Connie Branderhorst, affectionately known as Señora B to her students, has lived a life deeply rooted in Christ's purpose.

Her journey, marked by travel and missions, began with the cultural appreciation and love for languages instilled by her Dutch parents. As a teenager, Connie felt a strong pull towards missionary work, a calling that would shape her future. This calling led her to become a Spanish teacher in California, where she had the opportunity to lead numerous mission trips to Central America. She witnessed God's work firsthand during these trips, working alongside missionaries in various occupational ministry sites. However, her trips with Students International to Guatemala truly ignited her passion for child sponsorship, a journey she embarked on with more than a few children.

In 2006, Connie started leading trips to Guatemala. During this time, Students International invited her to lead a team to the Dominican Republic. This trip would capture her heart. She felt privileged to serve in the Dominican Republic, where she was immediately drawn to the local children and their need for education and basic life necessities. Connie quickly realized that sponsorship was the key to providing these children with hope for a better future.

After leading teams to Guatemala for 15 years and participating in countless other mission trips, Connie felt God's call to start her own ministry to help families in the Dominican Republic. Thus, PuentesDR was born in 2018. PuentesDR is a child sponsorship organization that partners with children and their families to make God's love visible through education, health, and nutrition in the Dominican Republic.

Puentes is Spanish for "Bridges”. The name "Puentes'' was selected to highlight the importance of constructing bridges together, united by the family of Jesus Christ. It envisions a community where individuals mutually support each other, guided by His presence in their lives. Every sponsored family and child in the Dominican Republic deserves to lead a purposeful life enriched through education and a robust support system. PuentesDR's sponsorship aims to transcend mere financial assistance, offering an opportunity to construct bridges and invest in lives.

PuentesDR's mission is to implement child sponsorship by bridging the gap between our world of education and proper nutrition to one of impoverished conditions, making Christ known, and bringing hope for the future of school-aged children in the Dominican Republic.

One such child is Ronaldo Rosario Díaz, a 4-year-old boy from the community of Los Higos. Ronaldo had so many respiratory health issues that it was causing him to either miss school or require medical prescriptions and doctor visits often. PuentesDR quickly decided that Ronaldo would be a great candidate for sponsorship.

While PuentesDr's mission is to see that children have their proper health, nutrition, and educational needs met, a large part of that is the condition of their homes. To date, PuentesDR has helped four other families in home builds. The teams that travel with Señora B have additional opportunities to serve alongside the local construction crew in the home builds.

The first big challenge was making an accessible and safe home a reality for the Díaz family. While PuentesDR already sponsors Ronaldo, their team created a separate project for the home reconstruction, and they knew that God would provide. Philippians 4:19 says, "And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus." CVC alumnus Blake Rocha was that unexpected provision, and God knew what was needed.

Connie said, "Blake has always been one of those students with a caring heart. He joined me on a mission trip to Guatemala in the summer of 2013. His lighthearted wit and spark carried him well relationally in Guatemala with the local children. I remember him introducing himself as "Chicharito," the soccer player, to all the grade school kids lined up to meet our team. The Guatemalan niños went crazy with excitement!"

"Blake has always been one of those students with a caring heart. He joined me on a mission trip to Guatemala in the summer of 2013. His lighthearted wit and spark carried him well relationally in Guatemala with the local children. I remember him introducing himself as "Chicharito," the soccer player, to all the grade school kids lined up to meet our team. The Guatemalan niños went crazy with excitement!"

It was no surprise that Blake's heart remained bridged to service, and he wanted to be able to continue to support PuentesDR's mission after he had his own firsthand experience helping these families. After hearing about Ronaldo and his family's need for new housing, he surprised Señora B with $10,000 so that her ministry could give the Díaz family the home they desperately needed.

PuentesDR needed to purchase materials to see this project through for Ronaldo. Locally in the Dominican Republic, the cinder blocks, rebar, and sand for mixing cement must be delivered by truck to this tiny community. A local construction team was hired to develop a plan and demolish the existing house. PuentesDR put together a budget for all the required materials and construction labor, and the donation money was wired to a bank in the Dominican Republic. Just after Christmas, the work began. A mission team joined those efforts in January, aiding them in hauling cinder blocks and mixing cement (by hand!) to help.

A construction crew began the day after Christmas by demolishing Ronaldo's humble home of wood. Materials were purchased and delivered. The building team placed structures for the house, dug holes where the walls would be, poured cement, placed rebar, and began laying cinder blocks. Upon PuentesDR's arrival on the 14th of January, walls were going up! The supports for the roof structure will soon be placed on the home. Later, the construction team will finish plumbing, pouring cement floors, hanging doors, and placing windows.

Ronaldo and his family are so very excited about their new home. While the home's footprint is not any more significant than what it was, it will now have an interior bathroom that it didn't previously have. There won't be any wood rotting or water leaking in the home, and they will have a sufficient roof. While work on the house is still being completed, the PuentesDR team is hopeful that Ronaldo and his family can soon move in.

Ronaldo's mother, Rosa, has often written letters saying, "Thank you to God, to you, and to Blake. We will have a new house that our family so very needs. Thank you for having such a big heart - you have no idea how excited we all are."

Since Ronaldo is sponsored on a personal level, ongoing efforts support him and his family beyond the initial home construction. His educational, nutritional, and health needs are taken care of each month, and Ronaldo and his sponsor, Nicole Tennyson, exchange letters twice a year. Weekly Bible studies are held in his community with other sponsored children by Dominican PuentesDR staff.

Each initiative undertaken by PuentesDr is uniquely aligned with its mission, aiming to bridge the needs of these families, with a particular focus on their health and education. PuentesDR's commitment extends beyond individual children; they strive to enhance the overall well-being of entire families.

To learn more, visit the PuentesDR website at puentesdr.reachapp.co. By joining the newsletter email list, you can stay informed about ongoing projects and be an integral part of this bridge-building effort.

There are several ways to support PuentesDR’s impactful work:

• Sponsorship: Consider sponsoring a child or a staff member.General Donations:
• Contribute to their mission through a general donation.
• Purchase with Purpose: Buy coffee from the Dominican Republic or Larimar bracelets crafted by women from sponsored children’s communities. These items are available for sale in the USA through the online store on the PuentesDR website.
• Mission Teams: Sign up to be part of a mission team and join Señora Branderhorst in the Dominican Republic!

Connect with PuentesDR here!