Full of Love

We made it home safely... Praise the Lord!  For the most parts our flights were uneventful and on time.  God was watching over us through the entire process including customs and security, etc.  So, in case you haven't done this before I will explain a little bit of the process... (because I had never been out of the country before the Dominican and had no idea).

We board in the Dominican and I must say their security is by far the BEST I've ever been through (and by best I mean safest and most annoying).  They literally go through EVERY pocket of EVERY bag searching...  It's hard to know if they are looking for something dangerous or just looking for something that may need to be confiscated in their mind (you get my drift).  But, praise the Lord everything was great in this area.  I have to say the funniest part was when the guy pulled my eyelash curler from my makeup bag and looked at it quite confused and looked at us.  But nonetheless I was able to keep it!  After leaving the DR we fly to Miami as that is American Airlines international hub.  There you land and go through customs (present your passport a gajillion times), say where you were, why you were there, how long you were there...  Basically an interrogation.  And I'm such a nerd that I know the answers and we haven't done anything wrong but I start sweating... ummm, ummm in the Dominican...ummm we are missionaries...  Then you pick up your luggage (everything was accounted for) and go through another part of customs where you wait in line for a guy to again ask where you were, what have you been doing...  After passing through that area you head to the "connecting flights" and get in line to drop your checked luggage off (a very simple system that I'm not completely convinced of it's organization, but I must say all our pieces arrived including the car seat so who am I to judge) and head back through security.  God especially placed His hand in this area as the lady told us to go in the wheelchair, extra needs line (I guess because of Aubrey in the stroller) so we got to bypass a ton of people and probably 30-45 minutes of waiting in line (remember God cares about the red lights).  After passing through this security, we were free to cruise the airport for about 4 hours.  So we got ourselves a Spicy chicken sandwich from Wendy's (I must say I had this preplanned for the airport!) and waited.  :)

So an amazing, busy day topped by our arrival in Houston when we were surprisingly greeted by the entire Arredondo clan (babies included!) at the airport.  Lots of good tears!  Followed by a trip to Whataburger at 12:30 in the morning. :)  There are no words to describe the emotions and excitement felt yesterday!  Thank you Lord for the blessing of family, both here in the States and in the DR.  We are so full of love right now!

"Though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls."  1 Peter 1:8

Chapter 1: An Introduction

I cannot believe it is December 14!  Tomorrow, we will have officially been living in the Dominican for 4 months... that seems so unbelievable.  There are times I sit back and think, "why us God, I don't understand how we were chosen?"  But then I count my blessings and rest assured knowing God knows exactly what has happened and what will happen in everything (and why He chose us).  As J has worded it several times, these 4 months have been chapter 1 in our story here.  And as chapter 1 comes to a close, we realize the majority of the work and our time has been focused on building relationships and organization.  Although we were blessed to move here with a Dominican family already known, we have been able to further build up those relationships and make new family members along the way.  For this week alone, we have had several "going away dinners" and a party last night with the lead members of the Christian Sports Association (the meetings J often attends and the organization where the coordinator position has been started).  It has been such an honor serving alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ in hopes of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ further. And when we return, I pray Chapter 2 will be titled Discipleship.  I cannot wait for Chapter 2 to begin and continue to watch the growth not only here in the Dominican, but in our family and friends back home and especially in ourselves.  Thank you God for this opportunity to love on your people!

Aubrey with some neighborhood friends.  She has reached the point that she does not want to stay with Mom and Dad but would rather go with her "friends".  She adores Rosemary and Ruben (some neighbors who live a few doors down) and it often takes quite a bit of convincing for her to come back home with us.

A view from the road on our drive back from Nagua.  It was a gorgeous drive with the ocean and the mountains... God is an amazing artist.

A picture of Fred, Brittney, J and our team in the Dominican (including our Cuba counterpart Rudy!).  It was a fantastic meeting!  (And no, J was not reading The Hungry Caterpillar during the meeting...). :)

A picture of a few more neighborhood friends.  These are our "regulars" and they wanted to surprise us with something.  It turned out they made an icing (very good and very sweet) and bought 2 individual cakes to put it on.  They surprised us (and our sugar ants) with this tasty treat.  This is them eating the remaining icing straight... wow!

 

Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.  Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.  Psalm 119:36-37

Our God is an awesome God

Happy Tuesday!  Wow, what a whirlwind of work, prayer, fun, meetings, traveling, and preaching this weekend was.  It was fantastic to have Fred, Brittney and the gang here visiting us and working alongside us.  We are so blessed to have an amazing team in the States (especially Brittney who keeps everything in line and moving forward) :).  It was hard sending them off yesterday at the airport, but exciting to know that in only a few days we will be making the same flight back. 

Probably one of the biggest lessons this weekend was a reminder of God's strength and ability to accomplish anything (if you simply let Him).  We traveled to a place called Las Terrenas to search out a possible new site for our summer camps and meet some of the local coaches and pastors.  However, due to miscommunication and "dropping some balls", we did not have any specific contacts in the area.  As you know, everyone involved in this adventure (with the exception of God) is new at this.  And from the outset, we knew mistakes would happen... welcome to being human!  That being said, it was an opportunity for us to learn a little more about communication between the DR and the States.  And at the same time, we knew that God had us there for a reason.  As we ventured out Sunday morning, we came across a basketball court (for those of you who have been to Sosua, many of the cities in the DR have the same Multiuso complex).  God showed up in a big way when we entered the court and there was a coach with 15 young ladies having a basketball practice.  Even more there was a baseball field next door, and sure enough local coaches were playing a softball game.  If that wasn't enough, one of the coaches guided us to a tournament being played in a small city 15 minutes away.  Then God placed the icing on the cake... not only did we meet people who know Checo (one of our AIM guys) from Sosua, but we also met coaches who were present at the FCA clinic held last March (which Fred and J and a few others attended).  That previous relationship led those coaches to tell us they were "at our service" for whatever work God has for us there.  Thank you God for reminding us that you are 100% in control of the ministry! 

