Babies, camp and catching a flight!

Passports - check!

Tickets - check!

Suitcases packed  - Almost!

We are anxious and excited to fly to Bermuda tomorrow! It has been a year and a half since I've seen the pink sand beaches, heard the tree-frogs whistling through the night and eaten all of my favorite foods! Of course that means a year and a half since I've seen many of my friends, worshiped in the church where I grew up and gotten together with family.

I am thankful beyond words to have this opportunity to travel with my hubby, but this last month has been a whirlwind as we have been involved in summer ministries, mission teams and camp! Of course doing this all in my first trimester was... um, interesting! LOL. I was exhausted and slept whenever I could and only the Lord Himself got me through the nausea! All while keeping our secret until we felt it was the right time to share.

Here is a photo of our announcement if you're not on our Facebook page.

We are thrilled beyond word and although we were as surprised as everyone else... we are looking forward to the journey ahead.

However, after finding out... life got busy! We got prepared for groups that came to play/minister with Robersy's team and of course details for camp took top priority until the day it began. But it was worth it :)

We thank the Lord for over 200 teenagers who attended camp from all over the Dominican. It was a blast. Wet games, sports games, mud games and a WHOLE lot of Jesus was the focus of our time together. The preaching all stemmed from "How Great is Our God!" and for 4 days we saw how truly awesome HE is. 

Here are a few photos...

   

We had a blast and we thank you for your prayers!

Continue praying for the teens that accepted Christ as their Savior and for those who made other decisions in their spiritual walk.

I'll try to keep you up to date on our journey to Bermuda, but are looking forward to some rest so no promises :)

God bless... and HAPPY SUMMER!!!

Swimming with the dead

I have seen a LOT of crazy things during my time in the Dominican. But the most interesting things that I experience and see are during my morning runs... especially along the beach.

The following are things I see regularly:

Naked people.
Dogs.
Baseball players training.
Naked people (I've seen enough of them to mention it twice).
Tourists.
Drunk people.
Lots of empty alcohol bottles and plenty of trash in general.

But this morning was different. 

I saw a dead body :(

A huge crowd caught my attention and as I continued to jog a little closer to the scene a man asked me to "walk please... out of respect for the deceased." 

A fire truck, a woman passed out close by (apparently from seeing the young man) and the familiar shrieks and cries (common here) as someone called the family of the deceased. 

My stomach turned as I caught a glimpse of the guy. His arms seemed to be paralyzed in front of his body and his clothing soaking wet as he had just been pulled from the ocean.

I asked a woman cleaning the beach nearby, "Do they know what happened?"
"We really shouldn't talk about it while his body is still here (then whispering) but by the blood on his face I think he was attacked."

As I picked up my pace again, running towards the road I turned to see several swimmers heading my direction. Horrified looks on their faces. One woman gripping her stomach.

 Moments before they had been swimming and enjoying that ocean... little had they known they were swimming with the dead.

As I finished my run, several thoughts and life lessons passed through my mind. Here is one quick thought...

While we go through the hustle and bustle of life, let us not get so distracted with our to-do list that we literally swim on by people who need our help, need someone to talk to, need a life-line. People who are drowning in sorrow, depression and pain.

We have been blessed by God Almighty, not to hoard and store away... but to bless others too.

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This coming week Robersy and I (along with many amazing brothers and sisters) will be serving at camp. 

Teens look forward to this all year and we are excited to play crazy games and get muddy and stay up late and share God's incredible Word with over 200 young people!

Please pray for strength and energy for the directors, counselors and all other leaders/helpers. And pray for open hearts for the many that will hear the Gospel this week!

It's aliiiiiiiive!

I remember an old Jello commercial when I was growing up that kind of grossed me out. Little Jello jigglers would dance across the cafeteria table and kids would run down the school hallways until they trapped them in their Jello cups and gobbled them up. The thought of eating a mushy substance that wiggled in my mouth was not my idea of an awesome school snack, but the catch phrase "It's aliiiiive" popped in my head last week during one of my morning devotions.

No... No Jello jigglers in the Bible. But God's Word is INCREDIBLE.

Hits you right where you need it, every time!

