Our mandate > Isaiah 61:1-3
Our vision is community transformation. This is our goal.
Pastor Hipolito Chalas
Pastor Chalas is our main partner in the Dominican Republic and manages the ministry there. He is well known and respected on the north coast of the D.R. and preaches on radio and TV in addition to his school ministry. Pastor Chalas and his wife Rosanna (aka Jenny) have three sons, one daughter, and 3 grandchildren. All of their adult children are involved in the ministry.
Pastor Chalas’ founded the church in Arroyo Seco around 2004 and Colegio Cristiana Divina Misión y Iglesia shortly after. The church was meeting on a piece of dirt under a tarp held up by tree branches. The school was kindergarten / grade one located on the flat roof of a bar under a palapa roof.
DVI built the church and school in 2006 (with another charity) and are helping operate the school since then, which now serves pre-school to grade 6.
Walter and Carol Warkentin
Walter (president of DVI) and Carol are founders of the family construction business. They graduated from Brake Bible College in Germany, and in 1981 Walter was ordained as a lay minister by their denomination. The Warkentin family started to help one pastor family who Walter and Carol met on a vacation in the Dominican Republic in 2003. This quickly expanded to another family in huge need. There were some God ordained encounters after that and confirmation through Scripture of doing a work helping two small churches, initially, on the north coast of the D.R. They founded what would become Dominican Vision Inc. in 2005 with a small board of directors.
Elizabeth Giesbrecht
Elizabeth Giesbrecht (Betty) owns her own accounting business. Betty’s passion is prayer ministry, and she is involved in that provincially, nationally and internationally. Betty and also Martin have been to the DR with some of the different groups.
Ted and Esther Woberg
Ted is a corrections officer at the Manitoba Youth Centre. Esther is an
Early Childhood Educator at a Christian pre-school. Esther leads a team
which prays monthly for the Dominican Republic. Both Ted and Esther have
been involved in many areas of church ministry. Ted and Esther enjoy participating in prayer ministry at the Leader Teaching Retreat.
Kristie Sidwall
Kristie is only on the board of our Dominican charity – Fundacion Vision Dominicana. She is the artistic director of Genesis Arts Community and has been on a number of trips with her older dancers (teen leadership program).
Child Sponsorship Co-ordinators
Melina Seburn
We are pleased to welcome Melina Seburn to child sponsorship program. Melina owns her own small business in Winnipeg. She has been on two Teen Girls Leadership trips in the past. She has stepped in to serve after Barb Hodgkinson’s retirement.
Christina Wogberg will assist with information from the DR.
Christina Wogberg
Christina will be moving to the Dominican Republic early 2027 and will be DVI contractor ( missionary). She has spent the last 10 years with a ministry called Arrows International in the USA. During her youth, she came on many mission trips to DR with her parents and also on a few Teen Girls Leadership/ arts camps trips. Her purpose is to develop relationships and assist the ministry.
She is raising support for herself. (Learn more about donation options)