The Timothy Project

For once I didnt’ experience any “technical” difficulty with the sound or projector equipment. And it was a BEAUTIFUL evening, and to top it off, the power was out so it made our event the only thing happening in the community (I use a generator to power up the equiment.)

I would guess more than 125 people of the community in Villa de Yaque watched an evangelistic film that gripped their hearts- before it was over one young lady sought me out to tell  me she wanted to be baptized- she had accepted the Lord but not followed through with baptism and a continued journey of discipleship. Now she wants to get serious about her relationship with Christ!

Please continue to pray for this community and the emerging church. I asked two of our leaders to give a brief interpretation and prayer- they were scared to death but did a great job. 

Ever play the game of telephone? Where the original message gets completely changed in the process of passing it one to another? Well, that is what happened with the word on Pedro Juan. I visited him yesterday at the hospital- it wasn’t a bleeding ulcer. He ate a chicken bone without realizing it and it punctured a hole in his stomach, causing it to bleed. Fortunately the doctor was able to determine quickly what happened and remove the bone during the test reducing any chance of further infection and complications.

He was in a lot of pain but expected to be released from the hospital yesterday. I felt bad for them because they work so hard and wound up spending their three day weekend in the hospital! I just heard that he wasn’t released as anticipated because of some complications- mainly the pain didn’t subside as it should have. Continue to pray for them!

One of our faithful pastors- Pedro Juan (Peter John)- is hospitlized with a bleeding ulcer. He is a medical doctor as well as being pastor and is always extremely busy. Pray for him, his family and his church during this time. His wife is a medical doctor as well and they have a daughter about 10 years old.

Except for my neighbor’s roosters that gave a concert this morning, the city is quiet. Today we celebrate Independance Day.  Here are some odds and ends from the weekend:

Yesterday we met with about 20 people in the Hole who finished the study from the Gospel of John! We hope to get them started on the next study- Discovering God’s Joy. 

Victor has had to back out of the seminary but he promises he will continue to do individual study to further prepare himself for ministry. His job with the Prevention of Drug Council keeps him busy many nights and weekends. I respect his decision and know that he will continue to be a strong leader. He is feeling led to work with young people lost in drugs which represents a significant block of people within my population segment target- the urban poor. I too have been feeling a need to reach out to those in gangs and deeply involved in drugs, violence and the occult. Pray for Victor as he continues to work with youth in the Hole as well as moves into new areas of ministry.

Saturday night when we showed the movie in Los Santos we had over 120 children, youth and adults. Pray for the seeds that were sown to come to fruition. Sunday morning worship in the Los Santos got off to a slow start but by the end we had about 15 adults. Maybe they felt Saturday night was enough!  Several youth who have been faithful haven’t been around for several weeks. Please pray for them- several of our original leaders are pulling back from their commitment- pray for them as well and for new leadership to continue to emerge. Yesterday Sol did an awesome job of leading worship- I was really thrilled to see how she has improved.

Last night’s movie in Villa de Yaque was postponed until tonight.

Whew, what a wonderful week! As you hopefully remember, we have been working the Phillip Project with the Bible League. Following up on the sports day, we met with the young people and other folks en the Hole and tonight in Villa de Yaque and between the two communities more than 50 people committed to study the Gospel of John with our leaders guiding them! I am thrilled with this development- both for the leaders emerging to guide others in Bible study and for the interest in God’s word- please pray for them to truly be open to experience the Truth as they read about Jesus and his ministry.

Tonight in La Joya we showed a video that was well attended- it was great to follow up the big event with something more specific and intimate- next Friday Pastor Ortiz will be kicking off his youth ministry again. It is my prayer and hope that these special events will lead to a group of young people willing to seek God’s face and discover His will for their lives in this community.

 Tomorrow is Seminary day and youth night in Los Santos- we will be inviting them to study John and also showing the same movie as tonight.  Sunday is a big day with three services- we will be following up on the bible studies and showing the movie in Villa de Yaque(three nights in a row!)- it is great to be able to sow the seed! Please keep all these seed sowing activities in your prayers!

One of our pastor’s wife, Monica, has learned that she has Hept C. Many of you know her- she has helped cook and is Pastor Rafael’s wife. Please be keeping them in prayer as the whole family (husband and 4 kids!) has to be tested- the kids were all born after she had a blood transfusion which is what they think led to this.

I am taking her tomorrow to see a GI specialist and find out where to go from here- please contact me if you know how we might get help with the treatment- it is very expensive here and as you probably already have guessed, this family has limited financial resources.

Please keep her, Pastor Rafael and their children in your prayers!

It was so awesome to have the Quest team here- I have a special place in my heart for New England (it being my “home”) and these young people were just great. They were full of energy and cooperative and really lived out a tremendous testimony for our people.

The youth day was fun, and the best part was we had over 200 youth come into contact with the church who left asking for more. Please continue to pray for us as we work to develop ministry plans that will lead these young people to a transforming encounter with Christ. 

