When I arrived in Semana on New Year’s Eve with thousands of laugh-filled motorbikes coming inches from my rental car and loud distorted Latin music echoing from every bar I passed, it was ironically a very lonely experience. I knew not one person in the Dominican beachside town and very little Spanish. Days later when I left I still struggled with the language but I had been adopted by the most supportive family I have ever experienced. We came from very different worlds, but we had the bond of Jesus Christ, which was more than enough. The family of dozens treated me like the prodigal son of the Bible. They fed me, loved me, sang songs in my honor, we played music together, and their whole village prayed over me, yet they refused one peso from me in return. I have traveled all over the world and the people of The Dominican Republic are the most kind and generous I have met. Shailam the woman who watched over me like a sister would check on me throughout the day through the WhatsApp app with words of encouragement or a simple prayer.

Today weeks later when she is thousands of miles away she still texts me at least once a day reminding me of her love. It was hard to leave her loved-filled village.

As I jetted into the sky and watched their beautiful island disappear into the clouds, I was unsure when I would return. Regardless I knew I wanted to do something to help this village who barely had two nickels to rub together but treated me like a king. I did some digging and found that Shailam had recently lost her husband to a freak accident as he was working on building the home you see in the picture. The catastrophe left her life in ruins and stopped her from completing their home. That’s when through an emotional encounter with the Holy Spirit I decided to help her finish putting a roof on her house. The total bill to finish her house is ten thousand. Not much by American standards but in The Dominican Republic it is a fortune. So I set up this page to to raise money for her house. Hope you can chip in to give Shailam and her kids a roof over their heads.

I appreciate your consideration to this cause.