Madeline serves as the coordinator of mission volunteers and groups throughout the Caribbean. She writes: [This Christmas time] I went to visit a school at Batey San Josè and my surprise was that the Christmas tree was made all with recycled soda bottles and the lights were made with construction paper with the names of all the students and the top star was my name! Yes!! My name: Madeline. I was so happy to see my name there and happy that they did it for me. These are the things that make us as missionaries know that we are not wasting our time, and that our lives really have impacted other lives.

On the 24th families get together to share dinner, talk, enjoy playing dominoes, music and jokes. Many families struggle during the day to see how food is going to be at the table for dinner. Poverty is extreme at some point that only bread or milk is the meal of the day. This day, the 24th., I went to visit 5 families in real poverty and we made sure that dinner was going to be available for them that day. A big bag with: bread (telera), spaguetties, roasted chicken, potatoe salad, cookies, candies and a soda was given to each family that day! What a great experience to see the faces of the family when this bag was given to them and they will see all the goodies inside! Smiles were priceless! Some of these families told us: "God is good, I was just thinking now what we were going to have for dinner tonight, and here you are with all this food. God bless you". For me, this is Christmas, sharing with the poor all we have. After this, then I went with some friends and celebrated Christmas with a nice dinner too.

I might not be able to feed all the poor in the Dominican Republic, but at least I fed five families!