Here’s our first month of 2023 in photo form!
Happy January!
January ’23 in Pictures
Tag: blessings
December ’22 in Pictures
Busy school days, birthday fun, Christmas program, spending time with family – all wrapped up in one month! Thankful for some time to relax and reflect on Jesus’ birth!
See you in 2023!
May ’22 in Pictures
May flew by! Thirty-one pictures from the month.
See you at the end of June!
March ’22 in Pictures
Enjoy 30 pictures of our March in the Dominican!
Thank you for your prayers for our family and for Freedom!
June ’21 in Pictures
It’s heating up here in the DR! June 2021 in photos below!
Enjoying lunch with friends while mom and dad are at a meeting. 
If that ain’t the cutest little gal you ever did see… Smiles in church. 
MK class with Mr. Jacob 
School will be allowed to reopen this month! We are so excited! 
A group from the States who has been praying with us for the school to reopen rejoiced with us from afar! 
Celebration cake that Pettisville Missionary Church made! 
Our first team of summer! 
Our awesome summer interns! 
Check out that bus fleet! Our mechanic Daniel has been working hard to get these babies ready for their first day on the job. 
First flag raising in 15 months! 
Hand sanitizer for every kiddo 
Ms. Emma explaining the distancing rules 
MK’s attending VBS – learning about the armor of God! 
The library queen! Ms. Becky brought all these new reads down in her suitcase! 
Love these ladies! 
The inside of a kitchen in Lima. 
On a birthday mission. 
Our 4th graders made a quick trip to the library one day 
Our good friend Mark came down for a week and snapped some family photos for us! Noah-man. 
Leyton 
Cal 
Yuleisy has been meeting with various members of the District Office and Regional Office as we work through regulations for in-person classes and other necessary requirements for high school approval. 
Sunrise! 
We’re super excited about all the new walkways! This one will have a flagpole in the middle. 
Our current Board Chair came down to be involved in the ministry for a couple of weeks. 
Sister-in-laws painting like crazy! 
Noah really enjoys teaching. Jade sent me this sweet photo of him reading to the other MK’s. 
Another sidewalk going in!
May ’21 in Pictures
A months’ worth of photos from our May!
Our quick trip to the States allowed for some kitten cuddles! 
Loved seeing Gramps and Grandma Vi! 
Caleigh with “Noah’s kitty” 
The Feders made the big move to the DR! 
Gabe is headed to the States for work and college! Sad to say goodbye but proud of him! 
Anna and her sisters hung out with the sponsorship team for a day and got to meet Tervi and his goats. 
The next in the saga of the goat visits 
Meeting new people! 
Cutie pie enjoying some crackers 
She was certainly checking Anna out for awhile. 
Robert Daniel is quite the kid! 
“God is love” 
Gabe got some footage with the sponsorship team 
Savannah reading Klemily a note from her sponsor 
Thumbs up! 
Alondra checking out her sponsor letter 
Ava and her class pitched their t-shirt idea to the marketing team! 
Estaylin explaining the shirt specs. 
Gabe’s last time playing bass. 
Caleigh lost her first tooth! 
Some La Cubana cuties 
Love these gals from Cabeza 
I got a sweet encouraging note and drink to help me through the day! 
Morning sunrises at Freedom 
Final week of “Mystery of History” – these kids learned so much! 
Thank you, Jade, for your patience, your hard work, your flexibility, and your love for these MK’s! 
Noah presenting to the class 
They made up their own motions to this insanely long song with all the dates they learned 
Toni meeting with those from the District Office – we could be getting our students back very soon!
April ’21 in Pictures
Our April in 30 photos!
Happy Easter from the Mitcheners! 
The guys cooked up some delicious Easter breakfast for us. 
Noah trying to school his old man in a game of basketball. 
Making some scrapbook pages for the soon-to-be Mrs. Elle Bennett, one of our missionary kiddos. 
We’re going to be grandparents! 🙂 Yoan and Yuleisy are having a girl! 
Beautiful countryside 
Playing marbles is an obsession for our village kids. 
Ms. Becky hosted a Bunko party for the Freedom ladies one evening! 
Being silly in Cabeza de Toro 
This Bejucal cutie loved her first sponsor letter and sticker sheets! 
Ms. Leah is a favorite here at Freedom. Thankful she came to visit for a week! 
Completing sponsor letters and chomping on mangoes. 
Jade is my sweet friend from college. She has been a trooper during this COVID time when we haven’t been allowed to run camps at Freedom. 
Ruthanne spent last summer with us and returned for an extended internship this summer! 
PIT – a century-old game that is a favorite. 
We added the top left classroom this month. By constructing this 30×30 space, we opened up 3 more classrooms (to the right) for students/staff to use. We’re keeping a construction zone buffer for safety. 
Shy guy 
Keyller hanging out at grandma’s house. 
Solainy is a cheeser. 
Savannah reading a sponsor note to a Ramon Santana cutie. 
Cousin hugs. 
Loving their new bikes 
Breeze had a wonderful second internship with Freedom. She really came out of her shell this time around. We miss her! 
Old college pals taking a cardboard box to the mechanic shop. Laughter is good for the soul. 
