Today was our first day back in El Callejon following our Christmas vacation. What a joy to be back! This week we’re planning to go around the community, visiting with women, and getting the word out that we’ll start meeting again next week.
Well, we didn’t get a chance to leave the Site today as lots of folks came to us! We asked each of them how the holidays had been. And, one after another told us that they had been ‘Tranquilo’ (tranquil, calm, peaceful).
As we had posted in December, we were concerned about the holidays in El Callejon. The Dominican people celebrate Christmas and New Year’s with gusto – and, sadly, with a lot of alcohol. Drunken disputes and fights are common.
So, we were praying hard for El Callejon. And, we know lots of you were, too! Thank you so very much!! We know God answered your prayers. The women were so joy-filled and happy to see us – and we sure were glad to see them, too!
Today we prayed to begin our day, and our year. We want this Site and our work there to be all about bringing God glory. We have big dreams and ideas, but we pray we will continue to seek the Holy Spirit in all we do and say. It’s exciting (and a little overwhelming!) to be starting a year in which we have so many plans for the Site and our ministry in El Callejon. We welcome your prayers as we resume the groups for Women, Young Women, Teens, Pre-teens and Little girls.
And, we especially welcome your prayers for the new groups we plan to begin throughout these first months - a Couples’ Group, a Discipling small group, and a Literacy group. We’re also excited that our new site should be completed in a few months.
Of course, every bit of this is only si Dios quiere (the Lord willing)! We never want our small plans to get in the way of His huge work in El Callejon – and throughout the world! We’re excited to think of the outreach participants (1-week, 2-week, semester, high school, college, adults) who will be joining us in ministry. We love the fact that with Students International, we are reaching both into the community through long-term Christian community development, as well as discipling those who come down on outreaches.
We pray that all of those who enter our site (both the ‘old’ one and our new one!) will experience the presence of Christ as we learn more about Him together. We’re also so thankful for you. We pray that as you read about our ministry, you, too, will meet the One who invites us all, no matter where we live, to seek Him. God truly is with us in Jesus. What a privilege to serve Him!!
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