The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

We are all different. In our family, we have found that we have different reactions to the same thing. Enjoy the following. It sheds a little more about our life here and how it is different.

Driving Rules

If there is a spot, take it.

Rick...AWESOME!!!!
Becky...God please HELP!!!

Bigger gets the right of way.

Rick...I need a bigger car and a bigger motercycle!!!
Becky.... [was unable to comment since she is still at an intersection waiting to make a turn]

Drive Offensively, but in a Defensive kind-of way

Rick...Ok
Becky...That makes no sense.

Living

No power, no water, no shower

Rick...A little more deodorant should do the trick
Becky...I have learned how to take a bath with only a bucket of water...a well developed skill!
Ben...no importa, I took a bath last week.
Elena...Just heat the water over the stove and I will be waiting.

If you can get away with it, do it.

All of us...NO!

Turn up the music in your house so you can hear it while you visit at your neighbors house a few blocks away.

Rick...what kind of music?
Becky...GRRRRRR!!! Glad I have a supply of earplugs!
Ben and Elena...refused to comment because they were too busy dancing merengue.

Having a housekeeper

Rick....another woman around the house to tell me to take my shoes off before I come in?

Becky....haven't cleaned a toilet in two years....WOOOHOOOO!

Ben and Elena....hot chocolate every morning and someone else makes my bed....couldn't be better. Oh, except we have to obey her just like Mom and Dad, shoot.

Water the dirt road in front of your house in order to lower the dust from cars and motos.

Rick...Precious water, what a waste, I need a shower!
Becky...Thank you.
Ben and Elena...Fun puddles to try to jump with my Bike
Becky...More laundry...UGH!!!

Pointing with your lips

Rick...How can I ever find something when people "point with their lips" GRRRRRR!!!
Ben and Elena...A mastered skill.

Cross Cultural living is not always fun but it is never boring!

Future Plans

We came to the Dominican Republic in the middle of May, 2007 and we made a commitment to Iglesia Nueva Vida until the fall of 2009. This past September, we started praying and asked you to join us in praying for clear direction regarding whether we should return to the US or continue in ministry here. Our desire is to be in the place God would have us, doing what He desires.

Today we share with you that we feel God is leading us to stay and continue in ministry here. While we have not had the easiest transition here, we have survived! And we see that God is using us to equip men and women. There has been a lot of growth but there is much to be done.

If you have followed our blogs, you have read about our highs and our lows. We continue to have these but we also know that we will have those anywhere. It is just life. Going from a 2 year/short term mindset to one that is "open ended" was challenging. In some ways, we roughed it for 2 years and now we are talking more about what is necessary to make a home. But we feel confident that God has lead this way.

We don't know how long we will be here but we believe that God will let us know when we are to move onto something else. In September 2009, it will be 3 years since we left for language school in Guatemala. It is our plan to come home in the fall of 2009 and stay until just after New Years. During this time we want to visit with family, friends, people who have supported us. Becky will also see doctors in the States regarding her health problems.  We also hope to get some training that we believe will help us in ministry. This training focuses in two areas:

1. Teaching Oral Learners using a Story Telling Format. We have investigated this a lot and feel that this format would be excellent for teaching Dominicans.

2. Dealing with Poverty. We struggle with the poverty that we see around us. How do we internally deal with this and not feel guilty for the wealth that we have? The poverty here is not always obvious. It is more of a mindset of helplessness. How do we really help?

For the first training area, there are conferences and books available to help us. One conference is in Minneapolis in mid-September. The second training area is a little more challenging. We feel it may be the most helpful to us if we can spend time with someone who has spent years working with people of poverty.

During our time in the US, we plan to home school our children. Ben and Elena's school, Doulos Discovery School, will be giving us textbooks so that our kids can keep pace with their class and easily join the class when we return to the Dominican Republic. This is a huge blessing.

Of course, many of the details are not nailed down. But we wanted to share with you this decision. You have walked with us and we are thankful for you.