We are immensely enjoying the beautiful weather we've been having this week - absolutely gorgeous. Clear blue skies, sunny, temperatures in the 70's or low 80's, low humidity, breezy, cool nights.......mmmmm........we're loving it.
I don't write this to make you northerners jealous, it's just when it gets this nice here, it's worth sharing the news! :-) We're even keeping some of our living room windows closed all day long.
We actually had an overnight low of 63 degrees the other night. The kids said they got cold in their beds and I even had to put on some fuzzy socks in the morning as my toes were cold. The water was COLD that morning. Thank the Lord for a hot water heater!!
I was talking to a Dominican girl about the weather and she said, "It's so cold. It's not easy to bear." I laughed and told her I wish it would be like this all year round. She said, "Oh no, not me." To the Dominicans this is freezy. They can't begin to comprehend temperatures like that of your freezer.
We don't eat a lot of soups here because it's generally too hot, but this past week I dug out the soup recipes.
We haven't run our AC one time since we've been in this house - partly because it didn't work after they moved it :-( and it's still not fixed - and partly because the weather has been lovely this winter. It has saved tons on our electric bill.
They said in one of the towns up in the mountains it got down to freezing 5 times this winter. Even the water froze. I doubt the people knew what to do! It does get down to freezing there ocassionally in the winter - but not 5 times!
Wanna come visit us? There's always room for one more.
My mom and brother are coming to visit next week. I think they're going to like this weather....if it continues.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Baby makes it to heaven
Edy is a faithful member of our church. Her grandson was born 1 month premature. After 3 weeks of being on an incubator they sent him home. On his third day at home, a Sunday morning, the father arrived at the church asking if we could come pray for the baby. His breathing was irregular. The church people arrived and prayed for him to be healed before Doug would take them to the clinic. However, some did not think he was breathing. They loaded in the truck and went to the clinic. They were only there a few minutes when the doctor told them they had lost their baby. Obviously grief struck and since there is no preserving the body, arrangements for burial had to be made right away. Doug drove them all over getting a legal death certificate, getting a casket etc. That evening for the church service, we had a small "funeral" for baby Kender and many family members showed up.
The parents of the baby, Moreno and Kedania, have visited the church several times since their son's death. Just this past Thursday we had a ladies' meeting in the house of Kedania. We pray that it will cause her and Moreno to come to Jesus.
Carrying the coffin to the grave.
The graveyard
Baby Kender's grave with his name and dates engraved in wet cement.
How to turn white
Davy is a Euddy's nephew. He is a precious little boy full of fun and energy. He doesn't normally like to take a bath but one night he told his daddy, "I want to take a bath." Thinking this was rare, his daddy asked him "Why?" He replied, "Because I want to take a lot of baths so my skin will be the color of Douglas." :-)
Here is Davy with his parents -Blenski and Lissette, and little sister Anna Elizabeth. Blenski and Lissette are serving the Lord. We thank the Lord for this family unit that we have.
Family shots
Jonathan helps himself to some yogurt sitting "out of reach" on the table. Not anymore!
Ryan - the "orange" monster
Doug asked the children if they believed he could hold the whole world on his head. They all answered "no." He proved that he really could! [Hint: look closely] :-)
More activities from November
Sarah, daughter of Pastor Euddy, turned 2 in November. Her parents wanted to throw a birthday party for her but they did not have money. I at least wanted to make her a cake. This time I cheated and bought a cake top. Her mom saved the cake for S.S. class and they had a little party for her with the other children. It was a cute little party.
The icing in the cake didn't run, but the coloring did! How do you figure that one?
Sara and the S.S. children
It seems something is always broken down! Doug bought this computer new so Euddy could finish his last year of university studies online. Just a few weeks later it burnt out and Doug took it apart to see if he could fix it. Thankfully, he could and Euddy has been able to get back to his studies! We're cheering him on so he can get finished. It's been a long course with many interruptions in between.