You are the God of great wonders!  You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations. 
Psalm 77:14

Extra prayers

Hey family!  I hope you are having a spectacular week so far.  Here in the DR we are extra excited as we anticipate the arrival of Fred (president of AIM), Brittney (our counterpart in the States for AIM and Fred's daughter), and 5 other people tomorrow!  We are pumped about them joining us for a whirlwind of work and fun over the next several days.  I wanted to ask for extra prayers this weekend during their time here as we hope to do a variety of outreach and discipleship with many local pastors, about 40 coaches we work alongside, some of the older boys who play in the sports leagues, and ultimately our AIM Dominican staff.  Weeks of work has poured into this time, and we are excited to watch God move mountains over the next 5 days! 

In other news, things are cruising along and some things coming to a close for the year...

We had our last day of ESL for Fall this past Saturday.  It was a blast and I am so proud to see some of the growth and dedication some people have taken to learning English.  Believe me, learning a new language is not easy, but I am excited to see the growth after Christmas and hopefully restart the second part of ESL with no Spanish spoken in class!!!

We got to use the new coordinator position this week for communication amongst the coaches!  We were spreading word about Fred's visit and the detailed information and thought what a great time to enact it and see how it goes.  So far I have yet to hear any negative comments or thoughts.  This is so exciting because the Dominicans are not known for their organization or foresight.  Therefore, they would simply have seen people on the streets and invited them or called a few of their friends.  We are thrilled to see what can come out of these coordinators including discipleship amongst the coaches.

This past Sunday at church, J was asked (randomly) to say something again.  It's times like that (when you have NOTHING prepared) that the Holy Spirit can truly speak through you.  He described our emotions before moving here to the DR.  It's like we were waiting in a line with 1000s of other people beside us and God came to us and said, "You.  You are the ones I'm sending to the Dominican."  And our response was one of complete awe and shock and gratitude to be given this opportunity.  J was able to emphasize that our being here is so much more a blessing to us than it could ever be to the Dominicans. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you for the prayers!  Our time here has been so much more fruitful because of our army we have at home praying for us.  In addition to the weekend prayers, please be praying for continued good health here especially among our AIM Dominican staff and their families.  There are so many battles being fought that it can often be overwhelming, but I remember that our God is bigger than any disease, any pain, any struggle, anything. 

The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.  Deuteronomy 31:8

And one quick picture... this was taken about 2 weeks ago reading in the car.  It's so funny what kids watch and pick up on (for example the glasses on the head).  Apparently Mommy wears hers on her head most of the time.  And 1 billion bonus points for whoever can tell me what book this is...

Praise Report (be ready to smile)

One of the amazing blessings about being here on the ground is we get to do the "fun stuff".  Actually, I think all of the work is fun, but we get to be the literal hands and feet to spread the joy of love and show love.  For example, one of our sisters in Christ, Mercedes, has been a part of AIM for several years now.  She has an awesome testimony and has a deep relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.  She loves God with her entire being and is always sharing this love with her community and especially the children within the community.  However, the roof on her house was in horrible shape.  It did not cover the entire house, so you can imagine what happened every time it rained (and it rains pretty often here).  She had presented this struggle with us back in June, and we prayed about it, informed Fred and others, and kept praying.  This was something on our daily prayer list but God works in His own time, so we waited and prayed.  About 3 weeks ago, we received the phone call from Fred giving the glorious news that the funds were in and we could repair her roof!  Praise the Lord!  I must admit I wanted to sing and jump (in fact I'm pretty sure there was some rejoicing going on in our house) and I could not wait to tell Mercedes.  We made a special trip to see her the next day.  And I must say, she always gives powerful hugs (those backbreaking, heart wrenching type), but these hugs were pure and complete joy.  Pure bliss!  It was such a special moment to be able to explain to her that we were not doing this because she works with AIM and we were not doing this to get anything from her, but rather God had provided the needs and we were using those funds because she is a sister in Christ and because we love her.  Here are some pictures from before, during and after...  God is good ALL OF THE TIME!!

A picture looking into what should be the kitchen area.  Obviously there is a good deal of space not covered.

A picture of what should be a bedroom.

Another bedroom.  The plastic is there to protect everything from leaks when it rains.

The frame is up...

Another shot of the frame...looking good.

A picture of the finished work!!  This is the kitchen area covered and ready to use.  And look at the "Son" beaming in.

 

A picture of the bedroom that had no roof.  Mercedes was so excited she went and jumped on the bed! 

 

And just a shot of the beautiful work and finished roof. 

 

 

As I have continuously written on here, we could not be here without the support from all of you!  Thank you for allowing us this opportunity to share Christ's love with our brothers and sisters in the Dominican!

 

"Waiting on the Lord is the most active experience you may have in your life."

Pastor David from Bear Creek Baptist Church

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!!  What a special day today is, and I hope you all get to spend it with loved ones.  J, Aubrey and I are so blessed by each of you and your families.  We could not be fulfilling our called mission of spreading the love of Christ here in the Dominican without the support from you.  What is extra special about today is that we get to spend Thanksgiving in the Dominican, our home away from home, with other missionaries.  We are very excited and blessed to join them.  We have so much to be thankful for as God continues to provide in every way and I literally mean every way: financially; spiritually as it is easy to get run down; physically- Praise the Lord not one of us has truly been sick since arriving here including Aubrey!; mentally- He prepares us for His constant pushing outside our comfort zone; relationally- keeping us focused on Him and His work, focusing on our little family, and building the relations we have with our family here in the DR...  There is so much our wonderful Savior does for us every day (remember He cares about the red lights!).  We pray each of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.  For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.  Psalm 95:2-3

 

 

p.s.  The commencement of Christmas music can officially begin!!  :)

Ranger Rick

Have we got a story for you... go ahead and sit down because this is going to be good...

