Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!

This morning it is FINALLY snowing in DC.
DC is known for snows 'late in the season,' meaning Jan, Feb, and even later. But, it seems to me a bit unusual for the first snow that actually sticks to the ground being in the last week of January....feels like we have been waiting forever. :)
The kids had today off for a teacher workday anyway so they didn't even get a extra day off--but, when they are playing in the snow, it doesn't seem to matter.
*** Don't forget if you click on the mosaic, it will enlarge the pictures.

Beard

David didn't shave while we were on the Mission Trip to the Dominican Republic. He said something about limited running water, the water always being cold, and "not having to." But I can tell you that by the time we got home, he was MORE than ready to shave. He held off until Monday morning (and work) to shave. So, we got one last picture of all this facial hair. David and I will celebrate 12 years of marriage this year and I had never seen this much hair on his face before-- probably never again!! :)

Final Notes

Very sad to see this come to a close. Let’s be honest, it’s in the high 70’s and back home in DC it is in the 30’s…would you want it to end?

On a more serious note, it has been fantastic to have 3 generations of men in the mission field at the same time and working together (My father, me, and my son).

The team has gotten close and spent every day together, we have been able to spread the love of Christ and in just one short week we were able to:
- reach out to over 300 people with medical needs,
- engage, love, and share Jesus with hundreds of kids,
- see over a hundred families prayed for, and
- encourage and serve local leaders and missionaries who are on the frontlines daily.

Thats Old

We had a chance to do some filming down in the ‘Colonial District’ this afternoon, which was a special treat. We met several local shop owners and I saw firsthand how missionaries are appreciated by the Dominican people and also the depth of relationships that have been built by those serving to reach Dominican’s for Jesus.

It was wild to film in the courtyard of THE OLDEST CHURCH in the Western Hemisphere started by Diego Columbus---son of Christopher Columbus---who set the first stone of the cathedral in 1514. All of this history is so interesting and then I looked over my shoulder and see the Hard Rock Café only 100yards away on the opposite side of the courtyard.

The stark contract between the history and traditional was a perfect reflection of the entire country, ‘diametrically opposing opposites’. Extreme poverty on one side and on the other is the poorest of the poor.

I AM HERE

One of the team members pointed out something written on the wall of many of the homes in the community we visited. “Territoio de Dios” …in English…”God is Here” or “God walks here”. This is a clear demonstration of the cultural influence in the community; but I love that you can see this on so many homes.

Would you write this on the side of your house?

In Deuteronomy 6:4-9 we are given instruction on how we should handle scripture and one of the instructions is to write it on your door frame. Without going too ‘Old Testament’ on you…how many of the 10 ways described in Deuteronomy do you live out?

The team has truly become like family and we have really come together as one in the body. It is nothing short of miraculous all the things that have happened over the last 6 days.

Extreme Makeover – DR Style!

I watched that show several times and some of the episodes are pretty moving. But today we went in and cleaned and painted the home for a woman who has given everything she has to the community and I will tell you that I was brought to tears.

Elmi has lived for the last 15 years in Sabana Perdida (The Lost Delta) which is a section of Northeast Santo Domingo that exists right beside the Rio Ozama. The Ozama River flooded terribly in November of 2007 and tens of thousands of homes were simply

washed away in the 30 foot high flooding.

This past year Hurricane Ivan pounded the shores again and water rose to the roof of her home. Still she stays because this is home and this is where she feels called to serve. Words cannot fully describe the conditions and environment.

Over the last year missionaries have brought supplies to Elmi and she has NEVER accepted any of it for her personal use. She gives everything away and today to see her face and feel her joy as we served her and were able to bless this amazing leader in the community…it was powerful!

You want me to do what? Go West!

Today we headed west of the capital city Santo Domingo to a rural compo – Norte de San Cristobal. We spent the day doing medical outreach and after our initial concerns about running out of medicine, we were able to see more people with less chaos in the same amount of time. God blessed this day on so many levels:

- Over 140 were seen by the physicians and given prescriptions…and I don’t think anyone got out of there without being prayed for.

- The neighbor open his garage to us and we had over 75 children at one point all piled into the garage coloring, laughing, playing, and seeing the love of Jesus.

- We were able to work with Pastora Daisy Mena and gave her DVD’s, CD’s, and other materials for her youth ministry as well as all kinds of sporting equipment.

At one point Colin got hit with a ball and so I took him for a walk. After several minutes I noticed more and more children following Colin and I. As we headed west down a road the kids pointed out an area with ‘shin high’ weeds. They told us it was their ‘baseball’ field, to which my ‘inside’ voice said, “You want me to do what? Play baseball in that!”. A few minutes later we broke out some tennis balls and bats. There so many kids wanting to play…I think it shows how God takes one bad thing and turns it around to His glory.

It also showed me how grateful these children were for a few tennis balls, a bat, and a very crude baseball field. Pastora Daisy has an incredible church that has some remarkable young men

 being mentored and who will change the face of that community over the next 10 years.

It Snowed in the Caribbean Today

How else does one describe white droplets in the sky? This morning while on the roof we saw “snow” according to our Dominican friend; what he was describing and seeing was actually fog but it gave us all a good laugh. Abner is a close friend and wonderful doctor who has an incredible story. This morning he gave us all a good chuckle to start the morning.

Don't worry about us...the day ended up sunny and low 80's!