Changes can be Miraculous

What an exciting day!  Isn't it always amazing when God changes your plans and something miraculous comes out of that?!  (and again, this has been a learning process as the planner in me wants everything to go as ordered and thought out)...  So today was initially going to be a prep trip to Nagua with J and a few of our AIM guys.  However, due to a death in the family of the pastor's wife, he was unable to meet with our team and ergo changes happened.  After a few phone calls yesterday afternoon, J and 3 of our AIM guys traveled to Gasper Hernandez (an hour drive) today to meet with 2 coaches and their teams.  After introductions by Checo, J presented his word of encouragement followed by Salomon presenting the devotion and the Gospel. As J puts it:

There were several amazing things happening today.  First, witnessing our guys speak with the athletes and their coaches was like watching someone breathe.  Just natural and easy.  It's like a basketball team that has played together for a very long time.  They work seamlessly together and know where everyone will be even when improvising.  When you know and see this meshing occur as it's happening, it is a beautiful thing to witness.  Secondly, and most importantly, 15 kids accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior today!!!!  GLORIA A DIOS!!   

And what further excites us is that each of you (through prayer and support) are part of that team who spoke to these kids today!  You are allowing this to happen, and there are not enough words to show our appreciation for your support and the support of AIM.  We are blessed to have such a large team with us every step of the way.  And as Rudy (our Cuban brother) always says, "Just one more!"  Allow "just one more" person to accept Christ!  After all, isn't that our primary and main goal here on this Earth?!

 

And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. Mark 16:15

Church Without Walls and a House With a Roof

Happy Saturday!  Things are going fantastic here (and to top it off it has rained for the past several days so I am one happy camper)!  :) 

J met with our AIM guys yesterday evening and it was a great meeting.  Lots of future planning (for the many camps we have this year) including a Dominican led camp in Nagua (about a 2 hour drive from Sosua).  We are meeting again on Monday to finalize camp dates and details, but I must say the guys are very excited to become the "missionaries" who go to another place and put on the camp.  (very similar to last summer when our AIM guys traveled to the South side for camp).  Many stated they are "emociando" (excited) for another trip and more mission work.  Such an exciting and heartwarming place to hear our guys love for continuing to spread the Gospel through sport.  J is also working on training our guys how to "teach" the coaches.  They will start this week by visiting practices and doing devotionals with the athletes as a means to show the coaches how they themselves can do the devotionals with their athletes.  (show the coaches, walk them through it, watch the coaches do it, and then the coaches are on their own.)  Ever heard of the mindset of a "church without walls"? 

In other exciting news, God provided Raphael (our AIM brother) with enough funds to build a roof on his house!  Gloria a Dios!  Right now he rents another house, but the sooner he can finish the house he owns, the sooner his family can move and save the money they spend on rent.  Below are a few pictures of the roof in process.  This is such a blessing as Raphael (and many others) have been praying about this for years.  Again, God answers in His perfect timing! 

And for one funny note, J was asked to say a few words at church this past Sunday (luckily he was ready for this!  Our grasshopper is learning.) :)  But during his talking, a chicken got into the church and was manhandled pretty quickly.  However, the funniest part was the squawk this thing let out.  I didn't know chickens could make such a noise (other than the "cluck cluck").  But this sounded like a dog yelp/baby scream mixed together... very interesting.

And last, here is a picture of Aubrey with her faux-hawk.  I thought we should try it out after her bath one night and it was worth it...

 

Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. Psalm 37:7

Praise and Prayers

Hey guys!  Happy Monday to you all.  It's hard to believe we have been here almost a week.  Considering I haven't posted pictures in a bit, this one will be picture overload.  There has been some amazing work happening in the Dominican over the past month (just because we took a vacation does not mean God did! and Praise the Lord for that!!).  As I said before, it is good to be back.  We have fallen back into our routines from before (used to laundry and the slower process it is, sweeping everyday, speaking Spanish...).  However, the one difference is our water heater went out!!  WOW!  I must admit we were getting a little TOO comfortable with our warm showers, so that was definitely an eye opener.  I actually washed my hair upside down so the water wouldn't hit the top of my back which is I believe the most sensitive spot. :)  But, we will not allow the small things to take away our joy.  At least we have running water to get clean with.  So as promised here are some pictures:

Here is Aubrey and Loralee playing "cocina" with the new food set from Christmas.  Lots of tacos, beans and rice being made in our house now.

