A New Normal

First of all, we're sorry it's been so long since our last update. We had every intention of sending shorter updates more often, but it's been difficult to find the time and to pull our thoughts together on a regular basis. So, for now, we're sending longer updates less often. Hopefully that's OK with all of you!

We're closing in on the end of our third month here in the Dominican Republic. We've had plenty of ups and downs during these three months and we're happy to say that God has been present and faithful through it all.

For the last several weeks we've started to realize that many of the things that are so different from home are actually starting to feel normal. This is true in the small and big things. Here are some examples:

Food
We all like Dominican food but learning how to prepare it was a difficult process. Even preparing the types of food we're used to was not easy. Finding ingredients can be tricky at times. We had no measuring utensils in our kitchen and for a long time our refrigerator couldn't keep food fresh long enough to be able to use it in our cooking.

But now we have a new refrigerator (thanks to a generous gift from an anonymous supporter) and we've learned where to find the ingredients we need. We recently received a set of measuring spoons and cups. Our friend Adriana (mother of Eduardo) has been teaching Katie how to prepare several Dominican dishes. Katie also has a Dominican cookbook that has helped her learn how to cook some common Dominican meals.

Food is a small thing, but it's such a frequent thing that it feels very significant.

Culture
Learning to live in a new culture is a very big thing. It's something we'll probably still be learning when our year comes to an end. However, we've learned a lot already and it's starting to feel normal. We aren't confused as often as we once were. We knew this year was going to require a lot of flexibility and patience, but living here requires much more of both than we were prepared for. Visiting families in their homes was very awkward and uncomfortable at first, but now we look forward to those visits!

Church culture is also very different here and for a long time we were confused during church services and meetings. Now, however, we understand more of what's going on - even if we can't understand everything that's being said - and we deeply appreciate the passion with which the people of this culture worship God. Dominican prayer is a beautiful, passionate, loud and moving thing to be a part of.


All of this is to say that we have started to settle into a new normal. We still miss home and we haven't become Dominican, but we are starting to appreciate the differences. We no longer experience something new every day, although many days still bring new things!

Other news:

Hanah and Eduarni (Eduardo's sister) in front of the Jelly Roll.

We have some great news ... we finally have a vehicle of our own! We recently purchased a 1986 Toyota Model F minivan. With the help of some friends who recently came to visit, we have decided to name the van Jelly Roll because it's white on the outside and red on the inside. We purchased the van for a much lower price than we expected to pay. It had been sitting in storage for the last two years, so it needed some work. Even this, though, turned out to be a blessing. One of the leaders of our church is a mechanic and so we were able to hire him to do all the necessary work. We've already driven the Jelly Roll to Jamao (1 hour up in the mountains) and twice to Santo Domingo (2 hours) without any problems. We're thankful to have our own transportation, as well as a vehicle with the space to carry quite a few people.

Eating lunch with the Rassi family in Santo Domingo.

So far we've had two visits from Indiana friends. Dr. Randy & Bonnie Suttor visited in September. Clay & Becki Rassi and their two sons just left two days ago. We spent two days in Santo Domingo with them before they spent three days with us here in Guanabano. Both visits were very refreshing and encouraging for us. We're thankful for their time and generosity! We have more visitors coming soon and we're very excited to show them the ministry opportunities God has given us.

Another item we'd like to share is the health of the ministry of Pastor Quina's churches. We came into this year thinking we could help provide a bridge between Quina carrying most of the responsibility and other leaders stepping up to relieve her. However, what we've found is that Quina has a great leadership team in place already! She has built a group of leaders who carry much of the load. Quina is still the lead pastor but she gives many responsibilities to the people of the church. There is a rotation of 3-4 people who preach on Sundays. Several others share messages during the weeknight meetings. There are enough musicians to make up several worship teams.

Quina spends a lot of time visiting sick or elderly people in the community. She still preaches every 2-3 weeks. She also puts a lot of her energy into organizing projects that help people in need. Whenever someone in the church has a problem, Quina is almost always the first one to respond. She usually has a driver who picks up people on Sunday mornings, but when he's not available, Quina jumps in the van and drives all over Moca!

