GA-GA

It was a serious family debate!

One that could ultimately divide the Laras and cause friction in the home for the rest of our time here on earth!

It all started with a book called "Down on the Farm." 

We had our evening routine. Josiah had been bathed, ran around the house in his towel, finally got his diaper on before he could pee on the floor, pajamas were put on and we settled down to read a book before bed.

"Down on the farm, the dog says, Woof Woof."

"Guau Guau!" Robersy yelled from the living room.

"WOOF! WOOF!"

"Down on the farm, the chick says, Peep Peep"

"Pio, Pio!"

"PEEP! PEEP!"

"Down on the farm, the cow says, Moooooo!"

SILENCE.

"Does the cow also say Moo in Spanish, Robersy?"

HA-HA! I love the cultures that are represented in our home and love that Josiah will grow up loving two beautiful languages, people and countries. Still, animal noises will forever divide us ;)

There is a sound, however, that we both agree on. The baby does NOT say "GA-GA."

The haunting sounds of the GA-GA (a style of music and worship for the Satanic community) filled our home Thursday and Friday as Satanic Haitians and Dominicans celebrated the death of JESUS. The trumpet and drums played all night long in the constant rhythm, a sound of victory... but were silenced on Sunday. Rightfully so!

You see... 

CHRIST ROSE AGAIN! 

JESUS CONQUERED THE GRAVE! 

Check the evidence, research the facts... the tomb was EMPTY! 

As we celebrated on Sunday my heart swelled as we sang,

Not a word was heard at the tomb that day
Just shuffling soldiers' feet as they guarded the grave
One day, two days, three days had past
Could it be that Jesus breathed His last?
Could it be that His Father had forsaken Him?
Turned His back on His son, despising our sin
All hell seemed to whisper, "just forget Him, He's dead"
Then the Father looked down to His Son and He said...

Arise, My love, arise, My love
The grave no longer has a hold on you
No more death's sting, no more suffering
Arise, arise, my love!

The Earth trembled and the tomb began to shake
and like lightening From Heaven, the stone was rolled away
And as dead man, the guards they all stood there in fright
As the power of love displayed its might
Then suddenly a melody filled the air
Riding wings of wind, it was everywhere
The words all creation had been longing to hear
The sweet sound of victory, so loud and clear

Arise, My love, arise, My love
The grave no longer has a hold on you
No more death's sting, no more suffering
Arise, arise...

You see, sweet Believer, we have reason to celebrate EVERY day because in HIM there is life eternal. In HIM there is a reason to carry on! 

If you don't know HIM, get to know HIM!!!

You will not be sorry.

Sweet beans - a tradition here at Easter.

Went to watch the sunrise on Easter morning

Josiah LOVED it!

Trip to the zoo with some GAP kids and friends!

Trip turned "eventful" when our truck broke down... again!
Keep praying for the funds for a new vehicle.

My boy is growing up!

Comfort in the squeak

Our front gate has a squeak.

Yup.

Every time we open it… every time we close it.

It squeaks.

The other day we bought WD40 and Robersy went around to de-squeak (is that a word?!) each door in the house and I saw him heading down to de-squeak the front gate. I yelled!

“Nooooo!!! Leave that squeak! I kinda like it.”

Robersy looked at me with that famous “Ayyy Sarraaaahhhh…” look, but he carried on and my squeak remained.

The truth is. I find comfort in that squeak.

Knowing when someone has walked in our gate. A few minutes to ready myself before someone is at the front door. I like the warning.

A bark before the bite.

Thunder before the storm.

A heads up.

I have truly struggled these last few weeks as we’ve been thrown some serious curve balls.

Between doctor’s appointments, meetings, phone calls, more meetings… all in between our regular ministries of teaching, discipleship, baseball and this past week translating for a group of over 350 people!

I tried to ignore my feelings and just get on with keeping busy, but I realized how much it had taken a toll on mewhen my health was effected. In fact, so much so that one evening, while Robersy and I were talking about everything that had been happening in the last few weeks, the lights went out. No warning. No rain. No flicker. Just out.

