Merry Christmas!

It's hard to believe Christmas is almost here! Living in a tropical climate makes it so hard to mark the seasons because the weather is pretty much always the same.

We have had a slight change in our weather here. Instead of reaching in the the mid-90s every day, now we're only averaging 80-83 at midday. The mornings and evenings dip down into the 60s, which has been very enjoyable.

Even though today marks the completion of our fourth month here in the Dominican Republic, this season is feeling much more like a halfway point for us. Because of the semester break, the Christmas season, the change in weather and the changes that are coming in our routine, we feel like we've completed the first phase of life here. Now it's time for something new!

The biggest change that is coming is a more frenzied schedule. Starting in January we'll have visitors with us for at least two weeks of every month except for May. We're very excited to have family, friends and missions trips here with us, but it also means a new set of responsibilities and many plans to make. We'll get back into our normal ministry opportunities in January, but there will be interruptions each month. This isn't a bad thing, just a different thing!

Our first four months here have been incredible! We've had good times, bad times, fun times, confusing times, relaxing times, frustrating times and many, many times when God has clearly worked in and through us.

As we look back at the first four months here, sometimes it's hard for us to remember all the amazing things that happened because it was a time of huge adjustment for us. We have been learning a new language, a new culture, a new family routine and new ways of doing everyday things. We went to bed exhausted nearly every night for the first two months here because of all that we were trying to understand and learn.

This is not to say we've arrived and have become a fully integrated Dominican family, because were' far from that. But it is safe to say that we spend less and less of each day trying to understand what's happening and we're able to actively engage with what's happening. Our ears are catching up to Dominican Spanish. We've got a better grasp of the culture we live in. We're accustomed to the place we live and all of the ways it's different than our home in Indiana.

God has faithfully carried us through the first phase. We're excited to see what He's got planned for the next phase!

Here are a few specific updates:

Last week was a tough one for many of the people in our church. Starting Sunday night, three people who had connections to people in our church died. Two were young men who were in separate motorcycle accidents on the same night. The third was the father of one of the young men in our church. We were able to go to his house the night he died, and then again the next day to attend the funeral and burial. It was a sad day, but it was also awesome to see how this young man's faith in God has carried him through his grief.

Christmas season here in the Dominican Republic is quite different from what we're used to. Here the Christmas season is marked with a lot of partying, which means there is a lot of loud music playing until all hours of the night. It also means the streets are even more dangerous and we have to be extra careful whenever we drive. Our friends here have told us that every December brings a lot of deaths, mostly because many people don't have a lot of hope that the new year will actually come and want to live it up as this year ends. So far, the three deaths of last week are all we've experienced and we hope it stays that way!

Our family has been invited to spend Christmas Eve with Eduardo's family. We'll join his extended family for a Christmas Eve dinner at a relative's house and then come home, hopefully before the crazy partying starts in our town! We're excited to experience how Dominicans celebrate Christmas, especially because almost all of Eduardo's family are Christians and they share the same focus as we do during this time of year.

We're excited about an opportunity we have the first week of January 2015. We'll accompany several of the youth from our church on a mission trip to Azua, a city in the Southern part of the country. This is the second time our youth have made the trip to Azua to minister alongside a vibrant church there. We have some relationships with people in Azua as several of the translators from our previous trips are part of this church in Azua. We're excited to be reunited with them, meet their pastor and work with their church.

Here are some specific ways to pray for us:

• Safety during the Christmas season. We don't plan to be out past dark very often, but even during the daytime the streets are pretty crazy right now. 

• Peace and comfort for the young man in our church who lost his father. His mother is also part of our church.

• God's blessing on our mission trip to Azua. The trip is January 2-5 and it would be great to know many of you are praying for God to guide and protect us.

• Flexibility as our schedule changes. We don't know exactly what the new year will bring, but we're excited to see how God uses us. We want to be flexible enough that we're always open to the opportunities He brings our way.

Thank you all so much for your continued support, prayers and love! We love you all very much! Merry Christmas!