Blessed Beyond Measure

As usual, Robersy and I have no reason to complain. We are blessed beyond measure and so thankful to do what we do.

This past Monday we said goodbye to the FCA soccer trip and headed to camp. As at every event, I was placed at registration. I always laugh at this because I am the worst at understanding the million and one names these kids give. You’d think I’d be better because of names like Shaquinka in Bermuda, HOWEVER, these kids have their first name, second name, father’s last name and then mother’s maiden name ALL spelled phonetically and when asked, “How do you spell your name?” They proceed to just say it slower. Ohhhh heavens. LOL. Pastor Nathan, Robersy and new friend, Daniel (Score missionary from Honduras, who was also taking names) just laughed and left me scribbling down what I could J Haha!

We had about 200 kids register for camp, PRAISE GOD! Each day was filled with messages from God’s Word, games, challenges, songs, and just pure fun. Robersy and I were placed in various areas and it was exciting to watch these kids soak up the Word. On the final night, Robersy led the camp fire service where many shared what God had done over the week of camp.

Although I never like to mention numbers, we saw about 14 young people accept Christ and to keep the momentum of camp, we plan to begin Juan Dolio Youth Group THIS FRIDAY. Robersy and I have been asked to oversee this ministry so we covet your prayers as we prepare and train our team. May God ALONE be glorified.

This weekend was also a blessing as we dedicated the Lily House ministry and we were able to honour those who have had a part in starting this ministry and loving/training/discipling these women to the point where they are today. Only the hand of God could have brought these women out of the darkness that consumed them!!!  It is truly a miracle.

Speaking of miracles… to follow up my update on Lauren, read her testimony on her blog. An atheist taken over with drugs and alcohol finds Jesus in the Dominican Republic. Too cool…

http://ourfund.us/dashboard/participant/donation/24970/1555/1

Thank you for your encouragement and prayers. Robersy and I feel honoured to represent our home churches, family, supporters, etc. here on the missionfield. Without you all, it would be impossible!

GOD IS GOOD!!!

Atheists, Reese's Pieces and Trantulas

Honestly this week has been a blur! A week ago I was in bed with food poisoning and from there, the days have just flown. Of course, it could be because of the amazing group I had the privilege of working with this week!


Monday I met the FCA soccer team at the airport with a fro-yo in my hand (the first thing I had eaten since I was bed ridden J lol). They were quiet… yeh, that didn’t last long! Come Tuesday they were ready to get going! I was assigned with them to translate and help the team overall. We began with a soccer clinic in La Rinconada. The girls did great and enjoyed getting to know the Dominican children, but it was the game in the afternoon that literally left me standing with my mouth wide open…

Luci and I after hiking to a football clinic held in a village.
It was MUDDDDDDY!

We had scheduled a game with a local team from a local area (you’ll know why I’m being careful with names in a moment). We were excited, the other team was excited… everything seemed to be going great. That is, until we mentioned the name of Christ. In a country where they are open to Christianity, I was SHOCKED to be asked to leave because we shared the Gospel. The game was cancelled and the girls were upset, but we had no choice. It just reminded me how close we are to Christ’s return. Jesus is coming!

Throughout the week we were blessed with the opportunity to visit Pasitos de Jesus (a girl’s home) and Josiah’s House (a boy’s home). It’s always so special to spend time with kids who have a story to tell, a heart to mend and sweet arms to hug J

Other highlights were soccer games in Santo Domingo and San Cristobal, where the Gospel was preached and testimonies were given. One particular testimony, however, had me choking back tears as I translated. On the day that the team arrived, I was told that there were a few girls on the team that weren’t Christians, but there was one in particular that was openly atheist and was happy to attend devotionals and Bible studies (which were required) but made it clear that she would not listen. We agreed not to offend her beliefs and just  let God do His thing. Day by day, God worked on Lauren’s heart. She saw the hope in girls, boys and adults who owned nothing, but had Jesus… and through the devotionals and testimonies of other team mates that were getting serious about the Lord, she realized that she didn’t have to be saved when she was 3yrs old… she could start now! She shared her testimony at a game today and said, “It’s just so cool to know that there IS Someone out there and that Someone loves me very much!”

God is SO cool.

