The Video finally worked.

IT WORKED!!!

And the winner is ...

 

Tonight we drew the winner for the raffle that we held for the New Ipad Air. We would like to thank all of you who purchased tickets.  We really appreciate your support!  Through your generosity we were able to raise more than $1700.  And the moment you have all been waiting for...watch the video to see if it was you!

.......................................Well after trying all night to get the video to upload, I had no luck.  So without further delay....the Winner is Tom Townsend.  Congratulations Tom!!

If we can get the video to work, we will upload it later.  It may show up on our Facebook page.

 

Long time no post.....

Sorry for the lack of updates lately.  You might imagine we have been a little busy.  Besides our normal life of busy schedules and activities with 5 children, we have been also working on getting ready for our trip.  We could have never imagined what that would mean until we found ourselves smack dab in the middle of it.

When you plan to leave for a trip, you usually stop the mail and the paper, get someone to watch your dog (or take it with you), ask your neighbor to keep an eye on the house, etc…

In this case we have a little more preparation than that.  And that is what we have been focused on.  One of our main focuses have been our home and what to do with it for 2 years while we are in the Dominican Republic.  Do we sell it or rent it?  We have prayed about it and asked God what we should do and the more we talked about it and prayed about it we felt like renting it was the right thing to do. 

We had this grand idea that we would simply find someone we knew or at least someone we could trust that needs to rent a house for a few years.  Sounds simple right, but how were we going to find this person or this family?  Maybe someone in our church….but that seemed too perfect to actually happen. 

Well as time went on and we were trying to figure out what we would do about our home, we got a call from someone at our church who heard that we were looking for a renter.  We were amazed!  This is exactly what we were hoping and praying for.   They came and checked out the house and it ended up that it just wasn’t right for them and their situation.  But, it was great to get to know them and share the story of how God is taking us on this journey. 

So we got our hopes up with that one.  We thought wow, God has come through again….and then it didn’t work out.  Was God trying to tell us something?  Are we just supposed to sell?  What should we do with the house?  It is not that we are really attached to it….so why do we feel strongly to rent? We found that the answer to all of these is TRUST.  Trust in the Lord.

A few weeks later, while we were still trying to figure it out ourselves J, I was talking to someone at Church whom I get to work with as a volunteer.  Not only is he a good man and someone I respect, he also just happened to be, along with his wife and three children, looking for a place to rent for a few more years.  They need to be out of their place in the Spring and hey, guess what???  That is about when we are planning to leave.  Long story short, they came and checked out the place and are going to rent it for the time we are gone.  Isn’t God amazing!!

I think we are learning more and more that if we just get out of the way and let God do His thing, and stop trying to be in control, things would get done a lot fasterJ

IPad Air Raffle

Mission in the Dominican Republic

IPad Air Raffle

We are raffling off a brand new IPad Air in order to raise money for our Mission trip to the Dominican Republic.  This NEW IPad has the same size display as the IPad 2, but better resolution.  It has a better camera and a faster processor.  It’s lighter and smaller.  This is the 16 GB Model and would be a great gift so don’t miss this opportunity to win a New IPad Air. 

Raffle Tickets

$5.00 for 1 Ticket

$20.00 for 5 Tickets (that’s $4.00 per ticket)

$50.00 for 15 Tickets (that’s $3.33 per ticket)

$100.00 for 35 Tickets (that’s $2.86 per ticket)

This raffle prize will be drawn on December 18^th just in time for Christmas.  We will notify the winner that night. 

To get your raffle tickets and help support our fund raising efforts you have a few options….

1.       Send us a check for the number of tickets you want.  Also include your email, address and phone number.  Send to Matt and Teri Perrotto/6439 N. 150^th Street/Omaha, NE 68116

2.       You can also use PayPal by clicking the Buy Now button below.

Number of Tickets

1 Ticket $5.00 USD 5 Tickets $20.00 USD 15 Tickets $50.00 USD 35 Tickets $100.00 USD

 

***Whatever payment type you choose please email us your phone, address, # of tickets and payment type so we can track all entries and put your name in the raffle for each chance that you purchase.

Thank you for your support and good luck!!

DR Trip - 1st Day continued

Here are some of the things we learned from all the questions we asked on that short trip from the capitol to Santiago.  Depending on your source of information there are about 1-2 million people in Santiago and about 4 million in the capital.  Many people have to hold 2-3 jobs to support their family.  All construction is basically stucco.  The exchange rate for pesos to dollars was 42 to 1 when we were there.  From the South in Santo Domingo (the capital) across the island and to the North in Puerta Plata, it takes about 3.5-4 hours.  Traffic/driving is kinda crazy.....something I am looking forward to and Teri, not so much.  She says they drive just like me....  We learned much more that we will share as we tell the rest of the story.