Friday, January 25, 2008
November activities
Okay, I said I would catch up November's activities in January. I have just a few days to do so!
Pastor Euddy trapped a rat which was on the loose in their apartment. Our bedroom is on the other side of their living room. When he set the trap, he said, "Let me know if you hear something in the middle of the night." Sure enough about midnight we heard something squealing and banging around. Doug called him on the phone and said, "Breakfast is waiting in your living room." Euddy wittily replied, "Ok. I'll come out and season it." We heard 3 whacks against the floor with his machete and this was the end result.
Brandon spent his free time flying kites - his favorite past time during the breezy months.
Daddy hanging out with his buddies.
One evening while we were in Euddy's living room, just below the window outside someone broke into his car and stole his propane tank and his toolbox containing all his tools that he uses to work on invertors - a side job which helps him make ends meet. As an early Christmas present, we bought him a new toolbox with the tools in he would need to be able to continue his job. He was pleasantly surprised and delighted as the picture shows.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
What is healthy?
Conversation between Brandon and his daddy:
Brandon: Dad, is it good to be skinny?
Daddy: There's a healthy weight for each person - you don't want to be way over it or way under it.
Brandon: Are you healthy?
Daddy: I'm extra healthy.
Brandon: Dad, is it good to be skinny?
Daddy: There's a healthy weight for each person - you don't want to be way over it or way under it.
Brandon: Are you healthy?
Daddy: I'm extra healthy.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Beautiful day for Jose's landing in heaven
It's a beautiful day today! Big, puffy, white clouds floating in a clear, bright, blue sky......low humidity (down to 40%), palm trees swaying in the light breeze, pleasant temperature of 82 degrees. A beautiful day indeed for a flight to heaven.
We just received word that Euddy's grandfather, Jose, has made the final crossing just a few hours ago. Euddy said he was there today and his grandfather was trying to say something. They couldn't understand what he was saying. Euddy had a service with those who were there. Euddy left, another lady from the church went and read the Bible to Jose. While she was reading, she said he gently closed his eyes and was gone. In spite of his previous intense pain, it seemed the Lord gave him a peaceful departure.
What a glorious hope to know another soul has landed in heaven. If it wasn't for that very fact, we would not be here. Yet that is the very reason we are here - to rescue souls from hell, one at a time.
Doug has already gone to be with the family and hold a funeral service at 5:00 p.m. They do not embalm here, unless you're wealthy, so everything happens immediately. However, burial will be tomorrow.
Anna, Euddy's mother is here in the D.R. for a few months. She has taken all of this extremely hard as it is her father. If you think of it, please remember Anna, Euddy and the family in your prayers.
We just received word that Euddy's grandfather, Jose, has made the final crossing just a few hours ago. Euddy said he was there today and his grandfather was trying to say something. They couldn't understand what he was saying. Euddy had a service with those who were there. Euddy left, another lady from the church went and read the Bible to Jose. While she was reading, she said he gently closed his eyes and was gone. In spite of his previous intense pain, it seemed the Lord gave him a peaceful departure.
What a glorious hope to know another soul has landed in heaven. If it wasn't for that very fact, we would not be here. Yet that is the very reason we are here - to rescue souls from hell, one at a time.
Doug has already gone to be with the family and hold a funeral service at 5:00 p.m. They do not embalm here, unless you're wealthy, so everything happens immediately. However, burial will be tomorrow.
Anna, Euddy's mother is here in the D.R. for a few months. She has taken all of this extremely hard as it is her father. If you think of it, please remember Anna, Euddy and the family in your prayers.
