Hurray!

Today Daisy and I met to review our schedule for next week’s team.  Hurray! 

Hurray because we’ve got great teams coming in the next weeks. 

But, an even bigger Hurray because Daisy’s coming back! 

Praise God!  Her surgery and recovery have gone well, although she’ll still need to pace herself for the first while.  Please pray for her in this, as it won’t be easy.  I know all the folks in El Callejon have missed her – possibly even more than I have!  So, they’ll all want to stop in and chat.  That’s wonderful, of course, but also tiring. 

Please pray for wisdom to take time to rest when she is feeling exhausted. 

As I mentioned, we have groups coming soon.  In fact, starting next week, we’ll have four weeks of one-week outreaches.  Several of the groups are college and university students taking their Spring Breaks to serve.  Others are adults, giving of their time to come and minister as well. 

We can’t wait to see how Jesus meets us as we spend time together sharing our love for Him in El Callejon!

We’re thrilled that Lee will be returning to the Social Work site next week along with three other women.  They are coming with an organization called Musicianaries, which uses music to reach the unreached for Jesus.  (Check out Lee’s guest post on this blog!) 

It’s always a blessing for us to hear how God has been at work in the lives of those who come down on outreaches.  It’s an encouragement, too.  At times, our work can be frustrating and heart-wrenching.  It gives us hope to hear others’ stories of God’s faithfulness in the midst of struggles. 

Oh, yeah, and it’s just plain fun to get to meet new (and returning!!) friends in Christ!  What a gift from our amazing God.  It’s enough that He has saved us through Jesus, but He gives us blessing upon blessing in the relationships we share.  He is truly worthy of all of our lives!!

We look forward to sharing more stories and pictures in the coming weeks.  In the meantime, I’ll be finishing my ‘sola’ month in El Callejon.  It’s definitely been challenging! 

But, God is so good, and I know that He has been with me, just as He’s been with Daisy in her time away.  How good it will be to be together again, serving our great God!

Film Crew update

Happy Monday, everyone!  I wanted to give you a summary of our time with the Regent film crew last week.  Rachel, Liz, Daniel and Zach came and spent Wednesday through Saturday in El Callejon, filming, interviewing, walking around, asking questions, listening.  I was so impressed with these young people! 

They are Christ-followers, and showed it through the way they interacted with the people of El Callejon.  As I observed them, they asked a lot of questions, showing a desire to understand the perspective of those with whom they spoke.  It was wonderful to watch them in action, and I think they got a lot of great footage thanks to their engaging manner!

The other thing about this team was their flexibility.  Even though shooting in the rain with an umbrella duct taped to the camera was possibly not the best case scenario, they met the challenge with a sense of humor.  Trying to run sound in the midst of dogs barking, roosters crowing, music blaring, kids shouting… well, it wasn’t the easiest thing!  One rooster next door to the Site seriously sounds like a woman screaming.  I think it freaked us all out a bit at first!

The last thing I have to mention is how much fun they all were!  From what I could tell, they all got along great, and there was plenty of laughter to go around! 

They headed back home early Sunday morning.  Rachel’s documentary is to be approximately 10 minutes long, so now the editing will begin!  I look forward to seeing the finished product – and perhaps we’ll be able to link it to this blog (if so, it'll be this summer, I believe).

It was such a joy to hang out with the crew in this community I love so much, and share a bit of what God has been doing in and among the people there.  And, to meet young people who love Jesus and are using their film-making talents in a way that glorifies Him was awesome! 

The only thing I regret about the whole experience was the fact that Daisy was not able to be a part of it.  She continues to rest and recover, and si Dios quiere, will return soon.  Thank you for continuing to lift her – and her family! – up in prayer.

Feliz Día del Amor & Amistad

Roselyn & Luisanny picking out stickers

Today is Valentine's here in the Dominican Republic, just like back home.  And, like in the US and Canada, it's a day filled with hearts, cards, gifts, and lots of folks wearing red. 

In fact, in El Callejon, the kids were allowed to wear red or yellow to school (instead of their usual light blue uniform tops).  They told me they ate cake, played games, and gave each other valentines.

At the Social Work site, we spent some time making valentines, too.  The Little Girls (aged 5-10) did a great job sewing yarn around a foam heart and then decorating with other stickers and Proverbs 3:4-5.  We want them to put their confidence and hope in God with all of their hearts, and to trust that He will guide their paths.

The other name for the day here is Day of Love and Friendship. I love that it's not just about 'romantic' love, but all kinds of love, and also of friendship!

