Smudgy fingerprints

Wow... what a June!  It came and went, and I am not sure I caught all of it.  It has been a crazy few weeks full of work, camp, love, prayers, interns, spreadsheets, hotels, laundry...  But a great few weeks.  Last I left you we were finishing all the preparations for camp in Sosua which, praise the Lord, was great. 
We had a total of 110 American missionaries and 6 Dominican missionaries (outside of our local Sosua based staff, coaches, pastors, and community leaders) join us for 4 days of camp.  We had a total of 18 different locations and 46 disciplines (baseball, basketball, volleyball, soccer, track, softball, VBS, art, music, and dance) for 4 days.  At every location, we had a local pastor preach and pray with the children ultimately leading up to the presentation of the Gospel the last day.  One of the most important things for us is for these youth (and even adults) to get plugged into a local church and church community so they have support and a family to lean on.  Being a Christian does not mean the path will be easy, so we want to make sure our new brothers and sisters have someone to lean on and pray with and ask questions.  I cannot honestly tell you how many accepted Christ, but I do know we had about 3500+ kids every day in camp laughing, playing, singing, talking, hugging and loving.  Although for J and me on this side (more behind-the-scenes) it was a bit chaotic and crazy (making sure every place has hotdogs, water, drinks, Dominicans, preachers...), God continued to pave the way ultimately wiping away all our "smudgy fingerprints" and making it His own.  There were some miraculous (and yes I use that word purposefully) things to happen throughout the week in our American missionaries and our Dominicans.  It's always fun to watch the attitudes and nervousness of the Americans the night before camp and even after the first day transform into something open and loving and beautiful. 
One of my favorite parts about camp is getting to share our home with the missionaries if only for a few days.  Those visiting get to see how and why we fell in love with the Dominican.  They get to experience the people, the relationships, the hugs and love, the singing and all out praise to God, the beauty of this place and the overwhelming sense that God is with us.  Even through our struggles (and trust me J and I have had quite a few over the past several weeks) God shines through encouraging and leading.  So how was camp?  It was magnificent and beautiful and stressful and frustrating... but overall it was full of God.

The dance girls during camp.

One of the art sites.  Every kid received a sketch pad, pencil bag with pencils, colored pencils, black markers and pens.

A VBS site

The megaphones for camp day 1 (because God speaks and listens so we can speak to God, too).

Basketball in Villa Liberacion.

One of the ladies who came with us has a passion to paint and a passion for women's ministry.  She joined the 2 and developed this painting where she walks the ladies through the process with each color of paint representing our sin, past life, hurts and struggles, rebirth through Christ, and new walk.  It is absolutely beautiful.  She had a class in La Cienaga with women (and girls) of the community and here is their artwork. 

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We are amping up for camp in San Luis this coming Tuesday (July 7-14).  As of right now we are expecting over 6000 children in 16 baseball, 6 volleyball, 6 basketball, 7 VBS and 1 music site.  I know it's going to be another whirlwind of a week, so please be praying over the next several days and throughout camp.  Just like last time, we are all (Stateside and Dominican) finishing all the preparations and spreadsheets (yes a few more) and site breakdown in anticipation of this camp.  And please say extra prayers for our Dominican brother, Pastor Joaquin, who lives in San Luis as he is working overtime organizing and meeting and preparing for our arrival.
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And something else exciting is J and I got to keep 2 of the missionaries from the first camp as interns!  (Moment of truth... J and I have never been involved in an internship program so we are taking it day by day and acting like we know what we are doing.)  :)  It has been so much fun showing them how we live and helping them get accustomed to the laundry and housing and neighbors and our way of life here.  Aubrey and Ryann have loved the extra attention (as if they don't get enough already) and it is nice having someone around to help as needed with AIM preparations.  They have been a true blessing organizing the camp equipment for San Luis and Cuba, cutting the bottoms out of another 800 foam cups for VBS on the south side (whose idea was it to make megaphones... oh right, mine...), and just simply sharing.  Our house is going to be very lonely when they head back after San Luis camp.

Meet Caitlin and Vanessa...

First day here and they are learning how to do laundry (Dominican style)!

Caitlin and Genesis.

Vanessa and J sorting through equipment.

A picture of all the equipment...

Organizing, sorting, arranging...

Through donations, we have 587 Bibles (and more in Houston) to give out to our coaches and youth on the teams who commit to a 1 year discipleship program.  We are very excited about this opportunity and are praying for those who participate.  I know this can be life changing and generation changing, so please join us in praying for this outreach and program.

Vanessa and Caitlin (and Genesis who hates pictures) stickering the Bibles.  (Yes, that's more equipment in the background.)

