First, I will say that school has gotten off to a great start, and I am excited for what will be happening this school year! Second, I am now going to write about something other than ministry activities for a change...
I am blessed to be living on a dairy goat farm that requires a generator, and right by a school that requires internet. In these ways, my life here is not usually so very different from how it was in Georgia. Every once in a while, though, I get that reminder that I am, in fact, living in a third world country.
For example: I am currently enjoying "air conditioning" from a mechanism that has blades that whirl around in fast rotation (the fan). This may not sound like A/C to you, but it is. Any doubt of that fact is erased from the mind just as soon as the generator breaks down and we are stuck with public electricity. I am currently using the internet. The internet system, however, seems to be allergic to thunderstorms. These are small reminders of how most of the people here live: planning anything using electricity around certain (or uncertain) hours, going to a public internet center, and the like.
Perhaps the most constant reminder of WHERE it is that I live is when it comes to cooking. When I left Georgia over a year ago, I brought with me several simple and tasty recipes, looking forward to plugging in the crock pot in the mornings and coming in after school to a wonderful lunch. It didn't work out that way. As we are usually on public electricity in the mornings, the current is too low for the crock pot to bring anything to simmering point. Sadly, it has been reassigned to keep things warm AFTER they are cooked if so needed. Several of my recipes, too, include a very necessary cream of chicken soup. After looking at tiny cans with high prices, I reached the conclusion that anything requiring cream of chicken soup must inevitably be made from scratch. A week and a half ago, I got stuck in an interesting situation: no precooked leftovers left, raw meat thawed for cooking, no recipe for said meat, and the internet was out (and I forgot that I had very helpful neighbors). That was when "ranch chicken and potatoes" popped into my head -- a recipe that made it's debut in my life while my friends and I waited for it to cook 4 hours in a stove that wasn't turned on... (another story).
Despite these "reminders," I love the Dominican Republic and its people, and wouldn't trade these learning curves for anything! By the way, I owe a big THANK YOU to several of you who have given me cooking tips over the past couple of weeks -- it has really helped!
May God bless you this week! Thank you for your continued prayers and support.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Bring Forth Fruit
"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain..." John 15:16a
The last week has been packed with preparations for the new school year. Every teacher has goals for themselves and their students. As I considered the students that I will have in each class this year, I was able to come up with new ideas and new methods to help these students retain and put to practical use what they will learn over the next several months. Every teacher's dream is that what they teach would REMAIN with the student; that the student would put what is taught in class into practical use, helping them to succeed in life and personal growth. Sometimes, the transmission from teacher to student can be quite a challenge when the students simply can't afford textbooks or extra school materials. But still we have hopes of success.
Even more important than academic success is communicating the Living Word of God to our students. Many are as poor spiritually as they are materially, with little hope of coming to a clear understanding of the Gospel within their family or community. Please be in prayer for each staff member of Fountain of Life School, as we seek to bring forth fruit that remains.
The last week has been packed with preparations for the new school year. Every teacher has goals for themselves and their students. As I considered the students that I will have in each class this year, I was able to come up with new ideas and new methods to help these students retain and put to practical use what they will learn over the next several months. Every teacher's dream is that what they teach would REMAIN with the student; that the student would put what is taught in class into practical use, helping them to succeed in life and personal growth. Sometimes, the transmission from teacher to student can be quite a challenge when the students simply can't afford textbooks or extra school materials. But still we have hopes of success.
Even more important than academic success is communicating the Living Word of God to our students. Many are as poor spiritually as they are materially, with little hope of coming to a clear understanding of the Gospel within their family or community. Please be in prayer for each staff member of Fountain of Life School, as we seek to bring forth fruit that remains.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Great Things
"The Lord has done great things for us; whereof we are glad." Psalm 126:3
It has been wonderful to see the Lord working in the lives of so many young people over the past couple of weeks, Dominicans and Americans alike.
After a busy but refreshing visit to the U.S., I returned here to the D.R. followed by a team of teens and young adults, mostly from Crooked Creek Baptist Church, who were to work in an English Camp here on the school property and run evangelistic services every evening. This dedicated team was with the Dominican kids (age 12-15) day and night, impacting lives by showing the love and truth of God. At the end of the camp, many Christians had been greatly blessed and three boys received Christ as their personal Savior. A few days after the team left, we received news that one of the girls had also made the decision (AFTER leaving the Christian atmosphere!) to follow Christ as well.
Many youth, like those pictured above in the spontaneous seaside service, are hungry and thirsty for love and truth. We feel that there are more close to salvation, but have been held back by peer pressure from their friends or family, or think that God cannot forgive what they have done. Please join the CCBC team in prayer for these young people as the school season starts up again, that God would continue to work in their hearts and lives.
Personally, I am grateful for how God has blessed me through the mission team as well, through their devotionals, messages, loving spirit, and support. I appreciated their squeals of joy as they witnessed Abel De la Cruz propose to me with the full blessing of my parents in front of a majestic Dominican waterfall. We look forward to serving the Lord together to win the lost, edify the believers, and glorify God through the music ministry.
