An End And a Beginning

          Today was the last day that Chris, Kevin and Phil were spending here in the Dominican Republic.  Because it is the last of 11 great days, we decided to go out with a bang.  This morning we woke up at 6:30am in order to pack up some baseball equipment and head to a baseball field in Guayacanes (in between Boca Chica and Juan Dolio).  Guayacanes is a very poor village right next to the ocean.  The children in the village love baseball and play every day at the little park next to the highway.  Jodi and I see them almost every day when we drive over to Juan Dolio for spanish class.  Two days ago, I finally felt the Holy Spirit tug at me to stop and start a relationship with the coach and his players.  The coach, Eduardo, accepted my offer to come and help with a clinic today.  I figured it was meant to be when I realized it was the college boys last morning here.  They were very excited when I told them what we were going to do.
          Well, it did not go the way the clinic went yesterday in El Penon.  It was very clear from the start that their was a lack of leadership in this village in Guayacanes.  In El Penon, Maximo the Pastor had total control over his people (in a good way) and the young men and boys were very respectful and excited about playing baseball.  In Eduardo's village, not so much.  They did not seem to listen to him, or us for that matter.  Some of the younger boys that were 10-13 years old were excited and played well with each other, but that was not the norm.  I was very impressed with the way Kevin, Phil and Chris handled the tough situation.  God calls us to love the unlovable.  Yesterday was easy (other than the heat).  Today, we were called to love those that showed hostility, laziness, bad attitudes and apathy.  Although it did not seem that these boys and their coach listened a whole lot to us, I truly believe it was a start of a very significant relationship.  I will continue to go to the village and play, teach, evangelize and most of all...love.  I will pray each day for Eduardo (told me he is not a Christian yet but his mom and brother are) and his community.  They do have a church and I will make every attempt to connect with their pastor and support him as much as possible.
         The college boys may be leaving in a few hours, but they were influencial in the start of something really big in Guayacanes.  May the Lord bless kevin, Phil and Chris abundently, and give them courage and boldness to take what they learned here in the DR and bring it with them to school this year.  Amen!

Dustin Pedroia look a like and his new friend

Preaching in spanish and hoping a seed was planted.

Phil and his homies.

Picture of the day!



Finishing Strong

       

Grab the stuff...it's time to play!

                  For the past 10 days the Shaheen family has had the pleasure of hosting college kids Phil Tuttle, Chris Wages and Kevin Dodson.  All of these young men graduated from Providence Christian Academy in Lilburn Georgia and now play college baseball at Wheaton, Kennesaw State and Augusta State respectively.  It has beenwonderful and intriging having 3 very mature, faithful, and respectful guys that have been seeking out God's plan for their lives. They have done so many things here in the greater Boca Chica area over the past 10 days, from visiting sugarcane villages in order to play with the children, to coaching baseball clinics, to attending church in a very poor community, to attending church in an affluent neighborhood in the capital, to following missions teams to various baseball game sites, to swimming in the chaotic Boca Chica beach, or even just swimming in the pool in front of the house.  They even had one of their best pizza pies in the Dominican Republic.  Who would have thunk it?  We have a lot of Italians that live in Boca Chica.

        My favorite part of their visit was definitely the small group time we spent reading Ephesians, The Dream Maker and excerpts from Radical.  We always went on long tangents that really stretched our faith out to a point of learning and discerning.  Phil, Chris and Kevin spend time in the Word and in prayer and it shows in the fruit of their spirits.  It was very clear to all at the Highlands complex and beyond that these guys want to spread Christ's love all the time.

       Today, Wednesday July 27th, we jumped into the Suzuki __?__ and drove 30  minutes to a batey in San Pedro de Macoris.  I have had the opportunity to talk with the pastor of the church in the community called El Penon.  His name is Maximo and he had been trained by SCORE and planted their a few years back. I met him at another church and asked him if I could bring the guys over for a clinic.  He was excited to have us their.  Their village is very poor and his church is definitely a place that the people of El Penon can take refuge.  It was clear to us right from the start that Maximo has created a great sense of community through the church.  The kids were behaved and the adults were extremely friendly. 