Friday, January 04, 2008
Wintry weather
It's a chilly 67 degrees at 9:50 a.m with rain. We're "freezing". The Dominicans will be dressed with sweaters and hats, unless the sun comes out and warms us up. We're even putting on our heavier shirts and will delight ourselves with coffe and hot chocolate.
link for weather details: http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/local/DRXX0009?lswe=Santo%20Domingo,%20Dominican%20Republic&lswa=WeatherLocalUndeclared
link for weather details: http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/local/DRXX0009?lswe=Santo%20Domingo,%20Dominican%20Republic&lswa=WeatherLocalUndeclared
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
New name written down in heaven
The Sunday before Christmas was a different one. Euddy's grandfather has been dying of cancer for a few months now. We decided to take the church people and go visit him after church was over. We all piled into the truck. We arrived to sing songs of praise while the poor man lay on a bed just outside the house. He was in so much pain. It was agonizing to watch him try to get comfortable.
After we sang, Doug shared the Gospel message with him. Euddy said that up till this time he has been very rebellious in the things of the Lord. Euddy has tried to preach to him and he has told him to take his evangelism and get out. They've said in the past few weeks he has been more accepting of the things of God.
Doug asked him if he knew his sins were forgiven. He was in so much pain, he didn't really respond. We waited for a while and they brought him some painkiller. We annointed him to be healed in the name of Jesus. In just a few minutes, he was perking up and was able to confirm that he had asked Jesus to forgive his sins. We were thrilled! As we left, I told him we would be praying that God would touch his body, but if not, I would meet him in heaven someday where there is no pain and we would all worship the Lord together. He weakly said, "No, there's no pain." We had a celebration service that night at church. Surely the angels of heaven were also rejoicing.
We got word that in just the past few days Jose, Euddy's grandfather, has pretty much given up the struggle to live. Euddy's family called today and said that they thought that he had died, but evidently is still alive. It seems he is in the last few hours of life, unless God heals him.
The family talked about having a Catholic funeral since they are Catholic in background. They were even going to call in the priest. Jose said he did not want a priest, because he is evangelical now. Praise the Lord! That showed us the he really was sincere in his salvation!
[I wanted to get pictures of this "service" at Jose's house, but we had just moved and I had no idea where the camera was. :-( ]
Unless God undertakes, we are expecting to have a funeral for Jose in the next few days. At least we have the assurance that he is ready for heaven. That's what it's all about.
After we sang, Doug shared the Gospel message with him. Euddy said that up till this time he has been very rebellious in the things of the Lord. Euddy has tried to preach to him and he has told him to take his evangelism and get out. They've said in the past few weeks he has been more accepting of the things of God.
Doug asked him if he knew his sins were forgiven. He was in so much pain, he didn't really respond. We waited for a while and they brought him some painkiller. We annointed him to be healed in the name of Jesus. In just a few minutes, he was perking up and was able to confirm that he had asked Jesus to forgive his sins. We were thrilled! As we left, I told him we would be praying that God would touch his body, but if not, I would meet him in heaven someday where there is no pain and we would all worship the Lord together. He weakly said, "No, there's no pain." We had a celebration service that night at church. Surely the angels of heaven were also rejoicing.
We got word that in just the past few days Jose, Euddy's grandfather, has pretty much given up the struggle to live. Euddy's family called today and said that they thought that he had died, but evidently is still alive. It seems he is in the last few hours of life, unless God heals him.
The family talked about having a Catholic funeral since they are Catholic in background. They were even going to call in the priest. Jose said he did not want a priest, because he is evangelical now. Praise the Lord! That showed us the he really was sincere in his salvation!
[I wanted to get pictures of this "service" at Jose's house, but we had just moved and I had no idea where the camera was. :-( ]
Unless God undertakes, we are expecting to have a funeral for Jose in the next few days. At least we have the assurance that he is ready for heaven. That's what it's all about.
Finally - House pictures!
This is the front of the house. The grass you see is pretty much the front yard. Not much space. But that's okay. The children haven't seemed to mind since they can play freely in the streets. We're at the back of the community so the only cars that come by are the ones who live near us. So there's hardly any traffic and the cars go pretty slow. The children have been riding bikes on the street almost every free minute. They have loved the freedom of being outside without fear. Mommy has, too, enjoyed getting things done while they're out and about.