I've been listening through the Bible (as I believe I've shared many times) and each podcast usually includes one Old Testament passage, one New Testament passage and one Psalm or Proverbs. It's called Digging Deeper Daily. Although the guy who reads the passages does not have the most sought after voice in the world, he gives some great insight and historical facts whilereading through. Very interesting!

Any who...

Last week we started Galatians. It's a cool book :) Read it before, got some stuff underlined... Next. But I decided to listen closely anyhow. 

Lately I've been struggling with my call to the streets. It's been weeks since any girls have come to church, one girl who did come to church "stole" my Bible (she did ask to borrow it... But I haven't seen her since!), one girl promises to meet me with me almost every week and never shows. 

I'll tell you the truth... Some weeks I don't even WANT to go. 

What the heck am I doing?

But God knows my heart and He decided to speak to me through His Word, which is aliiiiiive :)

Galatians 1:24

"And they glorified God because of me."

What!!! Where did that verse come from?! Ha!

Visions of Jello jigglers danced in my head.

Paul (who wrote this fab book) lived a pretty messed up life. He killed many Christians and rejected God big time. That is until God stopped him dead in his tracks. Well... Blind in his tracks, but you got read his story for yourself. 

But his life was "twisted, turned upside down" and he found Jesus. And Jesus changed him and transformed him... And then he went on to serve Jesus!!!! And guess what... Because he was DIFFERENT and because he LOVED JESUS and because he DIDN'T BLEND IN TO THE CROWD "they glorified God because of me."

What an HONOUR!!!

That someone might come to know Christ because you decided to say NO to a night on the town, or NO to conversations that blaspheme His name, or NO to movies or television shows that glorifies sin.

Oh Sarah. Your just exaggerating.

I don't believe I am.
Can I tell you why?

Because there are girls at the Lily House because a couple years ago a small group of women obeyed God's call and went out to the streets again and again and again with NO results and now some of those same former prostitutes are serving in local churches, discipling other girls and providing for their families in an honorable way.

There is a guy in our church who came to Christ because a family decided to welcome him in to their home to watch sports. No booze, no girls... Just sports. This family loved on him and welcomed him... And it just happen to be God's perfect plan.

There are parents who BEG Robersy to let their kids on his team because they are different. They don't swear and they respect their parents.

And added on to that there are parents who TRUST us (just a reminder that my own dog has fallen off the roof several times... So I'm not fit to be in charge of actual humans)... Because they know their kids won't be watching movies filled with sex and nudity, but we have good clean fun, and we laugh and we eat... And they come just a tad closer to know Jesus for themselves.

This blog is to myself today. If you read it, that's cool... But it should really start off with Dear Sarah, because when things don't seem to be going as I thought that they might, and there isn't revival on the streets of Boca Chica, I will remain faithful. When friends and family I've been sharing Christ with for  years don't cry out to Jesus, I will remain faithful. When I have no idea what I am doing here in foreign land filled with rice and beans when I just want a bacon cheeseburger from Dorothy's or an Art Mel's sandwich (I just got super hungry! Lol)... I will remain faithful.

Because God WILL use my calling and my sacrifices so that one day they might glorify Him because of me.

God... Thanks for being a Jello jiggler Saviour and speaking to my heart today.

Pee on the toilet seat

There is NOTHING more disgusting than sitting on a wet toilet seat. Well, I guess falling IN to the toilet would come in a close second... But it's something I haven't really had to think about throughout my life.

I grew up with 2 sisters and my husband is a germ-a-phobe to the max! So up until this point I haven't thought twice about just popping a squat in my own home. That is until my hubby began coaching over 60 teenage boys.

Although we believe we live quite far from Juan Dolio and Guayacanes (where most of the boys live) I am reminded that we aren't really that far when boys turn up at our door several times a month. 

At present we have 6 boys staying in our tiny 2 room (ONE bathroom) apartment. They have played basketball, dominoes, Wii and even tossed a baseball around our balcony. The fact that the lights went out 4 times last night didn't discourage them from staying up until after midnight and Robersy had oatmeal all ready for them when they decided to get up (also... Boys eat a LOT!).

Our life is crazy. Sometimes too crazy!

(Body slamming a dog falls in to the too crazy category, but we'll save that lesson for another day).