It has been wonderful to see the Lord working in the lives of so many young people over the past couple of weeks, Dominicans and Americans alike.
After a busy but refreshing visit to the U.S., I returned here to the D.R. followed by a team of teens and young adults, mostly from Crooked Creek Baptist Church, who were to work in an English Camp here on the school property and run evangelistic services every evening. This dedicated team was with the Dominican kids (age 12-15) day and night, impacting lives by showing the love and truth of God. At the end of the camp, many Christians had been greatly blessed and three boys received Christ as their personal Savior. A few days after the team left, we received news that one of the girls had also made the decision (AFTER leaving the Christian atmosphere!) to follow Christ as well.
Many youth, like those pictured above in the spontaneous seaside service, are hungry and thirsty for love and truth. We feel that there are more close to salvation, but have been held back by peer pressure from their friends or family, or think that God cannot forgive what they have done. Please join the CCBC team in prayer for these young people as the school season starts up again, that God would continue to work in their hearts and lives. Personally, I am grateful for how God has blessed me through the mission team as well, through their devotionals, messages, loving spirit, and support. I appreciated their squeals of joy as they witnessed Abel De la Cruz propose to me with the full blessing of my parents in front of a majestic Dominican waterfall. We look forward to serving the Lord together to win the lost, edify the believers, and glorify God through the music ministry.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
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!
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!
Monday, June 21, 2010
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!
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!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Blessings from the Lord
Last week was a good one in many ways, filled with blessings from the Lord.
First, here are a couple of mango pictures to help you visualize what I was talking about it the last post. The first picture shows five of the twenty mangoes that I peeled and sliced up on Tuesday to turn into "peach" cobbler.
This second picture is of the mango tree that hangs it's branches over the garage roof, which is connected to my apartment roof. At night the mango tree likes to go bowling (minus the pins) -- it tosses a mango onto the roof, which then rolls down with a classic bowling ball sound. 
Speaking of the roof, we had a mission team arrive from Oregon last Saturday, some of whom have begun installing a ceiling in my apartment. This is a great blessing, as the temperature inside would go up 10 degrees or so in the late morning and afternoon, and be very slow to go back down even after it cooled off at night. With the insulation and some of the panels now up, the temperature has remained pretty constant -- so far rising only about 2 degrees in the afternoon. There is a HUGE difference between 84 and 94 degrees!!!
We finished up the classes for this semester, and begin Finals tomorrow. Having already reviewed with several of my classes, I was able to invite a guest art teacher who is here on the mission trip to teach in some grades. This set me free to spend more time planning and preparing for the classes I had. On Wednesday night, the Lord laid it on my heart to do an evangelistic "chalk talk" for 10th grade, who had class with me at the last period on Thursday. At first, I said "NO WAY am I doing that." This is something I hadn't done in 6-7 years! Then a simple, but communicative picture began to come to mind. So I said, "But they won't listen. They're all ready for summer break." Well, Thursday morning found me working on the colors for the picture and drawing in the sky and background for the presentation.... and praying that half the class would skip and go home early! But the vast majority didn't. And although a couple did try to be disruptive, when I concluded the chalk art message with a presentation of the Gospel, they were all quiet and attentive. I am praying that having received the Gospel message in different way will plant it firmly into their minds, and that a picture will truly "be worth a thousand words."
First, here are a couple of mango pictures to help you visualize what I was talking about it the last post. The first picture shows five of the twenty mangoes that I peeled and sliced up on Tuesday to turn into "peach" cobbler.
This second picture is of the mango tree that hangs it's branches over the garage roof, which is connected to my apartment roof. At night the mango tree likes to go bowling (minus the pins) -- it tosses a mango onto the roof, which then rolls down with a classic bowling ball sound. 
Speaking of the roof, we had a mission team arrive from Oregon last Saturday, some of whom have begun installing a ceiling in my apartment. This is a great blessing, as the temperature inside would go up 10 degrees or so in the late morning and afternoon, and be very slow to go back down even after it cooled off at night. With the insulation and some of the panels now up, the temperature has remained pretty constant -- so far rising only about 2 degrees in the afternoon. There is a HUGE difference between 84 and 94 degrees!!! We finished up the classes for this semester, and begin Finals tomorrow. Having already reviewed with several of my classes, I was able to invite a guest art teacher who is here on the mission trip to teach in some grades. This set me free to spend more time planning and preparing for the classes I had. On Wednesday night, the Lord laid it on my heart to do an evangelistic "chalk talk" for 10th grade, who had class with me at the last period on Thursday. At first, I said "NO WAY am I doing that." This is something I hadn't done in 6-7 years! Then a simple, but communicative picture began to come to mind. So I said, "But they won't listen. They're all ready for summer break." Well, Thursday morning found me working on the colors for the picture and drawing in the sky and background for the presentation.... and praying that half the class would skip and go home early! But the vast majority didn't. And although a couple did try to be disruptive, when I concluded the chalk art message with a presentation of the Gospel, they were all quiet and attentive. I am praying that having received the Gospel message in different way will plant it firmly into their minds, and that a picture will truly "be worth a thousand words."
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