All day long kids stopped by to wish me a Feliz Día del Amor y Amistad.  How fun to share hugs and well-wishes!  And, how awesome to be able to remind them that God loves them so very much!

Keila & Erica working on their foams hearts

Since it was a special day, when Jamie and Franklin stopped by, I set them to work decorating hearts for loved ones, too (see below)! 

The boys seemed to have as much fun as the girls had!  I guess El Día del Amor y Amistad truly is for everyone! 

Jamie & Franklin get into the Valentine's Day spirit, too!

Qué Bonito!

As I stepped out of my Tracker in El Callejon today, I squished into red-brown mud, thankful for my rain boots.  We’ve had a lot of rain in the past 24 hours, turning the dirt into a muddy mess. 

Most of the adults were inside, no doubt trying to keep as warm and dry as possible.  Several of the kids were out – some had morning school, others were playing despite the weather.

I ran into Lorianny (8) and Vanessa (6) as I walked.  Neither was dressed warmly, wearing short sleeved shirts and flip flops.  Brrr, aren’t you cold?  I asked.  No, they shrugged. 

Lorianny wanted to carry my bag and snuggled with me under my little Totes umbrella.  When we got to the site, she used me keys to unlock the gate and door.  Soon, Vanessa and some of the other girls came by to chat.  I pulled out coloring books and crayons, and let them hang out coloring for a while. 

Unfortunately, the rain kept the women away from our afternoon class.  One braved the rain, but after exchanging pleasantries, she said she was going back home.  She, too, was not dressed for the weather, so I couldn’t blame her! 

I was disappointed, as I was planning to continue our conversation about emotions, this time focusing on Joy and Rejoicing.  The Bible is filled with passages about joy, and I was looking forward to sharing some of them. 

I had planned to end with Zephaniah 3:17, where God says that He rejoices over us with singing.  The women love to sing, and I wanted to share that our love for it surely comes from Him. 

And, on the day before El Día del Amor y Amistad (Valentine’s Day), I wanted to remind them of how beloved they are. So beloved that the Creator of all things sings over them!

Instead, I sat and did some planning and preparing for tomorrow.  As I worked, some of the other little girls stopped by, wanting to know if they could color.  Sure!  I love the fact that they can come to this safe, dry place and just be little kids.  I pulled out more coloring sheets and the bin of crayons and let them go to it.

At one point Keila (age 8) looked at her coloring page and said, Qué feo (How ugly).  She quickly looked over at me, and just as I was about to speak, she corrected herself.  No, qué bonito (No, how pretty).

Last year we noticed how often the girls (and teens and women!) call things Feo.  Insulting each other and putting themselves down happens a lot in El Callejon.  Listening to one after the other declaring what she has spent weeks working on, Feo, made us so sad. 

We decided to working on changing this in 2012.  When one of them says Ay, que feo (How ugly), we’ve made a point of stopping them and explaining how we don’t want them to think that about themselves or their work. 

I often feel like a broken record, saying the same thing over and over again.  Hearing Keila stop herself and then tell me it was Bonita was truly music to my ears! 

I know it was a small thing, and tomorrow, I'm probably going to have to repeat it several times... and likely all year long, too!  But, today I rejoiced!  And, Keila's words strengthened my resolve to keep reminding everyone who comes to our site of how much God loves them, and how important they are to Him. 

I didn’t get to share the lesson I’d planned, but I rejoice that God allowed me to be a part of His work in El Callejon today.  I hope each of you, too, knows how beloved you are, and how our loving Father rejoices over you, too, with singing. 

But What About Her Baby?

“But, what about her baby?”

I (Kimberley) was sharing a lessson with our Adult Women’s group.

In the past weeks, we've talked about how God created us with physical bodies, temples of the Holy Spirit.  How we are to treat our bodies with care, because they matter to God.

Today we began talking about another part of how God has made us.  Our emotions.  We talked about how God created us to experience a variety of emotions.  Not only that, the Bible tells us that He Himself expresses emotion.   

I shared several Bible passages, particularly from the Gospels.  It was wonderful to watch the women looking them up in their Bibles!  Jesus had times of agony, times of anger, times of joy.  And, the shortest verse in the Bible, John 11:35 says, Jesus wept.  What a comfort to know that it’s okay to cry! 

We talked about the fact that emotions in and of themselves are okay, but many times, how we handle them is not.  We looked at more passages, in both the Old and New Testaments.   The Bible is filled with emotions, and wise words on how to respond to our feelings! 