      We first conducted a 3 station clinic where we allowed the 20 players to hit, field and take fly balls.  After we worked them hard for 45 minutes, we mixed the teams up and played a friendly game.  I had the opportunity to pitch for one team, while the college guys played on the other team.  That was fun.  It allowed me the opportunity to get revenge on these providence guys for all the heart-ache they gave me the past 4 years.  I will not give you the stats of the game, but lets just say my 36 year old body held its own against those rascals.  We had a lot of fun and spoke a lot of spanish (good or bad).  Its amazing how Christ's love and the game of baseball has its own language.  We did not feel like we could not communicate. 

Below are pictures of our time in El Penon:

Smile for the camera.

 Phil getting mobbed for his candies (dulces) and July with the Bibles we gave him for he and his coaches.

Shaheen against Tuttle with a gorgeous backdrop.

Coaching up the infielder with the wooden "soft-hands" gloves.  Note the jersey number.  I was a big fan of John Hannah, the best lineman of all-time.

Chris teaching "short to, long through" or "please do not hit me".

With the Gospel glove on my head, Holt on my right arm, I am ready to preach.

Kevin doing his best touch shot when throwing fly balls.

Talking baseball with Pastor Maximo.  Look at his shirt.  Even Dominicans know about Cobb County Baseball.

Phil has a new friend. 

Maximo shows us the center of the community, the church.

Fixing the field cage/backstop before we get started.

Picture of the day.  El cielo.

The boys from Providence are heading home tomorrow.  I pray that they go home with conviction and a renewed feeling of Christ's love in their hearts.  It was fun for 11 days.  I hope I see them again next summer.

Double Vision

           It is FCA's vision in the USA and in the Dominican Republic to see the world impacted for Jesus Christ through the influence of athletes and coaches.  There is no doubt that my mission is to work to and through coaches in the communities.  Discipleship is the key.  Invest in the leaders (coaches) of the communities, and it will "flow" right into the athletes and their families.  All that being said, there is so much that needs be done here in Boca Chica and the surrounding communities.  Boca Chica in particular, has severe poverty, major crime that includes drugs, alcohol, prostitution and child trafficking.  Every day I drive through my new community and see a rough life.  It can be a bit overwhelming.  I feel at times like I am just a small person against a huge giant.  So much to do, so little time.  Right?
           Each day I drive or walk by the middle aged man that guards my house during the daytime.  His name is Valentine (Valenteen).  Almost every day I stop and take some time to get to know the nice man with the big laugh and even bigger shotgun.  Every once in a while we talk about important things like family or God. I think Valentine likes it when we get serious in our talks.  I believe that he probably does not get to talk about his faith a whole lot with his family or friends.  He told me the first week I met him that he does not attend church, but does read the Bible.  I asked after that first discussion if he would mind if I spoke to him about Jesus every so often.  He replied with a big smile and a "Si".  I like talking to Valentine because he is honest and is willing to hear what I have to say, even if it is in "cave man" spanish.  The first week we spoke to each other we would just say "Hola, como esta, adios, ext...  Now, three weeks later, we shout Gracias a Dios, Dios es bueno, Dios le bendiga, or vaya con Dios.  I love grabbing an ice cream sandwich from my freezer and taking a seat next to my new friend.  There's no doubt that God called me to the Dominican as an FCA missionary to spend a lot of time with coaches in order to multiple the Kingdom.  I am excited about our vision for the DR.  But you know what, I think He may have sent me also to talk to Valentine and invest some quality time with a new friend.  It's pretty neat, a wacky sounding yankee like me was sent to the DR to befriend a Dominican guard.  Who would have thunk it?  Not me.  Certainly not Valentine.
           

