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...