Tag: update

Leyton’s July ’20 Blog – #1

On By MitchenersIn Leyton6 Comments

Another installment from the kids. This time, it’s Leyton’s turn to share the world from his perspective!

Hi, my name’s Leyton. I’ll tell you 10 facts about me.

  • I’m 8 years old.
  • When I was a little kid, I was bald.
  • When we first moved here, I would take baths in my sink.
  • When I was little, I liked people holding me at the bateys.
  • I like living in the Dominican. It’s fun, but it’s hot.
  • I like playing with my brother.
  • I like to cuddle with my family.
  • I like to tell jokes.
  • We find a lot of creatures at Freedom like snakes and tarantulas.
  • I like to eat a lot because it’s fun.

Here are some pictures from when I was a baby here in the Dominican.

  • In Lima
  • In Campiña
  • Tyler or Zach holding me
  • Our neighbor came over a lot
  • Getting a bath
  • My first bed was a suitcase
  • Here I am crawling to Yuleisy
  • Me and Noah looking out the door at our old house
  • Gabe is holding me in the preschool
  • A boy holding me in Lima
  • Yuleisy holding me in the church
  • Eating some squishy food from our neighbor

Next time, I’ll tell you about one of my adventures. The end.

– Leyton

Noah’s July ’20 Blog – #1

On By MitchenersIn Noah6 Comments

We’re excited to start a new series on the family blog featuring… the kids! We thought it’d be neat to show the world from their perspectives. After all, they’re just as much a part of the ministry as us adults. So without further ado, here’s Noah’s very first entry!

Hi! My name is Noah. I’m 9 years old, and I live at Freedom, a campus close to the town of Ramon Santana. I like living here, but sometimes I miss the United States. I’ll tell you the story of how I got here to the Dominican Republic.

I was born in Virginia and lived in the States for a year and a half. My mom and dad raised support and moved to the Dominican with me and my brother. Leyton was 4 months old when we moved.

  • We got along when we were little

We moved into a tiny house at first. It was hard work to move in. Our backyard was full of trash. Our bathroom was a mess. We fixed it up a bit and made it a home.

  • The front of our house
  • One of our bathrooms
  • Our backyard after it was cleaned up

During the days, our family went out to the villages and played with the kids. I don’t remember it very much, but the kids liked to play with me. After that, we’d come home and play some more as a family.

  • Playing in Campiña
  • Me and Leyton reading books in my room

I lived in that first house for about a year and a half until….

Check back for my next blog post to find out where we moved next!

– Noah

July, August, September 2018 in Pictures

On By MitchenersIn Angela, Photos of the MonthLeave a comment

It’s such a privilege to be a part of God’s work here in the Dominican! Enjoy these pictures of our last few months at Freedom!

July

Francielis enjoying summer camp!
Israilin, one of our beautiful fifth graders
Working on more classrooms!
Some of our wonderful teachers singing along with our students at English camp
Sofia and Caleigh with Miss Mery
A stairwell getting finished out
Noah loved the obstacle course each week
Smiles from Leyton
Loving the playground
Rachel and I loved spending a little bit of time with Becky, our favorite librarian!
A little artist
Yubelquis
Rosa’s students are as tall as she is!
Carla
Making pancakes with Miss Glamary
Our library continues to grow!

August

Brianda
Teachers working through some books in a New Teacher Training session
Our wonderful interns
Lianna
Miss Becca is back with her kiddos for this school year!
New classroom decor as a new year begins!
Breaking ground on another section of the octagon
We loved having Jade join us for a week – excited to have her here full-time in 2019!
Leyton and Cal in one of our villages for VBS
Happy 3rd birthday, Cal!
We’ve been friends for a few years…
Happy 8th birthday, Noah!

September

Each class takes a turn leading the student body through singing the Dominican National Anthem
Our stateside volunteers helped pack another shipping container of classroom furniture for us!
Our 4th grade classroom sponsors brought down birthday cards for each of their students!
Some of our newest missionaries raising support!
Batey Day!
Passing out tickets to families for our upcoming drama
Appreciation Lunch for construction workers
1st grade cleaning up around the school
Working on the set design in one of our rooms
The beginnings of our “Heaven” room
Directors and Set Designers walking through the details for “Decision Night”
Sunset over the apartments

February 2018 in Pictures

On By MitchenersIn Angela, Photos of the Month2 Comments

Check out our February in photos! Click the pictures for descriptions of last month’s happenings.