Rejoice with us! It is amazing to see God work on the hearts of mission teams who came to minister and leave being ministered to. I feel blessed to have worked with this amazing group of ladies!  And to top it off, the leader (Bob) managed to get me boxes of Reese’s Pieces that I have been missing so much!!! I am so BLESSED!!!!!!!!

Alright, it’s 1:03am and we have camp tomorrow so I am heading to bed… I hope I sleep well know that this little guy is close by…

Found him outside our front door when we came home tonight, LOL! SLEEP WELL J

P.S. Say a little prayer for my Lily House girls. The 3 that I’m discipling have a week of vacation. They’ve travelled to see their families and this will show us if they’ve grown depending on the decisions that they make. Pray that they will be strong! I know Satan is going to be working hard this week!!!

Boca Chica

This is a post from one of our fellow missionaries about the area where we live...

 

The following was from a local English newspaper in the DR. These are the places we have been passing out tracts & sharing God's Word (from the front door & at safer hours - so no one freaks out!) Please pray for this city where several of our Lily ladies live & missionary friends.

Raids in Boca Chica

Over the weekend of June 8 and 9, the National Drug Control Agency (DNCD) and eight Assistant Prosecutors carried out a series of raids throughout Boca Chica on the south coast, including houses, discotheques and amusement centers where they dismantled drug sales points, arrested six people and confiscated hundreds of portions of drugs, firearms, munitions, weighing scales, hookahs and cash.

 Ricardo Antonio Tavera, Nelgica Encarnacion Segura, Ermin Zapata Araugo, alias Rafelito, Gilberto De la Cruz, alias Fili, Miguel Jimenez and Joel Ventura Julian were arrested in the raids.
The discotheques raided were El Fogon and El Batey, the PlayBoy and Candy Shop establishments, Relax Cafe Bar, and other local amusement places.

 According to the DNCD, as a result of the raids they confiscated 148 portions of cocaine, 88 of marijuana, 20 of crack, three pistols, one weighing scale, 28 9mm bullets, 12 cartridges and 13 hookahs.

 

Appreciating prayers more than ever.

Lesson Learned...

I had planned to sit down and write a little update on Saturday night… HOWEVER, after a little bout of food poisoning, this is the first day I’ve had energy to do so J

Thursday night was AMAZING but eye-opening! We walked in to the busy down-town streets of Boca Chica and met with several of the “regular” prostitutes. These are girls who know us, have seen us, can repeat the Gospel back to us… but still stand blinded by the world.

These girls are BEAUTIFUL. I mean, model-worthy beautiful! But they just give themselves away like yesterday’s garbage. It’s so sad to see. But it’s exciting to sit down and just talk with them. I spoke with 2 girls sitting alone waiting for clients. Emphasized how much Jesus loved them and the price He paid to have a relationship with them. They sat wide eyed and I stayed alert for any returning “Johns.” I was able to finish my message and hand them a gift bag and tracts before anyone came along.

Of course at the sight of the gift bags about 30 other girls came by asking for one. It was like watching children arguing over who got more and who got less. Then you realize it’s the drugs talking…

Shortly after we took a drive by a local brothel and again, when the girls saw that there were gifts there were swarms of women in their undergarments at the front gate looking for more. Breaks your heart.

Continue to pray for these women trapped by Satan’s lies.

Saturday I decided to make tacos, and that’s when things went downhill… bad chicken = food poisoning! Lesson learned. HOWEVER, it didn’t affect Robersy AT ALL. Stomach of steal I guess! Spent most of Saturday night being sick and then Sunday I slept aaaallll day. Thank the Lord for 2 missionary doctors, who gave their advice and medication. And dun, dun, DUN… I ate for the first time TONIGHT since I was sick. YAY! And so far so good. It was only a salad and frozen yogurt… but YAY!!!

Thank the Lord for His many blessings J

Let's catch up :)

I started this blog a month and a half ago, but after working on the page and trying to get it up and running (this is my first blog site), I think I finally got it.

So let’s back-track a bit! As of today, Robersy and I have been married for 2 months! Crazy how time flies. I am so thankful for the man God blessed me with and the ministry He has blessed us to work in.

