Solar Oven Partners Update
  
 
 
Empowering People Through Self-Help
November  2015
The People We Serve
 

"I have many poor people in my church and they can't always afford gas for cooking. Wood for cooking can be hard to find and is expensive--and using wood isn't good for our people or for the environment. Solar cooking is a wonderful project."
The Rev. Aefreda Espinosa,
Barahona Province
Dominican Republic
Ministry Quicklinks
Shipment of Ovens to DR 
Ready for December Mission Team 
 
 
A cargo ship full of containers-including one packed full of solar ovens-docked at the port in Rio Haina, just outside the Dominican Republic's capital of Santo Domingo on Nov. 1. Following soon after, on Dec. 1, will be a United Methodist Volunteer in Mission Team (UMVIM) comprised of seven eager Dakotans ready to inaugurate a ministry to serve the poor in this Caribbean country. 
SDSU Jackrabbits football team members and Head Coach John Stiegelmeier packed the shipping container with solar ovens
at the Volga, SD, workshop. 
 
 
"It has been nothing short of a miracle," says SOP Director Rick Jost. "Ministry partners have collaborated to ship and receive 1,100-plus ovens, develop a distribution site at Bani (west of Santo Domingo), and prepare mission teams in both the USA and Dominican Republic to work together for this December mission trip. All of this has  happened since first discerning the interest for solar cooking among Dominican church members this past August. This project is, thanks be to God, off and running!"    
 
Exploratory trip sets the stage
SOP sent an exploratory mission team to the Dominican Republic in August to demonstrate the solar oven program after being invited by the Iglesia Evangélica Dominicana (IED) church and Global Ministries missionaries Gordon and Ardell Graner, who are serving in the DR. The 10-day mission trip ended with an enthusiastic request from IED Bishop Miguel Cancú to bring the SOP ministry into his country.
           
The December mission team will spend 10 days in the DR and will travel to different locations, providing two-day seminars during which oven recipients will receive training in solar cooking and help team members assemble ovens. This first time they expect to distribute 75 ovens.
           
A mixture of SOP veterans and fresh recruits will make up the December team. Harris Bailey (Wahpeton UMC), Dave Stearns (Hartford UMC) and Rick and Lorna Jost (Brookings UMC) have been on multiple SOP UMVIM teams. New mission team members are: Beth Swanson (McCabe UMC), Barbara Krumm (Eureka UMC), and Mari Martin (Washburn UMC).

 
Start Thinking Alternative Gifting
As the SOP mission team is distributing solar ovens to the poor in the Dominican Republic, people back home will begin their Christmas shopping. Wouldn't it be exciting to know that some of that shopping will be in the form of Alternative Gifting of solar ovens to the poor of the Dominican Republic?

You can truly make a difference in the life of a Dominican family in need and capture the true meaning of Christmas for yourself and others by donating to SOP in the form of an Alternative Gift. A solar oven and training provided to a family in the Dominican Republic costs $150. Check out our 2015 Alternative Giving brochure!
Workshops--Back in Action!
The SOP workshops are humming, with the need to build up inventory for the next shipment of ovens to the Dominican Republic. If you'd like to be part of the SOP mission program, but prefer to stay state-side, why not volunteer a day at one of our workshops? You'll go home with a satisfied feeling that you've made a difference--all the while having fun working with others.

Rick Jost has put together the first call for volunteers on Saturday, Nov. 14, at the Volga, SD, site, where a team will process foam insulation board and cut wood for the ovens' framing. Additional workdays will be scheduled throughout the winter.

The Moffit, ND, workshop, under the supervision of Dave and Renae Silbernagel, fabricates the ovens' reflectors and is already under production. You can schedule a workday for yourself or a small group, or put yourself on a "work call list." Get in touch with Rick Jost (Volga workshop) at 605-692-3391 or email rjost@brookings.net. Contact the Silbernagels by calling 701-391-9468 or emailing silbernagel.dave@yahoo.com.
 
Contact Info
Solar Oven Partners
http://www.solarovenpartnersumc.org
 
Solar Oven Partners Update
605-363-5097