fire" but weren't personally involved. That's all the details I have at the moment, so just keep them in prayer. They will be working at Pastor Ramone's home and church building in La Yaguita for the next few days.

Posted January 29, 2008 (AM):

I spoke to Rich and Ad this morning and it's 54 degrees F there at night! They're freezing! They have been working at Pastor Ramone's home and church all week. It looks like the bulk of our time will be spent there. They need many repairs from the tropical storms that hit the island. They began the new water tower for Ramone's family and will have it done by the time the rest of the team arrives. As a note of praise, a crew member who couldn't go with us this year donated some funds for the trip. This gift is going to allow the crew to install a second bathroom at Ramone's church building in La Yaguita, which will let them to become a Compassion International site. Compassion is a global children's ministry. You can click HERE for more information. Robin, Andrew, and I have sponsored a Compassion child in the DR for the past year and it has been a blessing. I will be able to actually visit the child and his family while I am there next week and will post updates at the previous link.

On last year's trip, the crew installed some new plumbing at the church building in Los Girasoles which included a large check-valve which had to be hand-delivered from the US. Ad told me that with the addition of the valve and the new plumbing - the church building did not take on any water during the hurricanes that hit the island of the past year! There are pictures of this project if you look at the 2007 Crew trip site.

Scroll down below for more pictures that just came in. Thank you all for your prayers and support!

This is what the church at Los Girasoles looked like before the Crew began to dig out and concrete the first floor in 2006.	Minus the paint, this is the way the Crew left the church in 2006 - with a finished and usable first floor. In 2007, we began to work on the walls of the second floor which would cover the rebar that you see in the picture.

	As you can see from the picture that Ad took on Sunday the 27th, the church building is looking beautiful. This is a testament to God's provision for the people of the community - to have a central place where they can gather to serve and worship the same God we do.
Below is a picture of the crew as they were leaving in 2007. This is a picture the church building in Los Girasoles. It would be the front left of the main auditorium.	Below is the inside of the same auditorium as it is now!

This is a picture at La Yaguita. You can pick out our two crew members, Fred and Ad, in the center of the picture. The lower right is Pastor Ramone and his son is the lower left. This is the water tower going up!	The Bromm Sod Emporium moves south! No Fred, you can't grow sod on a Dominican mountainside. Anyway, Fred had the chance to try his hand at farming the old fashioned way....he'll be happy to see his diesel tractor when he gets home. This is in La Yaguita near Ramone's home & church building.

This is a snap-shot of a roadside in Santiago. If you look at the center with the tree and building, you can see the debris that covered the rooftops during the flooding. Ad said that this is 40ft above the normal river level!	Rich (aka. "the missionary") is in the background and there is definitely unauthorized use of power tools here.... They are prepping the area where the water tower will be built.

Here's another picture of the water tower as it's being built. I guess I should explain the need for the water tower to Ramone's family. The public water pressure in Santiago is lower to begin with and their home is on the top of the hill. They get little pressure and much of the time the water is not even on. A tower allows them to store water via a pump when water is available and then gives them a bit of steady pressure into their home.	The chickens (pollo) are running scared with Ad and Fred on the loose...Ad had this picture labeled "lunch." I'm not sure I want to take that one any further. In the background is Pastor Ramone in front of his office/study.