In 2005, a vacation planned for the Dominican Republic turned into a spiritual journey that has continued throughout the years to help the children in a small community in Higuey.
Kevin & Denise Macnab love travelling and having visited several Caribbean islands before they came to the Dominican Republic, but it was here that they fell in love with the people of the island. The genuine friendliness, humility, sense of humor and acts of service touched their hearts.
In 2011, while on a return trip to the Dominican Republic, they met Pastor Gabriel D’Alusma, who was their beach server at their resort. When speaking about his background, he surprised them by saying that he had 54 children! In truth, he had 4 children of his own but had made it his personal mission to care for the children in his community, providing them with spiritual guidance, care and education. He showed himself to be a godly man, full of love for the people of his country. A strong bond was formed on that trip and was strengthened over the coming years.
Kevin and Denise would visit again, bringing gifts of clothing and basic needs for the children, but they felt as if it was not enough.
On one such visit, the Pastor, now fondly called “Mi Hermano – Gabi” invited them to his home in Higuey to meet the children. The visit was overwhelming – the children were so excited to see them, and full of love for them as Gabi had told them about his friends from Canada that God had sent to help provide for them.
Their hearts melted when they saw his tiny family house within which he had dedicated an entire floor to give a space for these children. There were no flushing toilets and this was one of the first changes that Kevin and Denise made to help this incredible man who was trying to do so much on his meagre salary.
Education, specifically in English and Math, was a critical focus for the children to ensure they were supported for a future in the tourism industry. So a small building adjacent to Gabi’s home, named the GOKEDE salon was built to help establish a more formal school program. Tablets and educational supplies were provided to help in this endeavor.
The ministry expanded to the Batay – a sugar plantation community. As Kevin and Denise travelled into the plantation dozens of children came out of the sugar cane, some just wearing diapers, to follow the “food van”. To witness the abject poverty that these families must endure was heartbreaking. The families had little to no possessions, living in huts with no power or plumbing and working so very hard to try and put food on the table. It was at this point that Kevin and Denise decided they needed to do much more, and the idea of establishing the Abundant Life Charity was born.
On January 1, 2018, the charity was established and is dedicated to providing for the growing needs of education, spiritual direction,, and the relief of poverty on the Batay.