I couldn’t catch my breath. “Robersy, where are you???” “I’m RIGHT HERE!” Sounding confused as (see all of my other blog posts) our electricity goes out all the time. That’s when I broke down.

Angry.

Frustrated.

Sad.

Confused.

Scared.

The issues weren’t all necessarily mine, but because my heart sometimes cares too much I carried them as my own. Knowing Satan has been working over-time, while thankful God had brought things to light, was far too much for me to handle.

Serving on the mission field doesn’t exclude us or others we serve alongside from health issues, marriage issues, sin issues, depression issues, kid issues, ministry issues… and being far from home with eyes on us at ALL times make it sometimes very hard to process through tough stuff.

The squeaks aren’t always there.

I mention this for two reasons.

PRAY FOR YOUR MISSIONARIES & PASTORAL TEAMS! I pray regularly that if there is sin in my life or in the lives of those who have the power of influence in their communities that it might be revealed. However, we must pray for God’s protection over them, their families and their ministries too!

Spiritual warfare is real.

SO. REAL.

The reason I mention this is, my friend… if you are a follower of the ONE TRUE GOD, you are NOT exempt!

1 Peter 5:7-9 says, “7Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 8Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9Resist him, standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.…”

We aren’t always promised the squeak, but we are promised the lion is prowling.

BE ON GUARD!

BE IN THE WORD! 

BE ON YOUR KNEES!

The tighter you cling to GOD, the less wiggle room Satan has to creep in.

To end on a lighter note, here are some shots from the last week. As crazy as it has been, GOD has still shown up in incredible ways! We are EXCITED to celebrate HIS precious sacrifice and HIS powerful victory over sin and the grave!

HE HAS RISEN!!! HE IS ALIVE!!!

It was a long week for everyone... but this was just day 1!

This was day 3. We were losing it by then :)

JOSIAH... cool like his daddy! He wanted to go out, but he stayed with his grandma after day 1.

Some of the crazies we were honored to serve with!

Good fun and souls saved! THANKFUL for this week.

Celebrating our 4th anniversary.

Sittin in the dark

Some of the most precious times of meditation and study have been IN THE DARK!

In fact, as I type this I am squinting to see the keys on the laptop and praying that the battery doesn’t run out before I finish my blog! See… sweet times. Lol.

But seriously.

The quiet.

The stars.

A time to pause from the hustle and bustle of life.

I’m currently out on the porch and PEOPLE!!! It has just started to rain. AHHH! 

The. Perfect. Night.

Just the other evening, I had been sitting out on porch reading a book when the lights went out. It was PITCH BLACK! Immediately the entire street was in darkness. Not one house in our area has a generator, so you can imagine how bright the stars seem to shine!

I ran in to grab Luci (“This is the reality…” The famous solar powered lanterns that we have the opportunity of selling and providing for homes in need) and took my seat again and continued to read.

A few moments later I realized that the home directly in front of us with a young mother and several small children had continued in darkness! No candle in the window, no oil lantern… complete darkness.

Knowing the struggle of chasing ONE child around in pure daylight, my heart stirred and it wasn’t long before I was toddling down the stairs with a Luci in hand.

I opened our gate, strolled across the street… and I’m telling you… I almost tripped over the mother it was THAT dark!!! There she was sitting on the side walk nursing the youngest while the others sat close by.

I did a quick Luci demonstration and ran back up to the house. My heart was filled with joy watching the Luci light bounce around the house knowing her 2-year-old boy had gotten a hold of it, LOL!!! They were safe. There was light.

It’s funny how God reminds of these sweet times when He’s trying to teach us something.

This past week I have learned a variety of things in the midst of doing life. We met up with the Thain family, caught up with the Faith Christian team, played baseball, had meetings, taught, discipled, parented 😊 (not in that order, obviously) haha. It’s been busy! But while teaching at Lily House on Friday my heart was stirred again.

