The Timothy Project

Mecho (Assistant cook, Pilar’s sister) continues to be in CCU at the hospital. They want her to have a catherisization today or tomorrow before releasing her. We are working to see what we can do. It costs $600 and if one of the veins is blocked it could cost up to $1800. Victor and Paula are working with some contacts they have to see if we can get the price reduced some.  Please keep them in your prayers as they talk to the director fo the facility and for the family as they work to get the money together. 

Mecho is in good spirits and seems to be doing well. She had an echocardiogram earlier this week and apparently something showed up that made them request this further process.  Thanks for praying for her!

I have had a chance to visit in person iwth all of our leaders and have heard good reports. Our three churches have done well this past month. Los Santos initiated a daily get together to hear a verse from the Bible related to the family. They meet from house to house every night at 8pm. This month is the month of the family.  Sol says the get togethers are well attended and the people are enthusiastic. Our Sunday services were well attended as well.

Things in the Hole are the same- our regular crowd has been regular. The house is bought- we are just waiting for the family to find a place to live. Hopefully by this weekend we can get inside and begin making plans for fixing it up.

Villa de Yaque continues to do well.  They had a difficult time with the lady who had loaned us the house. It seems she sold it to her brother and we now have to vacate. All of that would be fine because we had agreed that whenever she needed it or sold it, we would go peacefully. But it seems she was pretty harsh with some of our folks and complained about things that weren’t accurate. But, it has past. Hector and Milagro have found two other houses that we can use for free and there is a possibility of purchasing one right in the front of the community for $1500. I am not sure about all this; Victor and I are going to try to get in to see the Director of the Housing Auhtority in Santo Domingo and find out their take on purchasing something there.

I haven’t been to Guayacanal yet (that is tonight) but Victor tells me that he has had about 30-35 every week. He doesn’t have to announce he is there- they are waiting for him when he comes! The folks whose home burnt are faithful as well as all their neighbors from that lower section. Johnny and his wife are still faithful in participating as well. I am so excited to see what God is doing!

We were in Navarette last night and had a good meeting. There was a community leaders meeting at the same time so we were missing some of our folks but I was pleased to see them meeting. That organization had been dormant for some time and when we had the nurses clinic there, I spoke to the leaders and encouraged them to get together to work for the  benefit of their community.  We have moved our Bible study time there to Tuesday which I think will be a benefit to us.

As you can see, our leaders are maturing and growing as our the ministries they are leading. I am so thankful for all of your prayers and participating this past year in developing leaders. Pray with us now for leadership to emerge in our new mission sites as well as for new works to emerge through our friends at the Civil Defense.

It has been a great vacation, getting to see so many different people in so many places! I am really thankful to have had the chance to catch up with old friends and new friends alike!  And now it feels good to be home again! Oreo gave me her usual friendly greeting as did Pilar and Kelvin. 

I discovered a dead battery which has kept me home this morning. Thankfully a neighbor had a battery charger so he is helping me- hopefully in an hour or so I can get the car started and begin to make some visits and do some errands.

The big news and prayer concern is for Mecho (Pilar’s sister, assistant cook): She had an angina attack Sunday and is i the CCU at the hospital.  Pilar said every one there knows all about Oreo because that has been Mecho’s big concern: She had been staying at my house, taking care of the dog. Sunday on her way to church she had terrible chest pain and got the public car driver to take her all the way to Pilar’s house (it was off his route but thankfully he cooperated). And from there, she wound up in the hospital. I don’t know too many details but hope to see her this morning and find out how she is.  Pilar said she was doing better (stable anyway) and they did some sort of analysis yesterday so when the results come back they will have a more complete picture of what is happening.  Thanks for keeping her in your prayers!

I hope to touch base with our leaders today and tomorrow and will bring you all up to date on how things are in the ministry as well. Thanks for checking in and praying with us! You are in our prayers as well!

What an experience! My friend Linda from Big Pine works at the Dolphin Research Center in Grassy Key, FL and invited us to come see the dolphins.  We had such a good time- we got in the water with “Talon,” he did some tricks with us, even gave us a ride with his dorsal fin.  We were all pretty jazzed up from that experience when we walked by the female, expecting dolphins on our way out and discovered a baby fin popping out! Well, after waiting nearly 2 hours, we had the incredible thrill of watching the baby dolphin pop to the surface and begin taking breaths and swimming. It was quite an experience.  We felt very priviledged for having witnessed this moment; chalk another one up for our incredible Creator!  And we are very thankful to Linda for having invited us and showing us such a wonderful time at the DRC!