Here is Aubrey, Loralee, and Genesis playing "doctora".  Apparently everyone's blood pressure was high today.

Here is Aubrey and me sweeping.  Aubrey LOVES her new broom sets and uses them constantly.  I think we sweep at least 3-4 times a day.  And it was also laundry day.  (And this is our patio in case you are wondering where we are.)

A group of Canadian missionaries were here who always do the construction in Sosua.  This is in La Cienega and they completed the orphanage!  Praise the Lord!  For those of you who came last year, this is on the lot where we had the crusade in La Cienega and sits adjacent to the church.

Here is a picture of the 2nd floor of the orphanage.

This is the second floor of the church.  Again, for those who have been here before, Pastor Johnny's church was only 1 floor before this.  In order to reach the 2nd floor of the orphanage (picture before), you have to go through the second floor of the church.

Here is a picture of the kitchen in the orphanage with a few of the orphans.

These are the stairs leading to the 2nd floor of the church.

And lastly, we brought some bracelet crafts back for the kids in our neighborhood.  It was quite the hit.  However, for those who are arts and craft challenged like myself, these bracelets were anything but easy.  We tried following the directions for a bit and then just let them design and create their own.  It ended up being so much fun watching them and being with them.  We brought back some paper airplane materials for the boys (actually for everyone as the boys partook in the bracelets, too).  We are hoping to do that today or tomorrow!  I have realized how easy it can be to just do crafts with them.  They are easy and when I think everything must be PERFECT, they simply use what they have and make it work.  Quite the lesson in learning that even what I may see as imperfect (tape holding parts of the bracelet together), they see as beautiful.  I am always learning lessons here to focus on the important things in life and not the materialistic or often human perspective.

 

 

And we have some prayer requests for all of you:

- First, Pastor Johnny and one of the orphans, Jason, were in a motorcycle accident this past Wednesday.  Praise the Lord, nothing was broken for either of them!  But please keep praying for healing, pain control, and strength (not only for them but for those who are taking care of them).

 

- Please keep praying for Raphael (one of our AIM brothers) and his family.  His daughter, Gabriella, is 13 years old and has sickle cell.  We have written about her before, but she is still struggling with pain and immune deficiency.  Please keep praying for her health, for strength, for pain control and a sense of peace.  Please also pray for Raphael and his wife (who is currently living and working in Spain for health insurance and extra money).  We know God is in control of every situation and although we cannot always understand His ways, He has a plan.  Please give all of us strength in understanding this.

 

 

Thanks as always for your prayers, love and support.  We have so much to be thankful for!

 

Dear brothers and sisters, when trouble comes your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.

For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.

So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed,
you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

James 1:2-4

 

3+1=4

Hey family!  Well, we are officially Dominicans again.  We arrived yesterday afternoon after an amazing month in the States.  It was a wonderful few weeks full of the rest, rejuvenation, some work, and time with family and friends.  Thank you all for making it so special for us. 

But I must say we are excited to be back.  We arrived to our home (yes, it truly is a home and I am grateful God has allowed us this beautiful place to call home).  Tati (Pastor Rivas' wife) and a few others cleaned the place before we got home so it was nice and dust free, bug free and spider free (minus the pesky mosquitos, I definitely did not miss those buggers).  I was not sure what it would have looked like after a month of being gone.  We visited the supermercado to get restocked on everything.  I love restocking as it is like starting fresh and new but I do not enjoy paying restocking prices (soap, toilet paper, diapers, wipes, food, cleaning products, etc.)  But I must say the most exciting part of our day was seeing our Dominican family again!  Raphael (one of our brothers) picked us up at the airport, we ran into Pastor Rivas and Tati at the supermercado, our neighbors stopped by and the kids ran up the hill to see us.  It was so special to hear them and see their excitement at our return.  J had the first meeting of 2014 with our AIM staff tonight.  It went great and he was so excited to share the future plans of AIM, camps, growths and everything in between.  The staff was pumped to hear about all the movement God has been planning for the Dominican.  J emphasized the importance of our team becoming teachers of coaches (rather than teachers of kids).  Lots of amazing things are happening and we get to be a part of this.  We are blessed beyond measure! 

