Trying to put into words my journey thus far...

I have sat down countless times to blog about my journey over the last year.  I always walk away with an unfinished piece.  It is hard to describe my journey this past year coming from a middle class lifestlye to  living in a third world culture.  I have a hard time putting into words all the many things that the Lord has been   showing me, teaching me,disciplining me, testing me, and molding in me. One thing I know for sure, if you want to be tried and refined, move somewhere or do something out of your comfort zone.  I look back and giggle to myself at where I am:
1.  I said I would never be a missionary when I was a teenager.
2.  I thought home schoolers were weird.
3.  I said I would rather be cold all the time than hot, if a choice. I only like to sweat at the gym.
4.  I hate camping. I hate bugs.  I hate dirt. I hate smelly smells. I hate cats.
5.  I like orderliness, punctuality, and commitments kept.
6.  I don't love cooking, but I try to do it in love!
7.  I rather avoid conflict than face it.

NOW,
1.  I am a missionary, in a third world culture.
2.  I home school.
3.  I am almost always hot and sweating.
4.  I feel like I am camping many days, not in a tent, but a house.  We have bugs, dirt, Yankee Candle Smell of manure or sewage, we own a cat to chase the mice.
5.  Order here is hard to achieve, the culture has a joke that they run on 'Dominican Time' (late!!!), and it is a safe bet that when someone or something to be done at a certain time, it won't be.
6.  I cooked for over 200 people this past year, 10 weeks of the year breakfast and dinners.
7.  On can't avoid conflict when the people you live life with is your friends and coworkers.

This last year, I personally, faced many giants in my life.  These were difficult lessons to learn and walk through.  Many days it was so difficult spiritually and emotionally I just wanted to avoid them.  Though here you can't avoid them.

1st day of School Video!

Well we are in the US for 3 weeks for Jen's sisters wedding and visiting with family, friends, and those who have partnered with us to share Jesus with the kids and families in the Dominican Republic through Makarios.  We are also raising money for our recent move to Montellano - read more on our past post - and increasing our monthly support.  One of our staff, Margaret put together an awesome video of the first day of the Makarios School.  Makes you feel as if you were there!  Great way to start your day.  I am so proud of our staff and so thankful to God to be a part of Makarios.

Check out www.makdr.org to come visit these kids, get involved, or sponsor a child!

First 2 days in the states!

Well, we are on US soil!  I am so thankful for God's faithfulness and provision.  Our whole family was overwhelmed with excitement to get back but the way our trip back started caused a lot of wonder if we would be delayed arriving in the states.  Long story short...we were running between each of the 3 plane rides without a chance to eat.  5 hungry, tired children surprising did well.  We are trying to be intentional to see God throughout our days and we saw His provisions all day on Saturday as we traveled- from not having to pay the (huge) taxes as we left the island to delaying the plane that we would of missed had it not been delayed.  We even forgot Parlyn's pack-n-play in Miami in our rush between flights...but the airport delivered it the next day! The crisp autumn air and smell of Fall has been like a medicine for me!  I missed the beauty of seasons. I will try to continue to send a short blog out of our time in the states.  If you are not on Facebook, I will include the

Alive! Made it our first year on foreign soil...

Greetings from the Menold family in the Dominican Republic!

(To view this in newsletter format with more picutures - click this to download)

              We are celebrating our 1 year mark in La Republica Dominicana!  In one thought, we can't believe a year has gone by, yet in the next thought we think of all God has done and it has definitely felt like an eventful year! This past year has been packed full of God's presence, mercy, and grace!  To unpack the past year for you, we will attempt to highlight some of our big events:

· August 2011—Arrived in the D.R. and set up home; started studying the language; learned our new job.

· September 2011—Oriented to our new surroundings, ministry, and people.  A lot of firsts!  Josh wrecked on the moto but was ok.  Makarios School Fall semester started. 

· October 2011—Hosted our first team from Ohio, a Medical Group, made up of 13 medically trained doctors, nurses, and paramedics.  The team spent the week from 9-4 giving free yearly physicals to Makarios students, giving out medications and medical care to those in need, and serving with loving hearts!

· November 2011—Hosted a Thanksgiving Dinner at the Makarios (Mak) house for the local and American Staff.  It was home away from home!  The principal and his family left Makarios.  Praise the Lord the staff helped fill the role of Principal so Josh’s role was focused on leadership at the school. Our family got a cat named Theo to control the mice,/bugs.

· December 2011—Closed out the semester and sent each kid home with rice and beans for Christmas.  Enjoyed spending our first Christmas with just the 7 of us in the DR!  We spent Christmas day in Chichigua, one of the Haitian bateys which included a community meal and baptisms in a local pond.  We had the opportunity to travel to the capital, Santo Domingo, experiencing one of the oldest cities in the Western World.