Our final verse was Psalm 51:10, asking God to create clean hearts in our lives.  I asked the women if they knew the story of David and Bathsheba (Betsabé).  I was expecting them to say Yes, but they didn’t seem sure.  So, with my Spanish-English Bible in hand, I did my best to summarize the passages in II Samuel 11-12.

How David saw beautiful Bathsheba and acted on his lust, calling her to sleep with the king.  Then, when she sent word that she was pregnant, David brought Uriah home and tried to trick him into sleeping with her - twice!  But, honorable Uriah wouldn’t. 

What happened next?  What did the king of Israel, the man God had said was after His own heart, do? 

David chose to send a letter to Joab, telling him to put Uriah in the heaviest part of the fighting and then withdraw so he was killed.  David, the king, the man of God, conspired to murder an innocent man. 

And, that’s just what happened.  The women seemed surprised, which is no surprise, as it's a shocking story!

God saw what David did, of course, and sent the prophet Nathan to call him to repentance.  David confessed his sin and God forgave him.  But, there were going to be consequences, including the death of their child. 

This was what happened, I told the women.  These actions are what caused David to write Psalm 51.  I read the first several verses, and then verse 10.  Create in me, a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Listen again to the word David uses - Create.  Not simply wipe up the mess, but Create -make again - a Clean heart.

If God could forgive David, He can forgive us.  We need to confess our sins, and ask forgiveness in Jesus' name, and He will forgive us.

And, that’s when Luz asked her question.  “But, what about her baby?  Did it die?” 

Yes, her baby did die.  It felt harsh having to say that.  I kind of wished she hadn't asked the question!  But, it's a part of the story, a part of the truth we need to know. 

When we sin and ask for forgiveness, God will forgive.  That doesn’t mean, however, the consequences will just disappear.  Our sins impact our lives, and the lives of others, too.  Like Bathsheba’s baby.  The women shook their heads in sadness, but seemed to understand.   

It’s a sobering thought, one we don’t always like to recall.  Like all of us, the women sitting around the table in the Social Work site have had things impact their lives.  Some were because of their own choices, others are consequences of others’ actions. 

But, they are choosing to learn more about God so that they can more and more live in a way that blesses themselves and others.  In spite of some really icky stuff, brokenness and pain, they are choosing to seek Him. 

I pray that as we continue to work with the women, sharing what God has taught us about His Word, we will continue to learn from them, too.  Learn not to be bitter or live life looking back at the past, but instead, accepting the hard stuff, strive forward to walk more fully in Christ. 

Goodbyes & Good Tears

Goodbyes stink.  There’s just no way around it, they’re the pits.  Saying goodbye to Krista, Jessica and Rachel was no fun.  After two (way too fast!) weeks, the tears came. 

We kidded about the fact that we were going to spend our final day together just sitting and staring at each other so the day would go really slowly.  They had even hatched a plan – they’d jump off the back of the truck and break their legs and that way they could stay longer! 

Of course, the day sped by, and before we knew it, it was time to sweep the floor, wipe off the tables, close the windows, and lock up the Site.  And, no-one jumped, either!  (As a responsible Site leader, I would have stopped them.  Probably.)

It might seem strange that students become so attached to El Callejon, and, that El Callejon, including us, become so attached to them!  But it happens over and over again.  Why?  After all, it’s only two weeks.  Really, just 10 days.  Add in a language barrier for the majority of them, and it’s even more remarkable.

Performing the Spanish drama for
the Young Women's group.

Teaching Finger-weaving to the Thirteen year olds.

Yeah, we have a lot of fun, we do lots of things, like Bible lessons, dramas, crafts, visiting, praying, hanging out, sharing testimonies, playing with kids, eating yummy food and drinking awesome cafecitas, but, how does all of that inspire hugs and tears – and plans for bodily harm?!

The more I’ve thought, the less I’ve settled on any one thing.  Or, really, I’ve settled on just The One.  You see, the students open themselves up to experiencing Jesus in new ways, in sharing Him, in meeting Him in those who look and live and speak nothing like them.  And in that vulnerability and openness, there is a depth, a richness, a connection which drives strong roots down into hearts.

It’s certainly not easy.  Watching Jenifer (age five) lifting up barbed wire for her sister Jalfresi (not yet two) to crawl under, both in ill-fitting clothes and shoes, is heart-breaking.  Meeting girls even younger than their 18 or 19 years, who are already ‘married’, is not easy, either.  Walking into a woman’s small home, hearing her story, praying for her, means giving something of yourself. 

Pre-teens showing off their awesome finger-weaving!