Pictures of the Month of July - FCA Dominican Ministry

Wyman playing at Boca Chica beach with new friends.

Gracie making a new friend in the village

Phil Tuttle spending time in San Pedro de Macoris

Gals at the Orphanage dancing and singing with the missionaries.

Baptism of Leslie and LeAnna Evans. So amazing!

Village field field in San Pedro de Macoris.

Coach Shaheen observing a ball game in the village.

Chris Wages and his new buddy are telling us how many cokes they want.

This is a friendly bees nest.

Now this is a six-pack!

Gracias!

As long as I am on Daddy's shoulders...

It’s Clear Now Why We Are Here

                 In two and a half days it has been clear to me and everyone involved with the ministry down here that FCA was placed with perfect timing.  I read the FCA vision and mission statement over and over the weeks leading up to our departure.  The mission and vision are pretty straightforward…To see the world impacted for Jesus Christ and through the influence of athletes and coaches and To present to athletes and coaches and all whom they influence the challenge and adventure of receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, serving Him in their relationships and in the fellowship of the church.  What was not straightforward and has not been until now, was what that meant for the Dominican Republic and for me and my family in particular.  It is one of my duties as an FCA staff member to design my plan for the year in the month of “July.”  I put quotes around July for a reason that you will come to understand later.  The past 72 hours have been an amazing testament to the fact that God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)  As we wake up each day asking God to: Show me your ways, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. (Psalm 25) …God listens and blesses us with situations that can bring Him glory and those around us closer to him.

 The basketball group from TN

 Here we are with Adrienne Christian who is here for a couple of months this summer as an intern for Score.

 Here is one of the facilities on our compound.

Here we are with our new friends here from a church from TN

Michael working on his Spanish with the guards

                On Saturday morning I had a meeting scheduled with a Pastor named Aby.  He is the Lead Pastor for Score International and is in charge of planting churches.  He has already been the leader of 5 church plants in a few years.  Along with Aby at the meeting were going to be several of his pastors of the church plants along with sports (baseball) leaders in the community.  What ended up happening was a church filled with all of those people I just wrote about and about one hundred others in the community in San Pedro de Macoris (baseball capital of the world).  I had the pleasure and honor to be able to stand in front of this large group and tell me story along with the vision of FCA in the Dominican Republic.  After giving a 15 minute summary, I prayed for the community and answered any questions.  It went extremely well and many of the pastors and coaches in the church community are eager to get the “ball rolling” with FCA.  It is clear that baseball can be used as a platform in a town that has had “79” Major Leaguers.  Yes, 79 MLB players from one town.  From Rico Cardy to Robinson Cano.  Even more clear is the fact that Aby has done an amazing job spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ to an area in need.  It is clear now why we are here!

                [Side note: Yesterday the people of the Greater Santo Domingo area announced that they are going to perform a strike on Monday because the price for fuel is way too high and they cannot afford public transportation to get to work each day.  On our way to church in Santo Domingo yesterday (Sunday) a riot broke out on the highway as we were driving through Boca Chica.  About 100 yards in front of me I could see 20 young men throw tires and big rocks on the road in front of us in order to block our way into the city.  Scary.  I had my family and Jonah Huff and Austin Galloway with me.  We had to turn around and drive the wrong direction on the highway for 200 feet until we could get on the correct side.  It ended up a blessing because we got to attend a local Boca Chica church and it was wonderful.]

                This morning I found out that one of our FCA teams was going to play in downtown Boca Chica at 9am.  Great news!  Downtown BC is just a few miles away from my house.  I drove Ezekial and Javier (my new Dominican teenage friends) to the game so that they could play with FCA.  I also brought Jonah and Austin so that they could talk to Dominicans at the field.  It ended up being a great opportunity for the ministry and the handiwork of God.  I had the honor of meeting the two main coaches in the community (who happen to be Christians) and we talked about how I can help their programs.  It was so much fun getting to know them and hearing their testimonies.  I invited them to our facility for a clinic and opened up the door for FCA to be involved at their ballpark and with their coaches/players in the future.  Very exciting!  One of the coaches, Willie, told me that he has been working hard to witness to the young men on his teams and invites them to church all the time.  That was great to hear.  Again, it is clear why we are here.

