The stockings were hung on the counter with care...

For 29 years I have spent Christmas in Bermuda (with one exception in PA to see snow!) so needless to say, this year has been DIFFERENT! But I've come to realize that DIFFERENT isn't always BAD!

FELIZ NAVIDAD!

Here are some fun facts about a Dominican Christmas...

1. Although some people put lights up around their home, it is more common for a Dominican to paint their home for Christmas.

2. Dominican Christmas music is very different from our music in English. (See my FB page for a little taste of the culture here) but the people LOVE to sing along with all the traditional Dominican instruments. In the weeks leading up to Christmas little groups will visit houses in the wee hours of the morning and won't stop singing until you come out and give them something.

3. December 24th is bigger than December 25th. Families gather together on Christmas eve and eat, eat and EAT some more while enjoying time together. The 25th is used to recover.

4. Turkey is only eaten by the more wealthy families here while families in the villages enjoy chicken for Christmas. Roasted pig is also a VERY special treat.

5. Gifts are rarely given to each other on December 25th but a gift or 2 is given to children on January 6th.

6. "Santa" doesn't bring the gifts, the 3 wise men do so children are encouraged to leave water and hay under their beds for the camels.

7. On December 25th and January 1st Dominicans will "estrenar." This means that they'll put on a new outfit and go out to make sure others see them in their new outfit. lol. I thought that this tradition was only among the teenagers but Robersy's grandfather informed me that he has his outfit picked out to "estrenar" too :)

Although I have truly missed the Bermudian/Scottish traditions that my family enjoys leading up to the holidays, I am so thankful to enjoy my hubby's culture.

Tomorrow Robersy and I are heading out to the village where his family lives for Christmas. We'll have no access to internet until December 25th but we trust you and yours will have a VERY Merry Christmas! But as your celebrating PLEASE keep a few special people in your prayers since it will be a very difficult Christmas.

Pat Bishop who lost her hubby Ron (director/founder of SCORE) this year.

Shawn, Nell and Shaquan Williams - Shawn is my dad's work partner and has been since I was little so we've known the family for most of our lives. YESTERDAY his son passed away in a motorcycle accident.

Jordanny, a boy on Robersy's baseball team. His brother drowned at the beach TODAY. 

I know that there are so many other people suffering this Christmas, but these people are heavy on my heart right now. As you are getting ready in the hustle and bustle of the Christmas holidays don't forget the reason that we celebrate. That same Savior who came to bring life and hope to the world can also comfort broken hearts....

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Shine your butt off!

Parties and goodies and lights, OH MY!

As Christmas draws nearer we have been busy celebrating the precious birth of our Savior. We have had the opportunity to celebrate with our church, with Lily House and this week we’ll continue celebrating with our youth group and ministry team. It has been a busy time of the year, but we’re looking forward to a little rest soon.

Nate preaching to the boys on Saturday

Until such times, Robersy had a great game in Guayacanes with his team on Saturday. Pastor Nate shared the Word with the boys and God continues to stir their hearts. Pray for the boys as they enter a very difficult time for believers here in the DR. No school = a LOT of free time to get in to mischief. Robersy plans to keep them as busy as possible with activities and baseball.

Thursday night was very quiet! It was rainy and wet but there were still a few girls out. We did, however, have some great conversations which even led one lady to visit the church on Sunday with her 2 little boys. Keep praying for Y!



Lily House is getting ready to break for the winter so we do beg for your prayers! Many of these ladies will travel home to see their families, but a few have chosen to remain here. Pray for those who go home as they will come face to face with many temptations (drinking, drugs, music, men, etc.) and of course for those who stay since it may be a very lonely time… which brings other kinds of temptations.

We also finished up our GAP (American students studying here in the DR) Bible study group with stockings and hot chocolate, but I will miss them as they all head home for Christmas. Pray for them… especially today… since most of them will fly out this afternoon.



Church Christmas Dinner with friends.

