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PARRIADA!!

I totally forgot to post the pictures of the fun time we had this spring.  The El Montaña church had a cookout.  It's called a "parriada" and it is a blast!

Willy and Jose Oscar grilling chicken and hot dogs!

Kids hanging out!

Group games!

Fina and Ana Maria playing a wild game!

Ben and Yondel (4) building with dominos.

This is the whole gang!!

Dominican Elections

As I sit here a long parade of trucks, cars, pickups and motorcycles is traveling round Jarabacoa. The music is blasting, horns are sounding, people are waving white flags, wearing white shirts, holding signs for their candidate.  As the procession approaches it grows in number.  People join the parade while others sit and watch from the side of the street.  Today, the flags are white and are supporting Hipólito Mejía.  A few days ago, another parade passed in a similar fashion.  It's flags were purple and they were supporting Danilo Medina.  After months of parades and rallies that blast music in the night, we are very ready for election day, this Sunday, May 20th.

On paper the system here is similar to that in the US.  There were many parties but two have the focus - the PLD (Dominican Liberation Party) and the PRD (Dominican Revolution Party).

Recent History with the PLD and PRD
Presently, President Leonel Fernández is in office.  He represents the PLD.  President Leonel has been in office a total of 12 years.  From 1996 - 2000 he held the office but due to laws at that time, was unable to run a consecutive term.  In the 2000 election, Hipólito Mejía of the PRD won the presidency.  During Hipólito´s presidency, the laws were changed so that a president can hold office for two consecutive terms.  So in 2004, Leonel Fernández returned to challenge Hipólito Mejía.  Leonel was successful and regained the presidency.  President Leonel has been in office since then, August 2004.  On Sunday, Hipólito Mejía seeks to regain the presidency.  He faces PLD´s candidate, Danilo Marino.  Interestingly enough, Danilo's running mate for Vice-President is the current First Lady, First Lady Margarita Cedeño de Fernández.

Elections in the Dominican Republic are emotional.  People are tied to their party.  They feel that if their party is in power, they will have opportunity for jobs and other perks.  Very simply, if their party is not in power, they won´t.  Their feelings are backed by past experiences.  They know the system.  The winning party is able to appoint people to all of the government owned jobs.  Not just the directors, but each person employed by Public works (Police, fire, garbage collections, water, road ) has their job because their political party gave it to them.  For example - the men who come to pick up our garbage each week will lose their jobs if their party does not remain in office.  With so many jobs, many people are impacted.  People know it and are doing whatever they can so that their party is in office.

As foreigners, we have to be careful.  Historically elections are times of uncertainty and we have to respect that.  Recent elections have been much better, a trend we hope continues.  While we don't feel any danger, we do know the history and know to be careful.  We don't take sides.  We try not to favor either party.  Since the top two party colors are white and purple, we don't wear those colors during election week.  While it might seem fun to join a parade, we don't.  We stay away.  And we seek the advice of our Dominican friends.  They tell us, the night of election day and the days following are times to stay home.  That is our plan for this year.

We have Dominican friends who support Hipólito and others who support Danilo.  We enjoy learning from them, their thoughts about the country and it's needs.  Like most elections, both candidates promise change and improvement.  Their methods to bring change may differ, but both talk about helping the poor, improving education and decreasing government corruption.  It's just a question if who you trust and which method you agree with.

We know from Scripture that God is in control (Rom. 13:1-7, I Peter 2:13-17).  These are challenging passages when you look through history at some of the leaders that have had power around the world.  Thankfully, we have examples from people like Ester, Daniel, Paul, and others.  These examples can help guide us.

Please be in prayer for this country.  Saturday, May 19, has been designated the National Day of Prayer by the Dominican Conference of Bishops.  Nationwide, people will be praying for an election day that is peaceful.  We invite you to join us.

Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus!

For the past 4 years, I have been meeting regularly with a group of women in El Montaña to learn and follow the Bible.  The women came to faith in Christ mainly through Ramona, a tireless champion for Christ.  When we first began studying together, most were not familiar with the Old Testament.  Esther and Jonah were new to them.  Even ¨basic¨ stories like Creation and the Flood were only vaguely understood, so we focused on learning these and what each story told us about God.  We learned He is perfect, all powerful, all knowing, loving, just, and that He hates sin.  This past year we have been learning about what it means to be a disciple, using many stories in Matthew.

Recently we looked at Matthew 16:13-28, below.  We read the passage several times and explained it to one another to make sure everyone had learned it well.  We have the assignment of sharing it during the week with someone else.


