Hello friends,
We hope that your summer has been a great one. Many of us on the Blackbox team have been traveling to and fro, but lots has still been happening with the ministry, so we wanted to take a moment to bring you up to speed:
Just a few months ago we hired Country Directors for our first target country – the Dominican Republic. They are an amazing husband-wife team, with a track record of integrity, servanthood and excellence. Since their hiring, they have been busy relocating, establishing our legal presence, and working on many logistical issues (such as transportation, officing and housing). Roger and Elaine Twitchell, our Field Directors, have worked closely with them.
Our vision has been to create an aftercare environment that feels local. This means that when our doors open, the boys will find the familiarity of Dominican people, customs and housing. This is important for their entrance into our ministry, and will be very important when it comes time to exit. It has been good to see this vision unfolding.
We are also pleased to report that the first draft of our training curriculum (which will be used in aftercare therapy by us, and then become available as a valued resource for others) has been completed, and is now being reviewed by our Field and Country Directors. This is very exciting.
Lastly, we have begun some fundraising efforts. We’ve had the opportunity to share about our ministry with several interested individuals, camps, missions groups and church leaderships. This aspect of ministry will be growing in the months to come. We’d love to hear from you if you know of people, who might want to partner with us in this work.
Thank you so much for your concern and encouragement. Let’s all keep praying, because we know that, for so many boys, the story must change.