Yesterday was a busy day. Prayer service at 6:00 and Bible study at 7:00. I went several hours early to buy some groceries and to mow the lawn. I really wanted to go to the grocery store first, before the crowds got too bad. However, it looked like rain, so I opted to mow the lawn first, then face the crowd of last minute shoppers.
As is common when I work at the mission, I am normally interrupted by people on the street, begging, looking for odd jobs, or just wanting to practice their English. Yesterday was no exception. I had just returned to my work after one such interruption, only to be called away by another. A man in his mid-thirties was insistent that he wanted to talk to me. I approached him and inquired as to the nature of his need.
“Are you the pastor?” he asked.
“Yes,” I replied.
“Can you pray for me?” he inquired.
“What for?” I queried.
“I am going to hang myself, and I hope God will receive me.” He responded grimly.
“That won’t do you much good, but why don’t you come in and tell me about it.” I invited.
Eliseo shared that at age 11 his father had molested him. Since his mother would not believe it, and his father continued to do it, he ran away from home and ended up in the streets of Santo Domingo. For the next ten years he lived on the streets, in a life of gangs and crime.
He interrupted his story to ask, “Can God forgive any sin?”
“He certainly can.” I assured him.
Around the age of twenty-one, he was shot in a foiled robbery attempt. His buddies were killed, but he survived. He was sentenced to thirty years in the penitentiary for his multiple crimes. Just two months ago he was released after serving half of his term, but his criminal record and his lack of ID barred his return to society. He was sleeping in the streets and rebuffed by all. A former friend sent him away saying, “If I were you, I would hang myself.”
Eliseo decided that this was his only solution. But before ending his own life, he planned one more robbery in order to obtain a pistol, and then take his revenge on his father and mother.
Wednesday night he had a dream. He heard a voice say, “I am going to pull you out of the muddy water and place you on a rock. But, you must forgive your father.” He woke up confused but determined to carry out his plan. Again, he heard the voice. So he began to wander the streets hoping to find help.
After a half an hour of sharing about the terribleness of sin, its deadly consequences, and the mercy of a loving Savior, standing there in the church lawn, Eliseo repented of his sins and told God that he had forgiven his father. Tears trickled down his glowing face as he raised his arms and exclaimed, “I feel like I could shout!”
Although he asked for nothing, he expressed his desire to return to his family and apologize for his actions and to express his forgiveness. He has not seen them for twenty-five years. After discussing the situation with several church members, we made an exception to our standard approach and gave him enough money to get back to his family. We also gave him a Bible. He thanked me profusely for listening to him and for sharing a message he had never heard before.
The message of Christmas still brings peace and joy to all who receive it by faith. Eliseo is just a reminder that the Christ of Christmas came to seek and to save that which was lost. Please pray for Eliseo as he takes that message back to his family. Also watch for the divine “interruptions” God sends your way this Christmas season. There are many who still need to hear the Good News!
Doug
A beautiful view of the ocean. 
Another beautiful view of the ocean. At this spot the water looks turquoise. 
The church asked Sidney Grant to come and preach for a weekend revival in January. 
His wife spoke to the ladies and gave them each a dishtowel. 
For Christmas, D. let each of the children make their own wooden train car for their wooden train tracks. 
The wooden train car that D. made (unpainted) beside the Thomas train cars. 
R. is trying to decide how she wants to build hers. 
J. is at least having fun experiementing with the pieces. :-) 
The train cars are turning out really neat! Two of them are done. I'll have to post pictures of them when they're all finished. 
This is our stairway decorated for Christmas. 
Our house decorated for Christmas. 
Our house in the dark. 
Our Christmas tree at night. 
Christmas morning - R. was happy with the legos he got!
J. also got legos!
J. got books!
The 3 older children all got Bibles. R. wanted a little one to take to church. 
R. with his Bible
After we opened gifts, we had our favorite brunch - vegetable fritatta - a one dish meal (except for the meat). I would have had sausage links with it, but I could not find them at the store. A neighbor brought us some kind of deep fried fish croquettes or something - so that was our meat. :-) They were tasty. 
Another neighbor brought us this on Christmas day. A cake that was delicious and a plate of "pastelitos" (deep fried dough filled with chicken, onion, carrot mixture), and quipes. My neighbor makes the best pastelitos and I think they are my favorite Dominican food. 
For our Christmas supper (just our family) we had ham, (pictured left and going around clockwise) pastelito from my neighbor, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, the special Christmas telera bread, Christmas jello, and pork - leftover from what we had with the Domincan family on Christmas Eve. It was a wonderful American meal that delighted our taste buds!!
Our little Christmas tree.
Our tree Christmas morning with all of the gifts. There wasn't room underneath for them so we had to put the bigger ones on the floor.
Christmas traffic! The city is an absolute jam around Christmas time.
On Christmas Eve, Guarionex & Yolanda invited us to be a part of their Christmas eve dinner. The Dominicans celebrate Christmas on the 24th with a large evening meal. On the 25th, they don't do anything. 
They made pina colada (pineapple juice with coconut milk). I thought the way they had it fixed up was very pretty. 
The sweets table with telera (a special Dominican bread that the Dominicans eat at Christmas time with their Christmas meal).
The table of food. Mmmm. 
Yolanda and Guarionex and their family with all of us ready to eat. 
This room was packed with 65 people! I forgot to take pictures until people were leaving, so I'm sorry this is not a great picture.
These are some of the young men from Doug's S.S. class that were at the Christmas supper.
Doug with a group of young people that attend his S.S. class.
One family brought a truckload of people.
A full shot of the Christmas train engine.
One of the train cars with decorated Christmas trees on it. 
The Gingerbread house. 
This was an electrical Christmas tree that would pull little white "pellets" from the bottom and spit them out at the top, resembling snow falling on the tree. It was really cute. If you look close maybe you can see? 
Dedicating Saul & Leidy's baby. Leidy got saved a few years ago in Doug's S.S. class. The week before they dedicated their baby girl, Saul had a softball accident and had to have a pin put in his leg. This accident is what brought Saul to salvation. In the hospital, he prayed and accepted Jesus as his Saviour.
This is Saul's leg where it was stitched together from the surgery.
We kept the Agape pilots overnight in our home one week. They dedicate time each week to fly our mail and packages in from the U.S. We greatly appreciate their service to us! Brandon wants to be a pilot, so he was happy to be able to visit with them.
We had a tarantula just for them! This pilot was really brave and let the tarantula walk over his hand. The tarantulas will not hurt you unless they are threatened. The ones we have seen here will flick tiny hairs off of their belly that burn like crazy if they touch you. This one was not threatened and so it did nothing to the pilot.
