The Timothy Project

Yesterday’s rain reminded me of the Costa Rican rains- it poured and poured and then poured some more! Many people were flooded out of the their homes, roads were impassable, signs and even walls were brought down.  It haled, it thundered, lightning lit up the sky and the wind was ferocious.  Needless to say, many of our activities were postponed! I haven’t been able to get in touch with Victor to see how htey fared in the Hole but in Los Santos the streets were full of mud. It even rained in Villa de Yaque but they were able to have their worship service (without me) before the rains arrived out there. 

My house had water seep in, about 20 gallons worth! I was sure glad I had the wet-vac to help because mopping that up the old fashioned way isn’t fun!  I am hoping to start some new construction projects out front to alleviate the flooding problem. I am just awaiting permission to get started. The rain has done wonders for the new grass though!  I discovered that Oreo is quite the coward when it thunders and lightnings!  She wouldn’t leave my side once I got home. 

This afternoon (weather permitting!) we are heading out to Navarette to investigate a new place to work. Sol’s sister-in-law has asked us to start a church in her barrio. She says it is a large community and there is no evangelical church there so we will see what God has in store for them and for us!  Also, tonight in the Hole (again, weather permitting) we have our regular Bible study and then a meeting to orgainze a leadership council for the church. Please keep them in your prayers as we organize to grow and mature in the work of the Lord. 

I am having difficulty getting the engineer from the City Rec department to go out to Los Santos to help guide us o the basketball court project. Pray that Victor will be able to break down whatever resistance there is so we can get started! Also, please renew your prayers for the house out at Villa de Yaque to be opened up for us to use as a church.  The elections have come and gone and yet they still haven’t responded to our request as they promised!

The most important thing I have learned over the years is the difference between taking one’s work seriously and taking one’s self seriously. The first is imperative, and the second disastrous.
- Margot Fonteyn

I hope you all enjoy Memorial Day and have wonderful weather to have a cookout or however you want to celebrate! It is odd  to think of special days back in the USA when where I live doesn’t celebrate the same holiday at the same time. 

Yesterday the church in Los Santos was FULL- we had to help seat people! It was a wonderful service of celebrating our mother’s. We had a gift for them and a little juice and crackers.  Victor shared a brief message which was well done and inspiring.  My prayer is that many of the families that came to celebrate Mother’s Day will realize the blessing of setting aside Sunday mornings to worship God and come each week.

Victor and I went out to a new community that is being formed. Yesterday they were there giving out lots and we were trying to get one for a church. Many of the folks from the Hole were there too, hopefull of receiving a lot.  It was incredible. There were literally thousands of people there, with guaguas parked all over the place, people selling all kinds of stuff.  I stayed for a brief time but the guy we needed to talk to was not available. I left them there, trying to get their land. It is going to be a LARGE community and I pray we can begin to make a presence and become a spiritual focal point. In an earlier visit, we noticed the gambling business had already set up shop and there is lots of rum to go around.  Unfortunately, as Victor pointed out, the vices are usually the first to establish themselves. Let’s pray for the establishment of a church!

Last night we had a good group of folks in Villa de Yaque too to celebrate Mother’s Day. I had borrowed a motorcycle in the afternoon and enjoyed a ride with Milagros up along the mountain- it was a beautiful ride.  Several family members of Milagros were there for the celebration who live in an area where she wants to start a church. Keep all of them in your prayers!

This week the churches will be forming leadership councils. be in prayer as we select our leaders and also for the process of growing up spiritually and learning to minister as church. 

We had a great meeting last night. Basically we decided that each church would establish a leadership council, focused on developing the five function of the church (Bible Teaching/Discipleship, Worship, Fellowship, Service, Evangelism). In addition, we are going to form a leadership team for the three churches to function together on special projects and develop specialized teams to work in opening new works and youth ministry which is so important to reaching the urban poor community.  Be in prayer in the coming week as each church meets individually to form their leadership teams.

