Since we last blogged an update, much has occurred here on the field. In early January, a team of college students from Austin arrived to serve and in late January a dental team came as well. What a blessing both teams were to the community here. This year the dental team consisted of 2 dentists, 3 assistants, and a hygentist seeing the students and the families. It was wonderful to see them bring relief to many dental problems and so wonderful to hear of the amount of decrease in teeth needing to be pulled in our students! Having our students brush their teeth twice a day at school, as well as the yearly free care by this team is beginning to see fruit. Thank you Dr. Bud Neeley and his team!
Josh's sister,
Kristi and her husband, Tony were able to visit us for a week in January as
well. This brought with it many smiles! They ministered to our
hearts by their mere presence. We enjoyed taking them into the villages that
Makarios mainly works with and fun to witness the locals shout out
"F-in-l-ey" as we visited. And it was especially heart warming
to see Finley gravitate towards her friends from the school by greeting them
with a hug or kiss in these villages! And I thought popularity was just an
American thing!
In February we
took our staff to Jarabacoa for Makarios' yearly staff retreat. Jarabacoa
is in the mountains of the D.R. and has many beautiful sights. Robin and
Heather Allen (Missionary Training International) flew in to minister to
the entire staff and to provide missionary care to the American staff.
The retreat consisted of hearing God's Word, community time, reflecting,
and ... fun! The staff had the opportunity to horse back ride or white
water raft. For many of our local staff, this was the first time to
travel from their home town and the first time to do one of these activities.
Our kids were too young to raft, so I took them on the horses and Josh
rode the rapids! Got to love the D.R.- the 'guides' threw my 3
older children (whom have NEVER been on a horse in their lives) on these (half
dead looking) horses... and never
said one word to them. The
guides took off. And my 3 inexperienced un-helmet-ed children
rode off too...on their own horse. Yikes! We rode horses through the
beautiful mountainous area to a breath-taking waterfall. I was a bit
worried for the kids safety, and especially worried when I saw my boys smacking
the rear of their horse with a stick. I just repeated that 'God is
sovereign' in my head. And He is!
Recently, Josh
hired Benjamin Nunez, who grew up as a sponsored child in the Compassion
International program. Benjamin then went on to the Compassion
International college and leadership programs and graduates March 18th and has
invited Josh to be there which is really exciting to be a part of.
Benjamin is a leader in the church we call home here, Templo Biblico.
It is a complete blessing to see how Josh's prayer of being able to pass
on all that he is doing to local Dominicans is coming to life so fast.
Benjamin is gifted by God for this role and is training to fill the
Director role here in Montellano. Makarios also has hired Emmanual
"Chorro" Frica who is our maintenance or facilities manager. He
is only just a graduate of high school but is doing a great job managing
projects and doing all that is needed to keep the school in shape and running
as well as the Makarios House. Andy Upton previously had this role, and
went back to the US in December after serving here for 3 years. It is
just exciting to see God raising Dominican leaders to carry forth the vision of
Makarios. Benjamin has already proven his ability and accomplished so
much with Josh. Oh and we must mention our recently promoted librarian, Narolin
who is training to help with the accounting and is already doing a great job.
We praise God for how he is bringing all this together in His sovereignty.
This month, Alex Torres came and observed our teachers and trained them and equipped them to be better educators. We have already seen blessings in the classrooms from his visit! Makarios will also be hosting a group of around 45 that will come from Hill Country Christian Academy tonight-March 8th. They will be serving at the school and in our neighboring communities. We are excited for when we hosted this group last year, we made friends that are coming back to home school our children for that week and offer free babysitting so we can grab a night out minus 5 kids. The Lord provides relief in wonderful ways.
 |
| Benjamin on the left and Choro on the right in front of the site where we are putting in a well for the school! |
This month, Alex Torres came and observed our teachers and trained them and equipped them to be better educators. We have already seen blessings in the classrooms from his visit! Makarios will also be hosting a group of around 45 that will come from Hill Country Christian Academy tonight-March 8th. They will be serving at the school and in our neighboring communities. We are excited for when we hosted this group last year, we made friends that are coming back to home school our children for that week and offer free babysitting so we can grab a night out minus 5 kids. The Lord provides relief in wonderful ways.
