"I met Sharla Megilligan, the founding director of Makarios,
20 years ago on the first day I moved into the dorms at Cedarville
University. Sharla was always a smart, godly and hard working person, but
it is still kind of crazy to see someone you knew as a college kid, go on to be
used by God to build such an amazing ministry! He has certainly blessed
her endeavors to bring health, education and the gospel to children in the
Dominican Republic.
We had witnessed, admired and supported the growth of
Makarios from a distance in our home in Columbus, Ohio. So when we heard
about a special week for families to visit the school and spend a week with
their sponsored child we decided to go and take our daughters and see Makarios
for ourselves.
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| Benjamin with 10 years of letters from his sponsors. He saved them from the time he was 8 years old. |
Our week started with a testimony from Benjamin. He
had been a sponsor child himself through Compassion International as a child
and now he works for Makarios. He saved all the letters his sponsor
family wrote to him and shared them with us as he spoke about how meaningful
that relationship was even though he had never met his sponsor family in
person. It was a great example of sponsorship changing a life!
Our favorite part was playing with all the kids at the
schools.
 |
| Trip to eat ice cream! |
The Makarios Team went out of their way to facilitate
special events where our families could spend time with our sponsor children,
like a trip in the guagua (bus-like taxi) to get ice cream and eating at a
restaurant.
We had a tour of three local villages. The day we
toured Pancho Mateo, we met the cutest little girl. She looked 3, but she
was 5. She walked with us the whole time and she was carrying her baby
sister. I wondered what her story was and I felt a little worried about
her. Later that night, I was looking at the pictures of all the sponsored
kids on the wall at the Mak House and I saw her picture! I was so glad
she was a little kindergartener at Makarios!
The week was capped off with a big water party for the
kids! It was so much fun to watch them play and for us to get to know
their families better. I think it was less fun for Doug who was up late the
night before trying to get the swimming pools to stay inflated long enough to
fill with water. :-)
It was such a blessing to see God’s people doing His work with excellence
at Makarios. The teachers were so loving and committed, Doug and Margaret
were tireless as they walked our team through all our activities and made us
feel at home in a different country, and we left with a bigger view of God and
His work."
A heartfelt THANK YOU to the Kanzeg's who ministered to us in so many ways. Thank you for your heart in reaching out not only to Merili, but also to her family, all the Mak children, and our staff. Your visit was such a blessing. We hope to see you back again soon!
It was such a blessing to see God’s people doing His work with excellence
at Makarios. The teachers were so loving and committed, Doug and Margaret
were tireless as they walked our team through all our activities and made us
feel at home in a different country, and we left with a bigger view of God and
His work."
Their investment in Merili's life is priceless.
A heartfelt THANK YOU to the Kanzeg's who ministered to us in so many ways. Thank you for your heart in reaching out not only to Merili, but also to her family, all the Mak children, and our staff. Your visit was such a blessing. We hope to see you back again soon!
If you are interested in sponsoring a Mak student, please contact Becky at sponsorship.makarios@gmail.com
And...thank you for joining us on the journey.
Love from the DR,
The Becks
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