April 2016 in Pictures

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Our 1st and 2nd graders enjoyed their first-ever field trip to the National Aquarium
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Alfredo, Woobens, Achuchu
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The kids were in awe of everything – the bus ride, the fold-down seats in the theater, the exhibits, the playground…
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Noah is almost finished with Kindergarten!
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April was Caleigh’s seventh month
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Noah lost his first tooth!
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Leyton is all boy – he ran into our sideboard and got a fun little cut one afternoon.
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Scott and our intern Patrick had one last weekly meeting at our favorite pizza place before Patrick headed back to the States
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Ang worked on sponsorship letters at the end of the month
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1st grade students drawing pictures for their sponsors
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Our $12,500 matching gift was met! A new road and drainage system are being put in!
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The pad in the middle of the school’s octagon was leveled out. A multi-use building will eventually be built here.
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Our family is the last to move out to our campus! We are packing everything up!
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Caleigh helping Daddy fix the laundry room walls before the big move.

Our New Home

Gabe and his family will be joining our team in a few months!
Gabe and his family will join our team in a few months!

Apartment construction has been in full swing for several months. It’s miraculous to see the building come to life. Two work teams joined us this February, enormously boosting the amount of labor done in a given day. The first team built up the entire first level of block, and the second team poured a ceiling and continued the walls on the second level. It’s neat to see the physical results of their efforts.

When we’re finally able to live on the Freedom land, life will change drastically for us missionaries. We’ll be able to more effectively minister to our students and their families. I remember when we lived in our first house here in San Pedro. The school-day process was long and hard. We were lugging school materials over to the truck, driving out to the bateyes, picking up our students, setting up the school rooms, tearing down after school, and dragging everything home. Every day. That set-up/tear-down process took about 3 hours! Thinking about simply walking across campus to start the school day makes me absolutely giddy. It will be so much easier to invest in the lives of our sweet kiddos and their parents.

Our family will be living on the second level (left-hand side) of this 8-unit apartment building. The work crew that left yesterday made this “real” for us – they were mostly working on our home. I’m excited for all the new memories our family will be able to enjoy together. (And while I’m sure we’ll have some sort of critter visit our apartment at some point, I’m hoping the ant infestations, cockroach friends, centipedes, lizards, and mice that we “enjoyed” at our first house will be minimal. Either way, God is good.)

So without further ado, check out our new home!

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Pouring the floor of our apartment
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We’ll have a deck off the back for laundry, etc.
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Leveling out the floor
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Hard workers!
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Our apartment walls going up
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Home Sweet Home

Summer craziness and God’s goodness

This summer has been filled to the brim with new experiences. We’ve enjoyed sharing life with short-term teams, getting to know new kids in the school, and continuing VBS ministry in the bateyes. We’re really just trying to keep up with the Lord as He continues to work here in the Dominican.

Here’s a little video Scott recently put together for his home church. It makes me so happy every time I watch it! God is driving this ministry, and we get to be a part. Continued prayers are appreciated!