Mixin' it up

Being only 11 weeks out from our first Dominican camp of the summer, we are planning and working to get everything organized, on spreadsheets, communicated, etc.  Things are going very well from here and we are way ahead of where we were last year!  Praise the Lord!  This year J and I are working on the VBS material (for the young kids who are not old enough to participate in the sport/artistic side of camp).  Although I am not often very "crafty", I have had a blast organizing this information.  I finally joined pinterest (I know, a billion years later) to help with the craft portion, but I am limiting myself to a certain time everyday as I see how easily one can get addicted to it.  :)  Because we have 2 different cities in the Dominican having camp at the same time, we are figuring out which Dominicans to send where and when to host which sites here (June versus July).  Again, nerd moment, I rather enjoy this as I see it as one big puzzle and I am merely trying to get the best, smoothest flowing puzzle possible.

We are still meeting with our staff every Monday evening and these continue to go great.  Luis Chingping joins us from the Christian Sports Association so we all stay on top of what's going on in Sosua with the coaches and leagues.  And our individual staff meetings continue to allow us one on one time with each of our guys to disciple, pray with and pour into.

We had 2 birthdays in our family this past week.  So we celebrated on Monday with come cookies and candles! Feliz Cumpleanos Checo and Victor.

We had Checo and Felicia (his wife) over for dinner last week (actually on his birthday- and I must give credit to facebook for letting me know about his birthday because he failed to mention his before).  It was a great time sharing and growing.

 

Every Monday our guys spend time praying before their meeting.  It is one of my favorite times of the week to hear the prayers and feel God's presence.

J attended an Association meeting last Friday and several PE coaches, youth and assistants came!  God continues to move through this organization aligning coaches and leaders of the community to reach the youth.  For our camps this summer, we are hoping to include these new coaches and youth as a way to continue increasing the outreach and continue giving them a chance to be the "missionaries" across the island.  We are praying fervently for all of our missionaries, American and Dominican, and for the strongest team God is going to put together.

While J was at the Association meeting, the girls and I and our friends had a picnic in the back.  (Ultimately this picnic consisted of crackers, chips, cookies and soda, but it was a lot of fun.)

This past Saturday, Checo's league (the word they use for team) finished off their tournament from the Fall.  J was able to share the Word, pray and umpire during the games.  It was a beautiful day for baseball and being outside.

J is preaching with Alfre's and Checo's teams in Cangrejo before the games start.

On Sunday, we visited Pastor Johnny's church in La Cienega for a special children's presentation.  It was precious as they had several young groups sing and lead worship (and by young I mean the kids were 7-8 years old).  They also gave out some small toys donated to them from some missionaries.  (I must say Ryann grabbed her own toy from the bag and picked the best one- a Canadian hacky sack.  And she was not letting go of that- death grip on that hacky sack for about an hour.) 

Pastor Johnny's church has tile now!  It is absolutely beautiful.

The little kids leading worship.

One of the orphans in La Cienega (Vladimir) loves working with wood.  He built this for Pastor Johnny and the church.  Absolutely stunning work.

 

Last Friday we helped with a cleaning project of "La Boca" (which means "the mouth" as this is where the river joins up with the ocean.)  It was a government organized event, and they asked the Christian Sports Association and the coaches to help with this.  This is very exciting for us as this marks the first time that the Christian Sports Association has been recognized for one of its functions- to serve the community.  Before, we have asked the government to facilitate our service to the community (i.e. donating trash bags to teams to help with a community cleanup), but they have never come to us asking us to serve alongside them.

I just want to point out this was a maroon AIM shirt at one time.  I think it has seen some sun.  :)

These guys were helping on the shore to carry bags from the boat to the truck.  But you know as soon as lunch was served, they were off on the boat faster than I saw them move all morning!

 

 

And just some pictures because they are fun...

Genesis is taking piano lessons and she was borrowing the keyboard from her teacher.  After dancing to all types of music, J took over and discovered his skills at mixin' (on a keyboard...).  :)

 

Aubrey and Loralee

Ryann adores Genesis as you can see here! 

 

 

 

Thank you for your support, prayers and love!  God is working and moving and growing us all the time.

 

 

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all.  1 John 1:5

 

 

Games, Parties and Car Washes

This past weekend,  Victor and Freysy (2 of our AIM staff) planned and organized a charity volleyball tournament for a young girl here who was hurt during the February 27 parade.  It was a beautiful day, turn out and cause and has motivated the coaches and players after sharing something like this.  They were charging RD$10 (US$0.25) to enter the games and people began giving more than the required amount to help with the cause.  The teams are looking to create more events (tournaments and otherwise) to reach and help the community!  A coach from Puerto Plata who attended the games is actually planning an event for one of his teammates who has been bed ridden for several months now due to an illness.  We will see how God continues to use this excitement and drive for His glory and His children here in Sosua.

Rafael preaching before the games started.

