Why We Work in Sosúa

Sosúa is a popular tourist destination that comes alive at night and has a huge problem with commercial sexual exploitation of children. It is a small beach town, but is full of bars, brothels and night clubs.

Success Stories

EXPOWER Girls success stories

Maria* was a problematic and difficult girl with a low self-esteem who thought she was worth less than the other girls. She always acted with aggression and negatively towards the other girls. Her home life is rough with her mother involved in witchcraft and her father having issues with gambling and drinking. Now Maria* is nicer and more friendly and she always like to hang out with the other girls.

Fernanda* used to be depressed and would not bathe or make her bed. She would throw her clothes on the floor and did not have very good relationships with her mother and classmates. Her personal hygiene was poor and she did not like to take care of herself. Now she is improving in this area, along with her behaviour and relationships. She is more diligent and hard-working at school. She is also very intelligent, but still lacks motivation to try her best.

Paula* is Maria’s sister and needs help because she is at high risk. Her home life is rough and she leaves her house without permission. Her mother lets her go out alone without knowing who she is with or where she can find her. We are working on changing that situation. However, to have Paula* frequently attending the program is a success in itself.

Please pray for this girl and that God’s will may be done.

-New Level 1 Assistant:-
Branyali is a 13 year old girl from the community of Villa Enmanuel who is helping us lead Level 1 of the EMPOWER Girls program. She has already proven herself to be a great help by coming prepared to the club meeting and going above and behind in how she teaches the lesson plan by making sure everyone is paying attention and learning something. Please pray that Branyali would continue to grow in her walk with the Lord and that God would use her to impact the lives of the girls we’re mentoring.

- Written by Empower Girls Director, Anna Rutherford

His dad died when he was 10 or 11, he can’t quite remember. His dad was a construction worker and was killed in an accident when a car struck his motorbike. After living here for several years, I can tell you that happens often.

Raimy started attending the Hugs for Kids school around that same time, he couldn’t read or write and his math wasn’t very good yet there was something special about him. He stood out as for being quiet, very polite and always wanting to be helpful.

I started really noticing him when a mission team (Lighthouse Church, Cape Breton led by Rebecca Harnum and Dave Sawler) took Raimy’s class on their annual class field trip. They went on a scavenger hunt and while most kids just ran around in their excitement, Raimy had a scribbler and was taking notes and drawing pictures of the plants and insects.

Children in the Dominican Republic go to school one of two or sometimes three sessions a day. Raimy attends in the morning but quite often returns during the afternoon session to help clean up the playground, or do errands for Lourdes Garcia, our school Director. He says he just likes being there.

Sometimes the director will give him a few pesos for helping and makes sure he gets something to eat. He proudly tells me now he can read, write and do math. He says wants to learn more and that he’s already using what he has learned by helping the younger children with their reading.

Donna and I are so blessed to watch Raimy and others like him, learn and grow and become young men and women that now have choices in life. It’s an experience we don’t take for granted.

This experience is only possible because faithful, caring, compassionate people give to help those less fortunate. Who know, without such generosity Raimy may have found a way to fulfill his desire to learn some other way, but perhaps not. Fortunately the one thing we know for sure is he is making the best of the opportunities he’s been given.

For that, we say thank you!

Phil

And we’d like to thank everyone who’s supported Servant’s Heart over the years – we appreciate all of you so much!

CLICK HERE for all the details!

Te Bendiga!

We believe that education is more than just academics. Our Hugs for Kids School aims to educate children to the fullest extent so that students obtain a well-rounded education. We are able to accomplish that with your support and sponsorship of our Healthy Kids: Nutrition and Health Program. Through this program we are able to ensure that children are not only academically educated, but also in areas such as health and nutrition. This means that students will learn about the importance of eating nutritious foods and health education including topics such as proper washing, brushing teeth and the importance of exercise.

Servant’s Heart Ministries strongly believes in the importance of healthy children. We work to continually improve the quality of our Hugs for Kids School and health and nutrition program. Unfortunately, this has resulted in increased costs. In order to provide the students of our Hugs for Kids school with the most nutritious snacks and the health/nutrition education available, without increasing the child sponsorship payments, we have decided to separate the two programs.

