Continued Blessings

I am in my first day of visiting family & friends in the U.S., and am currently going through culture & climate shock! Thanks to the hard work of my family over the last few weeks, I will be able to continue to enjoy fresh fruit while here -- apples, blueberries, strawberries, and plums instead of mangoes, pineapples, bananas, and cherries. "Hot" here seems to be hotter than "hot" in the Dominican Republic, and the air is much dryer. On the flip side, the A/C here is much more effective than the open windows and fans there!

Before coming home, I attended a conference for Christian educators and school administrators in Santo Domingo with the staff from Fountain of Life school. The theme was "Going Beyond in Education" and the main session "From Mediocrity to Excellence." It was a wonderful experience and a real blessing as I learned many new things.
On Sunday morning, I attended Quisqueyana Baptist Church in Villa Mella, where several young string students gave their first Sunday morning presentation, after only 2 1/2 months of lessons. It is a blessing to see so many young people spending their time in learning music for God's glory instead of going the way of most teens. I was back at Juan Tomas Bible Church for the evening service, where once again I saw a passion for singing and playing for the Lord. By the way, the most advanced piano student in Juan Tomas will have his first opportunity tonight in the prayer service to play ALL the congregational hymns! Please keep Ariel in your prayers over the next few weeks, as this is a whole new kind of "pressure" for him.
I will be around until July 22, when I leave again for the Dominican Republic, and would love to hear from you. Thank you VERY much for your prayers, encouragement, and support over the past year!

New Opportunities

I am just about a week away from heading north to Georgia! Which leads to the question: why does home have to be so far away from home? A couple of years ago, I would never have traded the hills of North Georgia for anyplace in the world; now I wouldn't trade beautiful, tropical (and right now, WET) Dominican Republic for anything.

As most of you know by now, I am happily "courting" a Dominican by the name of Abel De la Cruz Acosta. He is a music minister in a nearby Baptist church, and has been involved here in Juan Tomas since 2008. We have taught classes together, and this morning had the opportunity to present the ministries to a prominent Dominican Christian violinist and conductor. Music students from both churches gave him a "concert," (for many, the first time to perform), and he left enthusiastic about helping us in whatever way he can. Pictured below is Camila, a 12-year-old student from Juan Tomas practicing "Nothing but the Blood."

ALSO -- Here on the farm, we had piglets born last week!!! They're so cute it makes you want one... until you look at the mother.

Thank you for all your prayers and support, and have a wonderful week!

End of School, Beginning of Summer

The school year is coming to an end! Remember that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when you stared at a 5 page exam in which all of a sudden you couldn't think straight, your mind went blank, and the phrases and questions on the page might as well have been Greek? For the last two weeks, students have been reviewing, studying, cramming, praying, and sometimes panicking as they went through EIGHT SOLID DAYS of exams. And it's not just hard for the students; after all, they have 10 or 12 exams, and they're (hopefully) done! I have learned that the teacher has ALL the exams from EVERY class to grade, plus any final projects! I now completely forgive any professor I have ever had to hand my work back a little late or get grades posted at the last possible minute! Now I realize that to get everything done, a teacher sometimes has to be a miracle worker! (Or at least have late nights!) Please keep the teachers in your prayers, as we will continue to work and plan for most of the month of June.

With the summer come more groups from the U.S., working around the school and church or in a camp. Each and every group is a blessing for the ministry and the people here in the village, and we in the church also want to be a blessing to them.

We continue with the instrumental music lessons in the church. We have tried in vain to get all the students together for a picture, but so far have not succeeded. In addition to those pictured, there is one more piano student, two more guitar students, and four more string students.