587 Bibles stickered and ready to go... and yes, our house is a little full right now.  :)

Sorting and organizing clothing to be given away.

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Things at home are great.  Aubrey is officially 3 years old now (crazy), and we celebrated J's and Aubrey's birthday on the 28th (yes, they share a birthday).  We actually had Aubrey's party a few weeks early before camp knowing it was going to be a crazy month.  It was a Doctora Juguetes (Doc McStuffins) party and we played with our friends, ate hot dogs, and had cupcakes.  Simple but fun.  Ryann is good.  She will be 1 in 9 days (eeekk!!).  Her personality develops more and more each day and I must say she is a riot.  She is VERY different from Aubrey and much more outspoken (already) with opinions and thoughts and an attitude.  Keeping us on our toes.  J and I are great.  Busy but great.  Nothing too exciting here except for camp planning and working and living life.

Ruth, Aubrey and Miralee at the party.  Everyone loves helping make and ice the cupcakes, so this time it was Aubrey's turn for her birthday.

Aubrey wearing her Doc McStuffins coat (thanks to the Morris family for this amazing birthday gift last year!) and her party hat.

Aubrey and J with their birthday hats.

We bought Aubrey a bike for her birthday.  J and I were very excited as this is the first real birthday she was excited about and knew what was happening.

A recent picture of Ryann enjoying some rice (and wearing most of it).  It is so nice having a high chair now (grateful for the chartered airplane AIM used in June to help transport it as well)!  :)

Thank you for your continuous prayers and love.  Even when it's rough and tiring, we know we are surrounded by all of you.  We could not do this without each of you!  Much love from the DR!

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal..  2 Corinthians 4:17-18

Novel #2 (it's a great read!)

We are in the crux of camp planning, so life has been very busy.  It seems no matter how much you plan, prepare, and organize beforehand, these last few weeks before camp are CRAZY!  A good crazy but still crazy.  We are very excited for the team to arrive and have been meeting with our staff, the coaches, Freysy and Salomon's solidarity clubs, art and music coaches and other leaders in the community.  We completed VBS (which I am really excited about) and J actually drew the sheep and lion we will be using this year.  (My husband is so talented and amazing.  He worked on these things the past 2 nights until WAY past our bedtime without muttering a single annoyance.  I am so blessed!) 
So, as most of you know our big group and big camp happens in the Summer.  (Our becoming missionaries happened in reverse from the norm- AIM sent a big group to host a big camp for several years before we moved down here whereas most missions send people down to build relationships and find needs and then send groups.  This is just par for the course for AIM- we do everything a little different!)  We will be in Sosua from June 16-23, Las Terrenas from June 23-27, and in San Luis from July 7-14.  A crazy but God-willing amazing few weeks.  Our brothers and staff have been planning and organizing and doing a phenomenal job preparing for camp.  We hosted a big meeting on May 29 to include all the coaches, pastors, VBS ladies, cooking help, translators, art and music and dance coaches and anyone else involved.  We wanted (Disney movie moment- so imagine touching theme music) every leader involved to look around and see that this sport and artistic outreach is not just in their community or even one part of Sosua but is throughout the area.  To witness all the men and women who are serving and pouring into the youth throughout the year by leading, discipling, praying for and with, playing and loving.  To remind the Dominicans that this ministry is theirs and we simply come alongside them to facilitate what they started before we came around.  It was a GREAT night and one of our community leaders came to us after describing the effect the meeting had on him.  As he said, he didn't completely understand the ideas and movement this type of outreach could and does have until he saw all the other people involved.  This man didn't realize the changes that are happening in Sosua because of the Dominican coaches work here and the vision for the future.  Praise the Lord for His work and movement within the community.  I pray we continue to see this understanding happen throughout camp and next year!

Julio Juma leading us in a song to start off the meeting.

Freysy and Victor leading the coaches portion of the meeting.

Rafael speaking with the Pastors and Pastoral outreach.

J closing the meeting.

 

We met with both Freysy's and Salomon's solidarity clubs on Wednesday to prepare for camp.  Both these groups will be participating in camp as missionaries helping cook, play, teach and pray with the kids.  We are very excited about these groups and their continued desire to outreach to their local community in Sabaneta.

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In other news, we participated in a 1 day camp in Las Espinas on May 24.  It was, let's say, an adventurous day (We drove into a river and did not drive out... if you want the details you have to come on our trip...muahaha).  But worth all the adventure and fright as 30 youth accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior!!!  It continues to be very exciting to see the people we've been pouring into learn to be missionaries.

