It was a good day...

We were up at 7 am and we began the tumultuous routine of getting Ben and Elena off to school. At 7:50 they took off with Rick on the motorcycle as Geralda, our housekeeper, arrived and delighted the dogs with their breakfast. Geralda and I shared a cup of coffee and I scanned the headlines on CNN. Rick returned from dropping the kids off and started his morning session of emails, planning and study.

I looked through some potential training materials on the web and searched for a book in Spanish on women in the Bible. Other miscellaneous office tasks took up some more time. Then it was time to hit the gym at about 9:30. I got a list of house cleaning supplies from Geralda to pick from the colmado (neighborhood grocery store) on my way home. I bravely put on Rick's motorcycle helmet and took off. I am trying to expand my use of the motorcycle beyond picking up the kids from school and running errands in the neighborhood.

A side note: We joined a gym in early May and are really loving it. It is not like any American gym we have ever seen, but it works. The upstairs is for women and the downstairs for men. This is great because I feel stared at enough on the street without having men watch me work out too. The men's section is mostly nautilus equipment as Dominican men like to stay buff. The women's section has two treadmills, a stairclimber that doesn't work, a bunch of exercise bikes, free weights and some machines, and an aerobics area complete with steps, ballet rail, balance balls, and a big Dominican sound system. It also has a sauna which I will never use because it smells funny and saunas bother my asthma.

So I headed off to the gym with The Chronicles of Narnia and Bible stories in Spanish loaded on my mp3 player. I successfully navigated the back streets to the gym!! And parked without making a fool of myself. After doing some weight lifting, I got on the treadmill, intending to put in a good 3 mile hike with my Narnia friends. Yeah, well, exactly 5 minutes into my walk the power went out, so I switched to an exercise bike and biked until the sweat was pouring off me. The gym is pretty comfortable to work out in as long as the ceiling fans are going full tilt, but they went with the treadmill when the power cut. On the way home I stopped at the colmado and acquired half my list of supplies. No store ever has everything on my list at one time. But I said hi to a neighbor and talked to the colmado owner, who's daughter goes to Doulos with my kids.

Once home it was time for a bucket bath...yes the power was out at home too and although our inverter keeps the lights etc running, it does not run the water pump or the water heater. So we have very low pressure with water draining from the tank on the roof. A shower was not an option. Oh well, the cold water cooled me off! By this time it was 11:30 and I checked to see how Geralda was doing before dismissing her and starting lunch.

Rick brought the kids home at noon since this last week of school is all half days. We had a dominican lunch of rice and chicken. After lunch the kids changed and got busy playing (and eventually at loggerheads, which is not typical). The landlady stopped by to pick up the rent and discuss the need to replace the street extension on our driveway. Hopefully it will get done before we have completely pulverized the chunks of concrete that have been breaking up for, like, six months!

After lunch I took the laundry off the line to get it out of the sun. Geralda folds it the next day, so I just lay it in a stack. (Believe me I would love to fold it, but it is definitely her turf so I don't even try.) It is a hot day and so an iced tea on the cool front porch with my Bible and study materials for my 4:00 group is just the ticket. The topic is "What it means to really be a Christian." The material we are studying was written by Pastor Bill Hanson and is really good for clarifying the truths of Scripture versus the religious traditions here.

Each Monday I meet with a couple of women: Yanet accepted Christ last fall and has been faithful reading her Bible, but finds it hard to go to church with three young, active children. Rafaela has recently joined this study and has a strong Catholic background and lots of question. Josefina, Fina for short, has been a believer for over a year and Ramona, one of the leaders in the church, has been discipling her. Fina and I lead the study together as a way of mentoring her into the role of study leader. Just two weeks ago her husband accepted Christ in the Bible study Rick and Damaso (the lay pastor) lead on Wednesdays. Last week we didn't really study because Yanet's two year old was really sick and we spent sometime deciding if he needed to see a doctor and then praying for him. (When I stopped in on Yanet the next day he was doing much better, praise God).

After finishing preparations for Bible study, I once again took off on the motorcycle, making my first two-wheeled trip to my favorite supermarket, the Cofre. I actually bought everything on my list!! It was only six things, but finding everything on my list in one store is a rarity! I packed my bags on the motorcycle, wishing I had brought my backpack, and began the trip home. One bag shifted and I had to stop in front of a school to fix it. Nice to have about 50 kids staring at me while I do this! Off I went again and drove without a mishap until I started bumping up our steep hill. Off went the TP and the floor cleaner. A chivalrous workman picked it up for me and held the back of my bike while I got going up the steep hill again.