We arrived in Santiago and went strait to the house and met the rest of the family.  Jonathon (18), Rebeka (15), and the twin girls Mariah and Abby (12).  The Romano’s gave us a choice to stay in the apartment connected to their house or in another apartment they rent around the block. We chose to stay at their place and unloaded our luggage.
 

We unpacked, rested a bit and then took a walk to the Cafe, which is about 1 1/2 blocks from the Romano’s.  While we were there, they just about to open the Café to the public, where its main goal is to reach young people in the city for Christ.  They offer English classes several times during the week and while we were there, they we fine-tuning the menu.  I had a nice cafe (coffee) while I was there, which helped wake me up a little,  I needed that.

Here is a very cool picture of the Café.  Something very cool about the Café is that they ask the mission teams that come down to bring 2 coffee mugs from their home town.  One is used to serve drinks and the other is put up on a ledge with all the other mugs.  The ledge is up on top of the wall on the left in the picture below.

That evening we went out for dinner with Rick and Tammie and the family.  Some unusual foods on the menu were conejo (rabbit) and cabra (goat).  None of us were brave enough to try them at that point, but we did have yucca, which is like a potato and plantain which looks like a banana, but doesn't taste like one.  They are not as sweet and they are many times cut into slices and fried like a french fry or made into plantain chips.  I am sure there are many other uses, but that is what we commonly experienced during our trip.  Our meal was great and the company was even better.  It was a great chance for us to get to know each other and a nice way to kick off our trip.

That's basically it for the first day and that was enough.  Once we got back we were pretty exhausted and went to bed so we could be ready for another busy day.

to be continued…….

Our trip to the Dominican Republic - Day 1

Travelers Log - Our trip to Santiago, Dominican Republic - Matt, Teri, Alec (13) Marcus (11).  Day 1 - Wednesday August 21st - penned by Matt

In order to make our 6am flight, we were up at o'dark early (4am).  As we drove to Omaha's Eppley Airport, our excitement grew, knowing that soon, we would be in the Dominican Republic for the first time.  About 8 hours later we landed and began our adventure.  Rick and Tammie Romano met us at the Airport and although we Skyped with them a couple time, this was the first time we met them in person.  They are the site leaders for the ENvision Mission in the Northern district of Santiago.  Rick, Tammie and their family opened their home to us for the next five days as they escorted us around the Island.  They were extremely gracious hosts!!

We got underway and once we left the airport in Santo Domingo, we could see the beautiful clear blue Caribbean Sea as we drove along.  Since none of us had eaten, we went to eat lunch at Johnny Rockets, which is a chain in the US, but our first time there.  After that we got to experience DRIVING in the DR.  We remember a lot of horns and a lot of motorcycles.  In the Capital (Santo Domingo) we once saw a motorcyclist with 3 other passengers on the back.  We asked Rick and Tammie about it and they said it was a Taxi.

We started the 2 hour drive to Santiago and while the boys slept in the back, Teri and I fired one question after another to Rick and Tammie and they just continued to answer them.  Every time we stopped at a light or a stop sign, there were street vendors wanting to sell us anything from pineapple to car chargers for your Iphone, to other kinds of fruits.  One guy had a batch of large green grape-like fruit called limoncillo (sounds like leemone seayo).  We were asking about that particular fruit, so Rick rolled down the window and bought some for 50 pesos (a little more than 1 dollar).  The boys and I thought they we very tasty once you got passed the texture.  Teri didn't care for them much.  She said they reminded her of eating eyeballs.  I didn't even ask...

Here is a picture of Alec and the limoncillo

 

 to be continued.......

No control...

It seems whenever I think about our family going to the Dominican Republic I feel I have to come up with some way to get the money.  So today we had an event at Family Fun Center to raise more money.  Its funny because when I tell people what I "have" to do they laugh and tell me to let it go and watch God work.  But those that know me know that I tend to hold on a bit too long to things until physically something happens i.e. neck pain, shingles, mouth ulcers.......ya know little things. 

Well, today God showed up at our event, again.  Not only did people come but the kids were able to see the support of their friends.  That alone was huge for them. 

I also was able to see many of my friends and meet new ones.  One of which was a woman from the DR who is excited to connect when we get there.  We may not have made the money that I am constantly striving for but we made more connections and have more people praying for us, which is much more than we ever hope to gain from a fundraiser.  It's not easy to let go of control and give it up but I am learning and with the help of both Matt and my great chiropractor I will get there.