Quite the adventure... don't you want to find out more... come to the DR... :)

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The past few weeks, Rafael has been leading our staff meetings.  As he is the one we foresee taking on this role, J and I started having him draw up the agendas and lead the meetings.  This has been exciting to see Rafael take lead with the group and watch the interactions slowly transition to him as "boss".  He is great at keeping everyone on task (something we admittedly struggle with) and helping organize thoughts and ideas.  We also continue to see Freysy's strength as secretary and organization.  (Everyone knows if you want something done, you ask Freysy.)  Our other staff continue to grow and mature and even though our individual meetings sometimes are a little more tough on them, I pray God continues to grow and mature these men.  God has hand picked a phenomenal team and we are blessed to continue working alongside them. 

It's always important to celebrate birthdays (and Alfre tends to lie about when his birthday is to get extra cupcakes), so here is Alfre's cake of cupcakes for his actual birthday on May 25.

 

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A few weeks ago Checo started a softball tournament with AIM coaches.  It has caught on very fast with the coaches (who doesn't love to play?) and we have participated for 3 weeks.  Throughout this time we have gotten to meet and talk with a missionary family from the States who moved here last November.  It has been a blessing for us to be the vessels God is using to encourage and minister to them.  I understand the look on their faces and their questions and their wariness about living here.  As with anywhere, there are good days and bad especially at first when you miss so much about home.  Please be praying for this family as they continue transitioning to life here and the mission God has placed in their hearts.  It's always nice (even now) to see and meet another American who speaks English and comes from a similar background!

J with Grande and Matt.  Matt is the husband/father of the missionary family.

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Please be praying for our continued preparations for camp.  Please be praying for the Americans who will be joining us and those who have yet to sign up.  Please pray for the youth and leaders of the Dominican who we will pour into and work alongside this Summer.  (We still have room, want to come with us??  Visit http://www.aimissions.net/ for more information.  Or email or facebook me.) 

I will stop now because, what, another novel?  I know, blogging more often would cure this... something I am working on. :) 

Our brothers surprised me this past Monday with a cake for my birthday.  Checo sang, the guys sang and we ate cake.  It was excellent!

Just one more photo of the girls.

Much love!!  (and someone please go eat a Whataburger for me!)

 

Your words were found and I ate them, and Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.  Jeremiah 15:16

The Final Countdown (for camp)

Although I really enjoy blogging and getting to express how God is moving in our lives, it can sometimes be a daunting task (especially the longer I wait in between posts).  It's one of those things that I am always wondering what I am going to talk about or what have we been doing.  I can tell you we have been very busy lately but those day to day tasks simply add up and at the end of the day you are exhausted but not exactly sure what all was done outside of the usual meetings and organizing and discussions and emails and such.  So here is my attempt at a rundown of what has happened in the past 2 1/2 weeks...

Just as I mentioned a few posts ago, God has been moving in regards to women's ministry.  Following our march through La Cienaga, Mercedes planned a march through Cangrejo proclaiming that their women and girls were not for sale and are not to be abused nor used.  We marched throughout Cangrejo with Pastor Quirico who blared his music and preached through his van during the march.  (It is very common here to have HUGE speakers in their cars to blast music and messages, he has a microphone and everything set up for this.)  It was followed by a culto (a worship and message delivered outside of Mercedes's house).  It was a beautiful experience, and we are very excited to continue seeing God move in this way.  Please continue praying for this outreach and how we are supposed to move forward.

The van and the speakers.

I am blessed to have a man who will stand up for what he believes.

Mercedes and Aubrey during the march.

 

Through the work Rafael has been doing and the coaches he has been mentoring, we were invited to a professional basketball exhibition game in Montellano.  Puerto Plata (the big city about 15 minutes from Sosua) has a professional basketball team called the Hurricanes.  They played a group of men from Montellano benefiting a man with cancer to help cover his medical costs.  Rafael prayed before the start of the game and we got to meet several people involved in this league.  From that event, we were invited to a clinic the Hurricanes were hosting.  Every year, the Hurricanes pick 10 young kids from 5 communities in Puerto Plata for a morning of practice and skills with the team.  The kids all receive a t-shirt that allows them to enter into any Hurricanes game for free.  We spent a good deal of time talking with the manager and owner of the Hurricanes and met a few of the players.  We are praying and watching to see how God is going to use this relationship in the future. 

 

The Hurricanes and all the kids participating.