But we love it.

If sitting in pee (which I am determined to check every time now!!!) is part of reaching 6 boys for Christ and urging them to love the Lord with ALL of their heart, then so be it.

Over the last 2 weeks we have been BUSY! Sleepovers, groups, baseball, Lily House, teaching, discipleship, and very little sleep in between lots of power outages and having a cold to just name a few things that we've been up to, but we are excited for July to arrive because that means camp, Bermuda and then Disney World! We may work our butts off... But we look forward to playing our butts off too!

As we see things around the world changing and Christians who once stood firm on God's Word remaining silent or becoming "tolerant," Robersy and I are determined to do all that God has called us to, until He returns or takes us home.

Life is too short.

So we will serve and rest and play and serve again... ALL for the glory of God!!!

Daddy's keys

Our brains are absolutly amazing.

Smells, sights, sounds that can transport us back in to time, remind us of a loved one or bring on a wave of emotions (laughter, tears, anger, fear).

I found myself in tears the other day as I read on the beach. I'm coming to the end of "Kisses from Katie" and she mentions that despite all the beautiful blessings she has received from obeying her call to Uganda, there are so many things that she misses back home. 

Immediately I heard a sound in my head.

My daddy's keys.

All of Bermuda knows this, but my daddy is a locksmith. It is his passion! He goes to locksmith conventions, conferences and reads locks & safe magazines like they are novels. Every family vacation growing up also included scanning the local phonebook to see where the closest locksmith was located. Golly I love him!

With a profession like this he is called out at absurd times of the night and morning to open cars, safes, drug busts with the police (he loves those ones!) and many other adventures. 

But when we'd hear the kitchen door open at 3 or 4 in the morning (I didn't use to sleep with earplugs!) I'd listen for a distinct sound to make sure it was just my dad. His keys. 

Of course there are all sorts of other sounds that I love from home too. Each month our church would have a fellowship time at a church member's home and when it was my mom's turn you could guarantee to hear the pans banging, the mixer running and the timer beeping. She is a beast in the kitchen. (Those sounds were also common on Sunday mornings as she gets her amazing roast beef, potatoes and yorkshire pudding lunch ready. Yuuuummmmm!)

Bermudians fall asleep to the sound of treefrogs. We grew up with the sound of waves on the gorgeous beaches, we'd run to the road if a siren stopped within earshot of the house to see what was going on and we could hear the sound of the Gombey's on any given holiday.

I used to feel guilty for missing home. Actually... I still do sometimes. I'm thankful for the call God has placed on my life, but it doesn't mean that Bermuda and the people there have become any less special to me. Believe me... I am counting the days until our plane arrives on that little dot in the middle of the ocean :)

But amongst the sounds that transport me back home, I can't help but cherish the sounds that surround me every day here in the Dominican.

Bachata at every colmado (little convenience stores), the honking of speeding guaguas (buses), barking dogs and clucking chickens, the "ssssssss" sound when someone is trying to get your attention, whistles (we don't have a doorbell... They whistle for us to come to the door. Pity for me who can't whistle!!), my neighbor's blender EVERY morning. love it!

But amongst the beautiful sounds we hear day, I think there are a few that make God smile too. Here are a few from this week.

The sound of our youngest Lily reciting all 10 verses required for camp and then sitting with another young Lily (who is unable to read) to help her memorize them too.

The teens at youth group laughing through the games at youth group and singing their hearts out during worship on Sundays.

Laughter from about 30 young boys who voluntarily turned up at church to wash the chairs!

L (who lost her mom a couple weeks ago) cheering and dancing around her house hugging her new Bible in creol (what Haitians speak). She's excited to study in her own language.


I can imagine what a sweet aroma these praises are to our Maker.

Close your eyes. What do you hear?

The stench of death

Soap suds covered the dirty concrete floor. With a broom she scrubbed, then a mop she wiped. Bleach, soap, whatever she could find. She was attempting to wash away the smell.
L's precious mom P fought for her life. From Monday through Friday P lay in a hospital bed until she breathed her last.
In typical Dominican/Haitian fashion, the body was then transported from the hospital to her home, a cheap coffin was purchased and the following morning, P was laid to rest.