Allow me to set the scene:
Friday night, dark outside and raining heavily on and off.  We have just finished eating dinner at a new place called Gordito's (a little Mexican place with awesome guacamole and I am a guacamole connoisseur) with another missionary family we met awhile ago (the ones from Tennessee with 5 kids- power ranger photo).  We are driving back home following a wonderful evening, the rain has picked up, and we see (barely I might add) the "Dominican police force" in the middle of the street randomly stopping cars.  And lucky us, we were chosen!  Woo hoo (think of Toy Story with the aliens... "we've been chosen")!!  Immediately, my heart is RACING out of my chest.  So, J pulls over to the side of the street and rolls down the window.

Ranger Rick (RR): (imagine the most determined, hard faced police officer ever)  I need to see your license.
J: Yes sir.
RR: (while looking at the license and walking around front of car to check lights) Change your lights to high beams.
J: complies
RR: (walks to back of car and returns to driver's side) How long have you been here?
J: About 3 months.
RR: (stare at Americans for 15 to 20 seconds)...When did you get here?
J: August 15.
RR: I need to see your insurance.
J: complies, Ranger Rick has walked away with J's license
            -exit RR, enter good cop (GC)
GC: Good evening Mr. and Mrs.
J: Good evening.
GC: The problem we have is an out of town license is only good for 90 days.  I'm going to have to escort you to AMMET (basically a DMV).
J: complies...
            -GC enters car
Candace: Should we go ahead and call Pastor Rivas?
J: Yes, where's my phone.
Candace: dials Pastor's number in phone (imagine your favorite phone call theme music... our favorite is the "Ghostbusters" theme song...."who you gonna call, ghostbusters...")
J explains predicament to Tati (Pastor Rivas' wife)
Tati: PASTOR!!!!
J explains predicament to Pastor who says Raphael and I are on our way.
             -Drive with GC to the station and sit there with the other "convicts" until we hear the trumpet sounding the calvary has arrived (Pastor Rivas and Raphael arrive on their trusty steed the Toyota Tacoma)

At this point, Pastor explained to the officers that we were within our 90 days because on October 4 we crossed over to Haiti and reentered the Dominican thereby receiving a fresh 90 days.  It ultimately took J and Raphael going to pick up our passports to resolve the situation.  In reality, the situation had been resolved in October when the Holy Spirit insisted and pushed us to make the trip to Haiti.  God saw fit to allow this difficult situation to enter our lives, but not without the foresight to resolve the situation over a month ago.  Our God is so big and always in control even in situations we cannot understand.  So thank you God for this opportunity to witness your power!

"For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord..." Jeremiah 29:11 (again thanks to Cael for learning these with hand motions.  J and I continue to do the motions along with the verse!)

If you build it...they will come

Hey gang!  I hope things are going great wherever you are, and you are enjoying this special time of anticipation for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I know J, Aubrey and I are looking forward to coming back to the States in December to see everyone and get some food.  I must admit that we are missing the fast food and the Mexican and all the unhealthy food we used to eat.  :)  I cannot wait to get myself a big 'ol Whataburger with cheese! Mmmmm....  I know, I know... one wouldn't think it's the food you miss, but you do.  I love rice and beans and chicken (basically a staple here in the DR) and I must say J has become even more creative at trying to make some of our favorite meals from back home (chicken fried rice, Chuy's burritos with hatch sauce...) but it's not quite the same. 

We are still moving along here.  Again, I keep meaning to blog and something comes up in the evening and it's basically been a week again.  So, I'm just going to give you a run down on what's been going on...

*ESL is still going strong.  Our last classes for this semester are actually next week!  I cannot believe we are basically finished with the semester.  We still have new people joining almost every week which is great.  God reaches people in so many ways, and we pray He uses this to bring "just one more" to Christ! 

*J still meets Monday evenings with our AIM staff to discuss upcoming items and plans and needs.  It is going great and it is amazing to witness the growth in our guys.  They are beginning to plan ahead (Praise the Lord!!) which is quite the advance and anticipate needs and ideas.

*This past Saturday was another clean up event in Cangrejo.  Again, we are trying to raise up the communities in the area by literally cleaning them and showing them what the love of Christ looks like.  Here are some pictures of the day...

*J got to attend a new site with our volleyball guys on Tuesday to discuss who AIM is (what it does, what it believes...) and add them to our areas.  This is very exciting because as of 4 years ago, there were hardly any girls playing volleyball in Sosua.  Today, there are over 300 girls playing in leagues!  What a blessing as these 300+ girls get to hear the Word preached weekly.  Gloria a Dios!!  It is so exciting to see Christ at work.

*Yesterday was the Canadian missionaries last health clinic and the three of us helped out there.  Again, it is something I enjoy as it reminds me of the love I have for medicine.  They leave tomorrow but we have several new friends and contacts and am so excited to continue to work alongside one another even if from a distance.

*Today we are visiting several outlying areas where we had camp this past Summer.  Ultimately we want to remain in touch with the coaches and areas and lift them up in whatever way we can.  (J actually preached at an outlying site last Tuesday to about 100 older teenagers.  He said it went great and reminded them to not be so focused on the one blessing they want that they miss the far greater blessings God has for them.  i.e.  Most of these boys big dreams are to get signed to the major leagues.  J wanted to remind them that even if that doesn't happen, God has something bigger and better planned for them!)

