We must combine the toughness of the serpent with the softness of the dove, a tough mind with a tender heart.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
I read this for the first time back in college and it has come to my mind over and over again as I minister here in the urban environment. I think Jesus said something similar too:
Matthew 10:16 (New International Version) I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
I was so thankful yesterday as I reflected on what our ministry is all about: evangelism, discipleship and leadership development. Once again, the Red Blazer left me stranded on the road! As I waited for the tow truck, Sol and Victor went on ahead with all the stuff and led the program. The kids had a blast, they did a wonderful job enacting the Christmas story, enjoyed their juice and cookies. Victor said he had never heard a group of kids sing so enthusiastically. I finally got there around 6:30 in my own car. They waited for me to get there to give the presents so during their wait, things got a little chaotic, but still, it was a real treat to see the kids get their presents. So many parents were there and pleased with the whole afternoon. I was so thankful for leaders who could go on ahead and carry out the ministry without me! Please continue to pray for more and more leaders to emerge.
Today is our “culto unido,” joint service, here at my house followed by our porkchop cookout. This is our time to be together for Christmas, to reflect on the past year and make some commitments regarding the coming year. I hope you will keep us in prayer!
One of our missionary families really needs your prayers. Carlos and Lili Llambes (some of you know them) are really going through a hard time right now. Brianna, their youngest daughter (7ish), has dengue fever and is hospitalized- and her mother is in the next bed, also with Dengue Fever! And to top it off, they just got word that Carlos’ only brother passed away in Miami. Pray for them as they deal with this illness and also the loss of his brother and not being able to be their with his family. They are scheduled to leave the 20th to spend the holidays in Colombia, Lili’s home. These are tremendous servants of the Lord. Thanks for praying for them!
I have shared with you from time to time the need to try to help our leaders and members find economic stability. Some of you have responded by making special gifts to help those small enterprises get started. We are in the process of getting one started!
Ricardo works here in my neighborhood. he earns $120/month for cleaning an apartment building. He makes some extra money washing our cars and doing odd jobs. In talking with some folks, we decided to get him started selling the 5 gallon water jugs that we all use in our homes. There are 8 apartment buildings right here on the end of the street plus a few houses. All of the families have to consume at least one a day, and some may consume more. He will make a profit of 5 pesos per bottle which isn’t a lot but I would guess that he will probably be able to make about $100/month which will nearly double his fixed income! I have offered my front area for the water rack to be placed and we can chain it to my front fence. I am excited to see how this will work! He is a great person, recently baptized. I gave him a CD stereo that one of the volunteer groups left behind and some CDs with Bible stories and he keeps his house full of people listening to the Bible! I am praying that this coming year we can work to develop his spiritual leadership in his community and beyond.
My car troubles continued into Monday. I won’t bore you with the details, suffice it to say that Pilar, Mecho, Sol, Victor and myself all piled into a 92 Camry (a low rider!) and went in search of gifts for the children. I was sceptical that we could find something decent for 500 kids given our budget. BUT, I was proven wrong. Each girl is going to get a Barbie doll (not the real thing but close enough) and the boys will get a car. We also got some trumpets that make noise (good thing I don’t live near them!) and water guns as a boy or girl gift just in case they are not evenly divided. We have them packed with the underwear and other goodies we had from our volunteer teams. We had a blast- just imagine how fun it will be to give them to the kids! Victor pushed hard for a toy because he said the majority of the kids will not receive anything for Christmas.
We start this Saturday in Guayacanal. Sol and I talked last night on our way to Navarette and we are going to have the kids act out the Christmas story. She is working on getting the props and costumes together. We are going to see if we can get some baby goats to play the part of the flock the shepherds were watching! Please pray for the whole activity- that it won’t be just giving toys to the kids although I think Jesus would be pretty pleased to see these little ones with a new toy. I also believe it will make a great impact on their parents and the community. But more than the toys, I am praying that we can lead people to really think about the love that brought about the 1st Christmas! And I pray that people would make room for Jesus in their hearts, that they may be born anew.
Last night in Navarette we had a really good Bible study. We had more adults than we have had. It is so neat there- we were outside near a cow pasture, with no electricity. They are going to invite the entire community to our Christmas program on Saturday December 23rd. They seemed excited about it and I am praying that it will be a chance for us to impact the whole community (75 families) and that they will make Bible study a priority for 2007.
This morning Victor and I were honored guests of the yearly celebration of the Civil Defense. There were more than 150 volunteers present. The director gave out 10 awards to various people for different accomplishments. We were able to also award a Bible to each of these outstanding volunteers. Pray with me that the Bible will be read and bear the fruit of faithful obedience in the lives of those it reaches.
Some of you may not know that I was a volunteer EMT during my later years at Mill Creek Baptist Church. It was something I really enjoyed and am sorry I had to give up so working now with the CD is really special. They aren’t exactly like our EMS system but sort of.
Beginning in January, we have a commitment now to bring a 10 minute Scripture message each Sunday to the gathering of volunteers! Each Sunday they have about 150 volunteers assembled for training. If you remember, this opportunity was my prayer going into the nurses project. I didn’t even have to ask- he invited us! Pray for this time, for wisdom in preparing these messages and for people to quickly emerge from among these volunteers who are called by God to bring the Good News to their communities. Often I have come across people like Cornelius, people who fear God and want to do His will but just need someone to guide them into a fuller understanding of God’s plan of salvation. I feel sure there are many such people among this group of volunteers: pray that we can help guide them to saving faith and obedience. We have the opportunity here to touch literally 100’s of communities and the surrounding municipalities through this encounter. Please keep us in your prayers as we fine tune our plans!