Time to hit the shower again and get ready for my bible study. The power was back on! Even though it is still pretty hot here in Jarabacoa, I always wear pants to Bible study in el Montana. First, the bugs will eat me alive if I don't, and second it is always cooler there than here because it is higher.

Now, for the best part of the day......I arrived a little late for Bible study and the ladies (by the way they prefer to be called ladies/damas, not women/mujeres) were waiting for me. "What has happened, Rebecca?" Fina asked as she kissed me on the cheek. You see, they know that as an American I am always on time. (Sort of funny since in the US I am always late.) If I am late something must have gone wrong. As it was I had some tough parenting to do before I left the house. "Ay, Yay, yay my kids were in my hair," I said and they all understood. After the kissing and greeting was done, we settled down to study, What does it really mean to be Christian? Can you be born a Christian, does being baptized make you a Christian? We looked as Scriptures such as John 3, where Jesus tells Nicodemus he must be born again, and Romans 10:9-13, where we read that if we believe in our heart and confess with out mouth Jesus as Lord we are saved.

Rafaela, pictured on the far right in black shirt, really identified with the idea of being born again. She said that she really feels new and sees changes in her life since she started praying regularly, reading the Bible, and learning in Bible Study. She shared a few examples of changes and slyly looked at Yanet, her friend and neighbor, saying "You can hear what goes on in my house and what is coming out of my mouth. You must know that the Holy Spirit is changing me!" In this small community you can often spit into your neighbor's house from inside your own. There aren't a lot of secrets kept. I could see the glow and softness on Rafaela's face as she talked. She has accepted Christ as her personal Savior! She wants to give her testimony in church on Sunday.

How has this come about? Not through any special effort on my part outside of prayer, I assure you. For sometime her boys, Rafael and Alejandro, have been attending the church's kid's club on Saturdays. They sometimes come to church where they have a hard time sitting still and not stealing hats off their friends. Who knew they were going home and telling their Mom all about what they were learning? In November a evangelistic group of California came and shared the gospel hand in hand with Dominican believers throughout the neighborhood. I know they visited with this family, but my impression was they were just curious to see what all the commotion was about with Americans tramping through the village. Rafaela asked to join the Bible study in April and now she has gone from nominal Catholic to true believer!

After Bible study I stopped and chatted with Rafaela's 8th grade daughter, Zuleika. She is curious about who I am and wants to practice her English with me, but I am praying she sees the change in her Mom and comes to know Jesus as well.

I headed home about 6 o'clock up and down hills, around curves enjoying the mountains all around, praising God. When I arrived home, Ben dashed out to open our driveway gate and Elena appeared at the door having just finished her nightly bath. I whipped up fajitas, cut up a pineapple (they cost about $1.25) and over dinner told the family all about Bible study, how God had healed littly Bernie (Yanet's son who was sick), Rafaela's new faith and my prayers for Zuleika.

After we cleaned up dinner Ben and I played a few hands of cards while Elena beat Rick at a computer game, we read stories and packed the kids off to bed. Now I sit writing this and sipping decaf coffee, which is a rare treat. (To my knowledge, Jarabacoa supermarkets have only recently begun keeping decaf in stock. It is more than twice the price of regular coffee and not nearly as good.)

Tomorrow is mail day, which means a trip down the mountain to the airport and restocking some items we like to buy in Santiago. Then it is back up the mountain and another women's Bible study in El Montana. This one is larger with 6-8 women each week.

A few prayer requests for Montana:

1. Pray that new believers grow and are strengthened so that God can raise them up as lights in their community and leaders in the church.

2. Pray for greater interest and attendance in the men's Bible study.

3. Pray for the many women who are new believers and whose husbands are not interested spiritually. May these women follow the instructions in 1 Peter and allow God to work in their husband's lives in His time.

4. Pray for Damaso as he ministers there faithfully, but is in need of full time employment to support his family. Pray for Ramona, who has led most of the new believers to Christ. She is so faithful and hard working, but longs to see her own husband follow Christ with her.

Whew, what a long entry! Good night...sleep well. You know, God may be all over the world during the day, but he sleeps in Jarabacoa! [a local saying!]

