September was pretty special! Krista and I made it back to the DR for another week-long work trip. It was awesome to be able to connect again with the ground team and with our student body. Enjoy these fall photos – both from Freedom and from our family!
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Family
October is up next! Thanks for following along with us!
Whew! What a full summer. Here’s a combination of July and August 2025 from the Mitchener point of view.
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Family
Ready or not, here comes September!
I forgot how much I loved summer in the States.
Enjoy 30 June pictures from our perspective!
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Family
Thanks for following along on our picture journey!
May happenings – both in the DR and in Indiana!
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Family
Up next? SUMMER!
Wow! April flew by! So thankful for the arrival of spring and for God’s continued provision. Thirty pictures from the thirty wonderful days God gave us this month.
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Family
May will be a busy one – see you on the other side!
A look into our March. Enjoy these 15 ministry pictures and 15 family photos!
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Family
See you in April!
February definitely gave us continued “sweather weather” here. Dominican temps are much more agreeable to my thinned-out blood, but I have to admit – it’s been pretty cozy starting my work days curled up in a warm blanket with a hot cup o’ joe close by. Check out these 28 pictures from the Freedom team – and from our chilly month in Indiana!
See you at the end of March!
The little girl’s wild, wavy hair danced with the wind as she sat quietly on the sandbank. The gold in her locks glistened against the brilliance of the sun. A few feet away, the waves crashed, crawled slowly onto the land, and then retreated.
“Daddy?” Bluer-than-sea eyes turned towards her father. The girl looked up at the strong, wise man who seemed to always be there. To always know.
He knelt down beside her and gently tousled the unruly ringlets that surrounded her angelic face. “What is it, my dear?”
With a furrowed brow, she shook her head and looked down at her fist. Sand was spewing from both sides of her dimpled hand and from between each of her chubby fingers.
“Daddy, I don’t understand. Why can’t I keep this sand in my hand? I’m holding it as tightly as I can. But it just keeps falling away faster and faster.”
A rumble of laughter left the father’s wrinkled, smiling mouth as he watched his daughter do her best to clutch her little handful of treasure.
“That’s just it, darling. You’re trying too hard to keep it close.
The father reached beneath his daughter’s tightened fist. He cupped his two weathered palms together and carefully caught the glistening specks of dust that fell from her hand.
“You see? The more you try to control, to constrict, to constrain, the more you’ll lose. Instead, open up your hands like this. And keep them open. It’s the only way.”
The only way.
All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give. I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.
Sunday marked twelve years of marriage for Scott and I! Wow. My cliche saying of choice is “time flies,” and I use it pretty much every day. I decided to get out the family photos this year, and I thought I’d share a few here!
The following pictures may show smiling faces, sundry memories, and varying lengths of hair on Scott’s part, but there have been hard times, too. Both the good and the difficult have drawn us closer to each other and to the Lord. Looking forward to the next 12 years!
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Our interns are the best. Hands down.
We often talk about how the word “intern” isn’t good enough to describe a person who spends a school year at Freedom.
Because of our interns, the ministry continues to function. Lesson plans are written. Construction projects are completed. Classrooms are managed, grades are taken, and academic concepts are taught.
But, you know, our interns are more than just people who fulfill important duties. They do more than make copies for teachers or take selfies with cute kiddos all day. By and large, our interns make themselves available to be used by the Lord in whatever capacity He asks of them. Obviously, that manifests itself into things like making play-dough and organizing papers. But it also means correcting little ones with patience. It means passing out hugs and kisses – sometimes to students who don’t know how to accept love and kindness. It means joining alongside parents and missionaries as we try to disciple students to live in a way that glorifies God.
We’re grateful that our interns carry a big part of the workload here. But even more than that, we’re thankful for their big hearts and for their willingness to look at things from an eternal perspective.
Being an intern at Freedom is hard. Sacrifices are made – difficult days are experienced. But I think most of our interns would say – even in the middle of the mess – that investing in these little lives is so completely worth it.
Thank you, Leah, Becca, Sanna, Amanda, Hannah, Kayla, and Nic – for being more than “just interns” this year! Thanks for investing in the eternal! We appreciate you more than you’ll ever know!
The Mitcheners 