               

                I am now going to tell you about something I am still not totally over with.  I am still in awe of the situation.  It’s one of those situations that you have to believe in Christ after hearing it.  It started three months ago when a man named Eliezer (pronounced El ee say) Lembert emailed Bob Wiedemann in the USA from the DR.  The email basically stated that he had heard of FCA and wanted help.  He said he was a pastor and coach and needed help asap.  Three months ago I was swamped with baseball, finishing school, moving and making getting rid of my stuff.  Although I was intrigued by the email and kept it in my inbox, I definitely put it on the back burner.  I figured that I could get back to it when we actually live in the DR.  Well, the emails never stopped.  He then asked for my phone number and started calling me a few days ago to tell me he would like to meet.  Of course I had no issue with that and invited him to the Highlands for lunch scheduled for today.  What I am about to write now is in no way exaggerated.  After being stood up for lunch, I figured he just could not get here because of the strike.  Then, I heard a knock on my door and it was one of our guards telling me that Eliezer was at the gate.  I told him to tell him to drive on up. Of course he has a car, right?  Wrong!  He walked from the gate to the door and I started walking down toward him.  I did not see a vehicle other than a moped motorcycle driving away.  I greeted him, hugged him, and asked him how he got to the house.  He told me that he took a taxi from town.  (Taxis in the DR are moped motorcycles)  Ok, that’s ok, he must have been dropped off in town by his friend.  Nope.  He took taxis from the capital (30 minute car ride) to my house.  Alright, that is not too bad, right?  You wait and see.  I saw that he was sweating profusely and tired so I gave him some mango juice and snacks.  After several minutes of just chatter talk, I asked him where he came from.  Ah, here goes…  He told me that he took buses (3) for 5 hours yesterday in order to get to the capital where he could stay one night with a friend.  He told me that he lived in a community that is a 3 minutes car ride to HAITI!  WWWWhhhhhhhhhhhat?   “That is amazing”, I said with my mouth open wide.  I of course them asked him how many days he was going to stay with his friend in the capitol, because of course, he must be making this trip into a vacation, right?  Ah, wrongo again!  He was just going to stay the night to sleep at his friend’s house and then go back to his community that needs him.  He came all the way from the Haitian border 5 hours on 5 buses over two days in order to meet with me for 2 hours and start a relationship.  WOW.  God, are you kidding me?  Is this true?  The two hours I spent with this young man was tremendous.  He comes from a community in the undeveloped part of the country out west.  His community loves sports but does not have the resources to play at a high level against other communities.  Moreover, he told me that he needs someone (or many) to come to his community and teach the coaches about how to use baseball and basketball as a platform for Jesus Christ.  By the time we were done meeting, I had our head of evangelical ministry at the Highlands Eddy Jesus working with me to set up an opportunity for us to go out there to train them with the possibility of their whole youth group (60) coming here for a retreat later in the Fall.  Eddy was amazed too.  It was a great two hours.  The best moment came when I offered Eliezer equipment, baseballs, or uniforms.  His answer was truly humbling, “No, I just came here to meet you and start a relationship that will last a long time.  My community needs it.” 

Today Bob Wiedemann (FCA Director in GA) and one of our FCA teams went to San Pedro de Macoris to play against a team there.  Bob sought out the coach of the opposing team and decided to ask him a few questions about his faith.  After a several minutes talking about each other’s stories, the coach whose name is July (pronounced Julie), broke down and told Bob he has had enough of living the way he is.  Bob basically laid it all out on the table for July and asked him if he wanted to give up that life.  July said yes and later after prayer and petition, asked God to come into his heart.  Amazing!   I was later told that July had been witnessed to hundreds of times over the past 5 years but never was willing to “give up his life.”  What he is now realizing is that he just received his life back because he was willing to give it up.  July received the greatest gift of all in July.  Folks, it is very clear now why we are here.

