“It is hard to believe that we just completed our 10th summer of ministry. God has done so many amazing things in the last ten years that I could write volumes. If you had asked me in 2000 to dream what SIDR might look like in 10 years, I would not have been able to imagine the ways God has blessed us. In addition to the new facility we now enjoy, we also now have 15 ministry sites. This includes our three newest: micro finance, women’s sports, and our own physical therapy site. God has given us amazing opportunities to share the Good News.

We are happy to report that spring teams have been going very well. We started out with a team from Jupiter Christian School. This group has been such a huge blessing to us here in the DR over the past 7-8 years. When they come they bring so many donations we can hardly transport everything from the airport to Jarabacoa. 

We have hosted teams from JMU, Ferris State, and Taylor University, just to mention a few. Since Feb. 5th we have had about 169 outreach participants with us here in the DR. We have also been able to host a group from Wintonbury Baptist Church in Wintonbury, CT. While they were here we had 13 people working in Dentistry. We have six portable chairs and all were being used at the same time. We had three dentists pulling teeth for five days. We also had three hygienists working at the same time doing cleanings. There were people who assisted and others sharing the gospel. Thank you Wintonbury and everyone who helped make this possible. 

During this same week Dr. Fernando Gonzales took a group to La Vega to a very poor neighborhood to help some other missionaries in a medical outreach. That day Dr. Fernando and his two students saw over 100 patients. They came back to the base exhausted. Praise God for touching the hearts of students to come to the DR to be apart of what God is doing here.

On January 26th, a new Students International preschool was opened in the rural mountain community of Los Higos. Each day, twelve preschoolers dressed in red and blue uniforms excitedly wait for their teacher to arrive. At the preschool, the children are given a solid educational and spiritual foundation that will prepare them for success when they enter public school. Next year these twelve children will advance to preschool level two and twelve new children will enter level one, bringing the preschool’s total enrollment to twenty-four.

Students International has been working in Los Higos, a community of 650 people, for six years. Other S.I. ministries in the community include social work and a women’s center. Out of these ministries a church was born. The church is growing and has become autonomous.  

Pray for the new preschool, the social work site, and the women’s center. Pray that as we work in partnership with the church, the community of Los Higos will continue to experience the transforming power of God.

In February 2009, Students International hosted the first ever Women’s Outreach! Women of all ages gathered in Guatemala to experience God work in and through them. Women from California, Texas, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Guatemala spent a week ministering in occupational ministry sites and sharing a home and their lives with Guatemalan families. There were many opportunities for corporate worship, sharing life stories, and testifying to God’s faithfulness!  The week was full of exciting adventures!  The women saw the first water purification system created by Matt MacIntire for the homes in El Gorrion and it was the first outreach with the new media site up and running!  Many members of the outreach also helped with the El Gorrion medical clinic where over 100 men, women and children from the community received much needed medical care.  The outreach was lead by Janice Hansen, with co-leaders Pam Christy and Shellie Bowman, and the Students International Guatemala staff.

See the photo Gallery here

Note from the President:

Early spring presents a unique opportunity for Students International as our field ministries have time to grow and develop before the “rush” of students over spring break and continuing over the summer. We have discovered that this is a great time for adults to go and work alongside our staff, to bless and to be blessed by them. Our adult outreach participants offer professional insights to our staff as well as build relationships among participants.

My wife, Janice, just returned from one of these trips to Guatemala. This happened to be the first “women only” SI trip! The women staff from Guatemala and Costa Rica was invited to participate in all aspects of the outreach. They were also joined by Maggie Slabach from the Dominican Republic. It was such a blessing to all 38 women who participated.

I will soon be leaving for the “men’s only” SI trip to Costa Rica. This has always proven to be a great blessing and adventure as we live and work in community while experiencing what God is doing in another culture. The invitation is always open for you to join us in the future!

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:1 & 2

On September 13, 2008 around 400 people gathered at the Alipaz home for the 4th annual SI banquet in Visalia, CA. Some of the highlights from the banquet include reports from the field by summer participants who live in the Central Valley. One of several speakers was Ryan McKenzie of Sierra Vista Presbyterian Church, who shared about the growth he saw in his students in Guatemala and the beauty he saw in the lives of the poor they served there.  Another speaker was new staff member Cailah Pritchard. Though she’s headed to Costa Rica, she served this past summer in Fiji and shared about the unexpected lessons God had for her in relational ministry. It was a great night celebrating what God is doing in and through Students International, challenging all of to explore what God would have us do next. See the pictures in this link