Also on Sunday, we attended a surprise birthday party for Alfre's athlete who recently signed a big league contract.  He has been in another city practicing with his new team but is back in Sosua for awhile.  It was a great opportunity to remind this young man and his team of the family and base he has in La Cienega regardless of what happens in his future career. 

(sorry for poor photo quality- we don't have a flash)- This was the cake for the party and Alfre's older son (about 10 years old) drew this baseball player.

 

Some of the team waiting for the party.

 

And because we had the tournament planned during the same time as Financial Peace, Alfre taught the entire thing by himself.  J literally set up the technology and we left for La Union.  We are so proud of Alfre for his willingness to get outside his comfort zone and lead this course.  And several of those attending have already shared how their life is changed.  Praise the Lord for the growth and knowledge gained from this course!

Last week, we got to spend a beautiful day in La Cienega.  J preached about 1 Corinthians 1:18 and the importance of carefully choosing your examples for your life.  As many of the youth here dream for the "big leagues" they look at the baseball players with a reverence for their life.  We as adults know this "perfect" picture of a life is rarely (never) the truth, but to these youth who dream of this lifestyle, who practice day in and day out to get signed and some who are currently getting "sniffed" by the big leagues, these "perfect" lives are the ones they want.  Please continue to pray and lift up the youth here.  Pray for Godly men and women to continue laying a strong foundation based in Truth.  Pray for our AIM staff as they continue pouring into these men and women and the youth.  And pray for us to continue growing and raising our AIM staff.  It's not always easy pushing people and saying the "hard" stuff, but it's important and necessary for continued growth.  Praise the Lord for continued growth.

 

 

At home, things are going well.  The girls are growing and Aubrey is really starting to pick up for Spanish.  There are some things she will only say in Spanish and will pretend to be one of our friends from the street and will only listen/respond to Spanish.  Ryann is crawling now and pulling up on everything.  She does not want to be left behind, so I would not be surprised if she starts walking in the next few months. 



 

One day J was going to wash the car but we ended up getting busy and did not have time to finish, so our friends decided to finish it for us.  We are so blessed to have so many loving people around us!





Showing off the shiny, clean car.

 Let all that you do be done in love. 1 Corinthians 16:14

Actions or Words?

One of my favorite things about our life is watching God move.   He is moving in people, in communities, in sports, in the country, in groups, and I have a front row seat.  It's almost like a movie being played out seeing His hand reaching here and there and placing people in the right place at the right time.  So many things happen that some may deem "coincidence" but I know it's God aligning the correct parts at the perfect time.  In our time here we have seen different ministries coming together as one to complete the work.  We went to Puerto Plata this morning to work with Juan Salazar (a basketball coach from Santo Domingo whose work is similar to AIM's- preaching and setting a Christian foundation for youth through the use of sport).  In addition to the contacts we made through Juan Salazar, we met one of the most amazing people I have met on this island.  He is a deaf mute and only speaks through signing and symbols.  It started innocently enough with him encouraging us not to sit beneath the pigeons.  He excitedly explained who he was and what his job was.  He signed that he has 2 kids (1 that plays basketball and 1 that plays volleyball).  When he understood what we do, he went to work. I believe we met 7 coaches, trainers, leaders and such within about 10 minutes.  Every time J would sit down to watch the game, he came over with another person to meet.  He has one of the biggest hearts and love for Christ.  But what makes this love and passion even stronger is that he did not have to speak the words of his love for Christ, but rather his joy, his love for others, and his love for connecting people showed everything.  As I was writing this up, I realized I want my life to be an example like this man's.  I don't want to have to prove my love for Christ with my words.  In fact more often than not I will get in His way.  But I want to show my love for Him through everything I do.  As cliché as it is, "actions speak louder than words," so my prayer is that my actions (whatever they may be), my joy, and my heart would show through to others to see without opening my mouth.

Here J is preaching with Juan Salazar and his team.

Inside the basketball court.

Ryann is pulling up on everything.  I do believe we will have a "walker" soon.

This is our new friend with Ryann!

A picture of the soccer field outside of the basketball court.  Puerto Plata has their first professional soccer league and their first game is today.

Oh that's right, we live on an island!  :)  (taken from the car as we left the basketball court)

 

As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man. Proverbs 27:19

Shakes... what shakes?

Summer camp is only 3 1/2 months away and I am so excited.  These past few weeks have been full of obtaining budgets, spreadsheets, meeting with coaches, meeting with our staff, Christian Sports Association meetings and more.  A good few weeks and they are flying by. 

We have been having regular meetings with our staff as a group and individually and really trying to disciple and raise these men up as the leaders God has made them.  Every day is full of prayers and struggles and laughter and an array of emotions as both J and I are pushed beyond our knowledge and previous experience.  Who decided 2 people who have ZERO managerial experience should be in charge of 7 Dominican staff?... Oh that's right, God did.  Because every day (regularly) we are coming to Him seeking His wisdom and words and insight.  What is amazing as we continue to pour into these men and their families and the coaches is God continues to pour into us and equip us for the needs at the time.  When we came back in January our plan was to head to Las Terrenas basically as soon as possible to get settled and begin the work there; however, God had different plans and has brought up various work and needs within Sosua. 