Robersy has been busy with his baseball ministry. He plays, coaches and disciples mainly in Los Fundos, Juan Dolio, Guyacanes and Boca Chica but has the opportunity to travel with visiting mission teams to new areas. He loves it and wishes there were more hours in a day so that he could do more :)

As for myself, I have been working with a few different ministries, but truly love the times of discipleship in the Lily House. The Lily House is a rescue house for prostitutes. They come voluntarily from the streets, knowing the rules and guidelines of the home, and are taught life skills. It is meant to train them and show them how to live in society without degrading the body God gave them. Of course, a part of that is discipleship and showing them who they are IN CHRIST. Currently I am discipling the 3 newest ladies. They have been saved since the beginning of April and are just soaking up the Word. It’s exciting!

Another part of my ministry within the Lily House is actually going out on to the streets and speaking with the prostitutes! We let them know that they are LOVED and VALUED. We’re heading out again tonight, so I’ll let you know how it goes!

Of course Robersy and I get to do a bit of ministry together too! Two weeks ago we had the privilege of taking a family to La Vega. The goal was to share the Gospel one last time with the father’s father (who visits the Dominican regularly) before heading back to the States. Apparently God makes NO MISTAKES and had been previously working in this gentleman’s heart. He was ready to hear the Word and at 83 years old he closed his eyes and asked Jesus to be his Saviour! TOO COOL!!!

But our adventure didn’t end there! Me and my adventurous-self (and apparently God’s leading lol) suggested stopping at some waterfalls on the way home. Robersy was reluctant, but I’m convinving ;) LOL. So we headed down a bumpy, sketchy path with 3 “gringos” (Americans) in the back of the car. Well long story short, we didn’t have the time to hike an hour up to the waterfalls but we did notice the families and homes in the area!

Jump ahead a few days…

We decided to drive 1hr 30mins BACK to the waterfalls to hike and we thought, let’s bring a few bags of supplies and maybe we’ll share the Gospel with a few people. HA! God is so much bigger than our puny little selves.

Once we got back to our sketchy little dirt road we told 3 boys on bicycles that we’d be talking about Jesus in the park if they wanted to come.  We stopped at 1 other house and a shop on the way to the park and just told them to spread the word. 10 minutes later… 10 MINUTES LATER… the park filled up with over 70 men, women and children. Simply to hear “about Jesus.”

One of the Americans shared his testimony and Robersy shared the Gospel. I’m not in to numbers… but God is. He knows EXACTLY how many of those people accepted Him that day. We were thankful to be a tool in the Master’s hands.

Following the message 3 families approached Robersy begging him to come back and teach them more of the Bible. We had watched kids and women with buckets scooping drinking water from the river, but we understand now that they are thirsty for so much more.

We already have plans to return :)

Another super cool God story is from our day off! Every Monday Robersy and I have a day to ourselves. So this past Monday we decided to go to the beach. Well, our favorite beach hangout was closed, so we headed to Juan Dolio to our second favorite beach hangout… CLOSED! So we thought, ok let’s at least go out for lunch. Yup, you guessed it… CLOSED! So we asked a security guard on the road where he’d recommend and he pointed to a tables and chairs on the beach. We headed down ordered our food and relaxed. THEN the waiter (a young well-dressed 20yr old) asked us if we wanted an alcoholic drink and we explained that we were Christians. This turned in to a 3 HOUR conversation of questions about Christianity and how “Alfredo” (the waiter) could know if he is going to Heaven!

Say what you will, but my God is SO COOL. 3 beach areas CLOSED, which led us to a little spot on the beach. YUP. My God is a God of appointments!

So if you think that is cool… hold on to your seat…

So we say goodbye to Alfredo. The next day we went out with a group to play Softball near Juan Dolio. Now, there are a LOT of baseball fields in the Dominican. BUT WHO TURNS UP TO THE FIELD WHERE WE’RE PLAYING SOFTBALL…

YES! You guessed it. ALFREDO! We didn’t even see him… he spotted us! Came right up and hugged Robersy! Lol. Then at the end of the game, which he stayed and watched, he came and sat on the ground with kids and heard the Gospel preached again.

WOW.

Is there a God? J

Robersy met with him again yesterday (Alfredo called and begged, lol) and they have planned to meet once a week so Alfredo can learn more about God and His Word! 

So that’s our update. God is SO cool. I feel so unworthy to be used of Him. But I am SO THANKFUL that He has entrusted us with His Good News. May we, with the support of your prayers, continue to carry HIS message to the people.