And pray for the Civil Defense folks- they will be working around the clock during the Christmas holidays to keep everyone safe. There are a lot of accidents during this time, traffic and otherwise. They will be very visible trying to keep every one safe on the roads. Those of you who have been here know that is pretty tough on an ordinary day, but combine that will extra high alcohol consumption and these days of celebration are high risk. Pray for all those who will be volunteering for their safety and for the safety of our Dominican population.
We have had a humbling week as we have watched God make provision for one of his servants! Several generous contributions have come in for her open heart surgery- I think almost enough to cover the whole thing! I am so grateful for those who have prayed for her and for this need. It is incredible how God’s people responded! We are still uncertain as to the date and cost of the operation.
This weekend she developed a major discomfort in her carotid artery. She can barely move her neck at times and it throbs. I hope we can get that look at this week and find out what is going on.
Other than that, she is doing fine. She has such a sweet spirit and doesn’t complain. Her spirits have been greatly encouraged as the various love offerings have come. It really is humbling to receive such love.
Please continue to pray for her, for the surgery to take place quickly and for her to stay healthy while she waits!
We have some exciting days ahead… Next Saturday we are planning to do a Christmas party for the community at Guayacanal- hot dogs, children’s activities, Christmas music and special message. The following Saturday (23) we hope to do the same at Navarette. Pray for us this week as we make all the plans. Pray with me for wisdom in dealing with the Junta de Vecinos: these are the neighborhood organizations. I feel strongly that our ministry should work with the community leaders, helping them to catch a Godly vision of what it means to be community. We are going to approach these leaders to see how we can involve them in our Christmas festivities. The wisdom we need is where to draw the line in mixing “church” with an organization that is political in nature. We want to reach the heart of the communities which means the leaders, and we want to work alongside them as a change agent, but we don’t want the distinctive Christ/Church focus we have to be lost. So pray for wisdom and pray for these leaders to be led to saving faith!
Next Sunday we have our United Christmas service here at my house followed by a special dinner (prokchops on the grill!). Pray for all our folks as we join together, that it will be a special time of worship and commitment as well as a special time of fellowship. Most of our folks will be very limited in their family celebrations due to economic factors so I am praying this will bring the spirit of Christmas alive for them.
On the 24th, Christmas Eve day, each of our three churches will have their services in the morning. In Los Santos and Villa de Yaque they are going to do the initial kick-off for SS and have the Christmas party for the kids that day. The 24th is the day that Dominicans have their Christmas dinner so it is really cool that we can do this in the morning before the evening celebrations! The Hole will have their service but we are going to do the Christmas party at the school sometime the week of the 18th.
So you can see, we will be pretty busy the next several weeks making plans for the Christmas celebrations. Thanks for your prayers!
Once again I have had “fun” with our Red Blazer. As you might remember, several months ago it broke down on me at the worst possible moment. It has been in the shop ever since! I went to get it out yesterday, supposedly it was all fixed. The mechanic went for a long drive with me to make sure it was okay because his father had just passed away and he knew he would be out for several days. My very first stop AFTER leaving the shop the Blazer wouldn’t start! I had left my car with him to have the regular maintenance done knowing I probably wouldn’t get it until next Tuesday or Wednesday. Well, it turns out the Blazer wasn’t ready- the fuel pump wasn’t working. I had to call another mechanic friend of mine who thankfully has roadside assistance! He came and tried to fix it on the spot but couldn’t. Believe it or not, he gave me his car to use this weekend so I could get to church! Hopefully the Blazer will be ready late morning tomorrow and as soon as possible I am getting my own car back!
Well, I know you don’t want to hear about my car troubles, but it does add excitement to life. Just not the sort of excitement you want very often. We had a final workshop on Sunday School yesterday (the group was waiting at my gate when I got home finally in the borrowed car!) They are enthused, well equipped and loaded with supplies from our volunteer teams. When you all leave me things, I try to make sure they get put to good use. I didn’t really want to hang on to all the supplies I had for so long, but I wanted to make sure our leadership was in place for it all to be put to good use. Yesterday was the day! I emptied out my storage shed of all the left over crafts, etc. and we divided it up for the three churches and even prepared two suitcases for the mission sites where we will do some kids activities. Please pray for our churches and their leaders as they begin SS for kids and for adults. And many thanks to Big Pine, Cool Spring and Lexington for all the “stuff” you left behind!
Today I got out all the “goodies” for Christmas gifts. The nurses brought lots of children’s underwear- over 310 to be exact. Plus we have 77 hygiene kits. With some of the toys and odds and end left by all the different groups, I have gifts for 349 children (I just need to get some candy to go along with the underwear)! I am going to buy about another 150-200 more gifts because we have over 500 kids in our 5 churches and missiones. We hope all 500 will become regular participants in SS as we begin the new year!. It is pretty awesome to think of how many kids are being touched by our churches! Please pray that this coming year our leaders will make a strong and lasting presence in the lives of these children and through that lead many of the parents to saving faith as well! It is an incredible opportunity for helping shape young lives.
Thanks to all of you who pray for us and thanks to so many of you who have given so generously! We know that much of what is left here has come from the larger church family and not just those who come to work for the week. And we appreciate all of so much!
