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The VandeLinde Family
Ryan, Erin, Micah, Josiah
& Analise
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Blessings in a Box
Imagine working hard every day and still not having enough money to buy your children one single gift for Christmas. That is hard for most of us to imagine, but that is the harsh reality for many of the Dominican and Haitian families in our ministry. Until now!
Blessings in a Box
is a giving program that connects EDCM partners with a specific child in our ministry here in the DR, allowing them the opportunity to bless a child with a shoe-sized box full of toys, pencils, dolls, etc… This year EDCM’s partners blessed over 600 childrenthrough this program! We praise Him for His blessings and for His church, who have blessed the children of the Dominican Republic.
Here is short history of the program….
Several years ago a loving young women from Virginia visited the DR on a short term mission trip with EDCM. Her heart was broken by the living conditions of many of the children that we minister to. Once she returned to the US, she immediately began searching for ways to serve Jesus and partner with EDCM to help make a difference here in the DR. She wanted the children to feel loved and to know God’s love. Therefore, she had the idea to send shoeboxes full of toys and gifts to each individual child within EDCM’s ministry, knowing that the gift boxes would probably be the only Christmas gift many of the children would receive. With the support of her home congregation, here idea became a reality and “Blessing in a Box” was born. She and a group of volunteers from the church began sponsoring children, filling the boxes with gifts and sending them to the DR.
A special thanks to:
New Hope Christian Church
Community Christian Church
Penn Forest Christian Church
Jessica Breeden
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Navidad in the DR
How does 85 degrees during the day and 75 degrees at night sound? Yes, being in the Caribbean during the winter months does have its advantages. While Dominicans do have some unique Christmas traditions, many of them are similar to US Christmas traditions. This year all or our church plants had a Christmas dinner where the food was plentiful and the laughter great. Many participated in the “aguinaldo,” or Christmas caroling, where they arrive unannounced late at night at different church member’s homes and sing until they come outside. While it usually is crazy, it is enjoyed by all involved (except those who were asleep in their homes).
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Unity within the EDCM Team
EDCM Team Building
Recently the EDCM Team celebrated the year by spending the day together at a water park. It was a great day enjoyed by all! It was wonderful to see the preachers and missionaries laugh together and to watch all of our children play together. We are very thankful for this team (and those not pictured) and praise God for everything He is doing through us!
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Website & Twitter
Check out our website and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Facebook: Eastern Dominican Christian Mission
Twitter: #EDCMmissions
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Contact Information
Ryan & Erin VandeLinde
Email: ryanvandelinde@hotmail.com
Cell: 1-809-707-3069
Mail and Donations to:
Eastern Dominican Christian Mission
PO Box 20136
Roanoke, VA 24018
*for all financial donations
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Micah’s Minute
Yeah, vacation! I love Christmas time because there is no school! This year during my break, I went to a water park and played all day long with my friend Nicolo. It was awesome! We rode all of the slides, even the really big ones. One thing we love to do is scream the entire way down the slide. It is so awesome! Well, hope you had a great Christmas because I sure did!
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