· January 2012—Friends, Tabitha Patel and Laura Mosley were able to come and encourage Jen.  Hosted 13 college students from Austin Stone Church in TX.  They served wherever needed and did it with such selflessness!  We actually had a yard that consisted of rocks, weeds, tarantulas, and fire ants!  One of their acts of service was prepping the yard for new dirt and sod. No more tarantulas now!

· February 2012—Staff retreat held in Jarabacoa, D.R.  The local and American staff spent a long weekend in the mountains team building.  Sharla Megilligan (Exec. Dir.), Chuck Walker (Dir. of Dev.), and Heather and Robin (MTI Teachers) flew in from the states to facilitate. Dentist Bud Neeley, led his team of 4, giving free dental care for 5 straight, LONG days to over 60 children and adults.  Many had some serious dental care too!

· March 2012—A small group from Cedarville, Ohio served with us for 4 days.  59 people from Hill Country Christian school served Makarios in many fashions.  They served in the villages, at the Mak school, and assisted in laying cement for a much needed driveway at the Mak House.  The Menold kids were home schooled  by Arla Rosenbaum that week which gave Jen the ability to get out all those meals for hungry teens!  Tanda Lainhart also served our family by flying out to watch our children that week.  Josh's parents, Greg and Linda, flew out for a week.

· April  2012—During Spring Break, Ira Hall and his daughter, Mary Kate, came to serve by installing internet access to the teacher's classrooms, as well as bringing laptops for the school.

· May 2012—Kelsey Vaughn, a college student at Belmont University, arrives to nanny for the summer for our children.  We knew the summer flooding of teams would not be attainable with just one set of hands!  Kelsey was a blessing.  Paige Wimbush, a college student from Texas, interned for Makarios for the summer and lived in the Mak House as well.  She was Jen's sidekick in the kitchen all summer and served at the Makarios school in the mornings.  

· June 2012—All of our summer teams helped serve at the Makarios school with the summer school programs as well as serving in the villages of Chichigua, Pancho Mateo, and Tamarindo. June 1-9 Doug and Margaret Beck led a team of 12 from Texas.  They served at the Makarios school and in the neighboring villages.  June 15-23 A Family Group arrives, 6 adults and 10 children! You can imagine the excitement for our children.  A quote by Oliver, "They are bringing kids? That speak English? whoo-hoo".  June 29-July 7 The North Carolina Group consisted of 12 (3 kids) dear friends of ours from our home church in Cary, N.C.   It was wonderful to serve alongside friends once again :)  Began construction on a new building at the Makarios School - cafeteria/chapel/kitchen/storage/and all purpose room.  This will allow more classroom space and a new grade added this year!

· July 2012—13th -21st  The Teen Rock group from Austin, TX consisted of 11 energetic college students and leaders.  27th-Aug 4 We hosted two teams in one house!  A team from the Austin Stone Church brought 35 singles, couples, and families.  A team from the Vineyard Church in Miami, FL brought 16 people as well!  It was a blast squeezing in 51 people into the Makarios house.

· August 2012—7th & 10th Our nanny and intern traveled back to the states—both were a blessing.  10-18  Chris Buster, Marketing Dir. for Makarios,  led a team of 9 to finish out our summer stretch of groups!  They were able to make teacher desks, closets, bookshelves, and more at the Makarios School. 

We want to THANK each person that traveled here this past year to serve Makarios, the staff, the locals, our family, and most importantly Jesus Christ for the strength even when we didn’t think we could make it.  Each team uniquely blessed the locals, the staff, the children in the school, and our family in some way.  We were fortunate to be able to sit in on many nightly devotions of 'highs and lows' of the day and watch God transform hearts.   Thank you to those that were prayer warriors back home in the states as well.  

In August we welcomed some new staff.  Sarah Holland joined the teaching staff at the Makarios school.   Doug and Margaret Beck will take our place as host couple and discipleship and in January we will have the Young family (Darren, Becky, Jenna, and Audrey) join us serving as the medical director/PA at the school. We are excited about new faces and personalities sharing their gifts in the ministry.

Many have asked how are we doing? It has been a year of nonstop transition that is for sure.  It was described to us in our training like this, "your highs will be bigger highs and your lows will be bigger lows".  This statement has proved true for our family.  All in all, we have learned so much about the culture and the way of life from the locals.  God has been transforming our hearts - we pray more like His!  Our kiddos have done well.  We are so proud of them and the troopers they have been through the last year.  Tate has really embraced learning the language, Aribella has loved serving the teams that stayed with us, Oliver has overcome his fears of people that are different from us, Finley continues to make everyone smile that she encounters, and Parlyn is probably more Dominican than American.  

