Hola from the Dominican Republic!

It is 1 p.m. on our 5^th day in the Dominican Republic. We’re sitting in our bedroom trying to stay cool but not having much success. The middle of the day is the hottest (It’s 97 degrees in our bedroom) and that’s why many businesses shut down from 1-3 p.m. Many people will go to their homes, eat lunch and look for a cool place to rest. Some will try to use the two free hours to run errands or visit friends. For us these first five days have been too busy to get much rest, but today we’re taking it easy during these few hours. Usually a cold shower, a t-shirt and a pair of shorts will make us comfortable until the heat subsides a bit.

The heat in the Dominican Republic is one of the things we were prepared for when we got here. Our past experiences here have taught us many things, but there are also many things we don’t know and weren’t prepared for.

Overall, our first few days here were full of good things, but there were several hard things too. Adjusting to life in a different culture, with different people, in a different home, is not easy or comfortable. But then, God didn’t call us to something comfortable and easy. He called us to leave the things that were making our lives comfortable and easy.

So we may be discouraged at times, but we’re not defeated.  We may be lonely at times, but we’re not alone. We may be weary at times, but we always have hope.

God is faithful, in the good times and the bad. He has called us to something greater than ourselves and so we count it a great blessing to adjust to a new way of life with the amazing people of the Dominican Republic!

Shortly after arriving Friday, Aug. 22, Pastor Quina started to explain to us her ideas for our year of service here. She has since put us in charge of ministry to the youth and children of the largest of her churches, in the town of Guanabano (the official name of the town is Cayetano Germosen if you want to try to find it on a map sometime). We have met with the youth several times to come up with a plan to maximize the time we have with them.

Just to be clear, our goal is not to be youth pastors or children’s pastors while we’re here. We can, however, help facilitate the growth of the leadership that already exists here. There is a strong foundation of young adults who are passionate and eager to lead the way in advancing the Gospel in Guanabano and the surrounding communities.

Aside from working within Pastor Quina’s churches, we also have an opportunity to visit one of Guanabano’s private schools one day each week. We started the first of our Tuesday morning visits yesterday and it was a great time of games, laughs, new friendships and sharing God’s love with the children. There are about 100 students in the school, ranging from grades 1-8. Each day we are there we have the freedom to play sports & games, lead them in other activities and talk to them about the love of Christ! It is a great opportunity and several youth from the church in Guanabano are excited to be part of this ministry.

We will also partner with a man named Victor Rojas who everybody knows as Guanabano’s basketball coach. Victor has dedicated much of his life to working with boys and young men. He loves the game of basketball, but he is also passionate about training boys and young men to be respectable citizens, good husbands and fathers, responsible adults and kind people. Nearly every day of the week Victor is at the city’s gymnasium leading a group of men or boys in a basketball practice and teaching them the principles of teamwork, good attitudes, hard work, dedication and respect. Victor and Pastor Quina have agreed that it will be a valuable partnership between Victor and us. So we plan to be with him each Saturday morning, ready to help lead the biggest of his groups (more than 100) in their practice but also in activities or our choosing. Victor has given us complete freedom to share the Gospel and the love of Jesus with these boys!

We are very excited about these and other opportunities to tell people about Jesus and to serve these communities.

Physically, all of our family is doing very well. We are all healthy, though a bit fatigued at times because of the heat. We are enjoying the delicious fruits and other foods of the Dominican Republic. Our friends here are taking great care of all of us and we have all made new friends already.

God has been good to us and we trust His provision will continue as we are seeking Him daily. We want to stay obedient and not just settle into a routine or go through the motions of our ministry opportunities.

Here are a few prayer requests:

• Ants. We have many ants everywhere in our Dominican home, this includes the refrigerator and in our beds. Please pray for God to remedy this and give us wisdom on how to keep the ants at bay.
• Friends. God has been so incredibly faithful to bless our kids with wonderful kids in the young adult group. They are great role models and very kind. We are also blessed to have a 14 year old boy named Eduardo living with us. He is a great friend and very helpful to us. Kids in the neighborhood can be a little bit more difficult to adapt to and make friends with.