*And for some exciting news... some missionaries visited Cangrejo and provided the funds to build (rebuild) the basketball court!!!  Here are some pictures from the construction and a final picture of the court.  It looks beautiful and is very exciting for the community.  Also, maybe we will be able to add another sport to Cangrejo this year??!!  :)

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 1 John 4:16b-17

 

Endless Patience

Hey family!  Happy Friday again.  Another week has flown by.  I have been meaning to blog all week and kept waiting for something "good" to blog about, but then I realized, I just need to keep everyone updated on what is simply going on.  I tend to think I have to have something momentous or funny to write about and not just simply life.  But that is what we have fallen into... life.  And what a crazy, exciting, adventurous life it is.  Things here are great.  God continues to move us and grow us (often in ways we are trying to avoid!) and it has been quite the challenge.  I still struggle with my "we're not getting anything accomplished" idea and then we sit back and start to talk about what is going on or what we have coming up and I realize God has been moving the whole time, but I am just a little slow on the realization.  But isn't that one of God's amazing qualities, His endless patience.  Day in and day out, no matter what we do or don't do or say or don't say, He is waiting constantly for us to seek Him and follow Him.  Even now, I do not read my Bible as often as I should, I do not pray as often as I should, I am not great at being "quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to get angry."  Yet, these are things I am working on everyday with my Daddy God.  He is there when I stumble and take steps away from Him.  He is there to pick me when I fall down, and I cannot tell you how much that assurance helps me everyday in life.  I pray you all would have the confidence to "step out of the boat" in faith knowing your Daddy God is there for you.  He will catch you if you fall, He will lift you up if you sink... what a blessed realization this is!  We love you all and as always thank you for the prayers, love, support, long distance hugs and kisses. 

"But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.  He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." 
Titus 3:4-7

 

Rudy the Cuban

Hey family!  I hope things are going great with each of you.  Things are good here, again just moving along.  For those of you who know him, our favorite Cuban is in town...yes that's right, RUDY!!  He arrived earlier this week and we are having dinner with him tonight.  For those of you who don't know him, he is a brother with an incredible story and a ferocious heart for God.  We are blessed to have him work alongside us.  (He is also the one who continuously pushes me to learn more and more Spanish and to practice.  As he says, you cannot learn if you don't practice.) 

We have been visiting more sites where we held camps this past June.  It is great to see so many coaches and youth being reached with the message of Jesus Christ.  We are again humbled to be here working with our brothers and sisters in the Dominican.  Their heart for God and their community is inspiring.  I pray God continues to use us in whatever way He sees fit and in whatever needs there are. 

This week in ESL we played win, lose or draw with them.  I must say, that was the most heated game I have ever seen.  :)  These Dominicans are pure passion in whatever they do (including class games).  All 20 people were on their feet for the last word shouting and yelling... it was crazy but so much fun! 

J has an Association meeting tomorrow night followed by a Coordinator meeting.  Please be praying for these as we are hoping to start the coordinator position as soon as possible.  These coordinators would not only improve communication tremendously between the coaches/association, but would more importantly help in the development of a discipleship based relationship between the coordinators and their coaches.  Our prayer is this relationship would raise up our coaches to be able to reach their youth with a passionate love for Christ and the skills to accomplish this. 

And just a few pictures for you all:

Aubrey has really started to love on her baby doll.  She will walk around patting it on the back and kissing it.  We thought it was sweet so here is one of her holding it.

And one of her kissing her baby.

We visited a camp area called Madre Viaja to see the facilities.  This was the kitchen area with a GIANT pot and spoon.  We couldn't resist taking a picture.

And another with just Aubrey.  Anyone else thinking Hansel and Gretel??

In honor of Rudy, his favorite verse:

"Sin embargo, les dare salud y los curare; los sanare y hare que disfruten de abundante paz y seguridad."  Jeremias 33:6

"Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security."  Jeremiah 33:6

Cinderella

Happy Friday!  I hope things are going well for each of you and your family.  Things continue to move here and we are doing great.  I just wanted to give an update on what's going on with us...

-ESL is still going strong and J really enjoys teaching everyone.  Aubrey and I have started staying home during this time as I realized I ended up more frazzled by the end of the class than necessary and it is much easier to let her play in the house than worrying constantly about bothering the students or her climbing/falling down the stairs. 

-We participated in 2 cleaning projects last weekend (the community is literally cleaned up- go through the streets with trash bags and pick up trash).  Awesome to be part of this and to see other people raising the awareness and desire to improve their communities.

-More Canadian missionaries came to town on Tuesday.  They are primarily a medical mission team and we have been privileged to work alongside them during 2 days of their clinics (nice to be around some type of medical stuff!) :).  J was a fantastic translator for the eyeglass station and was definitely pushed outside his comfort zone (medicine is not his thing).  Aubrey was great and enjoyed being out and about. 

-I am still working on my Spanish and am understanding more and more (which is truly exciting for me).  I can hold a basic conversation with people now.  You can tell I am completely immersed because I always start speaking to the Canadians in Spanish before I have to stop and think "I can actually talk to them in English."  Weird I know, but I think it's good because I am so focused on thinking in Spanish and talking in Spanish. 

And here is what you are all waiting for...

 A few pictures from the cleaning events last weekend:

 This cleaning project was in Los Charamicos (around the corner from Pastor Rivas' church).  We start with praying, a message from the Bible and singing.  Then we get down to business.  Here is a picture of the kids "gloving up" to start.

Here is a picture of them in action.  :)  It is crazy what people throw on the ground and in random cubby holes.  In La Cienega (where Alfre lives), there was a septic tank (it was a hole in the ground with a lid) that was FILLED with trash and bags of trash.  It was gross and some poor kid was in there scooping it all out.

