Final Report
2004-05 Centro Buen Pastor - Tampa Deanery Mission Project
Summary
The Tampa Deanery concluded its two-year project to finish the 4,000 ft2 two story Centro Buen Pastor church and multi-use center this year. Over the two years the Tampa deanery has sent a total of 86 volunteer missionaries (44 persons in four teams in 2004, and 42 persons in three teams in 2005). The three teams of 
2005 virtually finished the church, with but a few details remaining to be completed when they left (final wiring of the second floor, installation of toilets & sinks, iron protectors, classroom dividers, etc.).
Centro Buen Pastor, a joint ministry of the Dominican Episcopal Church and the Sisters of Transfiguration, serves the people of Barrio Las Flores. It offers education for children from preschool through fifth grade, and medical services to barrio residents in its small clinic to which the government assigns medical doctors for their intern year. Up to this year the small Centro Buen Pastor mission congregation, under the leadership of Fr. Sandino Sánchez, met in a tiny room in the clinic. Now they can move into their spacious new church. Through the last part of 2005 Fr. Sandino has a recent seminary graduate assigned to work with him, who Sandino wants to use to build up the congregation. The newly completed second floor of the church will serve as an assembly hall for the school, a community education center for the barrio, and other multi-use functions for the church.
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In a recent correspondence Sandino said regarding the Buen Pastor project,AIt was a difficult but excellent job that the Tampa Deanery did. I remember that in the beginning I thought three years would be needed to complete it. But thanks to God, and the generosity of our brothers and sisters, it only took two years to finish the church.@ During 2004 the first three mission teams accomplished their goal of framing up the roof, placing the reinforcing steel, and then pouring the slab roof of the two story church. Team IV in 2004 painted the new Bishop Kellogg Conference Center adjacent to the San Esteban vicarage. All three teams in 2005 worked directly on the Centro Buen Pastor church. Team III painted the church inside and out, help install and paint the doors, and sand and varnish the pews and altar furniture, and the church was essentially finished when the team left. Earlier, Team II had built the 22 pews and the altar furniture, and Team I installed doors.
Financial Report
The bold idea of the deanery project is to significantly assist the congregations of the Dominican Episcopal Church in their own development and self-sufficiency. A project not only provides the funds for the materials it will use
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up, but also contributes significant capital towards the goal of the project, and this certainly was the case for the Tampa Deanery/Centro Buen Pastor project. In the final report for the 2004 teams, we estimated we would need $26,000 for the plastering and the floors to get the church ready for the for the teams to work on it during the summer of 2005. Another $21,000 would be needed to complete the church, without including the cost of the wood for the pews and other altar furniture, nor the Airon protectors@ for the windows. In God=s providence, and thanks to God=s grace, the deanery generated the resources to do what was needed. This was in addition to the $19,000 put into materials in 2004.
What stands out most in the financial report is the strong fund raising effort in 2005, buttressed by three anonymous contributions totaling almost $19,600. This allowed the Deanery to reach its goal of completing Buen Pastor, thus Arepaying@ Bishop Holguín the funds that were borrowed Afrom Peter to pay Paul@ so as to advance the work on Buen Pastor to make it possible for the teams to finish up Buen Pastor this summer. Note too that team support cost considerably more than last year, which, I believe, was due to the fall in the value of the dollar against the Dominican peso.
Income and Expenses for 2004-05
Income By Church
2004 2005 Total
Holy Innocents $ 8,575 $ 7,060 $ 15,635
St. Andrew=s $ 3,000 $21,070 $ 24,070
St. Clement=s $ 4,435 $10,082 $ 14,517
St. James House of Prayer $ 4,285 $ 6,460 $ 10,745
St. John=s $11,375 $18,177 $ 29,552
St. Mark=s $ 8,005 $ 5,725 $ 13,730
St. Chad=s $ 3,478 $ 6,026 $ 9,504
General Income $ 8,078 $ 9,318 $ 17,396
Total Income $51,231 $83,918 $135,149
Expenses by Category
2004
Team Tickets $17,277
Team Support $10,665
Construction Materials $19,050
Total Expenses $46,992
2005
Team Tickets $18,289
Team Support $17,310
Materials Between Teams $20,000
Construction Materials $20,084
Total Expenses $75,683
Additional Financial notes:
1. Last November $800 was sent for the septic system at San Matías;
2. We had $616 is expenses for Sandino & Ysabel=s visit in January, plus $168 in taxes on the tickets which were obtained through the donation of Frequent Flier miles;
3. Team trip insurance hasn=t been paid (Aug. 2) for bill has not yet been received;
4. The balance ($11,058 minus the insurance) will go to reimburse DR Diocese for funds loaned to the project, and if there are funds left over, for next year=s project.
Next year=s project: All indications point to the new church & school in El Seybo. Sandino wrote the following in his 2 August correspondence. AI was speaking with the Bishop who I saw so interested in the El Seybo project that we will launch it with the Tampa Deanery - I do not want them (Tampa) to go to another area (of the country).@ El Seybo is located some 65 kilometers (40 miles) from San Pedro along a two lane road (an hour and 15 minutes trip from San Pedro says Sandino). It is the capital the eastern province of El Seibo, and has an estimated population of 88,000. The government wants to donate the land to the diocese to build a church and school on. There is such strong interest in El Seybo that over 400 children attended an improvised Vacation Bible School this summer, and that 80 persons attend when Sandino goes to El Seybo to hold services. The first step in the project will be to build the church, thus establishing the Church in El Seybo, then move on to the school after the church is complete.