As for Robersy and, well our 12 days of Christmas has begun. Last night we visited a beautiful park filled with lights and a LOT of people! It reminds me of the many years that my family and I would drive around Bermuda and see the houses decorated for the holidays.



I will miss those traditions this year. But one tradition that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is this. On Christmas morning when we read the Christmas story we also talk about what it would have been like… for Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men (which came a little later), the angels, and even for God. We’ve even enjoyed talking about the animals in the stable, the sheep with the shepherds, the gifts from the wise men and the star.

I know they don’t have the ability to think like we do… but could you imagine if you were that star? And God chose to place you above the home of little baby Jesus so that others could come and worship Him? I imagine I’d shine my butt off. I mean, that’s a big deal! A trillion stars in the sky and there you are pointing everyone to the Savior.



MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Then I got to thinking.

Isn’t that what we’re called to do?

This time of year we’re busy shopping, partying, eating, etc. but we are the stars here in this dark world.



 Say Merry CHRISTmas without the fear of offending someone! There is no Christmas without CHRIST!

Don’t be afraid to share the Gospel with your friends and family when they come for Christmas dinner. You never know when it’ll be your last opportunity to share.

Show the love of Christ and visit someone who can’t leave their home or don’t have a family to visit them this time of year.

Pray for those who have lost loved ones this year. This will be a VERY difficult time for them!

AND THEN, when December 26^th arrives… KEEP SHINING!!!!!!!!

Unlike the star, God created us with a heart and a soul. So keep shining your butt off my friend. In your life, in your walk, in your celebrations.

May He be the Center of our worship ALL YEAR ROUND!

A day in the life of ROBERSY!

Hey, Robersy here (and Sarah is here to translate too).

Usually I don't share much in our blog but Sarah's the main one who updates you all on what is going on in our ministry. I asked my wife for the opportunity to share a little bit of what I see God doing here too. Especially about this past Saturday where I saw God's love, protection and provision in our ministry.

My boys went to play against a team in a town called Quisqueya. We have been there before and my boys were excited to play but before the game began one of my boys was shivering. Not because he was nervous, but because he looked very sick. I was scared because I didn't know what was happening to him. Many times the boys come to practice without eating since they do not always have food at home, but they usually tell me and I buy them something small. This was the case with this boy. When he said he hadn't eaten we had him sit on the side to drink liquids and eat as the game began. He began to feel a little better.

Then the game started.

All was going well until one boy went to run to first base. As he slid into the plate his left foot completely folded on to the side. It was broken! But he didn't notice until the first base coach yelled, "Your foot!" The boy grabbed his foot and pushed it back into it's place. This resulted in a LOT of pain.

Now I was really scared. One sick boy on the sidelines and one with a broken foot!

Since there were not many people there to help I called my pastor to see what I should do. We quickly discussed a solution and the Pastor sent another missionary to help as I had to stay with the other 38 boys. God was in control!

The missionary took the boy with the broken foot to the local clinic (the boy that was shivering felt a little better so he just stayed on the sidelines) and got an x-ray. It was definitely broken!

Despite the craziness happening I was able to share the Gospel. 9 boys, 2 coaches and 1 parent accepted Christ. It was such a special moment as God revealed His grace through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Seeing the openness of those from Quisqueya I called a representative from a church that we work with to come and share more about their church. This meant that even once we left, there was a place in that area that the players, parents and coaches could visit to learn more about Christ. God is doing something exciting! (GOD'S LOVE)
But Satan continued to attack.

When I arrived back at the church with the bus full of boys I met up with the boy with the broken foot. The doctor had only given him the x-ray and sent him home. No cast, no bandage, nothing!

To be honest, I was tired and hungry by this time, but I couldn't leave the boy like this. So we loaded up and headed to a hospital in San Pedro. My heart broke as I saw the conditions of the hospital. The wheelchairs were broken, the beds were dirty and the doctors didn't seem to care about the "emergencies." After about an hour and a half we were attended to and they put a make shift cast out of bandages on the boy's foot/ankle and was asked to return so they could re-evaluate the situation on Wednesday. (GOD'S PROTECTION)

At 5pm (I left my house at 7:30am to head to the game so it had been a LONG day) I returned the boy to his home. His mom was very understanding and even thankful since some of the extra funds that were donated to fix our truck were used to pay the boy's hospital bill. (GOD'S PROVISION)

When I arrived at home I was greeted with 12 GAP students who had come for dinner. I was excited to eat because I hadn't eaten since I left the house that morning!!! (GOD IS GOOD!)