This house was actually $200 cheaper than what we were expecting to pay. So we thank the Lord for that. We have been quite happy to find such a nice house for such a decent price. The pink building you see to the side is the neighbor's house. It's pretty close, but it is separated by a wall.
The dining area and part of the living room.
The spacious kitchen with lots of counterspace and cupboards. This picture doesn't show it all.
Another shot of the kitchen.
The stairway with a bathroom off to the left. To take this picture I am standing in the corner of the living room (no picture shown). The door to the right goes into the kitchen.
An upstairs living room with doors out to the patio. It is quite common for the middle class people to have 2 living rooms. We're using this one for a school room/office area.
Another shot of the office/school room.
The "backyard". See why we hesitated about room for the children to play?
The "side yard". At least it's a concrete pad where they can ride bikes and scooters.
Christmas in our new home
Jonathan opening his first gift
This is the mission's couch we are borrowing until we find a living room suite. We had to pitch our other furniture because the termites had pretty well destroyed it. We rarely buy anything new. We are looking through the classifieds hoping to find something nice or maybe we'll catch a missionary family leaving the country.
Lots of room to play with their new Thomas the Train track
We don't usually do much for Christmas, but this year we wanted to get the children each something to replace what they had to leave behind in the U.S. These were also very appropriate for the new house since they can play outside freely now.
Thanks to Agape flights for their help for these gifts. If we were to buy them here, we would pay out the nose. Agape offers a service to missionaries to do their shopping for them and then put it directly on the plane so you don't have to pay shipping costs. We shopped online for 2 of these gifts, told the Agape office where to buy them, had them pick them up, bill us, and send them over on the plane. Otherwise it would have been costly to ship these items over.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Calhoun wins out
My favorite Christmas CD this year was none other than Tim Calhoun & Company. He did a Christmas recording a few years ago. This year, for whatever reason, it was my favorite Christmas CD. Perhaps because it has the traditional Christmas carols, perhaps because we don't get to hear him sing at church anymore, perhaps because it reminded me of the specials sung in our home churches, and perhaps because he sings with feeling. So, Calhoun, thanks for warming our house this year with your "suave" voice. Until next year.....
Phone line!
Wow! I am still astounded that the phone company came LAST Thursday to hook us up! I didn't know anything happened that fast here. :-) So we are back in the world of blogging and link to the rest of the outside world.
What's even more astounding is that they granted us a phone line in our name! Thank the Lord! They wanted a letter stating our work and our income. Doug just gave them the paper we have from the mission stating him as Power of Attourney here. They accepted it, asked us what our income was, acted like they weren't overly thrilled with the set up, but still gave us a phone in our name! We are thrilled with how the Lord worked this out. This will make future paperwork a bit easier.
We are enjoying our new house. I hope to post some pictures soon of the house and our first Christmas here! We almost have to pinch ourselves to realize it's not a dream. It feels like a home and it has already been a wonderful change not to live where we work. You can actually walk away and feel like you're going "home". We realize more now how much stress it put on us to be at the church 24 - 7. It's been refreshing to have the holidays away from "work". Thank God for His wonderful provision for us!
What's even more astounding is that they granted us a phone line in our name! Thank the Lord! They wanted a letter stating our work and our income. Doug just gave them the paper we have from the mission stating him as Power of Attourney here. They accepted it, asked us what our income was, acted like they weren't overly thrilled with the set up, but still gave us a phone in our name! We are thrilled with how the Lord worked this out. This will make future paperwork a bit easier.
We are enjoying our new house. I hope to post some pictures soon of the house and our first Christmas here! We almost have to pinch ourselves to realize it's not a dream. It feels like a home and it has already been a wonderful change not to live where we work. You can actually walk away and feel like you're going "home". We realize more now how much stress it put on us to be at the church 24 - 7. It's been refreshing to have the holidays away from "work". Thank God for His wonderful provision for us!
