Here is Love

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 John 4:10

Every week, I interact with many students; some enjoy classes and apply themselves their work; others simply crave attention. As I prayed for wisdom this week in how to deal with the latter crowd, God brought to my attention again the fact that He LOVES THEM. God loves them unconditionally, as He does me. Without any love towards Him on our part, HE LOVED US, and because of that love sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. It is a short phrase, but full of meaning. Jesus Christ, sent by God the Father, gave up His glory and humbled Himself to become a man. Made sin for us, Jesus Christ suffered the agony of separation from His Father. What wondrous love is this! What cause for rejoicing to those who believe, and what cause for hope to those who are still lost in their sin!

I was excited to see Andrea and Cristina, two of the four the girls from the tenth grade gang ("The Strong") at the church service last Sunday evening, apparently having taken me up on my invitation! I invited the entire group again (the other two are Isabel and Santa) last Friday to the service this evening, and am praying that God will draw these girls (and many others!) to Himself.

We are preparing for the second graduation for Fountain of Life School, which takes place this coming Friday. The cello and I have officially been asked to provide dinner music for that evening.

Thank you again for your prayers! I am seeing evidence that God is working in the hearts and lives of many of the people here, including mine! He has put a desire for spiritual growth in the hearts of several young adults here in the church.

Fear Not

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." Isaiah 41:10

This morning in the service, God spoke to my heart as we studied types of fear from a Biblical perspective. There is the reverential fear that we should have for God; there is the instinctive fear of danger given for our protection (such as the newborn baby's fear of falling); and, there is the fear that leads to the sin of worry, doubt, and disobedience. 1 John 4:18 says, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear..." Perfect trust in God and His promises is not complete without the perfect love that comes from God. It is my prayer that I might be made perfect in the love of God, first towards God and then towards those He has called me to serve.

I have been made increasingly aware of the spiritual battle that is going on for this village and school. For some, it is a battle for spiritual growth; for others, a battle for their souls. Peer pressure is just as real here as in the U.S., and despite the hard life, Christians here can get "comfortable" too! Please pray for an outpouring of God's Spirit here in Juan Tomas, and the continual strengthening of those who sincerely desire to walk moment-by-moment in the Spirit.

As a side note, I am hearing reports of the cold, rainy weather back home in Georgia. Somehow, I'm not sure I remember what "cold" is!! However, if any of you get tired of the cold, you always have an open invitation to come visit the WARM Dominican Republic! (Just let me know before showing up on the doorstep...)

May God bless all of you, and thank you for your prayers!

Perfect Peace

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee." Isaiah 26:3

If one word could describe the past week, it would be PEACE. Not necessarily in circumstances or classrooms, but peace in knowing that God is in control of everything, and can be trusted with past, present, and future!

Last week had it's usual ups and downs, but I was excited to see some specific answers to prayer. For one thing, the group of four girls ("The Strong") from my 10th grade class have made it a point to come by and speak to me a little every day. This is encouraging, because in the past it has been hard for anybody to "get through" to them. Please pray for their salvation -- imagine what God could do through "The Strong" if they dedicated their lives to Him! Since they live right here in the village, I am hoping for more opportunities to reach out to Isabel, Andrea, Santa, and Cristina.

Another blessing from God was during my 8th grade class on Wednesday morning. We had been studying the basics of music for the past several weeks, but are now beginning to look at basics in art. As always, I try to make the subject applicable for their every day life. This particular week, we were looking at balance in art and music; this was an easy topic to relate to their other classes, because their is also balance in science, mathematics, and language. At this point came the opportunity to pull out the Bible and make spiritual application. Now, usually when that happens, chaos erupts in the classroom -- students start talking, outside distractions come in, etc. This time, however, they all suddenly got VERY quiet and attentive, and listened to what the Bible had to say about balance. As a result, I was able to present the scale of God's perfect justice being thrown out of balance by mankind's sin, the fact that in himself, man can never balance the scale, but that in Jesus Christ, God's justice is satisfied. Praise God for this opportunity to share!

Thank you for your prayers! Every class and every student represents a spiritual battle, and I know that incidents like these can only come about as a result of prayer.

Growing Relationships

I am praising God for the blessings that have come my way over the last week. Apart from the usual joys of working with the children and young people at the school and church, God has blessed my personal relationships with several of my co-laborers and students.

Last Monday evening, as I looked around at an unusually small gathering for a weekly Bible study and realized once again the need for constant intercessory prayer on the behalf of the young people, God worked in a special way among those who were present. As we prayed for God's strength, power, and the desire to grow spiritually for the individuals of the group, both those who were present and those who were absent, God knit our hearts together in singleness of purpose. This spiritual unity has since drawn us closer together in friendship and in service, and since that time I have had especially good conversations with two of the young ladies from that group.

