Hump Day

Today we had a really good morning.  We spent a fair amount of time interacting with the FH staff in the office.  I had a very good conversation with Kelvin, the Director of the Central Zone for FH. we discussed some of the cultural challenges that FH faces in the Dominican Republic. One of those challenges is that work culturally and in many churches is viewed as evil and a result of The Fall.  Therefore, working hard, or even doing your work with integrity is not a high value in society at large. this also adds to the challenges of overcoming poverty, as many people feel like they shouldn't have to work.  We know that in the garden Adam and Eve were charged with caring for it.  Even before the fall work existed.  At the fall it became harder and filled with more challenges, but it wasn't invented by the fall, or a curse because of sin.  Despite the challenges God has put Christians in their respective cultures to redeem them to the degree that we can.  This is another avenue of a poverty mindset that FH is working to overcome here.

With Martires this morning.
Really, we're working on Holden's smiling face.  Love you bud.

Another blessing we had this morning was a visit from Martirez Olivaro, our old friend who helped out our teams for the first few years and came to visit us at Cornerstone in Powell a few years back.  It was a great blessing to reconnect with him.  He is doing well and so is his family.  He shared with me about the ministry opportunities he has been blessed with.  It is a real privilege to have such friends.  He sends greetings to everyone!

After lunch with many of the local FH staff, we returned to Sierra Prieta for a time of Church Leader training.  There were about 15 people in the training to start and more came in as we went along.  Using some resources we have studied at our men's group I led the church leaders and pastors through a theology of the Bible and of Who God is.  Through a donation by Cornerstone I was able to give each person in attendance a copy of the book.  About half of them will be able to return tomorrow to explore further theological concepts.  This kind of systematic theology has never been shared here before, even to many of the pastors.  They have a basic understanding from reading the Bible and from sermons but this is a whole new approach to many of them.  I challenged those who are returning to at least glance at the table of contents and bring questions about things that were new to them or that were challenging to them.  Thank you for your prayers I believe this time was very fruitful.

Home Visit with Anna Rosa

After the training we headed for our 2nd home visit.  Anna Rosa, was a little hard to find as she no longer lives with her mom and dad but with a older relative.  Due to a large number of kids in the house A very grown up Anna Rosa now lives with Juana.  When Anna Rosa was very little Juana often cared for her.  Now Anna Rosa helps her around the house.  She still sees here family daily and is very close with her brothers and sisters.  Her parents were away working when we stopped by.  This is another instance of seeing much growth and maturity in a sponsored child.  Though you may not have visited your sponsored child, have confidence that you are a significant part of their development.

Tomorrow we are looking forward to a possible baseball game.  I think the Americans have it in the bag :-).  We'll make some more home visits and continue the leadership training.

Every time we are here we are blessed by the FH staff who support us.  This year we are privileged to spend time with many of the local staff who work in the communities full time.  Our team coordinator, translator and friend is Carlos Nunez.  He is also the poster child for sponsored kids as he grew up in  a local community where FH was working and he was sponsored by a family from Wisconsin.  His integrity, dedication and love for God are an encouragement to us.

With Carlos in front of the house that Cornerstone funded last year and the team helped lay the foundation for.

Thank you again for the cards and notes of encouragement.  We appreciate your prayers for us and our family that did not travel with us.