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!

January 2013

The first whirlwind month of 2013 has come and gone. We made a quick trip back to the States for a family wedding. It was so (cold but) wonderful to see our parents and siblings for a few short days, yet we are excited to be back on the ground gearing up for a busy year.

Tomorrow, Ang starts subbing for the 3’s in our pre-school while the Simos family is back on furlough. You can pray for her as she has the opportunity to interact on a deeper level with these impressionable little guys and gals for a couple of weeks.

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Tomorrow is also Scott’s last day of his very first VBS teaching in Batey Piñones. You can pray for him as he finishes up his sessions on Elijah and gets ready to start the same VBS in Batey Lima in a few weeks.

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In February, we’re continuing on with our building project – hoping to raise $20,000 this month alone! It seems like such a daunting task, but God is able. Pray with us as we construct a permanent place for our teachers to “set up shop” and for our students to continue learning and growing. Visit our website to learn more about owning a “share” in the education of one of our kiddos!

Packing Up and Moving Out

It’s official!  The plane tickets have been purchased.  Our belongings are slowly being sorted and packed away.  We are on our way to making the Dominican Republic our new home!  Thank God we have reached the point in our support raising where moving is a reality.  Come the afternoon of Monday, May 21, the four of us will be on Dominican soil for good.  While we’re not nearly 100% funded, we’ve never gone without our needs being met.  We trust that God will bring in the rest of our support over the next few months.

People are asking us how we are feeling.  There is no easy answer to that.  We’re excited about this “next chapter”.  We’re heartbroken to be leaving family and friends.  We’re relieved with each task we complete.  We’re nervous about adjusting to a new culture and way of living.  We’re eager to really build some relationships with people.  We’re dreading the exhaustion of the move with two little dudes.  We’re anxious about learning Spanish.  But we’re content in knowing that we are loved and cared for by One who is our source of strength and peace and joy.  Above all, we’re hopeful that Christ will use us as He wants.

With that said, we’re packing up and moving out!  Onward…

Around Freedom in 60 Seconds – November Video

While in the Dominican for three weeks in July, we met Wander and Francis, two young men from the sugarcane village of Lima.  Since returning to the States, we’ve learned that Francis has accepted Christ and has grown in his faith!  Now, Wander, Francis and Yuleisy are working hard teaching and building relationships with even more kids as our team is now involved in a third village called Cabeza de Toro.

Movin’ on up!

So excited about what God has been doing the past few days.  We’ve gained two monthly supporters and moved from 35% to 37% funded!  Several others have been talking with us recently about their role and investment in our ministry as well.

If we reach our 50% goal by December, a couple who is currently supporting us will double their support, giving us an additional 2%.  We could be looking at being 52% supported by the holiday season!  To reach that point, we need 13 more $50/month supporters.  If you’re interested, you can become part of our sending team by giving now!

No matter what happens, still trusting God through this process.  Thanks for the thoughts and prayers that we know are coming our way!