But, through the hard stuff, the ‘gut-punch’ moments, the sacrificing, we truly do see glimpses of Jesus.  In each other’s faces, in the faces of the women, teens, girls, and kids of El Callejon.  And so, our time goes too quickly, and the tentative roots are pulled up.  And that, friends, hurts.    

But, it’s worth it.  It’s worth the hurting that happens when you connect and then have to pull apart.  Relationships that don’t matter don’t hurt when they end.  In fact, it’s not really a relationship in those cases!  And, so, as much as we hate saying goodbye, we rejoice in our tears.  Our tears say we loved and were loved. 

Final walk in El Callejon... for now!
 (with Jenifer in pink dress)

Krista, Jessica and Rachel, it hurt to say goodbye to you.  And that’s a sweet, sweet gift.  Thank you for your tears.  Like the rest of your time with us, in them we see Jesus reflected in you.  Dios les bendiga – and come back soon!!

I have to say a tremendous Thank You to Anna.  She spent most of the week with us, translating, yes, but so much more.  She, too, reflected Jesus as she got to know Jessica, Rachel and Krista better, as she added her own insights into our lessons, and… she gave the world’s fastest summary of the Joshua program – en espanol!  Our week wouldn’t have been nearly as good without her as a part of it!

Oh, and one more thing:  Please continue to keep Daisy in your prayers as she prepares for her surgery.  We sure did miss her – and so does El Callejon!  Everyone who stopped by, everywhere we went, women called out “Y Daisy?”  What a blessing to serve our God together!

Joshua - Week Two

After a couple of rainy, cold days, we’ve enjoyed sunshine and warmer temperatures today.  El Callejon gets super muddy, so it’s nice to have a day for things to dry out a bit. 

We’re without Daisy this week, as she continues her preparations for surgery.  Thankfully, Anna, one of the missionary kids (16 years old) has been helping with translating.  Our attendance has been down a bit, due to a holiday on Monday, and the yucky weather.  But, we’re still having a great week.  Some of the highlights:

Rachel, Krista & Jessica 'finger-knitting'
(with Jenifer in pink top)
Why on the benches?  Trying to avoid cucarachas!

Monday was a preparation day, working on the week’s activities.  It was fun to brainstorm and work together.  It also gave us time to just hang out and get to know each other better. 

with the girls & their Creation books

On Tuesday morning we finished the Creation story books with our little girls.  How sweet to listen to them reciting what God created on each day, with the help of the simple pictures in their booklets!

Yesterday afternoon and this morning we had an activity called Spending Your Life, with our two teen groups.  It’s from an amazing book missionary friends of mine have written called It Takes Courage (http://www.kerusglobal.org/). 

Each participant was given a sheet with circles representing their time, talent and resources.  The activity gives a series of options, and the teens choose to ‘spend’ their circles on one or the other.

For example (a) A good education or (b) A profitable business or (a) to be the most popular of all your friends or (b) to find one true friend.

Jessica, Krista and Rachel also shared what they do at the Joshua program, and why they chose to spend a year dedicated to following God without distractions like music, TV, and boyfriends.  They shared how their community has become a family, how they now have so many brothers and sisters in Christ, and how much they are learning about God in this time.

In the future, we want to do more activities like this, helping the adolescents learn how to examine their lives, as well as how to participate and share opinions.  We believe that if all faith ever is, is echoing back our words, it will never take root in their hearts.

We then went to visit Joemny, who had knee surgery last week.  It was wonderful to hear her tell her story of living far from Christ, but then how through a bad moto accident, He became real to her.  Her doctors had told her that she would never be able to bend her injured leg, but she told them God could heal her. 

And… with this operation, she is able to bend it!  She has a long way to go, including physical therapy, which she knows will be hard (and painful) work.  But, her face was glowing with excitement and joy in Jesus.  What an honor to hear her story, and pray for her.

In the afternoon the students had their acting debut!  Daisy wrote a short drama with three scenes for them to perform. 

In the first, two sat talking about smoking and drinking, and how just a little isn’t bad, since they’re hurting no one else. 

In the second, one of them was feeling badly, but didn’t have money to go to the doctor.  She did have money to get her hair and nails done, however! 

In the third, one sat off by herself while the other two talked about her.  After what she did to me, I’ll never forgive her! 

It was terrific!  Their pronunciation was great, and the women who came ‘got it’.  One of them said that it had really spoken to her, because she always like to spend her money on getting her hair and her nails done. 

It’s hard to believe we’ve only got two more days together!  We know God has other great things planned for them, but we’re sure going to miss them!

P.S.  While we’ve been working hard inside, the Construction team has been working hard outside!  Jump over to the New Site page for new pictures!