A Great First Week

The Shaheens are blessed. We have had a wonderful first week here in the Dominican Republic. So much has happened each of the days here that it would probably take me 10 pages to write it all down.  I do want to share a couple thoughts on what we do each day.  Here goes:

Our facility here in the month of June, July and part of August is packed with 3,4 or 5 teams worth of short term mission groups.  That is most definitely a lot of work for us here at the Highlands, but it is alo a huge blessing to meet so many new people that want to know the Lord in a bigger way.

Wyman and Grace love living at a place that has so many people here all the time.  They had such a wonderful time with the FCA baseball group from Virginia and the church group from Hart Co especially.  Today they went to a village with the Hart Co group to play with other kids and share the Gospel.  What a great way to live out your childhood.  I could never have imagined that my kids would have such great role models around them on a daily basis.

I see the ministry here really blossoming over the next few years.  I have a meeting with a group of young pastors in San Pedro de Macoris on Saturday.  They want to know how they can help the new baseball ministry.  I am so excited about this meeting.  It will be a huge blessing to have Godly young men helping me in our discipleship program. I also spoke with the GM of the Dominican SF Giants professional team today. His name is Pablo.   They rent our baseball fields/facilities here at the Highlands every day in order to workout, practice and play games.  He told me that I can speak to his team next week and cast my vision for FCA in the Dominican Republic.  He also said he would love for me to speak to his team often.  I will tell them my story next week and invite them to sit with me once per week in the future. 

Please pray that both of these meetings/opportunities be fruitful and a blessing for all involved. 

Jodi and I have been taking a spanish course every morning (M-Th) from 9-12noon.  It has been fun to see Jodi and the kids learn new words and phrases every day.  I have been working really hard to pick up the language by talking with all of the people on this campus and reading the spanish Bible.  Mercy and Julio, our teachers, say that I will be able to speak pretty well by November.  Please pray that God continues to give us the energy and excitement to learn spanish and the courage to use it with people we do not know.

Tomorrow the FCA Atlanta Baseball trips come to town.  Hooray!  We are excited to see our friends.  I have a few young men that are staying with us at our home next week and that will be a great opportunity for discipleship.  It will also be pretty cool to have a full house.  I am sure Wyman and Gracie will love having Noah, Nick, Jonah and Austin over the house.

Jodi, the kids and I would like to send our blessings to you.  We love all of you and pray that God fill up your heart with His love. 