Psalm 100 says: MaKe a joyful noise to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come before his presence with singing!  Know that the Lord is God! It is He Who has made us, not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.  Enter His gates with thanksgiving and a thank offering and into His courts with praise!  Be thankful and say so to Him, bless and affectionately praise His name!  For the Lord is good; His mercy and loving-kindness are everlasting. His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations.

This short little Psalm says a lot, and offers us a wonderful guide for this Thanksgiving day. He is good. This month I have visited New England, Richmond, Roanoke (Virginia) and now the Florida Keys. What a beautiful world we have been given. I have marveled at the diversity and wonder of God’s creation. But more than the physical beauty, I have been awed by the beauty of God’s family. I have worshipped and visited in churches in all these distinct places and been amazed at how different we all are, and yet how rich is the community of faith.  I’ll tell you something: God’s church is just incredible! I am so thankful for all the churches I have come to know and love. I give thanks for you and your love for the Lord and for your missionaries!

I haven’t shared much about our ministry because I really don’t know anything about what is happening. I do want to remind you to pray for our leaders there: For Victor as he finalizes the purchase of the house in The Hole (which will be used as our church), for Sol in Los Santos as she leads worships and coordinates with our guest pastors/preachers, ann for the group in Villa de Yaque. Pray that each church will remain strong in their faith and participation in worship and Bible study. Pray for our new Christians in Guayacanal and Ponton de Navarette as well.

Most of all, I hope each of you have a blessed Thanksgiving day and that all of us will take time follow the advice of the Psalmist, entering joyfully into His presence with singing and with a thank offering. God indeed has graced us with a beautiful world in which to live, and has brought together people of faith in churches that truly serve as Light, making an incredible family of faith which is an awesome blessing for us all!

Well, now that I am in sunny Florida, the sun has gone in! Since I arrived, it has been cloudy and a cool 80 degrees. Go figure. But it is good to be in one place for a while and looking forward to Thanksgiving with my family, or part of them. I can be reached at 305.745.8919 or 603.493.6809. Would love to hear from you before I head back on the 27th.

It has been a wonderful weekend! The Shenandoah Valley is beautiful, and for someone who lives in a tropical climate, the color of the leaves, the brisk chill in the air is a treat! It has been great to visit with my former church family, Mill Creek Baptist Church. They celebrated Missions Sunday yesterday and we enjoyed an inspiring worship experience.  Catching up with friends and meeting new folks reminds me of the rich heritage we have in Christ. Tonight, we the ladies mission group meets and I will have a chance to share about the ministry in the DR. Tomorrow I head back to Richmond to fly to Fort Lauderdale and eventually I will head down to Summerland Key to spend time with my parents and also visit with Big Pine Key BC.  I imagine they don’t have the cool temperatures we are enjoying here so I will make the best of it! 

I will have limited access to email once I get to the Keys so you might not see an update until I arrive back in Santiago on the 28th, although I might surprise you if I gain access to the internet somehow.  If I don’t, I want to wish you all a happy thanksgiving! I will be enjoying the day with my parents and my sister’s family and I am confident it will be a great day. Enjoy time with your family and remember giving thanks for the blessings of God we enjoy daily!

It was a trip NOT to be remembered. I got on the bus in Framingham for Logan Airport (Boston) at 3pm and arrived at my friend’s house at 3am! I could have DRIVEN to Richmond faster than my flight time. What happened? I don’t know, other than we were delayed an hour and a half in New York, then once we boarded we waited on the plane for more than an hour, finally taking off around 1am. And then in Richmond of all places, at 2am in the morning, they didn’t have a gate free for us so we waited another thirty minutes or so to deplane. Like I said, a trip NOT to be remembered.

But once here on the ground in Richmond, things have been great. I haven’t been to Cool Spring since BEFORE they started coming to the DR so I got to meet a lot of family of my DR friends as well as see the youth and adults who come and work. It was exciting to share a follow-up report on their ministries of last summer.

