If you have spent any time at Centro Especial Genesis in Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic you know how special of a place it is. Participants that come down and serve with us are always asked to bring the love of Genesis back to the US with them. For many, the way the children of Genesis love on others is the closest they’ve gotten to experiencing Christ like love on this earth. Despite being located in a country and culture that looks down on people with special needs, the children of Genesis and the school itself have overcome one obstacle after another.
Genesis was founded over 20 years ago in Jarabacoa and started as a small classroom with only a few children. Over the years, it has steadily grown in the number of students that attend, number of staff that work there, and has moved around to several different locations. Today Genesis has over 30 students, and they are still defying odds.
One of the most recent examples of this is about two girls who have attended Genesis for more than a decade. Fabiola and Lizmairy are in their last year at the school, but unlike their previous classmates, they have just started working part-time internships as part of the new transition program at Genesis. In addition to learning life and job skills at the school, they are gaining work experience at their job placements that were specifically picked for them based on their interests and future desires.
Not only are Fabiola and Lizmairy paving the way for their future classmates to get the opportunity to work within the community, but they are also part of changing the way the community looks at people with special needs. We don’t just want our participants to show the love of Genesis to the rest of the world, we want our students to bring it themselves. This program still has a long way to go, but we celebrate all the ways the Lord has worked and used our children to break down barriers. We are so proud of their resilience and are excited to see the ways they continue to overcome as the Lord uses them to show His kingdom to the rest of this world.
None of this would have been made possible without the people who have supported Genesis throughout the years, and now you have the opportunity to be part of the incredible work that the Lord is doing in this school! Join us in praying for the growth and development of the transition program, and the growth and development of our school as we are also in the beginning stages of fundraising for and designing a new building to reach more children in the community, as well as better meet their needs.
You can also join us in our annual “Run What You Want” race fundraiser. Just donate here:
Tell your friends, and then run whatever distance you’d like together or on your own on April 29th, so that God can continue using the unique stories of our future children like Fabiola and Lizmairy to make a difference in this world!
Grateful for you,
The SI Team