God has you "Covered"

In an earlier post we shared how surprised we have been with the limited Bible knowledge of the Dominicans in the smaller communities (campos). But we need to add - when Dominicans discover God's truth for our lives, they put it to action. For example:

Every week, there is a Bible study at the house of Gladys and Melvin. Melvin has cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheel chair. Their house is quite small; Gladys has three other sons. They don't have much but are thankful for what they do have. Unfortunately, when it rains, water comes in through the roof in many places. April and May can be very rainy and so when rain came during Bible study the group had to crush into one of the corners where there are less leaks.

Recently, they were studying the early church, specifically Acts 2:43-47. It says:

43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

A few days later, one of the ladies from the Bible study approached us and said they had decided they needed to collect money and fix Gladys and Melvin's roof. They wanted to know if we would contribute (and of course we would). They had a plan and they were getting quotes on how much the materials when cost when God brought the project to the ears of a politician who needed to buy favor among the people (and votes). The election being right around the corner, he purchased all the materials and had them delivered. Now the church only had to pay someone to install the new roof.

Looking back, it would have been extremely difficult for the church in Montana to raise enough money quickly to fix that roof. God knew this. He knew the need and provided a way to make it happen. And that is what God does!!!

It was exciting for us to study a passage and then a few days later hear of people living out what they had just studied.

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Our Little Princess

This is a very late post, but such is life!  Elena turned 6 on Easter Sunday.  The only time in her lifetime that she will share her birthday with the commemoration of our Lord's resurrection.  Elena invited her friends for a party on Saturday.  Since it was also Spring break, there were a few who couldn't come. Below are pictured the guests: in the back row are Danya, Aliya, and Natalie.   To the left of Elena are Alina and her cousin, Leticia.  The girls had a wonderful time being princesses, taking dominican hot chocolate as tea and birthday cake.  The whole party was in Spanish since some of the girls only spoke Spanish.  (Two of the girls are fellow MKs.)

Politics and the Price of Rice

The CNN headlines have been full of the economic woes in the U.S.  Banks are foreclosing on homes.  Gas, milk, flour, rice, all apparently hitting record prices and hitting people in the pocket book.  We have been out of the States long enough that the economy and way of life are beginning to seem a bit foreign to us.  We have also heard the reports of rising food prices around the world.

Prices in the Dominican Republic have risen also and we have been asked by friends, family and supporters how we are doing.  We are doing fine, thanks to the faithful support of many and our attempts to "dominicanize."  On May 16 the incumbent president, Leonel Fernandez (known simply as Leonel), was re-elected by a good margin.  Everyone was glad that this was accomplished in the first round, eliminating the need for a run off as can happen in a country with about 10 political parties.  Our Dominican friends predict that prices will rise astronomically after the elections as the current administration has kept things under control to get re-elected.  No one is going to vote for you if they don't have enough to eat right?  We have not seen a big price change yet, thankfully.

The price of rice has risen here.  It is now about 65 cents per pound.  The DR produces more rice than it consumes, so we don't face importing rice to supply the demand. However, since most Dominicans eat rice and red beans every day any rise in rice prices is keenly felt.  A couple of other staples have gone up dramatically.  The price of plantains has risen by at least 50% since the hurricanes of November and December destroyed much of the crop.  There have been widespread reports of plantain thefts recently and the farmers are calling for government patrols to prevent the losses.  Table bananas have also risen and are considered outrageously expensive.

Here is a rundown of prices just in case you are curious.  The prices are in US currency:

Rice .65/pound

Boxed Milk 5.34/gallon (long shelf life, boxed, sold by the liter)

Powdered Milk 4.30/gallon (this tastes closest to "real" milk)

Eggs 1.10/dozen 

Plantains  .25 each

Potatoes .45 to $1/pound

Pasta .75/pound

Chicken .60/pound

Steak 4.00/pound

Gasoline 5.75/gallon (the government sets the price)

Since a large percentage of Dominicans spend most of their income on food, any significant rise really hurts.  We know a few single parent families where the cost of feeding their family is now greater than their weekly income; and these are families who are fortunate enough to have steady jobs.  Viewed from another angle, the average income is about 1/6th of the average income in the U.S.  So multiply all those numbers by 6 and think of paying the bill on your income.  Imagine paying $34 per gallon for gas and you may feel the painful reality of life here for most Dominicans.

