New Technology is coming to the Church Plants!

What is it?  Using Flannel Graph to tell Bible Stories in the Sunday School classes!

It's New Technology?  Maybe not new to you…but new to our church plants!

Flannelgraph is perfect.  People can be trained to teach a story.  The flannel sets we have are well designed with the instructions in both English and Spanish (we purchased the Spanish directions).  Stories can be told just about anywhere.  And very important for our rural churches…it doesn't require electricity!  

We are excited about this.  And even better, Dominicans are excited about it.  We and Dominican leaders have struggled to help the churches develop a Sunday school.  A big part of the problem was the lack of resources. Churches do not have a "budget" to regularly purchase Sunday School curriculum and supplies. Asking someone who has never taught before to teach is a big step.  It is much easier if there is a plan and resources.  Praise the Lord for these resources!

Currently, we are busy creating a curriculum library for the churches and preparing the figures for the tough concrete churches.  Tonight we will be in El Montaña helping them think through their plan for the biblical education of their children.  And we will soon begin helping people learn the stories and teach them.

Pictured below, some girls from El Montaña help protect the figures.

 CUTTING!

LAMINATING!

GLUING FELT ON FIGURES!

WATCHING!

Thanking the Lord for His provision!

Beginnings of Kid's Sunday School!!!

No fear!

How do I raise my children to know and love God?  Last spring Pastor Dave & Nancy of Rochester, MN came and spoke to this topic.  Recently Pastor Brian, Gill & Danna came from Village Baptist Church (VBC) of Aurora, IL and continued teaching on the topic of parenting.

Teaching in Buenos Aires

They came for a week and were quite an encouragement to many who didn't grow up in a Christian home and wanted to do things differently.

Teaching in El Montaña 

They brought flannelgraph sets and demonstrated how they can be used.  Some parents were amazed that their children sat so still listening to the story!  Now we are starting to train Dominicans to use flannelgraph!

Preaching at the mid-week service in Boma

Our schedule involved formal and informal meetings.  We focused mostly on the villages of El Montaña and Buenos Aires but visits were made to all of the places that we work.  We are excited that VBC plans to send teaching/equipping teams on a regular basis.

Since the VBC team came, Becky and I have been working hard with each of the churches to help them create a plan for teaching Sunday School.  As one of our Dominican ladies said - "We have known our church needed a kid's class for a long time.  We may not have the best space but now we have the resources to teach.  Let's start doing it!!!"  This was exciting for us to hear.  Please pray for these churches.

Praying for some Boma Youth

            Pictured:        Juan                   Omar                    Yoncarlos

                                          Selena                                            Yokonia

This past summer, a group from First Evangelical Free Church, Minneapolis, came and ministered in Boma. They experienced Boma life first hand as they slept there and adjusted their schedule so that it fit with Boma. Pictured are five youth who I started meeting with since that team came.  Pray for these youth.

Pray that they would…
     - Fall in love with God
     - Find good jobs
     - Become leaders in the church and community
     - Discover the joy of serving Jesus

Thank you!

UWM and LAM merge!

Recently we received word that LAM (Latin American Mission) will be merging into UWM.  This is very exciting news!  The merger came after a period of prayer and consideration by both mission agencies.  The UWM family was invited to pray last summer and the decision was made in mid-August to merge.  You can read more about this merger on UWM's webpage.  To learn more about LAM, visit their website.

We are excited about the merger.  Isn't it great when two strong effective mission agencies decide to join forces so that they can have an even more effective impact in their areas of ministry?  This is what is happening.

Please do pray for the leadership of both agencies.  UWM has effectively taken on an additional 175 new missionaries and many of the systems in place will need to be changed.  This is going to take time.  Also UWM recognizes that LAM, which has focused solely in Latin America and the USA, has a great reputation and a very effective ministry.  The desire is to build on what has been done so that both UWM and LAM missionaries in Latin America will be more effective.

How does this change things for us?
LAM does not have any missionaries in the Dominican Republic.  So for our daily ministry, not much has changed.  In other areas, there are changes -

1.  UWM is financially stronger and will be reducing the 15% administrative fee to 13%, effective January 1, 2014.  For many years, UWM has desired to lower this fee and now they are able to do it.
2.  There will be many changes as to how the Latin American region is organized for our management, accountability and care.  In the past, 2 area directors oversaw these areas.  With the increased number of missionaries and the desire to give the same care as it has in the past, UWM will be making structural changes.

As I said, we are excited about this.  We feel God has led UWM and LAM together.  In a world that is so divided, it's so fun to see this happen!  To God be the glory!