What I share with you today isn't to glorify or exalt myself or what we're doing, but to remind you to pray for these boys that I work with every week. We are seeing fruit in their lives and their families are also impacted by our ministry.

I love these boys very much and thank the Lord for the privilege to be their spiritual role model. This takes sacrifice, but we're thankful for such a great work.

So please continue to pray for me and my wife. There are many times that we want to throw in the towel, but God reminds us through His Word that His Son Jesus Christ is worth our sacrifice. HE loves us, HE protects and HE provides... ALWAYS.

Here are a few photos so that you can continue to pray for the work that HE is doing here in the Dominican Republic.

Thank you for listening.

Raw chicken and dog barf… our missions REALITY

Well today has been quite the day. After a loooong month of cuddling puppies it was time for them to move on and for life to get back to “normal” (whatever that is). 5 puppies, their mom and their brother moved on to happy lives in other homes. We are down to 3 puppies (all accounted for), 1 momma and their brother that Robersy is fighting to keep. We shall see.

As we loaded each puppy in the crate I had a mixture of sadness and relief… until we arrived to San Pedro.

“What’s that smell?”

Now I’m not one to throw-up easily but let me tell you, I was on the verge…

SOMEONE had eaten a raw chicken and it was EVERYWHERE. The smell was horrendous and the 3 manly men that had driven with me for this expedition gave me the “we’re not touching that” look.

So my precious, dainty hands dug through the warm, gooey slime to retrieve 5 pitiful puppies. Each one squealed as I bathed them. #shout out to Ramon who held the hose while Robersy disappeared to buy soap and I think Jason was making a fake phone call.

Sometimes life gets messy. And sometimes we just have to laugh.

Each Monday as I share our stories and adventures we really do laugh… but something many don’t realize is that this is our REALITY. What I mean by this is, along with the laughter and craziness there comes tears and hard days too.

 Last week Monday I was hurting and I went as far as to share this on Facebook seeking prayer. The response wasn't entirely what I expected. I received a few messages stating that as a servant of the Most High God I shouldn't be so weak! :o

WELL, between the homesickness, financial struggles, stress of balancing ministry, family and sanity, missing having everything at my fingertips, feeling forgotten etc. I realized something…

I AM NOT SUPERWOMAN.

Are you shocked? I was! LOL.

It was like a revelation for me!!!

 

Sometimes I feel guilty for crying or for feeling sad.

Sometimes I get mad at myself for missing “home” because this is supposed to be “home” now.

Sometimes I struggle with finding a second to do my quiet time!

Sometimes I DON’T WANT TO WASH THE DISHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sometimes, even being surrounded by people, I feel lonely.

Truth is… I’m human.

This truth was revealed even more so as I sat with other struggling sisters. I looked like a fish blubbering away until they began to share that they feel the same way!

“You mean I’m not going insane?”

“No… you’re just human.”

I’m not even sure why God placed it on my heart to share this today. I just know that there are some missionaries who just need some hugs and a lot of them are going to be home soon. So if when you see your local missionaries… and even the ones who serve right in your home town… squeeze them tight.

Serving the Lord full-time is not always easy on the heart or on the wallet BUT it is the adventure of a lifetime. We love what we do and thankful for all that God is doing but don’t look for a cape just give us a hug J

 

Some of our crazy teens with friends from Juan 3:16

Mountains of Jarabocoa

Because we're crazy and in love :)

Thanksgiving in the mountains!

 

Dominoes got crazy!

The boys trying to watch American football.

And just because it ought to be broadcast over the internet... Nate Jude's bday :) LOL.