We are so excited to continue this journey as God has called us to follow Him and branch out in faith to bring education and the Gospel of Jesus to the children of the world!  Thank you for reading this letter and partnering with us.  1 Thessalonians 1:2 “We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers!  If you have any questions or prayer requests, please email us at menold.makarios@gmail.com  and visit our blog at http://www.themenoldminutes.com .  We have many great stories and pictures for you to see on our blog that captures daily life here so we will keep that updated regularly.

In Him,  Josh, Jen, Tate(9), Aribella(8), Oliver(6), Finley(3), Parlyn(21mos)

 

Yet another transition..

New house in Montellano (close to the Mak School - We rented
the bottom 3 bedroom portion.

As if giving birth to our fifth child, deciding to move to an island I had never been to, stepping out of a culture I've know for 35 years and into one I had never experienced, nor knew the language, packing up and selling belongings we've accumulated in our 10 years of marriage, saying goodbye to a great job, friends, and family, AND stepping into full time ministry with your spouse in ONE year wasn't enough of a transition... we've decided to face yet another!

When we arrived on this island, we came with the titles Host Family and Director of D.R. operations. Josh filled both these roles (and any others needed), while my focus was the hospitality side of things.
Josh, myself, and our kiddos absolutely have enjoyed hosting over 200 guests in our home this past year.  The friendships we have made have and still are huge blessings from God.  Regardless of the struggles we have faced this year, when teams came through... JOY abounded.  We can't tell you enough how the Lord has used members from each team from the states in our personal lives.  Once again, THANK YOU to all the teams that have come to serve Makarios, our family,  and the people of the Dominican Republic.

Jen, Parlyn and Regina at the Makarios Summer School
Finale Fiesta

The big transition?  After much prayer and wrestling with decisions, we have a peace about moving out of the host family position and therefore, out of the host apartment at the Makarios House.  We struggled with the decision because of how awesome it is witnessing people being transformed during their mission/vision trips.  Having the privilege of sitting in on nightly devotions and hearing what God was doing was definitely a highlight for us. I was also blessed by the privilege of getting time to chat with group members during meal preparation and I know that Josh had a blast serving along side of group members in the communities.

There are many reasons why one can become exhausted here, in turn makes having quality family time difficult.  With Josh being able to focus on the Director position alone and I on helping Josh,
homeschooling, and caring for the kiddos, we believe this will be the healthiest decision for the family for this season.  Now, will we still be a part of the teams this coming year? ABSOLUTELY!  Our kids have already expressed their desires to still serve with the teams.  I will also have a little more time to live in the community we serve and work on building local relationships. We are also praying about sending Finley to the Mak School.

Who will fill our role?  A couple from Texas, Margaret and Doug Beck have arrived this week.  They led the first team this summer and we were able to spend the week getting to know them.  They will be a huge asset to the Makarios staff!  Margaret likes to play jokes too... look out Josh and Doug!

Parlyn makes friends quick=)

The saying, "Bitter Sweet" rings in our ears.  We are sad in a sense of letting go of the role, but excited to see what and why God is planting our family in the near-by city of Monte Llano.  We will be in walking distance to the Makarios school, Templo Biblico, and many staff members homes.   In the midst of looking for a new place I have seen how easy my heart is prone to fears.  Fear is sin.   It was hard to chose the location and details because of fears of the unknown.  I wore myself out trying to think of all angles, pros, and cons.  I was reading in a book and challenged by this, "what is God teaching you this week and how are you responding?".  GULP! He is teaching me that I was not trusting Him, evidenced by my stress, anxiety, & indecisiveness due to my fears.  Like anything, I know first hand the difficulties that transition can bring, so I ask you all to be praying for our family as we make this move.
We finally got rid of mice and tarantulas where we currently live... so what critters await us in the new place we will rent?  Most people shop for accessories for their new house, I will be shopping for Raid and a few cats!

We will be in IL Sept. 15-22, and NC Sept 23-Oct 6.  In IL my parents are hosting a time for you to come visit.  Sept 16 12:30-2:30 at 932 E Dunne, Morton IL.  There will also be a time in NC on the 23 of Sept.  More details to follow.  We will be raising funds for our big move in to the new house posted above as it is a lot more money that we had not planned on spending.  Inverter, batteries, fridge, stove, washer, beds, and more.  All blessings we had living at the Mak house that we now have to purchase.  Look forward to seeing you all!

Grace,
Jen

Ollie and his friends at the Finale Fiesta

Ollies 6th Bday Party

Ollie's 6th Bday Party

Belle's 8th Bday Party

Princess Party for Belle 8th Bday

Building in the Mak House

Tate and Issac collecting Guavas

Finley being Finley

My girls!