With your help, Servant’s Heart can continue to work on improving the health of all Hugs for Kids School students. Sponsorship of this program costs only $15 per month. Your monthly sponsorship allows students of our Hugs for Kids School to eat a nutritious snack each day and learn about nutrition and provides students with bi-annual medical health checks and health education. Healthy children become health adults; together with your sponsorship of our Healthy Kids Nutrition and Health program we can create a brighter future.

On Saturday July 14, 2012 we had the opportunity to participate in a Breast Cancer Awareness March in Los Charamichos, Dominican Republic. The event was organized by Island Impact in hopes of showing the importance of getting screened for breast cancer.

According to the Canadian Cancer Society, in 2012 an estimated 22,700 Canadian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 5,100 will die. One in nine women is expected to develop breast cancer during her lifetime and one in twenty-nine will die of it. However, breast cancer does not only affect women in Canada, it affects women across the world.

Women from throughout the area dressed in pink and/or with pink bras overtop of their clothing. So far, numerous women have been screened in Servant’s Heart Ministries clinics, with some women showing great risk of having breast cancer. This increased awareness will allow for women to receive treatment.

Many different groups participated in the March, including the Military. A great number of people living in Los Charamichos watched the parade. Participating in this event was eye-opening. It was amazing to see such a large group of people participate in an event aimed at improving the overall health of women.

Stephanie, Jessica, Kathryn, and Joslyn

In anticipation of returning this year, I was anxious to see the progress the ministry had made in these endeavors. What I have found is that much of the last two years has been spent on better meeting the needs of the communities.

The medical clinics services have been refined to match their demand, and by doing so have ensured their financial and human resources are used as effectively as possible. The teachers in the school are in the process of tailoring the curriculum to meet the exact learning needs of the children. Specifically, the staff is working on interactive activities for the younger classes. The progress made in the school with the children in just two years has been remarkable.

The level of attention and involvement has made tremendous improvement in the ministries ability to effect change in the lives of the people they are serving, and have no doubt will continue into the future.

It has been a pleasure for me to see firsthand the impact Phil and Donna and the SHM staff have made on the various communities in which they work, as well as the progress the ministry has made in the last couple of years.

Nathan Childress, volunteer.

We would like to thank all of you that have given both financially and with your prayers to ChristLove’s care throughout the past year. Many trips were made to the Children’s Hospital in Santiago, with even more trips to have blood tests and analyses. In the end, we believe it was more God’s providence than hard work that resulted in her having the operation.

We have one very special lady to thank for ChristLove being able to get her surgery and that is Pastora Nieve. She is a Dominican Pastor that brought Christlove’s need to a friend from Spain, who in turn helped bring the need to a team of American Doctors working in the Children’s Hospital in Santiago.

Many times, we have seen successful outcomes when we work together with other people and organizations of like mind (people whose primary concern is the welfare of the person we are called to minister to). Pastora Nieve and her family are very poor and her home is in disrepair. Yet despite her own personal circumstances and with no thought to herself, she took the time and money she was able to find to help ChristLove and her family.

After meeting her and seeing firsthand the way she sacrificially works to serve the people of her community, we feel she deserves to receive the help she would never ask for. As soon as we raise the $6000 Canadian we need, we will be doing another “Dominican Home Makeover”, providing her and her family with a dry, safe home to live in. This will give her peace of mind, knowing her family is looked after, so that she can continue to do God’s work in her community, sacrificially serving those around her.

We are continuing to monitor ChristLove’s recovery and are providing food, medicines, and wound dressings while she recovers. Please continue to pray for her provision and quick recovery.

The Empower Girls Program has positively affected the lives of many girls and their families in the community of Villa Enmanuel. To launch the beginning of the program we held a sleepover for over 25 girls and have officially been meeting regularly. We started a children`s bible study, celebrated one of the girl`s birthdays, started an Israeli dance class and helped with a team that came from Canada. We hope to continue with the bible study, dance class, devotionals, and Beauty Salon class that the girls are already involved in. We also want to start meeting with the girls one-on-one.

Many of the families of the girls in the program are expressing gratitude and are very happy to see their girls content. After participating in the sleepover, one of the girls has already started to change in a noticeable way. Her mother told us that her daughter used to be depressed; she did not want to bathe or make her bed and would throw her clothes on the floor. However, now we can see that she has a better relationship with her mother and her classmates and always wears a smile on her face.

* written by Anna Rutherford