Here is a sign we saw during the cleaning event in La Cienega.  It is supposed to say Lot for sale.  I couldn't resist (and there was a part of me that was like, yes, yes they are.  The Lost are for Sale and that is why we have been called to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ!!)

I have been saving this picture for quite some time.  This was our first "overnight visitor" at our house back in September.  She was large and scared me when I found her under a cloth in our cleaning bin.  That white stuff are her babies (yes, even more gross).  I was saving this for a post on Halloween, but I fell asleep early last night, so here is it.....Happy Halloween (a day late).

 

And here are a few pictures of poor Cinderella.  Her parents are so mean and make her do all the cleaning.

Here is Cinderella pledging the wood.  This is my favorite because she holds the can upside down and makes a "pssstt" sound.  She then wipes down the table.  I think we end up with more smudging  and handprints after she's done, but she enjoys it and it's the little things in life you have to enjoy.  I don't want to be worrying about a smudgy coffee table.

Here is Cinderella cleaning the car. 

And Cinderella cleaning the bathroom with Daddy's supervision.  Yes that is a toothbrush and a plain bar of soap.  J was cleaning the bathroom (best husband ever) and Aubrey found the bar of soap and we had a leftover toothbrush, so we thought she might as well.  She loves to help clean everything.  We are trying to enjoy this now as I know she will be a teenager soon enough and not want to do anything.

 

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son purifies us from all sin.  1 John 1:5-7

Joy

What an incredible day!  I am simply beaming with joy in our lives and all we have been blessed with.  It started with practice with the orphans (second week and going pretty well minus a few behavioral issues) followed by time spent with Checo (one of our AIM guys).  Then, J made hamburgers and French fries (pretty great burgers and I always love French fries) for lunch followed by my attending my first sewing class at the church (might I add in Spanish)! :)  I did not understand half of what they said, but I could follow the visuals and I learned how to make my own skirt pattern.  And to top that, Aubrey stayed with J at the house so it was me time (I have not been away from Aubrey other than quiet time since August so it was great!).  I came home for a meeting with the AIM staff spent praying and singing followed by a spontaneous dinner with the neighbors!  And then we continue to receive kind words, thoughts, prayers and support from so many people back home.  It makes being far away so much easier.  God is so good and continues to lavish us with blessings!   

What has been going on here...
-As I said, practice with the orphans has been going on for 2 weeks now.  It is going well overall and the boys just adore Aubrey (Aubrey of course loves the attention).  In fact, she sometimes gets them in trouble as they are paying attention to her and not the Bible lesson.  Here is a picture of practice last week.  Due to some confusion we were actually at their facility, but we will be at Los Castillos from now on.

-Last week we had another mission organization (Meeting God in Baseball) come into our area.  J and I spent a good deal of time with them discussing both organizations, the commonalities, the differences, and how we can come together for God.  We actually drove to a site with a few of their coaches and were able to exchange information as we are located much closer to the coaches than MGB.  Here are a few pictures from the trek back down the mountain.  (What we thought would be a 30 minute drive ended up being 1.5 hours.)  But Praise the Lord, Aubrey was fantastic throughout the trip and it simply gave us more time for fellowship.





 -J and Checo had a meeting last week with Luis (the Christian Association President) to discuss starting the coordinator position for the Association.  (Basically, it would place some of the coaches in a leadership position to communicate with their coaches, pray for and with their coaches, disciple their coaches and keep them accountable.)  It was very exciting for us as Luis has truly taken this idea and made it his own.  He gave his thoughts on the position and benefits/downfalls and how to fix it.  It is exciting for us because it has a much better chance of survival since it was basically his idea and not us coming in telling him to do this.

 

-ESL is still going great and we actually had to purchase additional books (we started with 30).  We introduced them to Bingo last week (they were learning numbers) which was a hit!  No one wanted to stop playing (and mind you they are almost all adults.)  :)  Who doesn't enjoy a good game of Bingo though? 

 

-Please be praying as we are planning on doing a small Financial Peace class this Spring for our AIM team and Pastors we work with.  It has become apparent that the people we work with do not know how to manage their money because it is simply not taught.  Thanks to the Ablacks for researching for us and finding a Spanish financial peace course aimed at the Latin culture.  We are excited about what this can do for the Dominicans and what freedom it could give them.

 

I know there are more things in the works and going on, but I must save something to write about next time.  :)  I will leave you with a few more pictures:

 



Just one of Aubrey taken recently.  I thought everyone would want to see how big she is getting.  J calls her the shark because of all her teeth (and she is getting 2 more molars).  She is really starting to "talk" (she is attempting to say words and often repeats them in her own way so I guess that's talking).  She loves to be outside and as I keep saying, loves all her "brothers and sisters" here in the Dominican. 

 

And as always, please keep praying for our brothers and sisters here in the Dominican.  We have so many people hurting and needing around us.  Please lift up our AIM brothers and sisters to stay strong in their faith, to raise up these children they work with, and to ultimately bring glory to God.  And please keep praying for us.  That we would continually seek God's direction and obey the paths He lays before us.  Also, a Canadian mission health team is coming into town for 3 weeks, please be praying for their work here. 

 

We love you guys!!