We have been incredibly blessed by the generosity, love, hospitality and encouragement of the church here in Guanabano. One of the most significant ways we have started to realize a new normal is within our church family. For a long time we felt like visitors every time we went to a church service, but now we feel like part of the family, part of the community.

Thank you all for your continued prayers, emails, letters and love! God bless you all!

Stripped

Our last couple weeks here in the Dominican Republic have been difficult and wonderful at the same time. Without any special effort on our parts, we've sensed God's presence in a new, strong way. He seems to be speaking to us every day and directing our circumstances in such a way as to teach us lessons so He can speak to us even more!

This sounds like a wonderful experience - and it is - but it's also very difficult. In the past few weeks we've been consistently stripped of things. Now that we're more than a month into our time here, we can look back and see all the things that have been taken away from us ... and we're pretty sure God's not done yet!

We've been stripped of possessions. We recently had some of our clothes stolen while they were hanging to dry at Pastor Quina's house. We left behind many things when we made the move to the Dominican Republic, like our house, car, furniture, appliances, yard, etc. There have been times in the last month that we have yearned for many of these things.

We've been stripped of comfort. The place we live is very nice by the world's standards. We have everything we need, and more. But it's not home. It doesn't have soft carpet, comfortable couches, a quiet back yard or consistent electricity. Instead it has concrete floors, a metal roof, inconsistent electricity, lots of noise and lots of ants! Many people in the world would consider themselves very lucky to live there, and we're very grateful as well, but it's not comfortable. And it's not easy.

We've been stripped of relationships. When we said yes to the call of God to come to the Dominican Republic for a year we knew it meant saying goodbye to many people ... for at least a year. We counted the cost and we are convinced that following Jesus is more important than any earthly relationship. But, that doesn't mean we don't need those people. We miss being able to walk a few blocks to visit with family, or drive a few minutes to visit with friends. We have friends here, but it's not the same.

We've been stripped of our identity. We no longer hold the positions we used to hold. Dan is no longer a graphic designer or a do-it-yourselfer handyman. Katie is no longer a volleyball coach or a stay-at-home mom like she was back home. We are no longer part of the majority race. We can no longer communicate clearly with the people in our lives. (Side note: When you can't communicate clearly people tend to treat you like you can't do anything else well either. I wonder how many times I've treated someone as incapable just because he/she couldn't communicate clearly or was socially awkward.)

What will we be stripped of next?

No matter what else there is in our lives that needs to be removed, we know God will use it to draw us closer to Him. With every item that has been stripped away, we've sensed the voice of God asking us, "Where do you find your joy? Was it in that thing or in me?"

We are starting to see how many things in our lives have become idols - the things we run to or lean on for our joy, comfort and peace. We can now see how our identity has become wrapped up in the things we have, or the things we can do, or the positions we hold.

God has been asking us, "Who do you think you are? Are you a graphic designer or my child? Are you a white American or my disciple? Are you comforted by the things of this world or only by me?"

As we say goodbye to more and more things, we are realizing that we have nowhere to turn but to our Heavenly Father. He truly is all we need! 

When our clothes get stolen we can shrug our shoulders and say, "We still  have Jesus!"

When we see ants crawling across our dining room table, hoping to find a crumb from our plates we can smile and say, "Thank you, God, for this food."

When the power goes out and our ceiling fans stop moving we can pray, "Heavenly Father, please keep us cool tonight."

And when misunderstandings happen because we can't fully understand the language or the culture we can trust God to give us every word we need to fulfill His purposes.

So, what about you? Do you have idols that have replaced your Heavenly Father? If so, you can get rid of them now ... or you can wait until He does it for you!

Lessons from Life in the DR

We are approaching the end of our fourth week in the Dominican Republic and, needless to say, we have been learning a lot. These early days have been full of new experiences, new sights, new sounds, new food and new relationships.

Here are a few of the most significant lessons we’ve learned:

SLOW DOWN

We are no longer living in an instant culture like we were in the United States. Supplies, materials, tools, certain foods and resources aren’t as readily available here. It probably sounds worse than it is because the people here are used to it. They don’t get stressed or angry when they can’t have what they want right now. I’m sure there are exceptions, but for the most part it is just accepted that some things are going to take some time to get accomplished.

