John Parish - CSI Dominican 2017

I am excited to be part of a team from Camp Sonshine International going to the Dominican Republic and Haiti from April 7th - 15th, 2017!   This is CSI's second year working with and supporting the ongoing ministry of full-time missionaries Lee & Carol Short in the Dominican Republic & Haiti.   

Our team will demonstrate the love of Jesus by conducting camp & children's ministries and assisting with a much-needed feeding program for several hundred families.  CSI's day camps include games, crafts, sports, songs, dances, Bible lessons, skits and loads of fun.

Camp Sonshine has been an important and growing part of our lives since our own kids first attended Camp Sonshine Nebraska as campers in 2008.    

Bryce and Marshall have been at camp every summer since in the roles of Camper, Leader in Training, Assistant Counselor and Counselor.    

This past summer was Marshall’s first year as a counselor, Karen joined the staff as coordinator of the "Nana's Snack Shack" and Bryce began a yearlong internship at Camp Sonshine International in Silver Spring Maryland.     

From flipping pancakes on Saturday mornings to clean-up days to helping in the office and hosting staff dinners, Karen and I love volunteering at camp.  It is such a treat to see the campers and to invest in the lives of the counselors.   

In addition to Camp Sonshine in Nebraska, it has been a blessing and privilege for me to travel with CSI to Mezcales Mexico and work alongside Lee and Carol Short each of the last three years.   For a week, I get to play with and love the kids and see the fruit of Lee & Carol's ongoing ministry to families in Mezcales and now Cartonlandia.  

It is the goal of this new Camp Sonshine International ministry to bring the love of Christ to children and families in the southwest region of the Dominican Republic and build on the work that God is already doing there through the Shorts.  These camp weeks really are life-changing and make an eternal difference.    

You are invited to join the team!   Our most important, need is your prayer support.   Please pray that God will work in us and through us as members of this team and that the hearts of the children and families we will serve during our short week with the Shorts will be prepared.

You can also help by contributing financially to cover expenses including ministry supplies and food for the feeding program.  EVERY bit helps to take the Gospel to hopeless and helpless situations - If you would like to be a part of what God is doing through this mission, please click on the 'Donate' button below.   Your contribution is tax deductible and you will receive a receipt from Razoo.    

A little about the DR:  

• The Dominican Republic is the second-largest of the Caribbean countries, right after Cuba. 
• The Dominican Republic is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Caribbean, offering an exciting mix of European, African and local native cultures.
• The Dominican Republic is an exporter of crops such as sugarcane, coffee, cacao and tobacco. 
• Despite its modernization in recent decades, only 30% of children finish primary school and 18% finish secondary school.  
• Half of Dominicans younger than age 18 live in poverty - struggling to get enough food, access to safe drinking water, and adequate housing.   
• There is great need among the people of this nation.  

Thanks for reading this and for your support.   I'm looking forward to seeing my friend Lee and being a small part of his ongoing and growing ministry in the Dominican Republic and Haiti!