Freedom Campus and School

Working hard on more classrooms
Two apartment buildings!
A few broken blocks
Loving their singing time in chapel
Rachel with her old students
Abby leading chapel
Noah singing with his classmates
Kindergarten
Fourth grader, Nika
Smiles from Katherine
Beautiful Francielis
Working on a Bible worksheet
Sad and happy.
Misael getting ready to cut out his “-ad” crown

 

Independence Day March- February 27th

LOVE this kid! Wilfred!
Fourth grader Yefry was one of the flag-bearers
They may not be Dominican, but they seemed to enjoy marching nonetheless!
Sonia led all 240 of our crew through each of our Central Romana bateys that we pull kids from
Leyton waiting to load up for the next village
Ms. Becky with her little babes on the safari truck
We’re gonna miss beautiful Elle! She headed to the States to start college this fall!
Gabriela
Elizabeth
Dhariely and Danairy Ester
Beautiful little one
Heading to the next village
Mery and her three “Padres de la Patria”

 

Fam

Big girl
Marble fun
Orange tongue!
Lunch popsicle
Noah enjoyed celebrating Leyton’s birthday
6-year-old in the house!
Three little towheads
Darla gave me a sweet little Valentine!

Summer craziness and God’s goodness

On By MitchenersIn Dominican Republic, ScottLeave a comment

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!

Furlough

On By MitchenersIn Dominican Republic6 Comments

Sorry for the hiatus. We’ve been in the States for a short furlough. We’re enjoying our time sharing what God is doing in the Dominican, but we picked 2 crazy weeks to come back – the cold and snow have been a bit of a shock to our systems. Leyton does not enjoy putting on his coat to go outside, and his teeth start chattering after just seconds in the freezing weather.

Pray for us. We have several more meetings before flying back to the DR on February 11th. We’re looking for more people (particularly school-year interns) who are interested in being a part of God’s vision for the DR. It’s been amazing to watch Him provide in His perfect timing. The adventure continues!

 

Packing Up and Moving Out

On By MitchenersIn Dominican Republic2 Comments

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…

2012… The Year of the Big Move

On By MitchenersIn AngelaLeave a comment

The holidays are over.  We absolutely loved every minute we were able to spend with our friends and family over the past month, but I am so thankful to be home.  Traveling pregnant (and sick at times) was a little taxing, yet I made it.  God’s abundant faithfulness and blessings were simply overflowing throughout 2011.  A year ago, we were living in our “cozy” little one-bedroom apartment in Virginia with a 5-month old wondering what exactly our future held for us.  Now we’re in Indiana preparing for the arrival of Baby Boy #2 next month.  Two  kids under 18 months will be a challenge, I’m sure, but we’re ready to get to know our new little guy before we make The Big Move (as I’m now calling it) to the Dominican Republic.

Speaking of The Big Move, let’s get to the good stuff!  As of last week, we are at 59% of our budgeted support to move to the Dominican!  That’s basically a 10% jump in three weeks. Pretty awesome, right?  I’ve said it before, but this “support raising” chapter of our lives has been quite the roller coaster emotionally.  Right now, Scott and I are so excited to be moving in a forward direction.  In fact, we have tentatively set a date (month) for The Big Move!  As God continues to provide, we’re aiming to be on Dominican soil in May.  A lot of preparation has already gone into this decision, and we still have much to accomplish to reach this goal.  But it feels encouraging to be making more defined plans.  Besides finishing up raising support, we’ll be starting on plans/paperwork for our living arrangements, Spanish study, residency, and so much more.

For those of you mathematically inclined, here are some really cool and really important numbers for our family:
5 – The number of weeks before our second baby makes his debut
4 – The number of months before The Big Move
40 –  The number of $50/month supporters we still need to reach 100% support (That would break down to 10 new supporters each month from now until May.)

Thank you – to the new members of our support team, and to those who have been faithfully praying and giving since the start.  You all are helping make God’s call on our lives a reality.  I am still learning the lesson of trusting God completely in every aspect of life.  We’re looking forward to sharing more good news with you in the coming months!

Ang

Around Freedom in 60 Seconds – November Video

On By MitchenersIn Dominican RepublicLeave a comment

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!

On By MitchenersIn Dominican RepublicLeave a comment

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!