Friday I head to Fincastle, where I used to live to visit with Mill Creek Baptist Church, my church family for 9 years. (I served on staff with them and they have been to see me in the DR too.) Then next Tuesday I head down to South Florida and The Keys to spend time with my parents and the folks from Big Pine Key Baptist Church.

Well, I have to admit that all the years living in a tropical climate has made me a wimp when it comes to cold weather. Last Saturday evening I spent shivering. I am happy to say that I think I adjusted well because since then I have been fine and have enjoyed the cool, brisk weather!

It has been great to see family and friends. I got to see my all nephews, visiting some up at Plymouth State Universtiy (NH). I worshipped with the folks at Hope Chapel in Sterling, MA where my brother is pastor. I look forward to having a team from their church come work with us this summer!

This afternoon I head to Richmond, VA to visit with the friends from Cool Spring BC. And from there on to Fincastle to see friends from Mill Creek. It promises to be an awesome week!

If you need a reply from me, please send email to my hotmail address (macedoniaproject@hotmail.com) because for the moment I can’t access my drmission.com account.  I should have access to email (though limited).  My phone number in Fincastle is 540.473.2252- you can reach me there from Friday until the 12th when I will drive back to Richmond to catch a flight to Fort Lauderdale where I will spend a few days and then head to the Keys to spend the last part of my vacation with my parents and sister’s family along with the my friends from Big Pine Key.

The last two days have been a whirlwind! The opportunity presented itself to purchase the house in The Hole tahnks to a special ministry fund gift- what a tremendous blessing! Victor will be closing the deal and getting the paper work in order tomorrow. Sol and Sandoval had an opportunity to buy a new (used) truck that will allow him to work as a subcontractor for the power company, making an excellent salary. I am so thankful for special ministry funds that allowed me to make a small loan to them, enabling them to buy the truck. (His car had broken down the night before he was to start las week! And the repair to the car was more than the car was worth. And the job required having your own vehicle.) 

Victor and I had the priviledge to purchase 34 sheets of tin for the family in Guayacanal whose house burned while the nurses were here. One of them sent some special ministry funds for that purpose. The amount we bought should just about cover the whole roof!  They were at the service tonight- Victor arrived here all excited with the news that he had more than 25 in Bible study and several of our new Christians were present and asking for Bibles to study which we are able to provide through a special gift of the nursing team.

One of our mission vehicles had been damaged, remember? My incredible day of breaking down quite a while back? Well, it has been at the mechanics waiting for a part.  Yesterday I realized I really needed to see if I could get that part or else it would sit for another month. The mechanic hadn’t found it which made me doubtful of my chances but lo and behold, I bought a used “culata” (or cyclinder head) today for $350 (new ones go for upwards of a thousand dollars) and got it over to the mechanic so the car will be ready when I get back.

Today was alos pick up mail day, tie up loose ends here at the house day, get Mecho the keys and info she needs, etc.  Pilar and Mecho spent the afternoon running errands with me and then we spent some time brainstorming some business ideas for Pilar. I think she is willing to give a catering business a try which will be quite successful based on her fame as a cook! Also, I think she is ready to put together a cookbook which should be a big seller with our volunteer teams. Please keep these ventures in your prayers.

I guess it is typical but I had been meaning to get the mosquito nets distributed last week and I got through half of them so today I had to do the other half! It was one of those crazy days doing a little of this and a little of that! But all the nets are in the homes of those who really need them and we are thankful to our nurses who provided them!

I had made plans with Sol and Victor for them to lead the ministries in Guayacanal and Navarrette- I wanted to go tonight but I realized that it was going to be tough to make it with all the other details to deal with so they went solo. And I was thrilled when they both stopped by unannounced to share with me how well things had gone- both sites had 30 or more in Bible study! That is so incredible! I am just thrilled to see them both ministering and leading others to seek the Lord. Pray for them and our other leaders as they march on this month without me.

Well, this time tomorrow I will be in Deerfield, NH beside Pleasant Lake, one of the most beautiful places in the world. I will get to see my nephews and then on Sunday see my other set of nephews as well as their parents, my brother and sister-in-law. I hope to see some New England friends as well before leaving on the 7th for Virginia. I will do some brief updates in the coming weeks as I am able.

I appreciate your prayers and friendship- I am so thankful to be your missionary here in the DR.