During my free time at the school, students will often come in during their five-minute breaks and speak to me a little or learn a little bit about the piano. These brief conversations are slowly but surely helping me to learn the individual needs of each student. One student told me that I have become "one of them," and have even begun doing and responding to things as a Dominican would! She went on to say that it was a good thing, that it makes the students comfortable around me.

Another blessing this week was that I received boxes from Crooked Creek Baptist Church and my family. Besides all the goodies, necessities, and class materials that were sent, there were many cards or notes from my church family. THANK YOU for your gifts, but most of all for your encouraging words and prayers! As always, these notes came right at the moment I needed them. It amazed me to see how God used the shipping delay just so I can be encouraged at the right moment!

Thank you for your continued prayers. You are also in my prayers and thoughts. May God bless all of you at home who are serving as "senders."

Two Months in the Dominican Republic!

I realized with a shock the other day that I have now been here in the Dominican Republic a full two months, and teaching in the school just over one month. Looking back, I see God's continued hand of blessing on the work here, and expect many more blessings in the future. This is a critical time for building trust between me, the students, and the people of the village. I have now been here long enough to learn a little bit about them and for them to learn a little bit about me, and they are starting to open up their hearts to me. Please be in prayer as I continue to develop relationships with fellow teachers, students, and the parents, that God would give me wisdom for every situation, that I would be "shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace," and that above all, I would continually depend on God for each step.

During the last week I saw answered prayer in that some of the young adults here in the church are realizing their personal need for spiritual growth and recognizing their personal responsibility to God to be faithful in prayer, in evangelism, and in service. They are also beginning to understand and apply to their lives the importance of Godly music for spiritual growth. Please be in prayer as they seek to please God in every aspect of their lives, that they, as well as I, would hold nothing back from God. At this point, this group of teens and young adults is few in number, but imagine what God could do in this village and region with just a few completely surrendered to Him!

Thank you for your faithful prayers! I cannot express how important they are to the success of the ministry.

Strong in the Lord

Another week in the Dominican Republic has gone by! I am thankful for God's help and presence this week, and know that many of you have been praying faithfully.

There truly is nothing else like being strengthened moment by moment as one depends upon God. After the reminder last week of WHO is my source of strength, I was again able to step into the classrooms and church work confidently with the knowledge that God would enable me to do the work to which He called me. The students were not "perfect" and neither was my Spanish, but God's hand of blessing was on each class, and over all there was a higher sense of respect for me as their teacher, a greater desire to learn, and wonder of wonders, the classroom did not erupt into chaos when I pulled out Scripture!

I continue to get to know my students and the other teachers at the school better; I am quickly learning their personalities and character, and am starting to learn of their needs and problems as well. As little as I know them, I find that God has already put a great love for them in my heart and long for them to grow spiritually as believers or to open up their hearts to saving faith in Christ.

Two days a week during high school recess, I have students coming to learn more about music, or sometimes just to get to know me better. "Las Fuertes" (a Juan Tomas gang?) once again stayed after class on Thursday afternoon. It seems that they enjoy the class and have chosen to like me rather than intimidate me. This week, they peppered me with questions about my home, family, and what I thought of life here in the Dominican Republic. This, for me, is an answer to prayer, because one of these girls at least has been hard for anyone to reach. Please pray for these 10th grade girls, as they seem to consistently brush off anything spiritual. I am still learning names so do not know them all yet, but two of the four girls in this group are Isabel and Cristina. Pray that God will open their hearts to the Gospel, that they will overcome the peer pressure, and that they will find that true strength comes from God alone.

My work with the church music program seems to have taken off this week, with not only additional young people in the church learning piano, but also learning to sing Godly music in harmony. We will again go on visitation to the village tomorrow to invite people to the evening service (which is the larger service of the day) and for evangelism. Please pray that God will use us tomorrow to reach this village and that the light of the Gospel will shine through us.

Thank you for your continued prayers!

"The Strong"

As I was gathering my materials and books after the final class on Thursday, a few of my tenth grade students stayed after class asking questions about the piano, about music, and in general making conversation. Reaching for my portable dry-erase board, I noticed that one of the three girls had written their nicknames on the board along with "Las Fuertes" ("The Strong"). Gathering around, they wanted to be sure that I KNEW that they were "The Strong."

Throughout the four weeks that I have been teaching, I have heard the term "fuerte" used to describe an age group, grade, or an individual student. It basically means, "that crowd can be hard to handle." As I prayed for wisdom this week about a particularly hard situation, the answer unexpectedly came after my introduction to the calm and cool (attempting to be unsettling?) "Las Fuertes" of the tenth grade. These students may be "strong," but GOD is stronger yet!

Ephesians 6:10 says, "Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might."

I rejoice in the fact that I serve the Almighty God, who fills me with the power of His Holy Spirit as I depend upon Him for strength.

Although there have been challenges (please continue to pray for the 5th and 9th grades!), there have also been blessings, as I have seen the continued eagerness to learn and grow in many students. Thank you for your faithful prayers!