 

Here is a picture of our Fund Raising Chairman

Hey guys, this is 11 year old Marcus. We were recently on a five day trip to the Dominican Republic. We stayed with the Romano’s, who respectfully opened their house to us. One of the things I enjoyed a lot was helping with the cotton candy machine at a back to school party in the town of Moca. It made the kids so happy. I can’t wait to go back to the beautiful, eventful place to help out. In this picture we were at the back-to-school party where I help with the cotton candy. This is one of the adults and myself standing in the entrance to a classroom of the school

I am sitting here in the Dominican Republic at the Romano family's table.  Matt, Alec, Marcus and myself all arrived yesterday afternoon and have been seeing many different sites ever since.  It is a different life, but one we all already enjoy.  Alec said he is ready to stay but we need to some how get the girls and Isaac :)   The people are very welcoming and patient with us as we try to practice the Spanish we have learned.  We will post pics when we can or on Facebook.

Productive Produce

Thank you all who came out to the Nelson Family Produce Stand (A and L Farms) last Saturday on 120th I Street.  If you didn't make it, they still have lots of great produce there, so stop by and enjoy.  We will always buy our produce there from now on.  It was a great day and God blessed us with wonderful weather and lots of customers.  They sold out on corn, which means they sold 180 dozen.  Not to mention the melons, tomatoes, peaches, cherries, cucumbers, zucchini and much more.  We had a lot of fun as the whole family had a chance to participate.  If we weren’t shucking corn, we were stocking the rest of the produce or visiting with customers.  It was a huge blessing to our family and another way God is providing for our trip.

Inaugural Trip

T-Shirts.......Get your T-Shirts......

Hi again, we (Alec & Marcus,) made these really cool t-shirts too help raise money for our mission trip. If you happen to like them, just contact us at mtap5@cox.net. By the way, they’re only $10.

Thanks for Everything!

Produce Stand

The Nelson Family has given us a great opportuinity. On Saturday, Aug 10 (next Saturday) we will be helping them to sell their produce. All the proceeds from this day will go directly to our mission. This is a huge blessing for our family!

Their stand is on 120th and I Street and open from 10-6:30. We will be there so stop by say hello and buy some amazing fruits and vegetables. Spread The Word!!

Thanks!

Alliance Women

On Monday July 22 we had the privilege of sharing our story with the Alliance Women of Christ Community Church. This was our first time actually talking to a group about what God is doing and has done in our lives. We are very honored this amazing group of women asked our family to join them. They were very welcoming and bought all of the kids their own markers and drawing tablets. The kids have always had to share their markers, so needless to say they were very excited. The girls also received some adorable pillowcase dresses that were made by some of the women, which they think are very comfortable. Once again we are blessed with more people praying and believing in what God has planned for us.

Catching up

On July 14th we had the privilege to stand up in front of our sister church in Bellevue.  All the kids were there again on stage and they did very well.  We made sure that we prepared them telling Madelyn to keep her dress down and Isaac to keep his fingers out of his noseJ They managed to pull that off for 30 seconds.  They were rewarded after service with doughnuts.  We had a nice time talking to several members of the Bellevue site.  Everyone was very encouraging.  A big thanks again to all in the congregation who so generously gave to all the Missionaries on stage that day!  We are truly amazed at all the support and encouragement we have been receiving.  God is so faithful!

Blog by Marcus

Hey guys, this is 11 year old Marcus, the 2^nd oldest off the clan. I’m so eager for the mission trip but in the same time nervous. I’m going with my older brother, Mom, and Dad to the D.R. in August for a visit and to check things out. I have 4 other siblings, Alec (13), Ellah (8), Madelyn (6), and Isaac (3).

    But anyway, I think going to the Dominican Republic will be a great experience and will make me a lot more open to God. I am currently writing a book titled: “A Risen King,” a Christen book, and I am starting to notice that what the book is really about, (Christ), is slowly fading as I get further into the book. I am hoping that I will soon get it published, but I’m not totally sure that it will happen. You see, I have been writing different books since I was 7, and I’ve never even gotten 5 pages into it without quitting, and I never knew why until I started to write A Risen King. It all comes clear now, since I have been writing all but Christen books, God hasn’t been helping. He knew that at sometime I would finally decide to write a book focused on him. But now that I am putting him less into the book it isn’t going to be easy until I do point the spotlight to him. Maybe going to the Dominican Republic will help.

I’ll be sure to let you guys know if I get my book finished! J

Thanks for Everything!

-Marcus

Big Day report

We wanted to let you know how our big day at Church went on July 7th.  First, we want to thank Craig Walter and all the staff at Christ Community who worked on the program to allow us time in front of the congregation.  Thank you all who worked on the HUB to create the section for all the Missionaries we were blessed to meet on Sunday.  It was a truly humbling experience to see all the support and encouragement we were given as we told everyone what God is doing in our lives.  And a BIG Thanks to all who chose to pull out their wallet and give to support all who were on Stage that day. 

Here is how it went.  We had the privilege of standing up there with 3 amazing young ladies (Jenn Yee, Jenna Hager and Grace Arant) who are planning to go to various places in the mission field. You can read all about them in the hub.  Just go to http://cccomaha.org/hub.php

. 