REDUCE/REUSE/RECYCLE

This is not something most visitors to the DR will probably notice, but establishing a home here makes you realize the importance of reducing your waste, reusing what you can and recycling/repurposing as much as possible. Pastor Quina is a master at using things most people would consider trash to create beautiful crafts. We have been using empty plastic containers (like pop bottles) to store water or juice. During our short-term visits here we thought nothing of using disposable plastic cups whenever we got thirsty, but now we see how much plastic gets tossed in the trash so we try to use real cups when we’re home. Another reason to be conservative is because some things are very expensive here and so it just makes good sense to make those things last as long as possible!

REST

Most of you are probably aware of the term “siesta” and understand that it refers to a time of rest in the afternoon. In the DR the term “mediodia” refers to a two-hour period of time in the early afternoon when most businesses close and most people retreat to a shady spot to eat lunch and rest during the hottest part of the day. With our American culture lenses this can look kind of lazy at first. But when we realized that those businesses make up for the two hours of rest by staying open later, our minds were changed. Also, experiencing the midday heat here makes it easy to understand why this culture appreciates the time of rest, shade and refreshment.

WORSHIP

“Si Dios quiere.” (If God desires it.)

“Gracias a Dios.” (Thanks to God.)

“Gloria a Dios.” (Glory to God.)

“Dios te bendiga.” (God bless you.)

Those are a few of the phrases we hear every day in the course of normal conversations. The commonality of those phrases illustrates how deeply the worship of God is ingrained in every part of Dominican life. Sure, we use some of these phrases too, but they aren’t nearly as common in the US as they are here. Oftentimes we use the word worship only when we’re referring to singing songs of praise, but seeing and hearing people worship in every part of life here has been an eye opener to us!

THE VALUE OF QUIET & THE VALUE OF LOUD

Urban/suburban life in the Dominican Republic is LOUD! Whether it’s noisy motorcycles buzzing past, extremely loud music coming out of cars and homes or loud animals, this place is rarely quiet. Living in a building with an open-air front room and a metal roof doesn’t help insulate us from the noise. We have come to appreciate the quiet times we get – sometimes early in the morning or late at night we get a reprieve from the noise. But we’ve also come to appreciate some loud things here. For example, we go to church services four times a week and there is always LOUD times of singing praise to God. If there’s a band the music is really loud. If there’s no band, then everyone sings really loud. Especially during the services with no band, we enjoy the sound of people lifting their voices to their Heavenly Father.

What does our mission look like?

We have been living in the Dominican Republic for almost two weeks now but it feels like so much longer. That probably sounds really negative, but we mean it in a good way. It feels like we’ve done more and seen more than what is possible in just two weeks.

We have church services four times a week. We visit a school on Tuesday mornings. We help with basketball practice twice a week and we teach an English class Wednesday nights. Add in random ministry opportunities that come up and it makes for a pretty busy schedule!

That busyness, combined with the heat, can be pretty tiring. But God has been faithful to sustain us and give us energy to do it all and be ready to do it again the next day!

Here’s what some of our ministry opportunities look like:

Tuesday Morning Visits to the School:

First of all, this school is called a colegio, which is pretty confusing because the word looks like college, but it’s a school for elementary and junior high students. It’s a private school and the owners are Christians. We had the chance to be part of a special prayer service at the school the night before the first day of school. We’ve since visited twice on Tuesday mornings. The owners asked us to play sports with the students and have also encouraged us to share messages about Jesus with them.

The playground has a volleyball net so we’ve been playing volleyball with the students. On our last visit we tried to teach them how to spike a volleyball. The youth we brought with us also organized a really fun game and then we split the students into age groups for a time of sharing about Jesus.

Hanah’s highlight: Playing volleyball and spending time with the cute little kids.

David’s highlight: Playing ball with the students.

Katie’s highlight: Seeing familiar faces when we return to the school or when we see the students around town.

Dan’s highlight: Listening to the youth from our church share the love of Jesus with the students.

Helping With Basketball Practice:

There are two places in our town where you can regularly find kids playing basketball. One is the cancha, which is an outdoor court at the park. Usually you only find kids there in the late afternoon and evening because it’s so hot during the day. The other place is called the multiuso. It’s a covered gym where you can almost always find kids playing. There is a man in our town named Victor Rojas who has dedicated his life to using basketball as a way to teach kids about respect, hard work, discipline, sharing and teamwork. His mission is to raise men who will become good citizens, good husbands and good fathers.

