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| Kris, Cindy, Noe & Anyoly at the last chapel constructed for the summer season |
It has been many months since we've written and we apologize for the absence. We are at the end of another blessed season with TIME Ministries in the Dominican Republic. Here's a quick recap of what's been going on since our last post (as if we can "quickly recap" five months!):
In May Cindy and I had the opportunity to attend language school. We had individual classes for four hours a day, five days per week. In addition we had a couple hours worth of homework each night. It was a challenge getting into the routine of schooling again but proved invaluable for increasing our language ability. We pray for the opportunity to return for less intensive study as time allows.
The team successfully finished the summer season. Though we didn't face the weather and illness challenges that we did last year, Satan had new ones for us. Several of the chapel sites had property issues in that we weren't allowed to build at the planned locations. We usually didn't find out about this until the day we arrived to build the foundations! God is good though, and the chapels were able to be constructed in alternate locations. We also had chapels that were built in many different parts of the country. While this allowed the teams to see many different areas it did lead to a tiring summer as many times we were waking up at 4:00am to get to the locations! Our groups were somewhat larger this summer and we really filled the building to capacity. Our largest group had 80 participants! Praise God for our summer interns and DR staff as well as the many group leaders who helped make this summer a success.
Logistics aside we saw lives changed this summer, both in the Dominican people and the American groups. It continues to amaze us the fire for the Lord the Dominican people have and how Christ is the center of everything they do. They are so thankful for the American groups and their willingness to give of their time to serve here, if even for a week. We also saw many Americans rededicate their lives to Christ after seeing what they could do through Him. Please pray that TIME's ministry would continue to be effective here and that we would respond to the Lord's leading wherever it would lead.
You would think things would slow down after the groups had left for the summer but far be it from the truth. A few days after our last group left we received a phone call from a group that was stranded when the airport shut down during Hurricane Irene. They remembered meeting our site director Noe several years ago and after a few phone calls managed to get in contact with us. They asked if we might be able to host them for a few days until their flights got rescheduled. Not only did we host them but they conducted evangelism and outreach as well. Good thing they were only here a few days or we might have made them build a chapel! While we were looking forward to the end of the summer it was a blessing to be available and in a place where we could share the Lord's provisions of TIME Ministries with others in need.
In the weeks since we've been catching up on tasks that we couldn't get to over the summer. Our generator has had a complete overhaul, it's first since being installed in 2003. Due to the power fluctuations here it runs nearly half a week and was well due for service. Since we now don't need the amount of power we typically do during the summer and we'd like to save on diesel costs, we have installed an inverter in the apartment. For those who aren't familiar, an inverter uses car batteries and converts the current to household electricity. When we have city power the batteries are charged and when the power goes out the inverter keeps things running. It's a great blessing to be able to have electricity 24/7. The only challenge is that the inverter does not have enough power to make our well and cistern pumps work and as a result we've got to store up water for cleaning and bathing when the city power is down.
In addition we have our 1998 15 passenger van back from the shop! It's been there for the better part of a year getting engine work and a new (well, used) transmission. Upon it's return the carpet padding was pretty moldy and so we've spent the past few weeks removing the carpet, pressure washing it, stripping the padding and putting new padding in. It's a blessing to have another vehicle for running errands and transporting smaller groups. It even has working air-conditioning! Please pray though as this vehicle is relatively old and will likely need to be replaced within the next couple of years.
Our new office project has begun in earnest. Currently the TIME DR office resides in one room of our apartment! There was a space reserved on the lower level of the TIME Center here for a future office and through prayers, contributions and the God's blessings we have finally begun construction. It will house two small offices for accounting and private meetings and a common area for computers and meeting space. There will also be a much needed storage area for ministry supplies. The office is expected to be completed within a couple of months. TIME is still accepting donations for outfitting the office (furniture, fans, A/C, shelving, etc.). Please contact Linda at the TIME office if you feel led to contribute. Since we'll be losing some construction space for the new office, we'll be developing our back lot for multi-purpose use. We found with our large groups this summer space is at premium and we need every inch we can get!
Along with our day to day responsibilities we've been getting more involved in local ministries here. Cindy has been attending a Bible study with other American women every other week. Some are missionaries and others are here for work. She is also praying for opportunities to teach English upon our return. Cindy has begun a couple of small groups and praying to see where God is working too. I (Kris) continues to work with the sound team at our partner church and I've begun attending the men's group twice a month. Please pray that the Lord would show us opportunities how we can continue to serve in the "off-season"
Finally, we are preparing to return to the States in a few days. We'll spend six weeks on a whirlwind tour visiting churches, friends and family. We'll be in Orlando, FL for the first two weeks, then Iowa with our home church, and finally Minnesota visitng churches and family. We hear it's going to be cold in Minnesota but it will be great to see the fall colors!
We thank you all for your prayers and support of our ministry here. We look forward to reconnecting with many of you in the coming weeks and we pray that we would continue to shine the light of Jesus as much in our home culture as we do here.
Our stateside schedule:
September 20-October 3 Orlando, FL
October 3-17 Des Moines, IA
October 17-November 1 Minnesota
Praises:
The opportunity to attend language language school in May.
A safe and healthy summer season.
All scheduled chapels were built.
Our home church sent a group to build a chapel. It was a blessing to be reunited with our church family!
Getting more comfortable living in a foreign culture.
Though our home did not sell we have an opportunity to rent again to people we know and trust.
Commencement of the new office project.
Prayers:
That we would be effective in sharing what God is doing here during our meetings in the States.
For safety in travel during our time in the States.
For the TIME board meeting being held in Dallas, TX.
For the Monterrey, Mexico site, missionaries and return of groups there next summer.
For additional prayer and financial support. We are currently at 55% monthly support and pray we can meet TIME's request of at least 60% to be on the field during our stateside visits.