In His grip,
Mike, Jodi, Wyman and Grace

The Great Provider

         God is good.  If you read my last post, you read that in the first 4 days I was a bit out of touch with what God intended for me here.  I needed a little bit of direction from our Creator.  His word is truth and also a road map for our lives.  So often I breeze through a day without stopping and I realize at 9pm that I just missed some great opportunities. My last two days have not been that way.  After getting a little bit of cold water dumped on me, I decided to take a step back, buckle in, and look for and recognize all the people and situations that God has placed in my lap.  Guess what?  You ask Him and He will provide.  He is the Great Provider. 
         I just spent two hours spending time with a 17 year old young man named Ezekial.  I met Ezekial yesterday in front of my house as he was watching the National Dominican girls softball team play Puerto Rico's National team.  His father Danny is one of the security guards at our facility and he often times comes and hangs out or swims in one of the pools.  Ezekial has a huge smile and a great demeanor about him.  I knew right away that we would be pals.  He did not seem to be bothered by my bad spanish and he even seemed to like helping me learn.  I offered to work with him hitting (batear) and catching (receptir) today and he accepted.  I prayed on Friday that God would bring some people to me and he provided.  After giving Ezekial a few pointers on hitting and throwing, I gave him one of our rubber wrist bands and spent some time telling him about the scripture verse John 3:30.  It was so cool!  I asked him if he had a Bible and he said no. So of course I gave him a "Testamente nuevo en espanol."  I asked him if he would read the Gospel of John the next two nights and he agreed.  I will meet again with Ezekial on Wednesday at 2pm. God is good.
            The last few days I have had the opportunity to spend time with a few missions teams that are staying here at the Highlands.  The first group I spoke to is an FCA baseball group from Fairfax, Virginia. 8 players (yup 9 needed for a team) and two coaches.  My first question was "where is the 9th guy?".  They laughed, and then told me that they only have 8 and plan on either borrowing one Dominican each game of just mixing the teams every day.  The latter is a great idea.  They will definitely become familiar with Dominican culture that way and probably even pick up a few words in spanish to boot.  On Saturday night, the day after I asked God to provide me with some people to talk to, this team agreed to allow me to give a devotion after dinner. The night before I taught them how to play "footsie four square" and they loved it.  I played that game with a Wesleyan group in the DR for 7 days straight in 2008 and loved every moment of it.  Of course, the Virginians loved it too and I got to know each of the young men.  They also seemed to like playing around with Wyman.  Wyman stayed up way too late that night.  Sooo, Saturday night I gave a devotion on Romans 10 and then told them the story of Holt Rowland.  I had a feeling that Holt's story would strike a nerve in these young men because they are on the same type of trip Holt took last year and belong to the same organization (FCA).  I was correct.  Holt's influence is now all the way up to Virginia.  All of the young men are wearing the armband with Holt's initials on it and will see the verse from John 3:30, "He must become greater; I must become less, every time they look down at their wrist.  Amazing!  He provided once again I say, "God is good.
         Jodi and I have been blessed with two great spanish teachers since we have been down here.  Mercy and Julio have taught us so much in just two days about the culture and the spanish language.  Its our hope that we will both be able to spread the good news of Jesus Christ to Dominican coaches and players and anyone else that we meet.  I am sure that God will provide us with that ability to speak in spanish.  He has already given us the energy and excitement for the language.  There is nothing like reciting some spanish sayings each night before prayers with the kids.  Wyman and Gracie already are saying Buenos Dias, Hola, Como esta, bien, Gracias, hasta Luego and Adios. God willing, praying in spanish as a family will be a special moment someday in the future.
         Every group that has come here on a mission trip has wanted to hear our story and pray over us.  I cannot tell you how amazing that feels.  One group in particular that we have spent time with is from Hart County, Georgia.  They were not here more than an hour before they were asking us to tell our story and pray with them.  The last two nights it has been a huge blessing to spend a few hours talking about the great GA, sweet tea, and good ole phrases like y'all and fixin.  Hearing their individual stories has been great too.  We all have a faith walk and it is special and unique. A group from the Woodstock area spent time at our place Saturday and Sunday too.  The group is called Gloves for God and their coach is Wes Lecroy from First Baptist of Woodstock.  They repair old gloves and give them to kids in the villages.  They also use a crazy looking glove with 5 colors on it to share the Gospel.  They let me thow BP to them yesterday and give my story and a mini devotion on "opportunity."  After the devotion, I had 15 sweaty guys praying over me.  That was awesome. Praise God, the Provider!

           Favorite Dominican phrase of the day is:  Pin poon!  It means right away.  I love it.  Just saying it makes me belly laugh.  Just say it to someone later tonight.  I want some food...pin poon!
          
         The Shaheen family currently has Adrienne Christian (spanish teacher at Wesleyan) staying with us this week.  She is a summer missionary with SCORE International (the group we partner with) and they assigned her to our facility this week.  So awesome.  Adrienne is awesome and it is pretty cool to have her here with us.  Jodi took advantage of Adrienne spanisg skills last night and had her help with the homework.