Victor is so passionate about what he does and has welcomed us with open arms. In the past few years, Bethel College has sent basketball teams to our town and Victor has been deeply touched by their visits. Seeing people invest time and energy in the mission that he’s dedicated his life to has been a huge blessing for Victor.

Our role in Victor’s work is simple: Come to the court, help him in whatever way we can and share messages of God’s love with the boys (and some girls too). We believe Victor is Catholic and he believes in God. We’re also praying that he will surrender his life to Jesus.

Dan has had the chance to help Victor with teaching basketball skills to the boys as well as sharing messages with them. The rest of our family and the youth from our church are also participating and spending time with the boys.

This is one of our greatest opportunities during our time here because:

• Pastor Quina is a believer in what Victor is doing. She wants us to spend time with him and help make the Gospel a bigger part of his work.
• Victor is a very influential figure in our town. All the boys and young men who spend time with him respect him deeply and he needs help! He works with more than 100 boys and young men – sometimes all at one time – by himself.
• This town is crazy about basketball and Victor’s work at the Multiuso is the center of basketball activity here. His openness to our message is amazing.
• The Bethel basketball team is returning next summer to spend time with the boys and so we can help Victor prepare for their visit.

As we’ve taken part in these ministry opportunities, we’ve learned a lot from the people we’ve spent time with. We’ll share some of the lessons we’ve learned in our next post!

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. 

A Few Parting Words

Here we are on the evening before we make our big move to the Dominican Republic for a year. This has been a week full of work, sweat, dirt, hugs, prayer, tears, laughs and a wide range of emotions.

It is nearly impossible to describe the feelings we're experiencing as we are almost ready to make the move God has called us to make. It is the strangest mix of excitement and loss, of anticipation and anxiety. We are more convinced than ever that we are doing what God has told us to do, but the reality of saying so many goodbyes to beloved people makes the process very difficult!

We want to thank everyone who has supported us in any way, and that's a lot of people! We would not be able to do this without you and your generosity - both in prayer and in finances. So, THANK YOU!

Throughout the last month, and especially the last week, we've learned some lessons:

1. The best goodbyes are when family or friends cry because you're leaving but also cheer you on through the tears. We have been blessed with times of prayer, encouragement and hugs during our farewells.

2. This is not the end, but the beginning. With the BIG step directly in front of us, it's tempting to start wondering, "What's next God?" It's not that we feel like we've completed the task, just that we're almost past the first big hurdle. The lesson for us is that we should be asking every single day, "What's next God?" Then when He speaks, we can obey.

3. Obeying God is simply the BEST way to live! It's not the easiest. It's not the most comfortable. It's not predictable and it's not always neat and tidy. But it is always the best! Walking in obedience these past few years, and especially the last several months, has revealed our Father's love for us in new and amazing ways. He always wants the best for us, even if it means we have to go through difficulties in order to get there!

In the Gap, a book by Pastor Wilfredo
DeJesus, is one of our current reads. You
can buy it HERE!

4. WALK TOWARD NEED! God has faithfully continued to speak to us, even when we've been almost too busy to stop and listen. During the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit on Dan's last day of work at Nappanee Missionary Church, God used Pastor Wilfredo DeJesus to speak what may be the defining words of our time in the DR. WALK TOWARD NEED is easy to say and anyone who wants to follow Jesus would quickly acknowledge that it's the right attitude to have, but it is much more difficult to live out! As those words rang in my ears, I saw pictures of specific people and situations I've noticed on past trips to the Dominican Republic. Fear seized me when I thought of actually walking toward those people and their needs! But the example of Jesus is clear - He walked toward poor people, sinners, outcasts, sick people, lepers, beggars and prostitutes. He saw them with eyes of love and an intention to DO something for them. Isn't it interesting that we don't read of Jesus seeing a need, praying about it and then moving on? Prayer was an integral part of Jesus' life but so was ACTION! Please pray for us, as we hit the ground tomorrow in the Dominican Republic, that we will have the courage to WALK TOWARD THE NEED and DO SOMETHING!

