Hello All~
Just thought we would send a quick update for the next few days.
We have served this past week here in Santiago with the DTS team from Orlando. We've been doing children's ministry and some Outreach church services. It has been great fun and very productive ministry time. It has also helped us learn how to "view" and "handle" from a host position a team's internal workings. So it has been very good. The children have reallly enjoyed getting to serve in the children's ministry opportunities. We have not had much time to post pictures but will next week.
Our schedule for the next 8 days or so will be quite busy and we are not sure when we will have any time to use internet.
We leave tomorrow morning on Wed to travel to the northwest border at Dajabon where we will walk into Haiti and visit an orphanage there. We will then be coming back into the DR for a Wed night youth service at Loma de Cabrera. Then on Thursday we will be touring the World Vision ministry that works with a goat project along the Haiti/DR border. Friday, we will be coming back here to Santiago for a few hours before heading to Nagua in the northeast. There we will be visiting Everydayministries.com. They do ministry in quite a few towns in the area and have a large service planned for Friday night and Saturday. Also two church services on Sunday where Ned will be preaching possibly in at least one of them. This will be stretching for him. Then Monday we will head to Santo Domingo to visit the YWAM Carribean leader Kent Norell. On Tuesday or possibly Wednesday, we will travel to San Pedro de Marcoris where Dan Gower and his family serve. They are from our church in Vero and who Samantha and Debbie ministered with in 2006 when we were here. We are really looking forward to seeing them. Then traveling back here to Santiago.
Sooo.... it will be quite the busy next few days. We really appreciate your prayers. Especially for strength for the family as it is tiring doing all of this travel. We are being able to minister in so many different ways and have been learning so much about this country that we look forward to ministering in in the future. We are loving it here and getting to know the people. God is really using us and we are definitely being stretched.
Thanks so much for your prayers and support!
Blessings~
Ned and Debbie Walker and family
We officially arrived in Santiago, DR on January 12, 2010. We left Vero Beach, FL on the 11th but due to flying late at night we arrived here safely around 3:00 am! What a long night. 
We arrived the morning of the earthquake. The girls were all grocery shopping at La Sirena, a two-story grocery, here in Santiago, when the juice behind Hannah started to fall. Rhoda told us it was an Earthquake and we needed to get outside, esp. since we were on the bottom floor of the building. The guys were at the mechanics and saw the van, street lights, etc.. swaying. 
We were privileged this weekend to get to help with YWAM Santiago's SUYO camp. SUYO in Spanish means HIS. We had an additional 18 children and youth move into the YWAM house with us for a long weekend. This program is designed to raise up youth that feel called to missions. The weekend camp taught on knowing God to make Him known which is YWAM's motto. There were teachings on having a personal relationship with Jesus and many aspects of a daily Christian walk. Along with these teachings, the children learned dances and dramas. The camp closed with an Outreach to a local downtown park where about 125 or more gathered to hear the children give their testimonies, dance and perform dramas. Then the children took tracts to the people and offered to pray for them. Each month this group will get together to do a community service project or another outreach. What a great way for children to see that God will use them to change their own neighborhoods! Samantha, Hannah and Jesse were a part of the camp as campers and helpers. It was an amazing weekend! Jesse loved getting to pray for a lady through an interpreter! 