The baby chick that came back to life
is now a rooster - yes the one Parlyn was
shaking by the neck from a post a few months ago.

When the power goes out....

It's 10:33 right now and the power has been out here at the Makarios House since 9:15pm. It was extremely hot today so all the rooms are hot. The power was on from 4pm-7pm which was not enough time to charge our batteries. Not to mention we spent most of the day with dead batteries as well. We have an inverter that charges batteries when the power is on. When the power goes out we use the battery power. The wrench this summer is that the community we live in was cut back on power for no apparent reason except that Edenorte, the power company, is very corrupt. they also raised the cost electricity by 50%! So today and yesterday we have had only about 8 hours of power and our batteries barely have enough time to charge.

What do you do when the power goes out? We live in a concrete house and you can hear every move made when the fans are not running. All the kids have woken up now either hot or because the dogs down the road can be heard loud and clear. We are praying the power comes on at 12am but there is no guarantee. This is not a complain session but an honest picture of one of the many challenges we face. The month we get brand new batteries, the city power comes on less and less so having new batteries does not help. We could buy 4 more batteries but you still face possible inability to charge them. I can live without Internet or computers now after living here for a year but it has taken a year to realize I can live without them. Communication with family and friends is cut to zero and the ability to get work done goes down hill.

What would you do without power every day?
What would you do without AC and fans?
I guess go to bed would be an answer but I can't because of all the noises. How do other people live here without power? That must be so depressing and creates hopelessness. No wonder some of the kids are tired the next day for school or adults are tired during the day. It's easy to make judgements on this culture when you have but when you don't have you begin to see through their eyes.
This is our daily challenges and I can say it is pure frustration in all honesty.

Very thankful for God providing all that he has and continues to do. Tonight I am asking for his grace and strength in how to make it through this night with a little sleep....josh (this was actually written a few weeks ago but didnt post for some reason... oh ! The power went out=)  



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Joy in the Midst of Suffering: Regina

      Makarios is very unique in that we immerse our groups in the culture and introduce them to our friends in the villages.  We try not to parade around but introduce them to the people we serve day in and day out.  In one of the Haitian bateys that we serve, called Chichigua,  there lives a little girl named Regina who has Cerebral Palsy.  This has left her without the use of her legs and completely dependent on others. You can find Regina in her wheelchair usually near the entrance of the village. But her chair was empty on this day.  Casey Quinton (from the Colonial Baptist team) and I found her sitting in the entrance of a home on the half dirt, half broken, tiled floor with the similar smell to a barn seeping out of the doorway.   No one was there with her on this near 100 degree day as the sun beat into her doorway.  She sat in a half torn and soiled dress.  I was holding another little girl who fell asleep on me as we sat with Regina as the sun beat down on my back.  No AC, not much wind. Smelly. Flies. Ants.  HOT.
       Imagine not being able to move yourself from the scorching sun or getting up to find shade or water.  Or use the bathroom.  Regina cannot form words because of her condition so conversation is mainly by the person talking to her and she can somewhat mumble back.  I asked her if she wanted to sing. She put out her arthritic appearing hand that was covered with dirt and saliva and mumbled something with a smile.  For a moment,  I was hesitant to grab her hand because I have been conditioned by the American culture and my Nursing degree to be "cautious" of germs.  The Spirit convicted me in that instant with a mental image of Jesus walking around touching the least of these.   "Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.." Matthew 20:34.   I reached for her hand and witnessed how touch is truly a need in a child's life for them to thrive.   We sang with her for about 25 minutes until it was time to go.  She smiled and drooled the whole time as she tried to sing with us and would clap at the end of each song.  In Regina, I witnessed JOY IN THE MIDST OF SUFFERING. Oh, how my prayer is that I could sing in the the midst of my hardest days...which are not hard in comparison to Regina's days.  


I ask you this:
Do you have joy when the expectations of your day is not met? 
Do you take time to ask God what He is doing in the midst of your suffering?
How do you respond to suffering...or even a disappointment? Like me, do you pout and complain or do you have joy?
Do you take time for the unlovely? Or do you stay in your comfort zone?

The irony is in asking these questions you might not find joy.  Our joy is not in our works thankfully but in Jesus alone.  Don't let your answer make you feel defeated. But look to Jesus who has the power to work in and through you.  It is easy to feel bad and struggle through the answers but the answer is Jesus and his free gift of grace is truly free.  We dont have to beat ourselves up nor feel as if just cause we did something that God is proud.  He is proud of you because you are his child and because of Jesus death can he look at you with grace and in that alone not in your works.  Ask Jesus to fill you this day and believe that you are saved and that Jesus can and will do what he says.