We have a new class of Paz Financiera that started this past Sunday in La Cienega.  But what makes this more exciting is Alfre is actually leading this class.  J is attending as, let's call him, tech support (he brings the computer, the projector, the speakers, etc. and is there for support), but Alfre is the one in charge.  God is so good as this was one of our desires when we offered the class to our staff members and then another group of pastors and leaders in the community.  We want them to share the information with the community.  This class is even more special as we are reaching Pastor Johnny and leaders in La Cienega, many of the orphans, and several of Alfre's older athletes including a young man who was recently signed.  (Several weeks ago, one of Alfre's baseball players was signed by the San Diego Padres.  Obviously this was very exciting on many levels, but something Alfre and we immediately wanted to do was pour into the young man with truth.  This young man has been discipled for many years by Alfre and has been hearing the Word and devotionals at every practice, but we wanted to offer him more information about life "outside" of his parent's house, La Cienega and Sosua.  And something very important was teaching him financial responsibility with this gift God has given him... so here we are.)  So please be praying over the next 4 weeks (it's a 5 week course) as Alfre (and J) pour into these men and women with the knowledge of how to handle their finances in a Godly way.

We celebrated Independence Day here in the DR on February 27.  There is always a big parade in which many schools participate (in fact Victor's school led the parade!), and we attended again this year.  For weeks now the girls in our neighborhood have been practicing, decorating their batons, you-tubing new pyramids and dances, etc.  And this year we decided to host a BBQ at our house with all our Dominican brothers and their families.  Everyone was able to attend except Salomon.  "Chef" Checo cooked riquis for us and we had cupcakes and played outside with all the kids.  As Checo said, AIM is just getting bigger in kids and babies!  (pictures below)

So apparently there was a 5.2 earthquake here about 2 weeks ago.  What was it like you ask?  Well we don't know as we didn't feel a thing.  All our neighbors and Rivas (who lives 1 street over) felt it and were talking about things on the wall moving and such but not here.  I will say we were running around getting ready for a meeting at the Casa de Arte for camp, but I would think we would feel something or see something moving on the walls.  But nothing.  Our house is SUPER safe especially for an earthquake!  :)

And some pictures:

Here the girls in our street are decorating their batons for the parade.  And here Freysy (who stopped by for something) is helping them.  He also took some time to show Aubrey how to properly hold a baton.  :)  (I believe God is preparing Freysy for some daughters in his future.  And what is not in the picture is J helping Aubrey decorate her baton.  I am blessed to have such an amazing husband and father for my girls!)

A picture of our neighborhood girls practicing their pyramids on our driveway.

This is Genesis (who lives down the street).  But the picture is her showing off her hair which I straightened.  I must admit I was very scared at first as I did not want to ruin, burn, take off her hair not knowing what products to use.  But luckily everything turned out great and she still had hair to show!

This is Rafael and 3 of his 4 daughters at his graduation from a theological study over the past 3 years.  A group of Canadian missionaries have been visiting and giving this course and finished this past week.  This is very exciting as Rafael is even more focused on the spiritual aspect of what AIM does and reaching coaches and the kids.

Here is Victor's school and their uniforms.  According to the kids on our street (who do not attend Victor's school) said the only reason they had the honor of being first was for the uniforms.  There was lots of trash talking going over the past few weeks, but I will admit their uniforms were the best. :)

Abraham (Alfre's son) at our BBQ.  He is the happiest kid I have ever met and always has a smile.

Checo cooking riquis for us!

Freysy, Victor and Checo.

Gabriella (one of Rafael's daughters) and Aubrey at the BBQ.

 The whole gang at the BBQ. (minus Salomon and his wife)

 

Ana (Alfre's wife), Rafael and Ryann at the BBQ.

On a sadder note, during the Independence Day Parade, as the first group (Victor's group) was making their way onto the stage concluding their tour of Charamicos, there was a terrible accident.  There was a concrete eave above an icecream shop that a bunch of kids were sitting on.  Because it was not designed to bear weight, it collapsed onto the people underneath.  There were 2 serious injuries, the 18 year old passed away a few hours later and the younger girl had since has a double leg amputation.  There were others who were hurt as well and one of Victor's students broke both legs.  We found out yesterday that the little girl who lost both legs is actually the granddaughter of one of our baseball coaches in Cabarete.  Right now AIM DR is planning a volleyball tournament with the proceeds going to help with medical costs (as you can imagine the medical costs have already risen substantially in just a few days).  Please be praying for these families who were affected, including those kids sitting on the eave.  Please be praying for healing for this young girl as she begins to face new struggles she never worried about before. 

We are humbled and blessed to be here living and working and loving.

And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured our His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.  Romans 5:2-5