Dominican church adds another member

Euddy & Dionelly Vargas (pastor & wife of the church in Santo Domingo) became the proud parents of Sarah Esther on November 2, 2005. Sarah weighed 7 lbs, 8 oz. Mommy and baby are doing well. Pictures will be posted as soon as we receive them.

"New" (from a yard sale) hot rod slippers.  

For learning 50 verses from June to October, we awarded them a Precious Moments Spanish/Enlgish Bible. They worked hard and were delighted with their reward.  

Pictures of Dominican Republic/New York City trip

Enjoying a little bit of the ocean in New York City.  

Regina made a good friend with Josiah Kiser. We stayed with the Kiser's while in New York City.  

Euddy's entire family was present for his installation service as pastor (except for his mother who is currently in New York City). All are Christians except his father. L to R - Dionelly, Euddy, Ramon (father) holding Davy (son of Blenski), Lissette (sister-in-law)) holding baby Anna, Blenski (brother).  

The new pastor & wife of the church in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic - Euddy & Dionelly Vargas. 

Getting ready to do street ministry.  

Passing out tracks in "Little Santo Domingo" - a heavily populated area of Dominicans in New York City.  

Ryan even passed out tracts and loved it. He kept asking for "mo" (more).  

Brooklyn Tabernacle choir 

Back in U.S.A

We are now back in our home in the U.S. We had a wonderful trip in everyway! From the very beginning to the very end, God's hand was in it all!

The Dominican church is alive and well. While we were there, the church board voted to install Euddy (Bible Institute student who was filling in while we were gone) as pastor. This was a new and wonderful step for the church as well as for us. He is doing a great job and he and his wife both surprised us with how much they matured spiritually while we were gone.

This past weekend we spent visiting with some missionary friends in New York City since our flight landed in NYC. It was a wonderful experience as we helped them do some street ministry and got to attend Brooklyn Tabernacle.

Everyone is glad to be home and rejoicing in all that God did for us on this trip. Pictures coming soon.....I hope.

Back in S.D.

Well, we've arrived safe and sound to our mission house. The people graciously cleaned it before we came. However, they missed changing the sheets on the bed. Ones from the closet were put on before going to bed that night. Even though these were put in there clean (6 months ago), we smothered in dust. All night we were coughing and sputtering and anytime someone moved the sheet, we coughed and sputtered more. The next day we made sure ALL the sheets, bedspreads, and pillows were washed and fresh. The next night of sleep was much better.

Kim throat has gotten better. Life is going pretty well here, surprisingly. Electricity has been good (the people say it got better after we came) until yesterday when one of the lines coming into our house went out now giving us only 110 voltage instead of 220. They promised yesterday to fix it "today" but it still is not fixed. You never know which day is "today" here.

The temperature is surprisingly no worse than it has been in Pennsylvania most of the summer. I guess the Lord prepared us by giving us a hot summer there, and then giving us a "cooler" temperature here. The Dominicans yesterday said it was "chilly". It was 81 degrees. We are enjoying it even though it is pretty humid. It could be a lot worse!

Regina's prayer

Regina prayed for our lunch today. She said quite a few funny things, but the one that stuck in my mind was, "Help us to have a good meal tonight." I don't know what she meant or why she said it except for the fact that she loves food and what we have for meals is a concern to her.

Summer update

We have been busy enjoying the sights & sounds and tastes of summer. We enjoyed our church camp and were able to take part in quite a bit of it. It was very refreshing.

Tomorrow we set out for our trip to D.R for one month. I can't say we are overly looking forward to the heat, the dust, the sporadic electricity, and all the hassle life is there. However, we are looking forward to seeing the church people again.

Getting ready for this trip has been interesting once again as I (Kim) have been struck with a horrible sore throat. Swallowing is difficult. An antiobiotic was prescribed today, so hopefully it will take effect in time to enjoy the trip.

Summer temperatures compared to Santo Domingo

Everyone keeps asking if the hot/humid weather we are experiencing right now is comparable to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. My answer is always the same, "No it's much more humid there."

Although I can't comprehend it (which is impossible till you're in it), I did a search just to find out the difference in temps. The results are posted below. Notice that although the temperature for Pennsylvania and Santo Domingo are similar, the humidity is much higher for D.R. thus making you sweat your guts out. Notice also the difference in dewpoint which is what actually measures the accuracy of the humidity - at least according to my understanding.


Central Pennsylvania
Mostly Cloudy
86°F Feels Like 88°F
Updated Jun 29 02:45 p.m. ET
UV Index:4 Moderate
Wind:From NW at 7 mph
Humidity: 49%
Pressure: 29.92 in.
Dew Point:65°F
Visibility:8.0 miles


Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Partly Cloudy
88°F Feels Like104°F
Updated Jun 29 03:00 p.m. Local Time
UV Index:7 High
Wind:From E at 7 mph
Humidity:79%
Pressure:29.94 in.
Dew Point:81°F
Visibility:6.2 miles

Firsts

There's a first time for everything.

Caught my first trout. He proudly tells everyone, "I can't believe it was 11 inches."  

Lost my first tooth