Lessons in Helping Others

A little background -

Pastor Alex and his wife Carol work in Buenos Aires.  It's a small church that has a heart for its community and is working to reach them.  Becky and I are very impressed with Alex and Carol.  They are a couple that lives by faith, constantly looking to the needs of others when they have big needs themselves.  With that background...

In June we attended a meeting with the leadership of the church in Buenos Aires.  At the meeting, the church leaders shared that Alex and Carol were in a very difficult situation.  Alex has been the pastor for the last three years and for income he started a butcher business.  His business did well and he was able to buy a car and then eventually a house.  At some point, Alex injured his back butchering cattle and hogs.  With time, he hurt it again and again.  And just a few days earlier, Alex had been told by a doctor that if he doesn't stop working, he will end up in a wheelchair.  The doctor gave strict instructions.  Alex would not be able to work for one to two years.  He is not able to ride on a motorcycle.  He cannot drive.  He cannot lift.  And Alex needs to follow doctors orders if he is to get better.  Further, he was prescribed a course of medications and physical therapy.

This news was shocking.  It meant that Alex could no longer continue his business.  It meant that he would no longer be able to make payments on his house and car.  Obvious questions came to mind - How will he survive?  How will he provide food for his family?  The leadership asked us to pray and asked if we could help.

The next day, we returned to meet with Alex and find out some specifics of the situation.  I wanted to know, how much debt is owed on the house and car?  I wanted to find the best way to help Alex.  As we met with Alex and Carol and offered some solutions, they asked us to pray.  This is where I started to learn some lessons.

Lesson 1 - While my natural reaction was to use money to fix the problem, it should have been to go to God and ask God to fix the problem.

At one point, we offered to pay off the debt of the house and Carol responded, we don't feel that that is what God wants to do here and we want to wait and see how God will act in our situation.

Lesson 2 -  Wait on the Lord and He will tell you what to do.

I wanted to call churches and of course ask them to pray but inwardly I wondered if we could raise the money to cover the house so that it wasn't lost.  Alex and Carol taught me to be still and wait on the Lord.  When I asked them what they would like me to tell the American churches, they said "Just ask them to pray and do what God tells them to do."  I responded "Ok, but do you want me to ask them for money?"  And they responded "Just ask them to pray and do what God tells them to do."

Lesson 3 - Yes, God is with us.  He is with us when things appear to go well and when things appear to not go well.  And He is to be praised because of who He is, not because of our feelings and circumstances.

I was freshly reminded of this lesson, this past week when the following happened -

On Monday I visited Carol in the morning and she shared with joy that Alex was doing much better.  Praise the Lord!!!  God is so Good!!!  On Tuesday Alex called saying that Monday afternoon Carol fell and broke her arm.  Praise the Lord!?!  God is so Good!?!

It's kind of hard to praise the Lord for the hard things that come our way, isn't it?  But God doesn't become good or bad, worthy or not worthy of praise based on our day.  And so yes, in both situations, Praise the Lord!!!  God is Good!!!
___

The story continues and there's much to tell but in summary -

Alex and Carol returned their car to the bank that loaned them the money.  God sold their house.  They gave away the butcher business to a friend since they couldn't continue it.  They started selling clothes and shoes from their home.  The church and local believers (including us) have been praying and as God leads, we have been bringing things to them to sell.

We, as North American's, are careful about how we give.  We realize that the resources we could draw upon (this includes you) could cover the needs and would quickly rob the local church and believers of their responsibility and privilege to help their pastor.  We need to be very wise.

Alex and Carol started writing down stories of God in their life.  I saw the book a few days ago and asked if I can make some copies of it to share with you.  This will take some time but be watching for it!

Please keep Alex and Carol in hour prayers.  They are amazing people of faith.  Pray for the church as they continue to support Alex and Carol as well as reach out into the Buenos Aires and villages close by.

Praise the Lord.

Church Update

We thought it might be helpful to give a quick update of each church.  In each church, there are so many needs.  I have listed some prayer requests for each church but first, let me list some universal prayer requests -

• Pray for more Dominican leaders!  Specifically ones that have a heart for youth ministry.  
• Pray for missionaries to join us!  We need help (be kind please!) and are praying for God to send us teammates.
• Pray for God to reach Dominican youth!  We had two teams that focused on youth and there are great opportunities!
• Pray for the sick!  So many are sick and struggling in every community we work.  
• Pray for stable jobs for so many!  The majority in our churches work day jobs, meaning...they find a job for day and then have to find another.  

Central Church - Nueva Vida Jarabacoa

This last year has been a year of transition.  Pastor Bill continues to work as a missionary with Kid's Alive (a great group that focuses on at risk children) but stepped down from his role as pastor.  Bill did an excellent job preparing the church for a new pastor.  In April, Francisco became pastor.  Pastor Francisco is a strong leader and preacher.  He has lots of ideas with a ton of energy to go with it.  We are excited for the church and believe God will work through Francisco to help guide the church to have a greater impact in Jarabacoa!  This first year can be a challenge.  Pray for Pastor Francisco as he continues to get to know the church and lead this year.