Pilar and Mecho’s mom is not doing well. They have about concluded that it is too late to amputate the leg. They have been hesitant to take this step because her blood pressure and sugar levels were so erratic they didn’t think she could withstand surgery. They are doing some additional tests today to see what can be done and then make some sort of determination as to what can be done. Tomorrow is Mother’s Day here in the DR so it is a tough time for all this to be happening. Please keep that family in your prayers.

Seminary classes resume today. They will be studying Church Growth and Leadership 1 for the next six weeks. Morena will be teaching the church growth class and I will be teaching the leadership class. 

Tomorrow in Los Santos we will have a special service (together with the Hole) in honor of Mother’s. I am motivating the men to take an active part in the service (poems, songs, etc.). Victor is going to bring a brief message from the Bible for Mother’s. We have some little gifts and juice and crackers to offer as well.

The church in Los Santos was painted this week- its paint scheme matches Los Ciruelitos and La Joya, blue and cream.  Every little step forward is important. Now we just need to paint the name of the church and  the logo and finish raising the side walls so it will be enclosed.

We had a great night at Vista de Yaque. Hector, Carolina and Milagros did a wonderful job leading the bible study. We had a pretty good group and several are really interested in the Bible and recognize their need for Christ yet they were honest that they weren’t ready to give up the things of the world for the things of God. We started with some parables of Jesus about the value of the Kingdom (Matthew 13:44-46).  What is interesting about the parables of Jesus is he recognized that people have ears yet don’t hear.  We are praying for these people to have the ears to hear and respond in faith to the message of Jesus and the Kingdom of God. Speaking of hearing…  If you think that’s the sound of the ocean you hear when you put a seashell to your ear, listen up. It’s the echo of the blood moving in your ear, says the book, Amazing Facts About Your Body, published by Doubleday and Co. Among other “eary” tidbits from the book: The easiest sounds for humans to hear are the vowel sounds — ah, aw, eh, ee and oo. Humans can distinguish the direction of two sounds if they originate from points at least 45 degrees apart, while dogs, with their movable ears, can distinguish sounds only 11 degrees apart. A baby can hear sounds up to 30,000 cycles per second; a teen-ager cannot hear sounds above 20,000 cycles per second; a man age 50 cannot hear above 8,000 cycles; and a man age 80 cannot hear above 4,000 cycles.

Here is an account from the AP of the results of the recent elections in the DR…

May 25, 12:09 AM (ET)

By JONATHAN M. KATZ

(AP) Dominican President Leonel Fernandez is greeted by supporters after casting his vote during the… Full Image

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) - Dominican President Leonel Fernandez’s party has won the Caribbean country’s recent legislative elections, according to results released Wednesday, which should enable him to carry out economic reforms.

The Dominican Liberation Party won 52 percent of nearly 3 million votes nationwide, which will likely give it a majority of seats in Congress, electoral commission spokesman Felix Ryan said.

Gaining control of Congress will help Fernandez push through economic reforms and complete the building of a metro system in the capital - initiatives that had been blocked by the opposition.

The election was May 16, but counting took more than eight days because of a high number of defective ballots, the electoral commission said.

Twenty-two parties fielded candidates in legislative elections in the first nationwide vote since Fernandez took office in 2004. Fernandez replaced Hipolito Mejia, whose administration was dogged by corruption scandals and economic woes.

Mejia’s Dominican Revolutionary Party won 22 percent of the vote, a drastic decline from the current Congress in which it controlled all but three Senate seats and half the House.

A total of 210 legislative seats were up for grabs.

The key issue during campaigning was the economy, which was hit hard under Mejia and is blamed by many experts for his re-election loss to Fernandez. Inflation has since fallen and the country’s gross domestic product grew 7 percent in 2005, according to the Central Bank.

Each minute you spend in preparation saves at least five to ten minutes worth of catching up. Get out ahead of yourself. Prepare for what is coming next. When opportunities come your way they won’t wait until you to get ready for them. You must already be prepared to meet the challenges and quickly seize those opportunities, or they’ll leave you behind. Preparation makes the difference between merely offering empty promises and really being able to deliver. Those who are prepared can deliver right away. Those who are not can only try. Guess who comes out on top! What can you do right now to prepare for tomorrow? Each day, every time you can, make the extra effort to better prepare yourself. It is time well invested, which begins to pay dividends almost immediately. Prepare ahead, work ahead, and you’ll surely get ahead.