 

 

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.  1 Peter 1:8-9

Ready... Action

Hey family!  What a blessing you all are in our lives.  We could not do anything without the love, support, kind words and ultimately prayers from each of you.  We are blessed to have such an amazing team with us all the time and it is an honor to be able to work alongside you as we all together spread the love of Jesus Christ!!  I have been reading 2 Peter and finished chapter 3 yesterday.  It was again a reminder that our time on this Earth is short and "the day of the Lord will come like a thief" 2 Peter 3:10.  We do not know when our Lord is to return, but we best be ready and waiting for Him.  There are days when I feel I am not progressing in the ways I should be and not spreading the knowledge of the love and salvation of Christ like I should.  As DC Talk so cleverly puts it, "The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips but deny Him with their lifestyle."  This is not a call to silent action but rather a call to action.  Are you sharing your freedom with those around you?  Are you sharing this love with your family?  Are you praying for God to open the hearts of those closest to you?  I pray each of you will proclaim the Gospel with love even to those who may be scariest to reach (your family).  I lift you all up in this endeavor knowing our time on this Earth is short and we must be like the virgins waiting for their bridegroom (Matthew 25).  Do not be like the foolish ones who did not take any oil with them but rather be ready and prepared for the coming of the bridegroom.  "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour." Matthew 25:13

Lots of love to all of you!

Amazing Fall Weather

Happy Sunday gang!  Hope you all enjoyed your weekend.  Ours was great and things here are moving and grooving. 

On Friday, we actually took part in a gathering in Cangrejo (one of the local areas).  A few weeks ago, the Association/AIM had a meeting with the mayor to raise awareness of the needs in Cangrejo (specifically the baseball field), inform her of the importance of this field for the children and the community, and ultimately ask for her help.  She was on board basically from the beginning and told us she would "make some calls."  Last week, the mayor requested/advised that we hold a gathering in Cangrejo with as many kids as possible to raise awareness to the importance of having government aid in the fields of Sosua.  We ended up having 4 different members of the press taking video, pictures and interviewing.  We had 10 or so coaches who work with AIM with kids from several different areas.  And you have to remember that these kids are not simply dropped off my mom or dad but rather transportation must be found for them by the coaches.  It is often by safari (like a big bus) or by hitching a ride with someone.  As we waited (J and I again were not thinking in Dominican time, but rather showed up a few minutes early), the kids and coaches started arriving and it gave me chills to see more and more children and adults who are being reached through God's ministry.  It was very humbling to see a piece of God's work and know He has chosen us to work along side Him.  And even more, God has brought this need and His ministry to the attention of Sosua.  Who knows what doors will be opened and what work will begin from this! 

Shot of the preaching and prayers during the time at Cangrejo.

A panoramic picture of all the children and coaches gathered up.  Although the picture shows the people, it lacks the emotion felt that day.

 A picture of the press and their motorcycles.  (No news vans here.) And to the back left is an example of a safari.

 



A picture of J being interviewed.  He's famous now! :)

 

For all of our prayer warriors, please be praying for our brother Raphael and his family.  They continue to endure a barrage of attacks from the enemy.

 

And one last little tidbit for you all...  To all of you enjoying your hot coffee on a crisp morning or wearing your jackets and fall boots or attending the fall festivals, we wanted to let you know that we went to the beach this morning and the water was perfect.  I will no longer be jealous of all the "amazing fall weather" I keep hearing about. :)

 

The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. Psalm 145:18

Chorizo and Juice

J made it home safely Sunday night.  Praise the Lord!  Overall the FCA camp was great and 6 men accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior!!  Gloria a Dios!  J drove the whole way home (about a 6 hour drive due to the availability of roads) so is now a true Dominican.  The ride home was interesting as twice the national police stopped J.  (Imagine a road with the police stopped on the side and they walk to the middle and put their hand out to stop you.)  We know from previous stories exactly what the police are looking for.  They are looking for someone who has a nice car but not too nice so they can stop them and get money from them. 

First police conversation: (In Spanish)
Police: (rifle in hand) How are y'all doing?
Pachuli (one of AIM coaches on trip): We're fine.  How are you?
Police: Good, what are y'all doing?
Pachuli: We're coming home from a baseball clinic in Hato Mayor.
Police: Oh, then y'all must have money.
Pachuli: No.  The clinic was for missionaries...
(20 seconds later as J continues to stare at police)
Police: Go ahead and keep going.

Second police conversation: (Again in Spanish)
Police: (rifle on shoulder strap) Where are y'all going?
Pachuli: We are going home to Sosua near Puerta Plata.
Police: Okay.  Do you have anything for me to get juice?
Pachuli to J (remember J knows exactly what the guy is asking for but is acting aloof): He wants a juice.
J to Pachuli: We don't have juice!
Pachuli to J: No, he wants money for juice.
J to Police: We don't have much but here's some change.
Police: (took money) Get going.

J then explained to the Dominicans in the car that he prefers someone to come out and ask for what they want rather than fish around with statements like "you guys must have money."  J also said he knows that the "juice" probably comes in a green bottle and is flavored with hops and barley. 

On another note, we visited an orphanage in Sosua yesterday.  It is an all boys orphanage ranging in ages from 6-16.  It is a beautiful facility and we wanted to see what there needs are and will be.  We are excited as J and Checo are going to start practicing with the boys on Monday and Wednesday mornings.  Again, kids spell love in P-L-A-Y, so I am pray these boys will feel the love of Christ through this time. 

And one last little tidbit to bring a smile to your face...  We enjoy eating chorizo con huevo (chorizo with egg) in the States.  We found some chorizo at the Supermercado and thought "Hey, let's try it.  It looks a lot like ours back home."  Fast forward to dinner time last night.  J opens the package and immediately notices a difference, but we think "let's push through and see what happens."  2 minutes later... "We're done."  J puts it this way, "I've never smelled spoiled Italian dressing, but I'm pretty sure this chorizo is what it would smell like."  The odor (not smell but odor) which made J queasy was mercifully overtaken by the smell of burning wood and trash from our neighbors.