Until we get settled in our new country, we will likely not have telephone service, but here are a few ways you can contact us via the internet:

Email: danweiss76@gmail.com
           krweiss78@gmail.com

Skype: dominicanweissfamily (please email first to set up a time with us)

In closing, our kids wanted to share a few words with all of you!

From HANAH:
HOLA! I just want to share about how God is speaking to me and preparing us to leave. This past week I was looking for my iPod charger, I was so upset because I couldn't find it anywhere. So I found a quiet spot to sit where I could concentrate. I prayed and asked God to help me find it. The moment I finished praying God told me exactly where it was and I found it with God's help! I just want to say that I was so amazed that night. I am so excited to see God moving in not only you but the people we minister to down in the Dominican Republic. God is so amazing and He is so kind and compassionate! As God has called us to move to the DR I want you all to know that you don't have to be called right now or have a call right this second. God will call you when He is ready to make the move! Could I ask you to pray for not just me specifically but my whole family to have just a wonderful peace and calmness while we prepare to leave and that we would be able to make great connections with others!! I am so thankful that God will be standing with us all the way, in the sadness, and in the happiness, and in the hard times, and in the amazing God moment times! Thank you for your wonderful support! I want to say that I am pumped to go and just serve my heart out, but I am also sad that I won't be seeing some of my friends for this year. I have a list of emotions but I can't list them all...
1. I am like totes (totally) excited.
2. I am sad to say goodbye.
3. I can't even believe that we're leaving TOMORROW!!!!
That's all I can get out tonight. And plus, David is begging me to get off so we can play a game. I might as well! I will miss you all!!!!!! - Even if I don't know you very well!:)
ADIOS!!!!
Love,
*Hanah Weiss*    :)

From DAVID:
What's up? I just wanted to say some special Thank Yous and some special Goodbyes. First I want to thank my Grandparents for letting us spend the night at their house. I want to thank my Grandparents for being so supportive. I want to say a special goodbye to Tyrus and a special goodbye to the Reimer family. I want to say a big Thank You to GOD!!!
Adios!

The Final Countdown - How You Can Help

UPDATE: Less than 14 hours after publishing this post both of our physical needs were met by friends! God has blessed us with many amazing people whose generosity has been overwhelming. Thank you all so much for the love and encouragement.

We're less than three weeks away from moving to the Dominican Republic to being our year of service. Even though this is a journey that started more than three years ago, it feels like it has all happened really fast! We're more excited than ever to GO but we've also got the reality of everything that has to be done HERE. We've got lots of arrangements to make before we go and God has faithfully helped us with the right steps.

As we plan for the move, we're realizing we've got a lot of things we could use your help with. The most important of all is your prayer. Here are some ways you can pray for us:

• The ability to hear and follow God's voice into the unknown.
• Obedient hearts and minds. We have come this far by simply saying "Yes" to God and we don't want to stop now!
• Peace and rest in this busy, hectic season of our lives.
• Courage to say goodbye to family and friends here and hello to the new people God puts in our lives there.

In addition to prayer, there are a couple things we could use help finding:

• A home for our cat, Jack, for the year that we are gone. Jack is a large orange cat (see picture to the right) who is neutered. He's a very loving, cuddly cat who likes to spend time both outside and inside. He's great with our kids and our dog. We're not sure how he would do with other cats in the same house because he's very territorial with the other cats in the neighborhood while he's outside. If you would like to cat-sit or adopt Jack please let us know! Call Katie at (574) 400-9936 or email her at krweiss78@gmail.com.
• We are looking for a laptop computer that we can use to watch homeschool curriculum DVDs as well as continue using our Rosetta Stone software. It doesn't have to be brand new, super fast or have the highest quality screen. It would be nice if it is Wi-Fi ready, but not required. Also, a built-in web cam is preferable but not required. If you have one, or know someone who has one that would like to donate it to us, or sell it to us at a good price, let us know! Call Dan at (574) 256-8783 or email him at danweiss76@gmail.com.

Like we said, we are very excited to get started with our year of service in the Dominican Republic. And even though there are some loose ends to tie up, we are not overwhelmed or discouraged. God has provided everything we need - and more - throughout this whole process so we have no reason to doubt He will do it now.

If you feel like God is asking you to pray for us or provide for any of the needs listed above, please be obedient. We'd love for you to be part of our support team and take you on this journey with us!

Thank you all. We love you!