We have been sllllllllllllowly studying through the book of Esther, as I have been in San Jose as well. It is such a good study and I am learning so much! But this week we spoke of something I have had to put in to practice all week! Patience!

Patience is something I have always struggled with, but as I study the book of Esther it is a characteristic that I want so badly in my own life. Esther was young when she was taken to the palace. Then she and the others underwent a 12-month beauty regime before waiting for their night with the King. Each girl, following her rendezvous, would return to a house for the concubines and only returned to the King IF THE KING CALLED HER BY NAME! (My, oh my. So many messages to be preached at this point!!! But let’s stay on track…)

May I remind you. Esther did not have the book of Esther!!! She didn’t know what was to come. Days, weeks and months had passed since Esther had entered the Kingdom and she simply had to WAIT. She didn’t know that she was going to be Queen! She didn’t know what was to be for the rest of her life. She simply had to wait.

In the dark…

PITCH BLACK!

She had two choices. Be frustrated, write a status on Facebook to let the world know she was mad, and then sit and pout! Or allow God to do something amazing in her season of waiting.

I’m thankful she chose the latter. And I’m sure her people were thankful as well, since waiting on God’s perfect timing literally saved their lives!!!

If you have been called to wait…

For a spouse.

For a job.

For a child.

For the finances.

For an answer!

Don’t let your wait be in vain. Ask God what He can teach you in your season of waiting ❤

I was called to wait in several circumstances this week, and though I’d love to say I passed each test with flying colours, I can say I have learned a lot this week…

Waiting to serve.

Waiting to speak.

Waiting to meet.

Waiting to teach.

But as I sit here, my eyes now adjusted to typing by computer light, listening only to rain pouring down – I have come to find the beauty in the darkness. I pray I might find the same in my season of waiting too.
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(Enjoy some photos of youth group that was led by the GAP students this past Friday!)

STOP!!!

“Lord, PLEASE keep the electricity off today!”

To tell you the truth… I had never thought that I would EVER pray a prayer like this. I enjoy my days off and I feel confident that God has called me to stay in my pajamas and watch Netflix for HOURS while my husband plays his video games and my child causes a catastrophe with his toys – this is what Monday means to me (this is partly sarcastic... nonetheless)! Relaxation!

However, lately I’ve noticed how DISTRACTED I have been with everything around me.

Between preparing for visitors, planning for Youth Sunday, getting prepared for Bible studies/ discipleship for this week and trying to keep up with the day to day tasks, 

WE HAVE BEEN BUSY!!!

In addition, I have always been a NEAT FREAK. So having a 1 year old who gets in to most things, leaves me cleaning up behind him several times a day. Then of course there’s television, music, watsapp, messages and my nemesis… FACEBOOK.

Golly! I can have intentions to crawl in to bed but scrolling through the Newsfeed several times over keeps me up an hour later than intended. 

YOUR LIVES ARE SO INTERESTING!!!

But seriously.

It’s kind of nice to unplug every so often.

To be quiet.

To hear the breeze, the laughter of children on their way to school, the vehicles passing by, the chatter in Creole and Spanish from our neighbors, as well as the chatter among

 the goats… and the pigs… and the dogs… and the chickens. Well. You get the picture :)

Sometimes we don’t want to stop, because we’re scared of what we’ll hear. Or maybe we just don’t care that we’ll hear at all.

Today. I’m glad God answered my prayer.

Traffic jam on the way to teach in San Jose.

Josiah has been quite content playing with his toys and although I had plans to take him to the beach while Robersy gets some more work done on the truck, the cloudy skies and winds forced us to stick around here. I had over an hour to study while Josiah napped. And in the quiet, as I sprawled out on the only piece of carpet in our home, God spoke.

And I was finally in a position to LISTEN.

Friend, don’t be afraid to miss things so much that you end up missing the One who matters most.