And one more little tidbit to share with you all...
In case you are not aware, Aubrey is expecting a baby brother or sister in July!!  I am currently 14 weeks pregnant (past the nauseating and exhausting first trimester praise the Lord!).  So far everything is going great with the baby.  We are planning on having this baby in the States and my OB (who is awesome) already said it's not a problem as long as I'm back in July.  :)  We will keep you all updated on the family like we did in the first 4 months!  We thank you in advance for all your prayers, love and support.  Please let us know if there is anything you would like us to pray for.

With much love!!

Psalm 148

Praise the Lord from the heavens,

praise him in the heights above.

Praise him, all his angels,

praise him, all his heavenly hosts.

Praise him, sun and moon,

praise him, all you shining stars.

Praise him, you highest heavens

and you waters above the skies.

Let them praise the name of the Lord,

for he commanded and they were created.

He set them in place for ever and ever;

he gave a decree that will never pass away.

 

Praise the Lord from the earth,

you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,

lightning and hail, snow and clouds,

stormy winds that do his bidding,

you mountains and all hills,

fruit trees and all cedars,

wild animals and all cattle,

small creatures and flying birds,

kings of the earth and all nations,

you princes and all rulers on earth,

young men and maidens,

old men and children.

 

Let them praise the name of the Lord,

for his name alone is exalted;

his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

He has raised up for his people and horn,

the praise of all his saints,

of Israel, the people close to his heart.

 

Praise the Lord.



Spiritual Haze

Isn't it crazy how fast time can pass us by?!  I have been meaning to blog for the past 2 weeks and yet here I sit without a single post in quite some time.  I think it just goes to show how quickly we as humans can get sidetracked from our work to be done (in this case keeping up with a blog and sharing our life as missionaries even while in the States). 

Since the last post, things have been great.  Lots of visiting, eating (I must say I have now had my Whataburger fix and many other food items!), working, praying, family time and traveling.  When we first arrived back in the States, it was so easy to fall back into our "old life" and pattern.  But now 3 weeks later, we are missing the simplicity of life in the Dominican.  The easier nature of staying focused on God and His work to be completed.  We have so quickly fallen back into the television watching, football devouring, foodies we were before.  And don't get me wrong, there is nothing inherently wrong with this life IF you are following God's direction and path for you.  But for us as a family, this is not what God has called us to.  There are several things we miss in the States (family and friends aside) such as the ease of a washer and dryer without having to fill, drain, rinse, repeat and hang dry; the ease and let's face it enjoyment of fast food (I know, I swore I would never say that yet here I am); the driving conditions (no motorcycles cutting you off or taxis cutting the light...); the milk in the States (being a chocolate milk connoisseur the milk in the Dominican is just not the same, something I think you have to grow up on to like)...  I'm sure there are many other things we talk about "missing" while in the Dominican, but right now I am anticipating returning to our life that is dedicated and focused solely on God.  As I have said before, we are not spending every moment reading the Bible or praying or worshipping (in fact we need to spend more time doing all of this), but our life is just simpler.  One of the biggest blessings we have in the Dominican is no television.  Instead of being able to come home and "unwind" in front of the television, we are forced to "unwind" in each other's presence, talking with our brothers and sisters in Christ, playing outside with the kids from the neighborhood, spending time with our AIM staff, etc.  Although I do not know what God has in store for our future (where we will live, whether we return to the States, whether we move to another country...), I am grateful for the life change He has given us!  I pray we stay focused on His love and His work to be done.  I pray He continues to lay the path and we continue to follow Him in whatever direction that takes us. 

We are so blessed by each of you as you continue to pray for us along this journey.  As I have said (I think hundreds of times), thank you for your prayers!  Thank you for your love and support.  We are so blessed because this is not a journey we are taking alone but rather we have an entire team of support going along the path with us.  We love you all!!

 

"We can experience joy when we slow down just a little and take life in.  The more we slow down, the more we can see, feel, and hear life around us.  Each day, God is working all around us."

-Tim McDermott (KSBJ President)

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