When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.  And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”  

Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Once everyone has a firm grasp on what the verses are saying, we begin to apply it.  What will each person commit to doing this week to obey these verses?  I got some blank looks on this, so I asked some questions to stir their thinking.  "Do you remember the time in your life when Jesus was just another religious figure, but not your Savior and Lord?  Are there things that God wants to do in your life and you are saying, "Never, Lord!"?  What does it mean for you to take up your cross?"  Are you ready to choose Jesus over everything and everyone else?  Even your family?  

After a few moments, Genara said, "I have already done that and I will do it again."  I asked her to explain.

"Well, when I was young, my older brother came home and announced that he was a Christian.  My mom was so angry with him.  They fought a lot about it; it was tremendous.  Of course as a Catholic*, this was unacceptable to her.   He wouldn't back down. He was going to follow Jesus.  Finally, he left home.  It was hard for me at the time.  So when I accepted Christ as my Savior a couple years ago, I was afraid to tell my mom**.  I avoided it for a while.  Then once she called me during a church service and I had to tell her I couldn't talk right then.  When I called her later, she asked what I had been doing.  I told her I was at the Christian church.  She said, "I can't talk to you about this now.  Next time I see you we will discuss it."   I knew what my choice was.  I couldn't deny being a Christian to please my mom.  When I told her, she was really upset, but now I think she has accepted it.  My brother was so excited when he heard I had become a Christian.  Now he is not alone.  I can't give up Jesus for anything in the world.  If I deny Him, He will deny me."

I was kind of shocked by this testimony.  Genara needed a lot of support and encouragement to make it to church and Bible study when she was a new believer.  Even then she was often quiet, or hung in the back row.  Now I knew how strong her faith was. I came away from that study rejoicing as I wound my way through the rain to Jarabacoa.  God is at work...He will never stop working in us until the Day of Christ (Phil. 1:6)


How strong is your faith?  What cross will you bear to follow Him?  What relationships, goals, and possessions will you deny yourself in order to be counted as His disciple?

Notes

*Let me make some comments about Catholicism and Protestantism in the Dominican Republic (D.R.).  While the majority of Dominicans are "Catholics" many are not practicing their faith, most don't really understand the tenets of the Catholic faith.  Most that I have talked with about Catholicism place a great importance on the traditions and institution of their church and are ignorant and/or suspicious of learning directly from the Bible.  Many Catholics have a misunderstanding of Protestantism.  They see it as a disorganized, fanatic, cultish group of "holy-rollers" who take away all their fun (ie. drinking and womanizing) and impose stiff lifestyle rules on their followers.  I don't think an informed Catholic would react as strongly as Genara's mom did to her belief in Jesus Christ as Savior.  After all, we worship the same God and read the same Bible.

**On a cultural note, Dominicans, like most hispanics, gain their identity from belonging to a group.  Americans have a very independent sense of identity.  So for a Dominican to separate from his/her "group"  is not just a change in their own identity, but causes a crisis in the group's identity.  It is a cultural value for Americans to seek out their "own identity" and separate or distinguish themselves as unique from others.  To an extent "rebels" are respected in American society for their strength in "doing it their way" or "going against the grain."  This is not so in the D.R.

Building Ministry Opportunities in El Montana

Recently a team came to work with Kid's Alive.  They spent most of their time here working in the schools and children's ministries of Kid's Alive.  One day, they set aside to do something different.  They wanted to do help with a construction project in a local church.

A good days work!

About 2 years ago, the church in El Montana was considering how to reach children and youth in their community.  Awana is a program that has become increasingly popular in Jarabacoa and they wondered if they could start an Awana.  Because the church property is rather slanted, they tried starting Awana in the 2 room church building.  This turned out to be a disaster as the children had a hard time realizing they could run circles in the church building on Saturday but not on Tuesday* when services are held.  And so, they began the project of creating a space for Awana games, a space other than where they worshiped.  Retaining walls and A chain link fence was built around the back part of the property.  Truck loads of construction debris were brought in as it became available.  Because they struggled to pay for the construction, they had many pulgas (rummage sales) and every extra Pesos (dollar) was set toward the project.  Work was done as they had funds.  They prayed and prayed for God to help them complete the project.

Rademez (Construction leader) and Damaso (Pastor in El Montana)

And so, when this team came forward, it was an answer to many prayers!  This team was a mother/daughter team from the Chicago area and they had volunteered for a big job!  Rademez and I pulled together some men to help.  We started with a cement mixer but it wasn't working well so it was quickly pushed aside and we mixed our cement by hand.