This weekend we will be showing evangelistic movies in each of the areas where the participating youth live, inviting them to study the Gospel of John. Pray with us for decisions to be made and a commitment to honor God’s Word by study and obedience come to fruition. Pray for our leaders in each of these communities as they seek to minister and guide these young people.

I am looking forward to the group from First Baptist of Big Pine Key, Florida arriving on March 4th. Pray for them as they make last minute preparations and also for their ministry to support all we have been doing up to this point- it is exciting to see how God weaves His people together to impact communities.  This group will be working alongside our leaders, helping them learn to do door to door evangelism and prayerwalking as well as leading some important workshops at night. Please pray for each of them as they prepare and also for our leaders that they might have open hearts and minds to learn, and willing feet and hands to do the work of the Lord!

We are anticipating over 100 youth tomorrow at our “field day” in La Joya- the logistics make me a little nervous yet I know things will be great. As Pastor Ramon said as I left to get the team in Santo Domingo, “In theory, we have everything well planned- we will see how we do in practice!” We had a few bumps in the road today but that is pretty normal. The key to having a pleasant experience in FLEXIBILITY!

Tomorrow morning part of the group will go to San Francisco and part will spend the day in Villa de Yaque. After lunch, this group will participate in the Field Day with youth from La Joya, The Hole, Los Santos and Villa de Yaque. We have a worship service planned for the evening which will include our “rapsters” from Los Ciruelitos. Please remember this time in your prayers that as these young people interact with our ministry they will be touched by God’s love and led to get involved with His Word.

Sorry for not writing sooner but we have been BUSY BUSY since the Quest group arrived. They got in safe and sound in the capital and we had a nice trip back to Santiago- I managed to break the water pipe to my house just as they were arriving to eat dinner so we have had to contend with various problems related to that but so far so good.

We had a great day today- we painted the church at La Joya. They recently were able to raise the walls on their SS part. Thanks CSBC for helping them do so! As you can see in the pictures it is quite an impressive change!

Part of the group spent the day in San Francisco with Pastor Gabriel and I heard things were excellent there- that group came back to Santiago and led worship in Los Santos- we had a GREAT turn out and I was thrilled.

It is so much fun to have volunteers come and work with us! Please keep this special group in your prayers as they work and travel this week!

As I start this week, I am preparing for an unexpected event - tomorrow I will have about 45 people here for dinner and a special couples’ conference. It has been planned at the last minute (I got the call last night and the pastor came by this evening to make plans!). There is a huge battle for healthy homes which start with healthy marriages- this type of ministry is crucial to developing healthy homes and churches which is why I am pleased to be able to support them by handling the dinner and opening my home.  I have just one concern- It is raining tonight- please join me in praying that it will be a dry night tomorrow as they really need to be outside for their activity not to mention for me to grill the porkchops!

Our big focus this week is the arrival of the Quest team on Thursday- 33 youth and adults arrive at 2:30pm in Santo Doming.  I am tying up loose ends: getting the materials we will need to paint in La Joya, arranging transportation for the groups for Saturday’s events, preparing the communities (and our leaders) for the various activities, getting the food supplies, and the list goes on. It has been a while since we have had a volunteer team and I am expecting this to be a great project- it will be fun and I see it having a really positive influence on our leaders and church planting ministries- what better combination?! Keep these young people from New England in your prayers as they travel and as they work here in Santiago, San Francisco de Macoris and Santo Domingo this coming week. More about them later…

As I start the work week, I always look back on the Lord’s Day and how our the spiritual health of our churches… here are some thoughts about yesterday:

Sundays are becoming quite a day with three different services in three locations, but I must say I really enjoyed the day and interacting with the church plants.

Los Santos is growing and moving along well- we celebrated the Lord’s Supper yesterday for the first time. I have some specific prayer requests for this community:

• Several of our original leaders are really struggling with some sin - one has actually dropped out. Please continue to pray for them, and also for the new members to grow into leaders.
• Our youth ministry has been sort of floundering since December. I am hoping that our upcoming visit with the Quest team will spark some new energy- we have 22 signed up for Saturday’s competition.
• We have several men who seemed to have had significant spiritual growth through the ministry of our church but their wives visit a Pentecostal church in the next community and this is producing some division and uncertainty. Please pray for wisdom and guidance in these homes.

In the Hole yesterday we had a low attendance; it has been really sporadic. Last week we had over 30 and yesterday we had about eight. Our membership lacks a sense of what it means to be church and few are interested in discipleship.  I know we do to a lot more visitation and community involvement in order to reach new people and yet we have just a few members who seem prepared to do so.   Please remember Victor and Felix in your prayers as we seek to reach this community and plant a vibrant church.  The youth ministry has been struggling  since December- they too are participating in Saturday’s activity so keep this in your prayers that it will spark renewed interest and build stronger relationships with the young people.

Villa de Yaque- we had a good attendance at the movie last night- some eqiupment issues created a little bit of a problem but in the end it worked out well.  Pray for this community as we seek to move closer toward being “church.”  We have three leaders who are each dealing with their own challenges but I am encouraged at their progress.