When the Quest team was here back in February, I hurried home one evening to get the house ready for their dinner.  As I was hustling around getting the chairs put out, ect. I crossed over a grate just outside my kitchen door. That grate wasn’t well situated and it rocked a little as I stepped on it- just enough to bust the small PVC pipe just below.  Little did I know just then that this little mis-step would lead to water problems the whole time the team was here. We had 40 some people here, needing the bathroom, etc. and the whole time our bus drivers and Pastor Ramon were busy trying to get the water problem resolved. And all these months later, I am still dealing with water problems (not of that magnitude) though I don’t know the cause.

This mis-step and its consequences have led me to reflect on how true it is in life too- one poor decision can lead to a life-time of consequences. Conversely, one good decision can lead to many blessings for many people. As I have observed the injustice of poverty and the culture of corruption here in the DR, I have become very aware of poor decisions or mis-steps, past and present, that have horrific consequences.

I am more and more convinced that the only way we will see a true turning to the Lord among the urban poor here in the DR, a turning to God’s way, will be as we pray for people to be faihtfully obedient to the Lord and to walk in His ways.  God can and will reward those who are careful with the steps they take.   

In Proverbs 14 we find these words of widsom…

 14 The faithless will be fully repaid for their ways,
       and the good man rewarded for his.

 15 A simple man believes anything,
       but a prudent man gives thought to his steps.

 16 A wise man fears the LORD and shuns evil,
       but a fool is hotheaded and reckless.

 Pray that our leaders and church members will boldly practice faithful obedience and be wise in all their steps.

We made out first visit to Vista de Yaque, not to be confused with Villa de Yaque.  The two communities are not at all close to one another but are linked by Hector. He lives in Villa de Yaque and a good part of his family lives in Vista de Yaque.  We had a gathering yesterday of mostly his family and a few neighbors- there was about 20 of us in all.  They received us very enthusiastically. Hector gave a very stirring testimony and challenge to turn to the Lord.  Apparently when he lived there he was anything but a model husband and father. He shared how Christ has changed his heart and life and implored them to also turn to the Lord. He will be an awesome preacher one day. Pray with me for him to develop his ability to preach the Word of God!

Carloina went with us to help with the music and she did an awesome job too. Milagros was going to go but was in the hospital with her daughter so she couldn’t make it. We made an appointment to go back on Thursday to start a weekly bible study with them. Please keep that ministry in your prayers.

The community is small- thirty or so families live there. I am excited to see what God has in store for them! I couldn’t help but htink of Paul and Silas as they witnessed to the Jailer and the report that he and all his family were baptized! I believe that we may see a new church born that will be mainly the family of Hector. He has 8 children- five sons and three daughters. Keep them in your prayers!

This has been a week end of hospital ministry! Pilar and Mecho’s mother continues to be in ICU recxovering from a heart attack. Her situation has been complicated by a sepsis infection. Her leg just got eaten up with infection so quickly. It seems they have gotten the infection at least to the point where it isn’t spreading but they are not sure they can save the infected (right) leg.  She is 81 years old and diabetic to complicate things even further. She was complaining of pain in her leg yesterday which I took to be a good sign.  Thier brother is still awaiting word to see if he will have open heart surgery this week. If not now, the doctors say they are coming back in July and will operate on him then.

Milagros (the lady who owns th colmado) at Villa de Yaque is a new grandmother again. her daughter had a cesarian yesterday morning- it was almost a month earlier than they anticipated but the little girl was born a healthy 7 pounds.  They rode into Santiago on motorscooters at 4am. I was appalled! But at least by the time I found out about that they were safe at the hospital!

I appreciate your prayers for these dear friends. I have had more contact with hospital than I like. It is an institution that has so many deficiencies it is maddening, and yet everyday it is full of people receiving some level of medical care that they wouldn’t otherwise receive and for that I have to give thanks.