New Experiences

A (New) Husband, New Church, New Home

This is my husband, Joselo Manuel Santana Jimenez.  He's 29 years old and has lived in Hato Mayor most of his life.  His mother lives in La Romana and his father lives in Santo Domingo.  He spent a year or so living with each of them as a young adult.  Joselo grew up in his grandmother's house (which is not too uncommon here in the Dominican Republic) with lots of cousins (his grandmother had 15 children!), his brother and sister.

One thing Joselo loved to do as a kid was make and fly kites in the street.  He said he often got in trouble with his grandmother because he spent so much time flying kites -- in the hot sun and even in the rain on occasion.

Before we got married, Joselo said he would show me how to make a kite.  He started saving the perfect materials, and one morning he got started.

Here is the finished project.  His masterpiece!

Though it may sound strange, one thing that I'm adjusting with married life is having fun -- even in the middle of the day?!  Sometimes I'm a pretty serious person, determined and focused on getting things done.  Sometimes I forget that it's okay to take time to rest, laugh, play and just have fun.  

Sometimes it frustrates me, and sometimes it's hard to tear myself away from the work that seems "so important", but it's so good for me.  I don't need to feel guilty about it!  One of the things I love about being married to Joselo is laughing and having fun together -- like flying a kite in the middle of the day!!  

New Church   

Joselo attends a church that is a daughter church to the one I was attending with Pastor Carlos.  Since we've been married, I've started attending church with Joselo in Punta de Garza. 



Punta de Garza church

Shalom church in Punta de Garza has a small congregation and meets in the house.  They have the same services: Sunday School Sun am, Worship Sun night, prayer service Tues night and Teaching/Testimonies on Thursday night.  The format of the services is basically the same.  The main difference is the people.  Pastor Erickson Rodriguez does a great job.  He's a young, passionate pastor full of energy, hope and positivity that is contagious to the members of the congregation.

 

One of the responsibilities Joselo has had in the church for a few years has been teaching the children's Sunday School class.  He's taken this a step further and personally goes to recruit kids from the community each Sunday for Sunday School. 

He walks up and down the streets and invites many kids to come to Sunday School.  Some are family members - nieces and nephews, others are neighbors and friends from the neighborhood. 

This way even if their parents don't want to take them to Sunday School, they can still go with Joselo. 

I'm enjoying the opportunity to meet new people, learn from a new pastor and learn how another church operates in the Dominican Republic.  I'm not going to deny, though, even though I've been worshipping here for several years, there are still many times that I miss church in the United States -- the fellowship, the style of worship and of preaching, and the English language.  Each church has it's strengths and weaknesses.  I'm learning things from churches here in the Dominican Republic that I most likely would not be learning in the US, so I can appreciate that.

A New Home

This is the home that Joselo and I now live in.  It's in a great neighborhood - 1.5 km away from the city.  My favorite part:  it's quiet.  Where I lived before was on a much busier street - there were constantly dogs barking, loud trucks and motorcycles buzzing by and loud music from the neighbors and the park. 

This neighborhood is much more peaceful.  There are a few neighbors, but everyone here seems to appreciate the tranquility.  I'm grateful!

My cooking is improving, but still have a ways to go before to perfect some of the Dominican dishes.



And, we have a little flower garden.


Life is good.  God is good.  I'm adjusting to lots of changes in my life right now, but they are all good ones!  Praise the Lord.

And, We're Swimming - Our Youth Leaders in Action

Batey Magua

This is the team from Magua.  They travel twice a week by motorcycle to this small community to teach and minister to children and their families -- over the river, through the woods and sometimes in the rain!

Yahson, Meralis, Neftali and Belkis.  Not pictured, Joselo.

Kids eagerly waiting for class to begin.

Yahson reviewing of the previous weeks' Bible lesson.

We serve a great big God - enormous!

The older kids playing tag.

Building postive relationships with Christian role models.

Belkis working with the younger kids.

Lots of special kids in this group!

So thankful for the opportunity to work with them. 