        Friends and family, again, thank you for all your support.  Your prayers are felt all the way over here in the Dominican Republic.  Please know that we love you and miss you very much.  We have email, facebook and skype that works great.  We also purchased a $7 per month skype phone service that allows us to call out  to people.  Please send us your thoughts whenver you want.  We love them.

       Please remember:

The precepts of the Lord are right, giving JOY to the heart.
                                                     Psalms 19:9

In His grip,
Mike, Jodi, Wyman and Gracie

PS. Jodi will start throwing some pictures up with this blog asap.
         

A Tell All Article

     I almost do not know where to start.  The past 4 days have been 150 miles per hour.  We have tried to put our foot on the breaks, but let's face it, it's impossible.  We moved to a different country, a third world country at that.  10 minutes ago I sat on my couch frustrated.  I did not know where the day went. I was not sure what was bothering me, but I definitely was not right.  I did not know where the past 4 days went.  Then I did what I probably need to do more often when I am melting down...I opened up the Bible to where I left off this morning, took a deep breath and just read me some Word.  Amazing!  It helped.  Wow.  No aspirin.  No tv.  No cell phone. No food.  Just God's word.
    Do not get me wrong, the past 4 days have been great.  The people we have come in contact with each day are awesome.  Our neighbors Gus and Illeana are wonderful.  They have worked so hard to make our transition easier.  Eddy Gill, another missionary on campus, has been so helpful to me especially.  Our offices are side by side and he has helped me with so many tasks this week I cannot count them on my hand.  Carolina, another missionary at the office, the security guards: Valentine, Victor, Raphael, Juan, John, Mariano and all the others have shown us so much love with their smiles and helpful actions. But the days have been crazy.  I never thought that buying phones (and setting them up), renting a car, tracking your car in the Caribbean, setting up spanish lessons and then going to them, grocery shopping, buying some furniture, playing with your children, overseeing some missions groups and eating 3 meals per day would be so tiring. 
      After reading Romans 10:14-21 it all became pretty clear why I was frustrated.  Paul starts off by asking how it would be possible for someone to know Jesus unless someone else tells them about Jesus. My favorite verse is,"How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news." He states that faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.  He then uses Moses and Isaiah in support of his thoughts that God reveals himself to all of us. In Isaiah, "I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me." He ends with "All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people."  Awesome!  Oh how he loves us and wants us to tell all.   Last night I also heard a message from the founder of SCORE International Ron Bishop who also spoke about "telling the world about your hope."  He spoke about how excited he was to tell people about what Jesus had done for him, even at 18 years old. He risked all his high school friendships and his reputation by preaching the gospel. So why was I frustrated. What were those messages doing with me. God was tugging at my heart.  He was telling me that all the stuff I have been so busy with the past 4 days, although somewhat important in the settling process, is not why I am here. Having a rental car, email, phone service, or an extra computer will not in itself bring me any joy in the Dominican Republic.  What will will bring me joy you ask?  Conversations with people about who came to this earth 2000 years ago and saved me.  Conversations that will lead to relationships that are rooted and developed by a common love for the creator of the universe.  Simply, telling others about Jesus.
       Hopefully the next time I post on this site it will have a lot of pictures that Jodi has taken over the past few days.  We really wnat y'all to see what it is like down here in the beautiful Dominican Republic.  We want you to see the faces of the people that are supporting and inspiring us every day.  Most importantly, we want you to know that your prayers help us so much and we need you to continue with them.  We hope that this ministry will bless you as much as it blesses us.
       This week we will be visiting the kids school to register them for the next school year.  We also will be starting our first full week of spanish classes.  We are very excited to start the week Sunday at a new church in the capital (Santo Domingo).  We are so pumped up to me our new friends at church. Pleasecontinue to pray that God guides our decisions each and every day.  We love you all.  Praise the Lord!