I realized recently that the "price of rice" was really stressing me out.  As I have prayed and pondered about this I have come to realize that the tension of my faith in God and the reality of a hungry, needy world.  It is one thing when that hungry, needy world appears on the news.  It is another when I personally know and interact with them.  

Nueva Vida Church takes a food offering each week that is distributed to those in need.  The church also fixes a meal every Saturday morning for the elderly and street kids who desperately need a meal.  (The kitchen was built this past summer by the Calvary EFC team.)  Our hope is this communicates the love of Christ where it really counts.

I believe that God promises to "give us this day our daily bread."  I have never lacked for my basic needs of love, security, food, clothing, and shelter.  I admit I have been discontent with my portion, but that is my immaturity and ungratefulness, not God's lack of love and provision.  But many Dominicans do lack these basics.  Why?  God loves them.  God's promises are trustworthy.  It is true that some spend what little they have on alcohol and women, but many are hardworking, honest folks.   It just isn't fair; evil abounds.  The consequences of sin are not just eternal and they aren't just for the sinner him or herself.   This is painful to witness, much more painful to experience.  

One of the difficult realities we are learning to adjust to is that government and officials are not necessarily motivated to make decisions or use resources to improve the country or the lives of the poor.  I am not so naive as to think that everyone in power in the U.S. seeks those positions for the welfare of others.  But the Dominican Republic has a long, strong history, starting with Christopher Colombus, of people seeking power simply to exploit anyone and everything.  Getting into politics through election or appointment can be a way to get rich quick.

In all this, I return to God's Word and submit myself to His perfect will.  I will never fully understand His purpose in allowing suffering and injustice, but I know His desire is for each of us to cast our cares on Him for there is no other hope in this world apart from the Cross.  I see that it is the suffering from our own wrongdoing or the consequences of others that bring us to the end of our coping and drive us to the Only Answer, Jesus Christ.  I hope that doesn't sound trite, because I find myself continually coming to the Creator of the Universe worn out by the troubles around me to find rest in His presence.  It isn't up to me to solve all the problems in the Dominican Republic (We'd really be in trouble then!).  It's up to God and I believe He will, in His time.

Present Strategy for the Church Plants

This post is a follow-up to the post "A Glimpse at the History of Nueva Vida and its Church Plants". If you not read that post, you may wish to before reading this one.

There are so many opportunities to minister. We could easily fill up our time with many good activities. But what is it that God has called us here to do? We wrote a post on this, titled "Why are we here?", dated October 25, 2007. In that post, we spoke of three areas of focus. This posting, looks at one of those areas - Church Planting.

Church Planting: In October we wrote "We are here to equip the people of Iglesia Nueva Vida Jarabacoa and the people in the Nueva Vida daughter churches with the purpose of developing strong leaders for their church plants."

Two days each week, Nueva Vida in Jarabacoa has been sending out men who act as pastors to each of the daughter churches. Typically the men go to the villages and a service starts. The music is provided by the local people. Sometimes the young children will lead the singing (we love this). And the pastor sent from Jarabacoa gives the message. Once the service is done, everyone goes home. Over the years, they have tried assigning churches to a specific man and recently they were rotating the men weekly to the different church plants. Currently, they are assigning men to churches so that relationships can deepen.

It isn't easy to go to all the churches. Montana, Salto and Los Calabazos are all about 20 minutes away. Buenos Aires is closer, at 10 minutes and Boma is the furthest at 35 minutes and hardest to get to. All have good paved or dirt roads right to the building, with the exception of Boma.

To get to Boma, you follow a windy, up and down, paved road. Shortly after the pavement turns to gravel, you come to a opening with a little store. Here it seems the main road breaks up into two smaller roads. Take the road to the right and it dead ends into a river. In the past, when the water was low, you could drive threw the river and continue on. Tropical storm Noel, in November, washed out the road on the other side of the river. Presently, only motorcycles and people on foot can continue. After crossing the river, follow a path across some beautiful country. Finally you will come to a steep hill and after climbing the hill, you will arrive in the village of Boma. If it rains, the river may not be passable.

We are impressed that Nueva Vida is doing this and has been doing this for about 20 years. Yes, more needs to be done, but for these men that go, this takes quite a bit of commitment.

The feeling among everyone is that we need to build leaders within the communities. Each of the church plants needs a local leader who is able to pastor the people. Nueva Vida in Jarabacoa would continue in a supporting role, but the local leadership would have more ownership in the small churches.