Nueva Vida of Buenos Aires

The first church plant to have a pastor!  They are learning what it means to be a church and have the responsibility to care for a pastor.  Pastor Alex and his wife Carol are quite a team.  They have a heart for the church and for the community.  The community seems to have very low employment and the church is working to respond to the various needs.  Pray for Pastor Alex and his health.  Pray that the church would see results from their outreaches.  

Nueva Vida of El Montaña

This church is filled with relatively new believers.  Damaso, from the central church, volunteers as pastor.  The church is thinking about how it can reach the youth of El Montaña.  They created a small area for the youth and are considering starting an Awana program.  In many of the families, only one spouse is a believer.  Pray for their ministry to youth and for parents who are trying to raise their children in the Lord without the support of their spouse.

Christian Church of Boma

Enrique is the pastor of this church.  This past summer, 4 teams came to Boma and focused on teenagers and young adults.  This has opened a door to help the youth.  God moved in the lives of some older youth and they talking about starting a Bible study for the youth of Boma but so far it hasn't happened.  Pray for this church as it reaches it community.  Pray for the new Bible study.  

Nueva Vida of Los Calabazos
Because of different reasons, in the past 6 years, some in the church have moved to Jarabacoa.  Today, the church has just 6 people.  Julito, the leader, his family and two older men.  In the last year, Julito's teenage girls have had to move to Jarabacoa for high school.  As a result, the family has started attending the Nueva Vida in Jarabacoa.  Obviously, without Julito the church in Los Calabazos does not meet.  That being said, this past summer we had some excellent ministry with the youth.  We are praying for a leader to help run a youth ministry and are praying that God will rebuild this church with the new generation.  Please pray with us!

Thank you for your prayers!

Is it worth it all?

You are nearing the end of your mission trip and someone asks, "Are we really making difference?"  The question isn't a bad one.  It's great to evaluate and think about what worked and had the greatest impact.  But sometimes it's not so easy to answer with real tangible answers at the moment the question is asked.  

This question was ask by an adult of the recent team that left a week ago. And it's been asked by almost every team that didn't work in construction.  Yes, with construction, you can stand back and see what you accomplished.  There's a sense a pride - you worked hard through the heat, your body is tired but there it is - a new ______ that can be used for ministry.  But when a team comes and ministers relationally, it's often hard to see the results.

What do I mean by "relational ministry?"  It's ministry that focuses on evangelism and discipleship.  It focuses on the soul, the heart and mind.  By nature, it's hard to measure.  And really sometimes the immediate response doesn't necessarily show the real results.  But with steady and faithful ministry, the results become clear.  It just requires time to see them.  

Teams focused on relational ministry aren't here long enough to see the real results of their ministry.  With that in mind, let us share our perspective on the significance this recent team.  

We work in churches are that new.  They are filled with new believers who are discovering what a church is and how it can minister.  The Youth Team modeled some new or less common ideas.  Here are a few -

Prayer Walks through communities, even in the rain

Visiting homes with the simple purpose of praying for the people

Youth Rallies that aren't in the same format as a church service

Teaching on a topic and then having discussion groups

Equipping youth as leaders of the discussion groups

Drama

Separating guys and girls in small groups

Age specific events 

Going to the people, instead of "plan it and they will come" 

Many of these methods impacted the people at the time.  They also help the church discover new ways to minister and for that reason, have an impact in shaping these new churches and the way in which they minister.

We NEED teams to come and model ministry.  Yes, we have taught many of the ideas but there is nothing better then when Dominicans remember and say "Remember when that team did this?  I think we should do it too."  Or - "Remember when ____ on that team shared this?  And remember how God showed Himself faithful in that situation?"  This happens regularly after teams have come.  And it doesn't just happen in the following month.  They often refer to someone who was here years ago.

An Example - Calvary EFC in Rochester, MN started coming here in 1991.  A lady named Rebecca came on some of their first trips.  I have never met Rebecca but I can tell you, she had an impact in El Montana.  She get's mentioned every once and a while and of course, they ask "When will she come back?" Rebecca has no idea that people still talk about her visits.

If you go on a team with a heart to serve the Lord, you may be blessed to see the impact.  But I don't think you will get to see all of it.  That's saved for the BIG reunion in Heaven!  And remember, it's really God that makes the impact.  He calls people to Himself.  He guides us as we share.  He prepares people for His message.  It's God.  And so as we minister and serve, all glory goes to Him!

Be faithful in the little things.  You may not see how God uses it.  But the point is to be faithful.