What else have we been doing??

Apart from preparing for and hosting the Inverted Arts Camp which you can read about in the next post, Joselo and I have been working on a variety of things this month.  We are still building relationships and getting to know new people here in Santo Domingo and the surrounding area.  Investing our time and talents in a variety of ways as God leads us.

UNEV-MOTE-Bethel

We are still visiting some of the students from the class at the University, seeing them in action and getting to know more about the projects they have started in their communities through this class.

Leonza is one of the students from the class.
This picture is taken in front of her church in Consuelo.

Leonza is the pastor of this church.  Her husband lives in Puerto Rico.
She has been pastoring this church for 8 years.

Leonza regularly ministers to the children and youth in this community.
For Sunday School the church is packed with children.  Even though their parents may not come to church with them,
the children love to come to Sunday School and learn about the Jesus.

For this project, Leonza wanted to reach out to the adolescents and youth who spend much of their free time at or near the colmados where there is often drinking, loud music and a lot of adult language and behaviors.  It's an environment that's just not good for kids.  On Friday afternoons/evenings, she gathers the kids in the neighborhood instead to have a Bible lesson, play games and share a snack.

She asked Joselo and I to prepare a lesson or activity for the kids.

We found that even though the activity was intended for adolescents and youth,
many small children attended as well.

Joselo sang with them and shared a short message too.

Some of the older participants helped prepare the snack.
They were responsible for planning the meal, making the grocery list, purchasing and preparing the food.

Teaching Sunday School at Mundo de Fe

We were asked to fill in for the regular Sunday School teacher at the church we've been attending for the next two months.  We've been having fun getting to know the kids and their parents at our new church.  

Last Sunday we celebrated Father's Day here in the Dominican Republic.
This craft is a trophy that says "#1 Dad."
The kids were very excited to make them and give them as gifts to their fathers.

Investing in the Youth Leaders from Hato Mayor

We are also still spending time investing in the youth leaders from Hato Mayor.  These three young men stayed at our house for a week with the Inverted Arts team.  They worked closely with the Inverted Arts team members to learn more about how they do art camp.  They spent extra time in devotionals each morning, learning about how to use art to share the gospel with others.  They learned about the challenges and important topics for directing a group of youth in making a video, and they got hands on experience in the editing of the videos.  Taking the raw footage and making it into a great movie.  This team has hopes of doing a video camp of their own in Hato Mayor soon.

We also continue to meet regularly with the leaders of the ministry in Hato Mayor, supporting them as they make decisions and guide this team of young adults.  They have two weeks left of their summer classes before school starts in the fall.

This fall things could look differently for the children's ministry because schools all over the country are changing their schedules.  Instead of attending school in either the morning OR the afternoon, students will start to go to school all day.  Though it will be an adjustment for everyone, this seems like a very positive change for students and the educational system here in the Dominican Republic.

Another thing we did this month with the youth leaders from Hato Mayor was invite them to one of the classes at the University to share with the pastors and leaders about their ministry and their experiences working together as a team.

I wasn't sure how this was going to go, but the pastors and leaders LOVED their presentation.  They were so impressed with the ministry that these youth have established, and the way they are working together to serve God and their community in such practical ways--AND AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE the pastors said over and over again.  They were in awe.

In this class, we've been talking lately about how to build teams, work together, share responsibilities and include different members from the body of Christ in ministry to community members.  This was a practical example of a ministry team in action, serving the community.

It was really encouraging for the youth to share about their mission and have such a positive response from other pastors and leaders.  And, the pastors and leaders were inspired to continue investing in their teams and working hard to develop the ministries they've started through the project requirements of this class.

It was a great experience -- edifying to all of us!

Inverted Arts Camp

In preparing for and hosting the Inverted Arts Camp we've also had opportunities to get to know the youth from the church Mundo de Fe in our neighborhood here in Santo Domingo a little more.  One day before the camp, we went around the neighborhood looking for other young adults who are not currently attending church who might like to participate in the video camp, too.

Getting Ready to have a baby!

In between all of the ministry responsibilities and Joselo's classes, we have also been preparing for the big day when we will welcome a baby into this world! 

Joselo's favorite baby shirt!  :)

We are getting closer.  It still feels like there are a lot of important things to do before the big day.  We are doing the best we can to prepare but also trying to maintain a balance, staying rested and healthy.  We  are very excited to meet our baby and appreciate all your prayers.  

Lights, Camera.....Action!

Video Camp in Santo Domingo with Inverted Arts was a blast!

This is our third year in a row partnering with Mark Collier from Inverted Arts.
Mark is great to work with.  We love having him and his team here.  We learn a lot from them as they
teach and minister to children and youth using the arts.  We are thankful for this partnership and are already looking forward to next year!

From left to right: Mark Collier, Sarah Scharn, Travis Scharn and James Collier
A GREAT team!

Art Camp this year focused on video only.
The difference this year was that we were uniting youth from three different churches to work together not his project. 

I was impressed and honestly a bit surprised at how quickly the youth from the different churches became friends.
I expected them to stick together a little more with the people they already knew and were comfortable with, but that really wasn't the case at all.  They dove right in and enjoyed making new friends!

Another thing that was special this year at art camp is that we invited three young leaders from Hato Mayor who had worked on video with Mark for the previous two years to spend the week with us.  They stayed at our home and spent extra time with Mark and the team learning as much as they could about running a video camp like this.  

They took turns each morning leading an ice breaker game....

Leading the devotional....
(after studying for a few hours with Mark and the team at our house in the morning)

And working as leaders/directors with the youth during the filming ...
Lights, Camera, Action!

The youth were totally excited about filming these videos.  They worked together to write the story, come up with the actors, find costumes and props and create the set.  They did it all in just 4 days, and had an absolute blast!

It was a lot of fun watching it all come together!

In both of the videos, the youth focused on problems that happen within families.  In one family, out of desperation the father started selling drugs to provide financially for his family.  In the other video, the parents worked so much that their children felt alone and abandoned much of the time.  In the end, in both of the videos the parents turned to Jesus for help and restoration.  It was easy to see that family and the relationships between children and parents is an important theme for these youth.  

This is the team who stayed in our home for the week!  

Mark working with the youth editing the videos.
They learned a lot and got some great hands on experience on how to put a movie together.  

At the end of the week, the youth invited their family and friends to the showcase.
We dedicated their videos to the Lord and played them for the first time in their finished form.

The room was full and there was soooo much excitement among the youth, their family and friends.

There was lots of smiles and cheering as the videos played and the youth watched
themselves in action on the screen.

We are thankful to Mundo de Fe for allowing us to use this space and for hosting this camp.

We made a lot of new friends and had a great time!

Click here to check out the videos on the Inverted Arts website.