Sunday 6th December 2009

The organist Peter Osborne and Minister Ian Jones preparing for worship.









After spending time at the Christmas Gofrit camp in Newcastle-Under-Lyme I went to Driffield Congregational Church on the Sunday Morning to take the morning service. After an enjoyable church lunch there was time to relax before the evening ecumenical prayer fellowship service. It was good to see the churches coming together to pray.



A photo of Minister Ian Jones taking a photo.

Sunday, 29th November 2009

A visit to North Wales to Coedpoeth, to our only Federation Church there. An advent service and a chance to share a little of the Dominican Republic story. This church is struggling to stay open and would value your prayers for the future. It was lovely to see a full church for this occasion.

Tuesday 24th November 2009

After arriving safely back from the Dominican Republic, on Monday 23rd November, I then went to London to take part in the Christian Aid A.G.M. which took place at Lambeth Palace.

Sunday, 22 November 2009

Our trip to the Dominican Republic comes to an end. Yesterday morning Prospery returned to Haiti and after dinner in the evening we said goodbye to Sophie. The two of them had organised and led a superb programme which has left us all with lasting memories and much to ponder. Yesterday morning was given over to a review and debriefing with the seven of us and Sophie. Today we have time for buying a few last gifts before flying out this evening.

In the picture with Jill are Catherine from Onè Respe and Prospery.

Friday, 20 November 2009

We went out early this morning to see the opening of the border between Haiti and the DR. At Dajabon a river forms the border but it is not very deep so that people can easily walk across and we saw a few people evade the border authorities. When the border opened, many people flooded across from Haiti to buy and sell in the bi-national market in Dajabon. Our friends the monitors from Solidaridad Frontaleza were on hand to look out for any human rights violations by the border authorities. They took us through the market which spreads through many of the streets of Dajabon. We walked through the parts selling second hand clothes and shoes, with a few fruit and vegetables. This was quite a crush and a bit hazardous due to the motorbikes pushing through the mêlée.

Our bus trip back to Santo Domingo proved eventful to say the least. Prospery was refused entrance because, though he had a visa in his passport, he did not have a required stamp. While he and Sophie rushed off to the immigration office, our bus set off. Thank goodness for mobile phones by which we were able to follow their progress and to hear eventually that they were on a following bus. Our bus, meanwhile, passed through innumerable checkpoints, at the first of which two men, presumably Haitians, were discovered in the luggage compartment. Another man was twice hauled off and twice bribed his way back on again. It was 11pm before Prospery was reunited with the rest of us at our Santo Domingo hotel
And so ended our visits to the Christian Aid partners. Now our thoughts turn to the task of spreading the word through the Congregational Churches.

Thurs 19 November

In the morning we moved on by a rather bumpy bus ride to Dajabon on the border with Haiti. After lunch we visited the office of Solidaridad Fronteriza, a Jesuit agency which works on issues related to migrants and local people on both sides of the border. Tomorrow we are to see the work of their monitors who record and report on human rights abuses at the border and in the binational markets where Haitians come to sell goods. We also heard how SF takes up 15-20 cases a month of abuse, beating and theft of goods by border officials in the courts on behalf of those on the receiving end. Like all the organisations we have seen they support the rights of migrants and Dominicans of Haitian descent, as well as Dominicans in general.

All the group are well and learning so much each day. Please continue to keep us in your hearts during these last days as we work to consolidate what we have seen and heard.

Wed 18 November

Today we travelled to Santiago and spent the rest of the day with Onè Respé. The two highlights were having lunch with Catuxo and Natacha who founded OR and the evening worship. Catuxo told us the history of how OR came about and it was very inspiring. We also enjoyed delicious local food. At the end of our visit we presented a CF candle – there was a slight irony in this as one of the activities of OR is a workshop which makes candles.

We visited two community schools (see picture) during the day and in the evening we returned to one of these for an act of worship. This was notable for its lively and participatory worship which was led by several women. During the service many of the congregation commented on the reading from Luke’s gospel – the story of Zachaeus – and shared blessings they had received during the week. A man leaning in through the window shared his blessing with the congregation. We joined in the Lord’s Prayer and the Prayer of St Francis. We brought greetings from the Congregational Churches in the UK.