Mixing Cement by Hand

It was a hard day but we met our goal for that day.  The project isn't completely done.  Funding allowed for us to do two-thirds of what is planned.  We ended the day by thanking God for his provisions, praying for the children, youth and adults who will play here and dedicating this space to the Lord.

We ended the day by Dedicating this space to the Lord

If you have an Awana in your church, maybe they would consider helping the church in El Montana with some of the start-up costs for their Awana.  It may take some time before an Awana is started.  Leaders need to be recruited and trained.  Once the church is ready, an Awana will start.

*El Montana church services are held on Tuesday night because most of the people of El Montana are employed as cooks and maids for large vacation homes in the area and they have to work most weekends (when the homes are being used).

Considering Joining us in the Work Here?

What do you do when YOU are considering Missions?  Amber has been considering missions for many years.  It started when she was young and she went on a mission trip with her church.  Now, Amber is 23 years old, she has a teaching degree and is presently in law school.  She isn't so sure how law school will fit with her dreams but is confident that God led her to move in that direction.  So what do you do when you are considering Missions?  The answer is simple - You explore the idea by talking with mission organizations, missionaries, taking trips to see different ministries.  And that is what Amber just recently did.

Amber has been a close friend of our family for years.  As a teenager, she often babysat Ben and Elena.

 Pictured are some of the kids in Buenos Aires that Amber helped teach on two days of her visit.

You can read more about Amber's experience from her perspective at her blog "Soaking in God's blessings, one journey at a time."

How about you?  How can we help you sort out whether God is calling you to be a missionary?

Challenges in Boma

This morning we headed out for our Wednesday morning Bible study in Boma.  For the past 6 months, we have been leading the people through a course that focuses on Christian Education.  It is an excellent course, and one that we will probably teach in all of the church plants.  Having finish this course, we went looking for some new direction.  How can we best use are time and abilities to serve the church in Boma?  Remember, our role is one of an equipper.  We try not to "take over" and rather, we coach the local people into leadership and teaching roles. And so today, we went with a lot of questions, ones with focused on the needs of the church and the community.  From these questions, the leaders in Boma helped us discover where we could focus in the coming months.  Here's what happened:

Every visit begins with some time "catching up".  This is normal all around the world but here in the Dominican Republic, and especially in the campo (rural areas) it can take a bit of time.  Sometimes, I confess, I try to cut it short and get onto the more "important" things but this is often (possibly always) an error.  This time creates the basis for whatever has been prepared and should not be shortened.

And so today we learned who was sick, who was on a trip, and why the road was so bad.  All of this, gives us insights into life in Boma...it's a world much different then Jarabacoa and Jarabacoa is a world much different then anywhere I lived in the United States.

After prayer we asked the question "What are some of the needs in church and community?".  Different challenges were mentioned but they kept coming back to the youth of the community.  They lacked purpose, lacked hope.  Very few really knew what it was like to grow up in a family.  By the age of 12, many are left to fend for themselves.  They live in the same home with whoever raised them but it is felt that they are old enough to take care of themselves and so attention get's given to the younger ones, until they are about the same age.  Literally, this means, they have a place to sleep but they are on their own for food.  If they want to stay in school, they do, but it is difficult to do so.  The reality for them is that they need work and earn money so they can eat.  And by the age of 15, many of these children will have children which are left with the people who raised them...and the cycle continues.

Obviously it isn't this way for all the teenagers of Boma, but this isn't rare.  It's actually quite common.  What is rare is a family with a mother and dad who are really parenting their children up through the teenage years.  Enrique & Blanca, leaders in the community and church are an example of what should be done.  They pushed their 3 boys to finish high school and continue into college.  It wasn't easy to do this.  The High School is about 20 minutes away on an adventurous road and college is further.  Today, Enrique and Blanca are raising two of their grandchildren.  Even though they are in the 60's, their job is far from done.

We explored the needs of teenagers with more questions.  Finally, we asked - "If the church could address one need in the community, what need would give the greatest impact?  It should be a need that almost everyone recognizes.  Is this need of teenagers such a need?"  After some discussion, it was felt that it was the number one need, something that everyone recognized as a need.

The rest of the time we spent asking questions and discussion how the church could address this need.  Even though Boma currently has about 18 teenagers, the church only has 2 regularly attending.  But just the prior week 4 teenagers showed up at church.  We talked about how we could plan some activities that focused on teenagers.  We talked about a domino tournament, special meals, playing baseball by the river, and other ideas.  None of the ideas were fancy, just things they could do with the resources they had.