May God give these leaders wisdom, courage, patience and love as they continue to
 share the love of Jesus with the children and families of Magua.

Kilometer 16 - Batey la Mina

On the other side of town, another team travels by public bus 16 kilometers from town to this impoverished community to work with another group of kids. 

 Reviewing the Bible lesson from last week.

Oscar working with the younger kids, recognizing and writing the first letters of the alphabet.

Kenia testing the older kids to see how many really know the alphabet. 
English & Discipleship Classes

English & Discipleship Classes

Another group of three also travel by public transportation twice a week to Batey Prudencio to teach English and give a Bible class.  We are amazed at how this class is expanding.  Word has spread and we've enrolled several new students from neighboring communities!  Praise God!

Venisa, Mario and Belkis

We always start with prayer and a discussion on different tconcepts from the Bible.

This is the class for beginners.

These are the more advanced students. 
They are listening to a recording of people speaking English.

Commissioning Three New Teams

The teams listed above have been going on for the past several months.  Last week we commissioned three new teams who will start working twice a month with children in three new communities.  We're going to give this a try for the summer and are praying that God would use our time and energy to bless more children and their families.  Whether or not we can keep this going during the school year is yet to be determined. 

Pictured here are just about all of our leaders at the commissoining service.

A close-up of our new polo shirts! 

We are sending you out into the harvest field. 
The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

We are yours, Lord.  Use us for your glory.

Medical Clinic - La Guajaba

You may remember me talking about Doctor Maritza before.  She has helped us with a couple different medical clinics now.  She is a delight to work with.  I'm looking forward to the impact we can have as we continue to work together. 

Maritza gathered other doctors from the hospital where she works.
We used the medicine we had left over from Resurrection Lutheran Church. 

La Guajaba is quite a ways from town. 
There were many people who showed up at the school that day for this clinic.

We call this triage -- gathering information -- name, age, chief complaint...

Lots of mothers came with their children. 

A common complaint is the flu -- headaches, runny noses, coughs and sore throats.

Several elderly folks came to the clinic as well. 

We were happy to be able to treat folks of all ages.

Many people walked to the clinic, some came on motorcycles and others on horseback. 
But, not us...

Praising God for the new vehicle He provided. 
It's so nice to be able to jump in and go and not have to worry about transportation.

We have more medication left and hope to do another clinic in the fall.  (Maritza will be out of the country for the rest of the summer.)  I'm happy to do these clinics, but I'm praying for a next step that can make a bigger and lasting impact in the health of the people in these communities.

Camp Shalom with Hope Church, VA

It was an absolute delight to work with the team from Hope Church, Virginia in the first-ever "Camp Shalom."  This team from Virginia put together a 3-day camp for kids from the Shalom churches in Guayabal, El Seybo and Centro Cristiano Shalom.  They invited a few of our youth leaders to work with them -- what a blast!

Each day we started with prayer.
The kids were organized into groups based on their ages.  The groups rotated throughout the different stations.
By the last day, we must have had about 100 kids altogether.

Each day the kids got to do a craft.

This project was especially creative. 
They filled old ties with this white stuffing to make snakes!

Add eyes, a tongue and of course eye brows! 

Another station was basketball.

Then soccer.

It sure was hot in the sun, but they played all morning long!

There were plenty of water breaks! 

The fourth station was volleyball.

And, it wouldn't be Dominican without some form of baseball. 
Kids of all ages loved their chance to bat and run the bases.

On the last day, they pulled out a special treat -- the parachute!!

This is one of the Shalom leaders -- Gleny.  She is probably the most dynamic Bible-story teller I have ever met. 
She knows how to capture the kids' attention and tell the story in a way they are sure to remember.

What summer camp, doesn't end in a good water balloon toss/fight?!

This was truly an incredible experience! 

We praise God and thank HOPE Church for all the time, energy and financial resources they poured into this camp.  The kids really are asking "When can we do this again?"  It was such a blessing.  It was healing for all of us to be out in the open air, running and playing and celebrating God's love for us.

Along with the kids, I"m asking myself, "When can we do this again?!"