The question then is, how do we create leaders? Many of the church plants are very small and have some big struggles (as noted in "A Glimpse at the History of Nueva Vida and its Church Plants"). Presently our strategy is to work with the Dominicans to start Bible studies for men and women at each of the church plants. As men and women grow in their knowledge of Scripture, it will strengthen the church. We are praying that leaders will come out of these Bible studies. Of course, our Bible studies study the Bible, but we are also using them to help the people how to study the Bible, how to lead a Bible study, and how to care for one another.

Right now, we are focusing in Montana.

Montana is largely a church of women and children. Two women's Bible studies existed in October. Becky has been working with those studies and helping Ramona equip the other women to lead the studies. In November, Becky and Ramona started a new study as a response to the November outreach. And now, they are looking at starting another. Last week, a lady came to the group and asked why she and her friends hadn't been invited to a Bible study. It seems, going to Bible study is the "in" thing in this small community. So Becky is preparing to help Josefina start one more study for ladies!

Rick and Damaso have started a men's Bible study. It took some time to get this started. Now, every Wednesday, they go out to Montana. While we have had many men come, two men in particular are there every week. One, though not yet a believer, is soaking up every word and reading the Bible between our meetings. Each week Damaso and I remark on the way home, how fun it is to study God's word with people who are discovering it for, what seems to be, the first time. Bible studies aren't the "in" thing for the men of the community. But then, if two men get excited about who God is and start sharing with the other men in the community...what might happen?

We have learned a lot from our time in Montana. We have seen, once again, the value of small group Bible studies. As the men and women interact with God's Word, it is obvious that they are learning. As I said, we pray that leaders will rise up out of the Bible studies. Because of the lack of Biblical knowledge, this may take some time. But we are confident that we are heading the right direction.

In addition, Rick has traveled spent some time with the leaders of Buenos Aires and Los Calabasos. We shared with them about what we are doing in Montana and offered to help them start similar Bible studies in their communities.

Please be in pray for us, for these communities and for these Bible studies.

Kids Say The Darnedest Things....

and so do their parents!

It was hard not to crack up when Ben and Elena were singing the "Rick and Becky, sittin' in a tree" chant and threw in Adam and Eve. It came out "Adam and Even, sittin' in a tree" when Ben started to laugh, Elena declared "It's true they loved each other, I saw the movie!!" Then followed a discussion about who could kiss whom. Boys would never kiss boys, Elena seemed to think only Mommy and Daddys could kiss each other on the lips, but Ben pointed out that he had seen his teacher's boyfriend kiss her. Elena then declared that they were going to get married, right Mom? Well....

One of the kids' teachers recently had a motorcycle accident, severely fracturing his leg. He had surgery in Santiago (about 45 minutes away). As I related this to our housekeeper who attends their church, I said in Spanish, "It sure was a blessing Mark was wearing a basket on his head because he flew off the bike and landed on the ground." Our housekeeper kindly shared with me the difference between a basket (canasta) and a helmet (casco).

The kids understand that our job is to teach others about Jesus. After a few months of regular Bible study in Montana, Ben asked how much longer I, Becky, would be going there. I said, "For a while yet." He frowned and said, "How long is it going to take for them to figure it out!! It says it about Jesus right in the Bible!" Ahh, if only it were so simple.

Elena is learning to read this year. It is fun to sit down with books and watch her sound out the words and read a whole beginner book by herself. One of her favorite big kid books is a World Atlas for kids. She mostly looks at the pictures, but a couple of weeks ago tried to read a page about animals. Suddenly she declared, "Mommy, they put Spanish words in this book!" I went to look and she pointed to "gorilla." She was quite miffed that the writers would do such a thing and I had a hard time convincing her that "gorilla" is spelled the same in both languages but pronounced differently in each. Although Ben added his older brother advice to the discussion, she continued to frown at the page.

We speak spanglish. We find that we sometimes say odd things in English like, "That tool won't serve" or "I terminated my homework" These being direct translations of the Spanish words. We do the same in reverse, getting odd looks from our Dominican friends at times. But when you are grasping for a word, sometimes it is expedient to spanishize an English word since there are so many similarities. Occasionally you can get yourself in trouble though. We are thankful for dominicanisms that come from english. For example, "tape" is taypee," mop is "swape" (as in swab the deck), and a lid is "tapa" as in "top." None of these examples are really Spanish words! In Guatemala we had to use the actual Spanish words, but the dominicanisms are far easier for us to remember.