I love these ladies! I’m biased, but we have the best teachers on the island! 
Domingo bagging up rice for our students and their families. 
Work continues on apartment #4 
A quick trip back to the States! Caleigh got to meet her sweet cousin for the first time in person! 
Doing a little work outside. So relaxing! 
Picking dandelions.
March ’21 in Pictures
March has come to an end. Sometimes I wonder what types of pictures merit a spot in these photo blogs. They often showcase some fairly mundane moments in my life. But, you know, I’m finding that there’s a certain beauty in the simple, “unimportant” parts of our days.
Today, I’m overwhelmed with gratefulness. For my precious family. For the work which the Lord has given me. For my Savior’s sacrifice. And for His sweet presence each day. Happy Easter!
An evening walk with my favorite gal. 
Shish-ka-bobs may be one of our favorite meals – if nothing else, for the colors. 
Beginning stages of apartment #4 
A weekend trip to Lima to hang with some of our 7th graders. 
A new board game with the kiddos! Ticket to Ride Amsterdam. I won. Teehee. 
Check out our new math curriculum – and new shelving! Sweet blessings. 
She still enjoys books with Dad 
A newer section of the octagon is being stuccoed! 
Fancy orange juice for Noah one weekend 
Strawberry juice for the Leyton-man 
This goober thought it was hilarious that she made me draw 8 billion cards in a row 
Vaccinations for our staff 
Rach is one of my walking buddies. 
Laboly checking out a sticker set from her sponsors 
Mom looking things over 
This little man may look serious, but he’s the most talkative 20-month-old I’ve ever met. 
A beautiful garden in Ramon Santana 
Feeding pet goats and visiting with families 
Tervi’s dad is a super kind guy who is always willing to help us find people around town. 
Goobers. Every last one of them. 
The sponsorship dream team! 🙂 
This photo is already outdated. Block begins to go up quickly after the initial set-up. 
Sydney interned with us last school year – we loved spending a week with her family! 
What a little ladies’ man! 
The Whites are headed back to the States. The team put together a farewell potluck and took some last pictures. 
Ana is a ham! 
So cool – a friend in the States collected 1500 masks for our students! 
Sweet friends know the way to my heart: new reading, handwritten cards, and Dr. Pepper. 
Receiving sponsor letters while you’re still in your pajamas? Absolutely! 
Four big dudes have entered quarter 4 of their “homeschool co-op” 
Ana Delia colored a letter for her sponsors this morning! She’ll hopefully get to see them this summer when they come on a trip.
Trials
I can unequivocally say that the last few weeks have been the most difficult of my life. I’ve experienced trials that I never imagined it would be possible to withstand. And yet, God has been so near. He has allowed me to face some of my biggest fears and personal weaknesses: things like dealing with conflict, struggling with being a people-pleaser, making (and owning) decisions, and caring way too much about others’ opinions. Never once has He left me alone!
When we first moved to the mission field, I ran across this little poem that William Cowper wrote many moons ago. In fact, I wrote it out and memorized several stanzas because the Scripture-saturated truths kept me looking upward and not at the storms around me.
When struggles come, we as Christians often pray for the Lord to remove trials from our lives. Yet, it looks like Cowper had learned something about his burdens. Through his difficulties, he was getting more of Jesus. While I’m not going to go asking for more pain, I continue to learn that there is a sweet rest in taking my heartaches to Him.
‘Tis My Happiness Below
William Cowper
1773
’Tis my happiness below
Not to live without the cross;
But the Savior’s pow’r to know
Sanctifying every loss.
Trials must and will befall;
But with humble faith to see
Love inscribed upon them all—
This is happiness to me.
Did I meet no trials here,
No chastisement by the way,
Might I not with reason fear
I should prove a castaway?
Trials make the promise sweet;
Trials give new life to prayer;
Bring me to my Savior’s feet,
Lay me low and keep me there.
Unexpected blessings
We’re spending two weeks in the States with our families! We didn’t reach out to many people because of the quickness of the trip and the current state of the world.
Whenever I’m back, one of the things I always do is make some store runs to pick up items we can’t find in the DR. My first stop this year was Dollar Tree for some teacher supplies! I like to hit up that treasure trove for items I can use as gifts/incentives for our Dominican teachers who go through the teacher training program we’ve started. As I was hunkered over in an aisle sifting through bulletin board border and classroom organizers, a lady and her two children walked by. A neat interaction ensued.
“Are you a teacher?” she asked me.
“Well, sort of! I’m a teacher trainer! I like to look for things my teachers can use when they have their own classrooms someday.”
She responded without hesitation. “Now, that’s something I can get behind. Let me help you out. I want to give you $20.”
“Wow! That’s so kind of you. How very thoughtful! I actually don’t live here in the States. My family has helped start a school in the Dominican Republic where we work with children who live in the sugarcane villages.”
“Even more reason to help. Thanks for making a difference over there.”
A few more details were shared, and she left me with the money and some more kind words.
I had walked in for a routine shopping trip, and I left blessed by a complete stranger. Isn’t it amazing that the the Lord allows us to experience such unexpected blessings?
The Mitcheners 