It all seemed to happen so fast, but I can't get the image of L out of my head. Scrubbing the floor where her mother's lifeless body once lay. Desperate to eliminate the stench of death.

My heart aches for L and her loss. Please pray for her!

But as we think on death and the filth that it encompasses, GOD pricks my heart...

Hasn't GOD called us to help in this endevour of scrubbing away the stench of death?

We were once DEAD in our trangressions. We were dry bones. Lifeless. Helpless. In need of a Saviour!

Then like a KNIGHT in shining armour, the KING of Kings gave us LIFE. The old has passed away! We are made new.

But sometimes.... We leave the floors the way they are. Thankful for a ticket to Heaven, but pretty sure GOD will accept us as we are. GOD is LOVE, isn't HE?

Yes. Yes HE is!

And in that love... so incredible, incomprehensible, unfathomable... HE has called us to be holy because HE is holy.

This topic has been so prominente in our youth group and church lately as our teens are struggling with this issue. Each year the Dominican has a series of festivals in many towns across the country. They are called "Patronales." A celebration of drunkeness and idol worship. The teens so desperatly want to go!

All their friends are going.
It's not so bad after all.
We're just party poopers.

But they don't see us on our hands and knees, scrubbing the stench. Desperate to show them that playing with darkness brings destruction.

"Sarah, it's GOD's job to change me!!!!"
Yes, HE continues to mold me everyday, but look at this gem of a verse that we studied at church yesterday...

"Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of GOD."

I'm not 100% why God led me to share this today. I know my heart breaks for L... But it also breaks for the young people who are so desperatly trying to fit in with the walking dead around them.

We are called to be an example.
May we continue to scrub the stench of death from our own lives.

PRAY:
For camp that is coming up in about a month.

For financial support so we can continue serving here in the Dominican
Click here to see how - https://scoresponsor.org/missionaries-staff/shop/lara-robersy-sarah/

For our teens as many of them struggle in their walk when they are out of school and have more time on their hands.

For our own walk that we might stay faithful in our walk with HIM.

pooped, but encouraged.

Phew!!! Is it Saturday yet?

This last week has been a busy one and I am ready to rest! But if you know anything about ministry... It only gets busier as the summer approaches.
Still, as busy as it has been... God has answered prayers and moved in several different ways that I'm excited to share about.

On Tuesday I had the opportunity to share with the Lily House girls (as I do each week). We have been studying through the life of David. Wow, I have learned so much! This last week we focused in on Saul and his visit to the medium of Endor. So interesting to note that the reason he went was because he had prayed and sought God, but God wasn't answering. Why? It was a challenging time discussing with the ladies how our sin can get in the way of our relationship with the Lord. It was a beautiful time of reflection, confession and forgiveness.

Wednesday and Thursday were great days for Robersy as he continued discipleship, training and baseball practice with his boys. Several of his boys are really growing in their faith and desire more of the Word. As summer approaches and the teens have more time on their hands Robersy plans to switch his schedule around to spend more time with his boys as well as provide other activities to keep their minds occuppied. Pray for this!

Thursday night street ministry was fantastic! God always leads us to the women HE wants us to speak with and we never finish the night disappointed. I shared about the precious lady who sat waiting with her husband as he waited for a prostitute. It broke my heart to hear her struggles, but it reminded me of the dark times in which we live. Still... There is hope.

On Sunday "P" (from last week) came to church!!! 

She came with her 2 beautiful daughters and their friends. As we sang, "This is my desire, to honor YOU." She whispered, "That is what I want!" We chatted more following the service but she confessed that she isn't ready. Usually I would say, "but this is the day of salvation! You don't know what tomorrow holds, etc. etc." But the Holy Spirit urged me to stay quiet. When we left her at her home she thanked me for not forcing her to make a decision right then and there (thank you Lord!). She asked to borrow my Bible and asked where she should start reading to learn more. We have arranged to meet this week! Pray for P!

Saturday we celebrated the marriage of 2 friends and then Sunday we celebrated Mother's day with Robersy's family.

Friend! God is working. Thanks for being a part of our journey here! We know it isn't by our strength since, like I said... We are pooped... But we are thankful for your prayers, your support and your encouragement. We love you!