Day Eleven in the Dominican Republic

Today was the last day of school for the students at the Ministry Center (the school is pictured above). They had been taking tests for the past two days and celebrated heartily when school finished up today. I was able to meet with some of them this morning before school for our Bible study. There was a much larger group this morning, probably closer to twelve teenagers, and they had a bunch of energy. They also had a lot of questions and a very healthy discussion this morning. They were very engaged and passionate the entire time. The leader of the group, Willy, had a hard time getting them to be quiet long enough to lead the conversation. I understand the frustration that comes from those moments, but I also understand the enjoyment of having a group of teenagers that engaged in a conversation about the Bible.

Steve mentioned that he has appreciated how engaged the students have been in the conversations as well. He is going to take the material I created for this Bible study, tweak it a bit, and use it in more places. Rachel also suggested that we continue to create studies and send them to be used in the Dominican Republic in the future. We are already creating them on a regular basis for Ignite. I could be a great way for us to broaden the reach of some of the material we are already producing. I mentioned it to Steve. We'll see where it goes from here.

The rest of the day was set aside to prepare for our VBS work in La Romana......kinda. We did spend a good portion of today sorting through our receipts and getting a better grasp on where we are at financially. When all of the money you are spending is in a different currency, it's hard to wrap your brain around how much you are spending. Eventually, your brain stops trying to convert from pesos to dollars. So, we set aside some time to day to record all of our receipts, go over our budget, and do some planning for the rest of the trip. It may sound like boring work, but it is also comforting to have things in order.

I also spent a good portion of the day working on a short teaching session in Spanish. The picture that you see above is my working layout. It includes by English Bible, my journal, my Spanish Bible, and my Spanish dictionary, all laid out in front of me. In some ways, I didn't get as much done as I wanted to get done, but in other ways I got quite a bit done. I was struggling with how I wanted to present the session. I spent quite a bit of time talking it over with Rachel and walking through how I would present this to a group of children living in a poor country village. It's hard to know what to say when you're not sure who you're saying it to. I have a basic outline figured out, but I have some more questions to ask Steve before I really begin writing the message. So, prayers would be much appreciated in that regard. I may be teaching this session on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

Otherwise, today was a very good day. We were able to get the rest we needed, get a bunch of reading done, spent time doing Spanish learning, cleaned around the apartment, cooked meals, and made another trip to the grocery store. I forgot to get a picture of it, but we made some Dominican French Fries tonight. They turned out amazing! It's basically plantains, sliced thin, and fried in oil (there are a few others steps, but that's the basics). We had some at a restaurant and wanted to try some ourselves. It's something we are going to try making back home, as long as we can find plantains.

Here are some of our prayer requests:

• We are continually thanking God for:

  • the successful teenage Bible study

  • a day of rest without "cabin fever"

  • Guido, the property manager at the ministry center. He has been so faithful to our family. Our kids love him.

  • fun cooking some new dishes mixed in with some American dishes

• Continue to pray for our final Bible study on Friday morning. We are going to make it a bit of a celebration, with treats and some kind of refreshment.

• Continue to pray for our VBS preparations. That God will speak in and through us before, during, and after preparation.

• Continue to pray for us to stay healthy. So far so good, but want to continue lifting this up in prayer.

• Pray for the power to come on tonight. It hasn't come on yet, but the generator is running. So, we still have A/C at the moment. However, the generator won't be running all night. So, we'd like to have some power.

I think that's it for the night. I want to be in bed and asleep while we still have A/C :-)

Buenos Noches!