 

Thanks to God's provisions, one of our brothers, Alfre, has started construction on his house.  Ultimately they are adding dividing walls for true bedrooms and raising the roof level to help combat the heat.  (Essentially, the bigger the box, the more it takes to heat that box up.  Also, because it is a tin roof, the closer you are the hotter.  So by raising the roof- no pun intended- you increase the distance between yourself and the heat.)  Here are some pictures of this.  They started a few days ago and it will take about 2 or 3 more weeks.  We are very excited for Alfre and his family and this opportunity!!

J participated in a softball game this past Saturday with several coaches and several of our staff.  It was a great day having fun with them and simply spending time with them (mixed with the fun of softball).  They are hoping to have another game tomorrow (if the weather allows).

And we are currently T-minus 4 1/2 weeks until our first camp in the DR this summer!!  The camps in Sosua and Las Terrenas are coming so fast.  We are beyond excited but trying to organize and plan for everything.  Although we did a good majority of the planning, costs, numbers, sports, etc. in February and March, this is the time for changes and organization of translators and preachers and American missionaries and Dominican missionaries, and well you get the picture.  This week especially has been great and full of preparations.  We had a fantastic 2 hour Skype meeting with the States on Monday which helped streamline and organize camp plans.  Praise the Lord for Fred, Brittney and Tessa in the States who help us and allow our work to be done here!

At home, Aubrey and Ryann are growing like crazy.  I don't think it will be too long until Ryann is as big as Aubrey (Aubrey got J's family genes, Ryann got mine).  :)  They are really starting to play together now which is always fun (and a relief) as they can entertain themselves for a bit now.  We are working on Aubrey's letters often (I really need to pick this up to daily) but she recognizes almost all of them.  We are working on counting and singing and all the fun stuff that comes with an almost 3 year old.  Ryann is "talking" more and laughing and has 5 teeth.  I love this time when their smiles are all goofy because their teeth are spread out.  She has started blowing kisses which melts my heart and waves to everyone and everything (even our neighbor's dog- Rambo).  We still regularly play with the kids (almost every day) and Aubrey loves it.  J has taken on a role as "big brother" for the entire street so he ultimately messes with and harasses whoever is around.  Keeps me laughing though so I love it.  And J and I are good.  Enjoying life and loving where God has placed us.  We are blessed to be able to spend so much time with our girls (we eat 3 meals a day together every day and get to teach them and play with them).

Aubrey and Ryann were invited to their first birthday party in the DR last weekend.  We had a lot of fun primarily watching, but here is Ryann eating an empanada.  She loves to sit in kiddie size chairs.

 

Aubrey and J were making a train from toilet paper rolls.  She is hard at work here.

Ice cream.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers and love!
We are blessed to be surrounded by such an amazing team.

Obedience

Sometimes our work here is difficult to put into words.  We disciple.  We pour into our staff so they can outreach to other coaches and leaders.  We train and teach and raise up these men.  And more importantly, these men, women and God pour into us.  As J and I continue reflecting on our time here, we realize how much growth and change we have seen not only in our staff but ourselves.  As J says, it's like throwing a pebble into a lake... you see a few ripples but don't know what has been stirred and transformed underneath.  You don't know how the ripple affects other waves and ripples.  You don't know how far the ripple travels and changes and likely never will.  What is amazing about our work here is that we don't know exactly how God has used us.  I can tell you about our meetings and the progress we have seen.  I can tell you about budgets and projects and Financial Peace courses.  I can tell you about outreach and increased time spent with coaches.  I can tell you stories of appreciation we have heard from our staff, but ultimately I cannot tell you (nor will I ever be able to)  the total changes and impact God has used our time here for.  And this is part of what makes our journey in the Dominican so amazing!  We are not in charge of these changes- God is!  We are not in control of this ministry- God is!  We are in control of our own obedience to God's calling.  God called our family to the Dominican through AIM.  Through this time our lives, futures and paths have been forever changed.  We are not and can never be the same "J and Candace" that would have been had we never moved.  Our girls and God-willing future children will not be the same.  One of the most amazing things God granted me tonight was that although our work may not be "sexy" with huge numbers of decisions for Christ or records of those healed, our work has been good because God called us and we obeyed.  I don't mean we have always made the right choices, but rather God calls us to obedience and the rest is left up to Him.  His grace is sufficient to erase my errors and wrongdoings.  His grace is sufficient when I lose my patience.  His love covers us for our failings.  What an amazing Father! 

As we continue reflecting on our staff, Sosua, on ourselves and this journey, we can only express complete joy because God called us here.  Our prayer is that He would continue to use us as He sees fit (whether to victories or losses)!

 

 

"God has called us to live for a cause greater than ourselves- A life that is dependent on His grace and power to achieve things we never thought possible through our lives."  Os Hillman