Our Family was all there.  Teri and I, Alec, Marcus, Ellah, Madelyn and Isaac.  We stood up in front of all four services and the kids did great.  We spoke for about 30 seconds sharing what we will be doing and when we hope to go.  The first 3 services the kids stood there, smiled and did a nice job.  During the 3rd service, Isaac kept on asking when it was his turn to talk on the mic.  He wasn’t really using his quiet voice either.  I think he figure he had been quiet long enough and now he needed to speak…loudly so he could get his chance to talk on the big mic.  I told him he could the next time and I was just going to have him say hi.  Well, it came time and when I told Isaac it was his turn, I think he got a small case of stage fright, because he basically buried his head in my shoulder and said, "No, you go first." 

You could tell they all relaxed a little as the services went on because when Craig asked if they were excited, Alec, Marcus and Ellah let out a big YEAH!  Madelyn was dancing on stage during the last service and she got a little carried away.....I didn't see it but Teri said at one point she lifted up her dress while she was doing her little dance.  I don't think she meant to, but she was just being a little 5 year old performing her dance debut. 

Another thing I missed was Isaac picking his nose.  Again, Teri saw it but I didn't.  I am not sure why I miss these things, and she always sees them.  Anyway…. if you know how good my wife is at telling stories, you would know that it was better hearing her tell about the whole dress incident and the picking of the nose.  It may have been slightly more dramatic, but much more entertaining.  We had a good laugh about it and we hope you do too. 

We will be going to the Christ Community Church Bellevue site on the 14th to share with our sister Church.  We are really looking forward to that, but I think Madelyn will have to wear pants and I will make sure to have plenty of klenexes for IsaacJ

I'm Excited!

Hi this is Alec. I'm just posting my first post and I am very excited to go to the Dominican Republic! I will write more in the future.

2012 Santiago Experience Video

Here is a Video that the Romano Family put together as a summary for 2012.  Rick and Tammie have 4 kids and have been in the DR for almost 2 years after being in Mexico (on Mission) for more than 6 years.  We will be working along side them in Santiago.  They did a fantastic job on this video!  It shows all the work they did last year and how much there is to do.  One of the reasons we were drawn to the DR is the variety of things we as a family will be involved with. 

Big Day

Tomorrow is a big day for our famliy.  We are blessed to be able to stand in front of our church and share with everyone about our mission trip.  A huge thanks to Craig Walter who has been coordinating many things and encouraging us.  Here is a link to the HUB (church bulletin) to read more about our journey and how you can support us through prayer or finacially.

Click on the link and go to page 10

http://cccomaha.org/hub.php


You can also read a little more about the trip and prayer requests on the link below.
http://cccomaha.org/stm

The Blogging begins

My lovely and creative wife thought of the title for this inital blog and I think it fits.  The whole purpose of this blog is to keep all of our family and friends up to date on our trip to the Domican Republic.

Since I am kind of lazy and it is late, I am copying something that I sent to my Aunt and Uncle when they asked how things are going.  Here it is.

We are moving forward with our 2 year trip to the Dominican Republic.  Our main focus right now is to raise the funds.  A few weeks ago, we had a garage sale and raised about $1700.  That is a good start to our goal and we had a lot of help for our friends who donated the things that we sold.  What is so amazing about that $1700 is that most of it was not our stuff.  What a blessing!

We are also preparing our home to either sell it or rent it, not sure which we will do yet.  There are sooooo many things that we have to do to get ready to go, that we have lists of lists.  It is easy to become overwhelmed, so we are just trying to take it step by step and Trust in God.  Please keep us in your prayers.

If we can raise the funds in time, we plan to leave for our 2 year trip sometime around next March/April.  Teri and I and our two oldest boys, Alec and Marcus are flying down there in late August to get a feel for everything from what we will be doing, to where we will live and also experience the culture.  We will have to find a place to live and our contacts down there said they found us a fully furnished 3 bedroom home that we could rent for 20,000 pesos ($500) /month.  This would be huge because finding a place that is fully furnished would save us about $5000, since we would not have to buy furniture.  Along the lines of fund raising, our church is letting us stand up in front of the congregation on Sunday, July 7th and 14th to let people know about what we are doing.  They will also take an offering for us during those services.

This is a great adventure and we are so thankful that God has put it on our hearts to go.  We also know that it won’t be easy giving things up and leaving our family and friends.  It is stretching us in a lot of ways, but that’s a good thing too.  Looking forward, we would love to see family come down and work for a week with us in the mission. 

Well that is about it for tonight and this basic update on how things are going.  There is a lot more to share so more posts will come.  Thanks for checking in.

If you want to check out more about the mission we will be joining, here is a link to the site. If you do, make sure to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the home page and watch the video.
                                    
The Santiago Experience

Posted by Matt and Teri