And some pictures:

This was from the "girls weekend."  One of our neighbors, Genesis, helped us bake some cookies.  Genesis is like a big sister to Aubrey.

 Aubrey and Jhosiel at the AIM meeting on Monday.  He is 20 months old and it has actually been decided by the Decker family that they are to have an arranged marriage later in life.  :)

Daddy and Aubrey testing out some equipment to take to the orphanage yesterday.

Copy Machines and Almonds

Happy Friday prayer warriors!  Just wanted to catch you all up on what's going on...

J is currently in Hato Mayor (about 4 hours away) for a coach clinic and discipleship camp with some of our local coaches.  They left yesterday afternoon and from what I have heard, it is going great.  It is hosted by FCA (just in case you don't know, that is Fellowship of Christian Athletes which is a big organization in the US as well) and is a time to build up coaches from all over the island in skills, drills and more importantly the Word of God and how to disciple their teams.  Even more exciting is that 2 of the men helping host the clinic are interested in joining up with AIM to host a clinic on the North side of the island (where we are living).  This would be an amazing opportunity to reach coaches in our general area with knowledge and to educate them in so many ways.  Please start praying for this possibility as we seek God's direction.

ESL and the Bible study are going great!  We had 22 people on Wednesday.  Praise the Lord!  It started pouring down rain in the middle of ESL which is an issue because the buildings/houses have tin roofs here; therefore, the rain is VERY LOUD and you have to literally yell at one another while sitting a foot apart.  But charades came to the rescue as we acted out "turn off the light", "close the window", "sit down please"...  Just a few of week 1's phrases.  And then, it turns out all of the books were missing page 4 (which was this week's vocabulary).  But, God is so good and we managed to finish the lesson in perfect timing!  (What I would have given for a copy machine at that time.  I don't know if I have truly appreciated the ease and use of one.  J wrote all the vocabulary on the chalkboard- yes chalk- and the participants wrote all the words down.  And I am beginning to understand the need to "bang erasers" as our eraser is fit to bust.  Oh the things you learn and grow to appreciate in the Dominican!) :)

We had a learning adventure with our neighborhood kids a few days ago.  It turns out we have an almond tree right in front of our driveway (I knew it as that tree that drops stuff all the time).  They were showing us how to bust open the shells for the almond.  I again now appreciate almonds so much more, and I can understand the high price as well.  After several minutes trying to open one shell, you get 1 (read that ONE) almond.  Phew!  And it is hard work with lots of muscle.  The kids are much better than J and myself.  We kept demolishing our almonds so they were just crumbs whereas Jeffrey was going at a ridiculous speed with beautiful almonds.  Apparently, the rock you use to open them is very important as well (rounded is better).  Who knew?  And we also found out we have a pea bush(?).  I am not sure if it's a bush or tree or what, but it has pea pods on it.  Very exciting.  :)

Aubrey is great.  Growing and talking and teething.  Poor girl.  We have been here 8 weeks and she has grown 4 teeth (including 3 molars).  She loves playing with the kids and really loves all the attention she gets.  She has her Dominican grandma, Tati, (Pastor Rivas' wife) who loves on her.  In fact Tati was holding a new baby at church 2 weeks ago and Aubrey was not happy with that at all.  Can someone say jealous?  She did not want her Dominican grandma holding any other babies.  (Tati loved it!) 

Well, there is always more to say, but I think we will stop today (the novel must reach an end).  Here are a few pictures of our almond adventure.

 J and the regular gang working on their almonds.

Miralee and Angie posing.  Miralee is only 4 but has the best laugh.  One of those laughs that makes you laugh because it is so rich.  Praise the Lord for a child's insight into life and laughter!

 

 

Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;

sing, all you who are upright in heart! Psalms 32:11

Power Rangers

So I haven't blogged in basically a week.  Things have been moving along and as you all know, the hours fly by into days and the days into weeks...  J and I have both felt an sense of urgency as our time here in the Dominican is limited (at least our initial assessment of time needed- we will see what God has planned for us) and seems to be quickly passing.  We are trying to utilize each day to its maximum however God sees fit.  Lately that has been continuous relationship building.  In fact we had lunch with an American missionary couple and their 5 children today.  They have been here 2 years and have a beautiful family.  It was so nice to spend time with other native English speakers and relax (After lunch I realized I haven't been that relaxed in a long time.  I am constantly at an 11 out of 10 trying to understand the language and culture here in the DR.  But I know the culture of a Southern family from Tennessee and it was very refreshing.)  But what was more exciting about the lunch was talking about God's work here in the Dominican and what we each have been called to do.  Ultimately, we realized we are here doing the same thing- relationship building and discipleship. They work with youth in several areas (many of which we work in to) and are working to raise up the next generation to be disciples of God, strong community leaders and respectable men and women (sound familiar?!).  J and I were pumped after leaving their house for what work God has planned for us as a team together. 

As I mentioned earlier, the family has 5 children.  This is number 4 of 5 when Aubrey and her were playing together. 

Power Ranger shot!  This is child number 3 of 5 for the missionaries and yours truly.  I was able to wear the pink mask because "I'm a girl".  (And sleepy Aubrey.) 

In other news, ESL is going great.  We had another class on Wednesday and tonight.  We have about 25 people taking it and they are so pumped up.  It has been a lot of fun watching their enthusiasm.  Here are a few pictures of the professor and his helper:

Also, we made it safely to and back from Haiti yesterday (and wasn't that an adventure) and were able to accomplish our goals!  Praise the Lord!  And please be praying as J and several coaches will be going to the South side of the island from this Thursday to Sunday for a coaches' training and discipleship camp.  Please also be praying for peace for me and Aubrey as we will be staying in Sosua during the camp. 
Thanks to each of you for your love and support.  We feel your prayers constantly.