We decided that we would spend the next week and pray about this.  The leadership of the church would talk about this idea and let us know if they wanted to continue exploring it.  If they do, our next few months will focus on helping them think through ministry to youth.

We ask you to remember Boma and pray for it on a regular basis.  Life is hard there because many times the rain cuts them off from society.  But also there, is a small church.  It's building has been built in just the past 10 years and while the building is one of the most beautiful little church buildings, the real church (the people) struggles to trust God, to have confidence that God can use them, and to dream that God could work to make a real difference in their community.  Please be in prayer for Boma and for us as we continue to minister there.

Dominican Independence Day 2012

Enjoy a short video of Elena and some school friends modeling a traditional Dominican dance!

A little about Dominican Republic History...

Haiti first won independence from France in 1804 and then through a turn of events conquered the Spanish side of the island in 1822.  For the next 22 years, the island was "unified" under Haitian control.  Dominicans call this period the "Haitian Occupation."  The Spanish ruling class resented the occupation and in the 1830's an underground resistance group "La Trinitaria" was organized under the leadership of Juan Pablo Duarte.  After many attacks on the Haitian army, the Haitians eventually retreated.  Independence on the eastern two-thirds of the island was officially declared on February 27, 1944 and the name República Dominicana (Dominican Republic) was adopted.  

Sojourner's Women's Retreat

Each year, on the last weekend of January, hords of women, mostly foreign, pour into a Catholic retreat center just outside of Jarabacoa.  This is wonderful time of worship, personal time with God, and hanging out with women, new friends and old.  And it all happens with no kids, no men and in English!

I have been able to attend all but one year in our time in Jarabacoa.  It is circled on my calendar months ahead so nothing gets booked on that weekend!  The bed isn't that great (though my roomate always is!) and this year I had a surprise--a hot shower and hot water in the sink.  The food is delicious and this year the weather was great.  January can be rainy and that makes for a cold retreat.

This year the theme was "Trust, Truth and Grace."  I spent a lot of time taking to God about the truth of my poor health.  I have rheumatoid arthritis.  Sometimes it is a shadow in my life and sometimes a monster.  I have little control over it, though I take medication and have a good rheumatologist here.  God really met me this past weekend and the burden feels lighter.

We are placed in small groups for discussions after a large group teaching and personal devotional time.  This year my group was a lot of laughs and tears.  I horrified to realize I was the oldest in my group, in fact 20 years older than the youngest women.  Good grief!  I can't share details of our discussion of personal issues, but I can say that God touched and healed us in unique ways.

The Most Beautiful Beach in the World!

Over the Christmas holiday, we had a chance to take a trip to the Southwest part of the Dominican Republic.  With our vacations, we are trying to visit different parts of the country.  People often ask if we have been to Haiti and at this point we haven't.  For now, we want to get to know this country, the Dominican Republic.

We left on New Years Day.  It was a good day to travel because the roads were empty.  Our goal was to get to Pedernales, a border town with Haiti.  It was amazing to see the country change from a lush forest to what reminded me of Arizona or New Mexico.  The beaches were beautiful but instead of sand, they had white rocks and very rough.  Ben wasn't so impressed, as it wasn't so functional for swimming and boogie boarding!  Some of the road were drove on where incredible, especially at one part where the mountains came right up the sea.

The southwest is dry.  It is desert.  It's hard to believe because live in the mountains were it rains a lot and it's often very green.  But the southwest is nothing like where we live.

We were able to visit Lago Enriquillo, a salt water lake which is below sea level.  At this point, Rick and Ben are able to say they have been to the highest point (Pico Duarte) and the lowest point (Lago Enriquillo) of the Dominican Republic.  At this lake, we saw some Taino drawings in the rock (pictured with Becky) and fed rhinoceros iguanas.  They are big but not big enough to ride (bummer)!

A highlight of the trip for all was when we discovered the most beautiful beach in the world!  Bahia de Aguillas is a national park.  There is a small entrance fee and then a boat taxi to get to the beach.  The boat drops you off on a secluded beach and you can tell him what time he should return.  Imagine spending the day at a beach and hardly anyone else is around (Only those who came the same way you did.  Note, the boat won't drop people at the same spot on the beach).  There were no venders, no stores, just you and the ocean.  The water was a perfect turquise and the snorkeling was excellent.

Ok, maybe it isn't the most beautiful beach in the world but it felt that way!  How did you spend your vacation?