TV program - A New Opportunity!

Wow we have a New Adventure!

In January, our team "Jovenes Educando con la Verdad" has taken advantage of the opportunity to teach about Jesus on a local TV program.

Every Monday and Wednesday members of our team travel to the tv station and air for 1 hour. This gives us an opportunity to reach even more people with the good news about Jesus.

Note:  The pictures aren't the greatest quality as they are pictures of the TV screen at our neighbors house.

Left to Right:  Oscar, Neftali and Yahson teaching about obedience.

Our Monday night group has been talking about the Fruit of the Spirit.  Venisa, the leader of the Monday night program, has chosen a different "fruit" to talk about each night.  How great it is that because of Jesus we can be free from our sinful nature!  The Holy Spirit dwelling within us teaches us and shapes us into the people God created us to be.  As we trust Him and allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, God prunes us and helps us to become more and more like Christ. 

During the program, a local phone number is posted on the TV screen.  People can call in with questions, comments and prayer requests. We've already had a few calls - it's always fun when someone calls in!  This is also a great way to connect the body of Christ in the community.  We may attend different churches, but we all belong to Him and are one body!

We praise God for this platform and opportunity to spread the gospel in this community.  We never know who is listening, but we pray that everyone who watches recieves a special blessing from the Lord as through Truth found in the Bible. 

Resurection Team

Pastor Jedidiah and a team from Resurrection Lutheran Church in Monticello are planning to come to work with Iglesia Centro Cristiano Shalom in April.  We decided to try something different.  Using the technology available to us (SKYPE), we've started getting to know one another, praying together and making plans for the time we will serve together in the Dominican Republic.

Pastor Carlos allowed us to use his projector. 
It's been fun seeing each other on the "big screen."

We've now had two Skype sessions with the Resurrection team.  The first meeting we did introductions and exchanged "ice-breaker' questions with each other.  The Resurrection team asked if we could eat any meal what would we eat and with whom would we like to eat it.  Our Dominican team asked the Resurrection team members what has inspired them to come to the DR.  It was interesting to hear everyone's answers.  After getting to know eachother just a little bit, we started talking about how God might want us to use our time, talents and resources as we serve together in April.



We squished as many as we could into the corner of my dining room,
so that we would fit on the Skype camera.  We ended up having a few people sit on the
 floor so the Resurrection team could see as many of us as possible.

We're looking forward to meeting each other in person and to serving together.  We pray that God would be honored and glorified through us.  We're praying for unity, and we're praying that God would help us love and serve others as He has loved us.  God's love is so powerful.   We believe if others get just a taste of God's extravagant love for us, they will be blown away.  We know because it's happened to us.  God's love is like none other.  It saves us and transforms us.  God's love can heal and restore anyone who turns their lives over to Him.   

Our Brochure

I can see growth in the leaders.  They are really taking ownership of this ministry, making it their own and wanting it to xpanmd. What a blessing to be a part of this and watch God at work in their lives!

Oscar and Roberto have been working hard on creating and perfecting an informational brochure.  After several weeks, the brochure has now been completed and printed!   They did a great job of explaining their ministry with the children, including photos and explain their mission, vision and values.  It will be a great tool for talking to parents and teachers about their ministry. 

The team starts out again this month.  In Km 16 and Magua, they are going to go door to door to talk with parents.  We want  gather children to learn about the Bible, practice reading and writing, and build relationships.

Roberto & Oscar presenting the brochure to the team,
asking them to review it and make suggestions.

Linda's story continued.

Psalm 27:14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! 

This passage spoke to me during the last 2 years, and still does today.

After years of praying about leaving my job and hearing wait, late last summer I no longer heard wait and knew that it was time to move. I was unsure of exactly what that meant, but I knew I was to leave my current job. I gave notice even though I didn’t have a new job. This was something I had never done before.

I trusted in God and He provided. I was able to continue to work for the next few months while looking for a job.  I put my resume in to many places. I had many interviews. There wasn't a job that was working out, and I could feel that the end date at my job was quickly approaching.  However, God gave me a great peace.

I had plans to visit my friend Kristin in December, so made the dates line up with the day after my last day on the job. My hope was to visit with my friend and take some needed time to process leaving a job that I had been at for 9 ½ years. I was praying and asking God to show me the next steps, where did He want me next and how was that going to look. After praying and talking with Kristin it was becoming more and more apparent that I was to spend some time in the DR helping her with the Emmanuel Ministry.

I had a month to prepare and make arrangements to be gone for several months.  I spent time with family and friends, and I met Kristin at the airport on Jan. 28^th before the sun came out for our 5:30AM flight. 

That is the story of how I ended up in Hato Mayor, Dominican Republic. I am currently trying to learn some Spanish, as quickly as possible!  I’m praying for God to guide my next steps after my return this spring.  

A friend recently gave me some advice. Don’t just ask God what is next, figure out what your passions are, look for a gap and prayerfully consider filling that gap.

Pslam 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

That wasn't the plan...

I'm sure you can all relate to things not going the way you had "planned."  Here is a small taste of what that it is like in Hato Mayor:

Friday Morning, the plan was to get up early and go for a walk.  Our beds were just too comfortable, so we ended up doing the Jillian Michael’s workout video instead. We were ready to start our busy day.  The communication team was coming in the morning to work on their project, the cards team later that afternoon, data entry and the list goes on. 

We remembered that the garbage truck which was supposed to come on Thursday and didn't make it, should arrive soon.  When we went out to carry the garbage back down the stairs, we discovered a disaster!  

The dogs got it!  Those naughty dogs climbed the stairs, tore the bag open, pushed it off the stairway and spread our garbage all over the street.  With plastic bags on our hands for gloves, we spent the morning picking up, cleaning the stairs and the sidewalk and the street.  That wasn’t the plan…..

 

Monday morning, the plan was to get laundry done right away.  I wanted to finish data input, type some Spanish songs for the English class to translate and put together a list of our teams' contact information. I walked to the kitchen half awake, eager for a bowl of granola and thought I saw something moving in the sink.

I looked again and under all of our "clean" dishes drying in the rack, I found a HUGE spider.  This was not just any huge spider it was a mother, trying to find a place for her baby spiders to “leave the nest.”

Kristin heard my squeal and said calmly, "what did you find."  With Kristin’s quick thinking, clever plan and “ninja skills” she killed the mother spider.  I followed up with the can of Raid to kill all the fleeing baby spiders.  I spent the next hour cleaning the kitchen sink and then the "clean" dishes. That wasn’t the plan….
 

So thankful for raid and plastic bag gloves!

Sometimes we wonder why it takes so long to get things done.  As we've reflected, we've discovered quite a few similar situations that have needed our immediate attention.  Things that just weren't in the plan....  But, they always make our day interesting!  :)