And for some amazing news, 10 kids prayed to accept Christ today during practice at Cangrejo!  Praise the Lord!!!  Please pray for our new little brothers in Christ!

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

Relampago

Happy Sunday!  Yesterday, we got to be a part of the Christian Sports' Association "clean up Sosua" event.  This event was hosted by the Association for all of their coaches and teams.  This is something they try to do 3-4 times a year as a great way to give back to the community and more importantly show God's love through the work.  What was even more exciting was that while we worked in El Batey (one area of Sosua), another team worked in La Cienega, another worked in Cangrejo, and another worked in Maranatha.  It was one of those moments when you feel God smiling as His Kingdom works throughout the city to bring glory to His name.  Here are a few pictures of the boys and the day (we forgot to get pictures after starting off):

Praying before the event starts.

 The boys and their coaches/leaders at El Batey.

During devotional time before the event.

And then as we all know, trials come in so many forms and Satan knows our weaknesses.  After a great day of work, the evening brought with it a storm.  The sky grew very dark and we saw flashes of lightning in the distance.  As the storm grew closer, we closed all the windows and turned off all the electricity.  The lightning began to hit all around when I noticed our outdoor light was still on.  So I quickly opened the door and reached my hand to turn off the switch.  At that moment, lightning struck within 100 yards on our neighboring hill (it was so bright it hurt your eyes).  You could feel the explosion of the thunder frightening us all but especially Aubrey.  This is not our first experience with lightning in the Dominican.  In fact, 2 weeks ago J had gone off with Raphael (one of our AIM staff members) to another community when a similar storm blew through.  In this instance, lightning struck either our roof of the roof of one of our neighbors.  It was then (and again last night) when we were reminded of the warfare being waged around us.  We sought refuge not from our physical home but from the fortress that is our God.  God reminded me this morning in 1 Peter 1:6-9:

"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that your faith- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.  Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls."

 

 

p.s.  Thanks for all the continuous prayers.  Bible Study/ESL went great on Wednesday (Saturday was cancelled for the "Clean Up Sosua" event, but we restart this Wednesday hopefully with a book.)  It was actually a lot of fun to help teach (J is the teacher, I'm the teaching assistant, and Aubrey is the student aide.)  :) 

 

p.p.s.  And I had my first Spanish "lesson" with some neighbors on Friday night.  More of a communication partner but very much needed.  I am working on conjugating verbs again in the present, past and future.  I even bought a notebook (and most of you know how much I love getting new school supplies!).  The good news is it's slowly all coming back! (or most of it)  Thanks mom for making me take Spanish in high school. :)

 

Pigtails

Hey prayer warriors!  Things are going really well here.  We continue to play with the neighborhood kids almost everyday and yesterday we had 14 (including Aubrey) in our driveway.  Fun but exhausting.  Sometimes I think J enjoys it more than they do as I watch him running around screaming or bending over making farting noises.  Oh boys!  :)  It has been VERY hot, but I am hoping for some "fall" weather soon.  We start the Bible study/ESL tonight for the coaches and people we know from the community (it will be Wednesday and Saturday nights from 4-7 pm), so please be praying for this.  Also, we will be making a trip to Haiti later this week, so please pray for travel mercies.  So, I just wanted to let you all in on a few recent conversations in our lives.  :)

Allow me to set the scene...
Sunday morning I asked J if we had anything going on today besides church.  J responded, "No, dear, we don't have anything going on unless they surprise me with needing to translate or preach of some kind."  To which we both chuckled knowing it's just like those Dominicans to call you on the spot.

Fast forward six hours later...
J, Aubrey and I are sitting in church worshiping and attempting to listen to basically everything said.  Now you must remember, I hear bits and pieces here and there.  J can understand more, but it is still easy to slightly drift away for a second.  One of the men in the church is speaking in between worship songs when suddenly we both hear, "Mi hermano Jaime..."  Knowing J is the only Jaime in the church, both of us look up unsure of what's to come.  J walks up there as the man finishes his statement and quietly asks:

J:  What do you want me to do?
Man: In Spanish- You have the opportunity.
J:  Blank stare
Man: In Spanish- If you want to sing a song, if you want to say something, whatever you want.
J: I ain't singing...  Candace let me have that Bible.

Luckily, our nephew Cael was learning Bible verses before we left to which we were a part of.  So, J used Joshua 1:9 ("Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid." - with motions).  Big thanks to Cael for saving the day!  :)


Another sweet moment...
Neighborhood kids: In Spanish- How old are you?  21?  (Bless those sweet kids.)
Candace- (big smile) 27.
Kids- (shocked faces) 27.  Wow!!
Candace-  J is 30.  (yes, I totally threw him under the bus.)
Kids- (larger shocked faces- I might as well have told them we were 100.)


Lastly, God again placed another missionary family in our lives (they are originally from Tennessee) and have been here 2 years.  They work with youth in the area, so after exchanging contact information, we are looking forward to meeting up with them to talk about their work, our work and what we can do together.  It is amazing to meet so many people working for God in the Dominican.  As we keep saying, God is moving in the DR and we are blessed to be a part of it!!

And a few pictures...

 These are Aubrey's first pigtails!!  It was basically a pigtail mullet with business in the front and pigtails in the back.  But I thought it was too cute.  :)

 Another picture of the pigtails.  You can see the business side here.

 And I didn't think we had actually posted any pictures of the outside of our house.  Obviously we are living on the ground floor.  They are still working on the second and third story.  It will probably take another year or so to finish all of it.  The house to the right is where the awesome Jose and his family live.  He is our "fix it" man who can do everything.

A little closer up.  We actually have flower beds to keep up with. :)  That's our water storage and our propane tank for the stove/oven.