I trust I will take the time, even when the electricity is on :)

In other news…

Practicing for Teen Sunday

As I mentioned before, we’ve been busy with our teens preparing for Youth Sunday. It’s THIS Sunday! EEK!!! It’s an opportunity for them to sing, share and minister to the congregation. We pray it will a time where GOD will be glorified and the church might be encouraged.

We’ll be welcoming our first visitors from Bermuda (other than family and those who came for our wedding). The Thain family will be here on Wednesday and we’re excited to share our life and ministry with them. Praying this might encourage others to come and see what is going on out here!

Continue praying for the studies and discipleship that Robersy and I have the privilege of being a part of. Pray that GOD might use us despite ourselves. With hearts ready and spirits willing, may God speak and may those we minister to be ready to listen!

Celebrating Kristin and Felix's baby. She will be here soon!

We’re excited to announce that our truck is BACK!!! HOWEVER. YES… HOWEVER!!! Please don’t let that stop you from praying that we can get a van as soon as possible. The safety of our family and those to whom we minister is of upmost importance. As there was some serious interior damage even the mechanic who worked on it recommends it’s not used for heavy loads… AKA our entire life and ministry!

One last note…

Every week I ask how we can be praying for you! Each Monday Robersy take time to pray for life, ministry and YOU! So please don’t be embarrassed to send us a FB message or email. We want to minister to you and one way we can do that, being so far away, is through prayer. Let us know!!!

Independent

It has been a day of much activity as the Dominican Republic celebrates it's independence.

In fact it's been a few days of much activity with some of my favorite Dominicans and we were glad to have some fun on this holiday too.

Between Bible studies and discipleship we had a few adventures with the youth as well including...

a sleepover on Thursday-Friday with 3 boys, 

a sleepover with 2 GAP girls on Friday-Sunday 

and a final sleepover with 5 boys on Sunday-Monday.  

Youth group led by the teens on Friday.

Baseball activities on Saturday morning.

And a visit to a youth group in San Pedro on Saturday afternoon.

No wonder Josiah has slept so well the last few nights!!!

But instead of blabbing about all of it, tonight - before I hit the sack - I'm going to leave you with a few photos to enjoy.

So, HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY DOMINICAN REPUBLIC... and goodnight dear friends.

Wishy Washy

Last week I started a blog.

In fact, a time or two I opened the blogging site to continue only to have no words to express my heart.

To tell you the truth. Sometimes serving on the mission field can be down right discouraging. 

"Oh Sarah! Don't be harsh."

Wait a second.

Missionaries around the world leave their homes (parents, siblings, friends, houses, favorite foods, comfy beds, LANGUAGE, ELECTRICITY, SAFETY, etc.) behind to take the Word of God to those who might otherwise never hear it.

What a tremendous sacrifice! Right?! :)

But what happens when those same people, who you gave up the world for look you right in the eyes and say, "Thanks... but no thanks."

Oh my heart!

Last week there were a few rough nights where I struggled to sleep since I was so disappointed. I wasn't feeling sorry for myself, honestly. I was sincerely disappointed. 

The very same girls that I had come to serve and even given up other ministries in order to serve in a deeper capacity all had a super secret meeting, pricked their fingers and made some blood pact to gang up against me (I'm sure! Just sure of it! lol) and said, "Thanks. But no thanks!"

Of course, this isn't the case... I don't think... but there are just times we face while serving on the field when we look around and say, "What am I doing here?!" 

That was last week.
This week we've not found a moment to breath.

We've had teens over at the house as well as held Bible studies, discipleship, meetings, etc. They can't seem to get enough!

Their inconsistencies make my head spin!



I believe some of our teens may have journeyed out to the wilderness with Moses :)

In my Quiet Time I'm studying though the book of Numbers (as I believe I've mentioned before) and it is quite incredible to say the least.

One week the people of Israel are like, "WOW!!! God you are AWESOME!!!"

Opened the sea! BOOM!
A little fire and cloud action! WOOOOHOOOO!
Sent food from Heaven! KA-CHANG!
Protected us from our enemies! BERMP-BERMP!

"GOD, you are the bomb diggity!!!" they seemed to proclaim!