Happy New Year from all of us
Since I wasn't able to post this for Christmas, I'll do it now. This was our family Christmas picture taken outside of the church. Doug changed the background to red for greeting cards.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Friday, December 21, 2007
Agape plane
We're moving today and I only have a few minutes, but I wanted to share this so you can rejoice with us and also pray for our mail service.
Agape (a Christian mail carrier to the Carribbean) has been a blessing to all of us. This past week, they brought 3 plane loads of stuff to ensure that the missionaries would get their Christmas packages in time for Christmas! What a blessing and sacrifice.
We received this email this morning. This happend on their return flight back to Florida. It gripped my heart as I just spoke with the pilots on Wed. at the airport. I said, "Thank you for bringing our stuff." They smiled brightly as they said, "It's our pleasure." We are all grateful for the sacrifice they make to get our things over from the States. Thank God they didn't have to sacrifice everything!
Email:
"There is no easy way to share this with you. Today on its return flight Agape's Caravan experienced an engine failure and ditched into the Caribbean off of Chub Cay near Abacco and not for from the US. We ask you to share in praise to the Lord for the safety of Agape's crew Rocky and Paolo... I have just spoken to them and all is well...Pray with us as we regroup... Please be assured we will persevere...Please share this with other members of the Agape family, thank you..."
Agape (a Christian mail carrier to the Carribbean) has been a blessing to all of us. This past week, they brought 3 plane loads of stuff to ensure that the missionaries would get their Christmas packages in time for Christmas! What a blessing and sacrifice.
We received this email this morning. This happend on their return flight back to Florida. It gripped my heart as I just spoke with the pilots on Wed. at the airport. I said, "Thank you for bringing our stuff." They smiled brightly as they said, "It's our pleasure." We are all grateful for the sacrifice they make to get our things over from the States. Thank God they didn't have to sacrifice everything!
Email:
"There is no easy way to share this with you. Today on its return flight Agape's Caravan experienced an engine failure and ditched into the Caribbean off of Chub Cay near Abacco and not for from the US. We ask you to share in praise to the Lord for the safety of Agape's crew Rocky and Paolo... I have just spoken to them and all is well...Pray with us as we regroup... Please be assured we will persevere...Please share this with other members of the Agape family, thank you..."
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Moving tomorrow!
The moving day is scheduled for tomorrow - as much as you can schedule in this country. We have a truck lined up, boxes are being filled......we'll see how far we get.
We're still waiting on the gas line to be put in the house for the stove. I guess if it's not in, we'll be microwaving it for a while or ordering pizza or something. Doug goes to pick up the keys and padlocks today and to install the curtain rods.
Since we will be moving over the weekend, I doubt I will post again till after Christmas - or until we get a phone line in the house. Pray that that happens fast! We have had one headache after another trying to get stuff in our name. They want Doug to submit a paper telling of his work and his income in order to give us a phone line. It could be quite a process.
So....until I can post again, have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. In January, I'll try to catch up the activities of the last few months - or, like I said before, as soon as we get a phone line in. Nothing happens fast here.
We'll enjoy the holidays in our new home......I think. :-)
We're still waiting on the gas line to be put in the house for the stove. I guess if it's not in, we'll be microwaving it for a while or ordering pizza or something. Doug goes to pick up the keys and padlocks today and to install the curtain rods.
Since we will be moving over the weekend, I doubt I will post again till after Christmas - or until we get a phone line in the house. Pray that that happens fast! We have had one headache after another trying to get stuff in our name. They want Doug to submit a paper telling of his work and his income in order to give us a phone line. It could be quite a process.
So....until I can post again, have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. In January, I'll try to catch up the activities of the last few months - or, like I said before, as soon as we get a phone line in. Nothing happens fast here.
We'll enjoy the holidays in our new home......I think. :-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)