Then the next day...

"WAA. WAA. WAA. God hates us. He has forgotten us! We're hungry, thirsty, bored, lonely, etc. Should have just let us just die back in Egypt."

I'm not kidding... read it for yourself!!!

It seems inconsistencies are not something new.

SOOO... How do we serve the wishy washy, inconsistent people God has placed in our care?

We remain consistent.
When their parents, and those that ought to be consistent in their lives, aren't.

We love them, even when they don't desire our love.
We are there for them, even when they couldn't care less.

Just as God DID for the people of Israel.
Just as God DOES for us today.

Cuz one day they'll come around and I don't want to miss the opportunity to point them to Jesus.

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As I shared... it's been a busy week!

Lots of teens, lots of needs.

But I want to share some prayer requests so you know specifically how you can be praying for us.

1. Our health. Robersy and I think we may have gotten a parasite from the water. Bleugh! Starting a treatment today and praying we'll be back to feeling better soon. Josiah has been a little off too so we're praying it's not a parasite as well.

2. Our truck. Although it was supposed to be ready at the end of December, we continue to wait. Pray they can get the parts needed and that they get the job done and do it well!

3. New van? We've had a couple of people offer to help us purchase a van so that we have a safer and more efficient way of getting our baseball boys and teens around. If this is what God wants, pray we'll find an affordable, second hand vehicle soon!

Valentine's dinner at our Pastor's home.

PRAISES!

Thank the LORD for our teen team. Those who love and serve our teens well.

Thank the LORD for the opportunity we have to serve here in the Dominican. Although not always easy, we are truly grateful and couldn't do it without the prayers and support of many people back home!





Thank the LORD for those who love us here on the field. From those bringing us goodies from abroad, to those who lend us their vehicles or take us on errands, to those who invite us over, to those who encourage us.

Thank the LORD for the cooks, cleaning ladies, security guards, missionaries, church members, GAP students, teenagers, etc. who have become like family to us while our family is so far away.

#blessed.

Our Favorite Ministry

OUR LITTLE BOY IS ONE!!!

I know this is where we update our friends and supporters about our ministry and what God has been teaching us, so it's with greatest joy that we share our most important area of ministry in the life of our son, Josiah Norman.

We've learned a great deal over the last year and to be honest, it has NOT always been easy. There have been tears and frustration, but much laughter and joy as well.

Our dapper gentleman is now walking and running, eating most things and loves playing with other children.

He talks to himself mostly, in a language we do not speak and carries a baseball bat or glove with him around the house. Daddy is training him early.

He gets his dance moves from his dad... and let's face it, other than his coloring he is purely his father. He also claps and laughs when we say, "YAY, JOSIAH!"

He is still obsessed with outlets and despite outlet covers, he finds a way to them so we praise Jesus for the power outages sometimes :)



Josiah gives the best hugs and has started to kiss (though very slobbery) and blow kisses too.

He chats to his grandparents in Bermuda, Auntie Bex, Auntie Debz and Uncle Kyle weekly and we do our best with family so far away. He's also become very fond of his abuelo and abuela in Bani and they ADORE him too <3




Josiah looooves animals... especially our dog Tonky. They climb all over each other and Josiah likes to pat Tonky right on the head. We're working on being more gentle.

Josiah has 8 teeth and others are coming in, but his hair is taking a while, Not to worry, less to scrub during bath time... which he also loves!

Our little boo boo makes friends with most people and particularly loves being friendly with the people on the bus. He often times puts his hands in ladies purses and is cute enough to get away with it.


Needless to say, we adore our boy with all of our heart and it was a joy to celebrate his first year of life on Sunday. Of course daddy had games up his sleeves and there was plenty of fun and CAKE! (Thanks LILY HOUSE!) for everyone.

We are grateful for those who have poured in to our little one's life. From babysitting, offering vehicles for pediatrician appointments, bringing us diapers/wipes and simply loving our little boy.

THANK YOU! Love from the Laras <3