We give thanks to God for an amazing time today at our own Christ Community Church, where we were able to tell everyone more about the Mission Trip and the work the we will be doing in the Dominican Republic. After church and at the reception this afternoon we had so many people come up to us offer to pray for us and encourage us. We are thankful to be part of such a supportive church and are truly blessed by all the prayers.
Please continue to pray for the following:
1. Pray for our family as we close in on our departure date, that we can get the work done that needs to get done and that our estate sale on the 28th-30th is successful.
2. Please pray for our family as we adjust to a new culture and new way of life in the Dominican Republic, that we lean on God and His sustenance.
3. Pray also for our family that we are leaving here. Everyone has supported us and helped us along the way and they have been such a blessing to us. Please pray that they to will experience God's love and peace as we temporarily move away.
This week is Global Summit where we focus on Missions and issues around the world. We have several events planned at church this week and you can see more at http://cccomaha.org/globalsummit.php
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Bon Voyage Party
We are just 4
weeks out from our departure. Our families got together on Saturday and
we had a great time together as we started the process of saying good bye (for
now). We are sure we will still see many of our family members before we
go, but with a family of our size you have to start early. We are so
thankful to all who made the trip in to Waverly, NE where Matt's brother Chris
hosted a smashing good time. We also understand that those who
couldn't make it wished they could be there and we missed you all.
You will just have to come see us in the DRJ
At one point during the evening everyone gathered around us
and circled us in prayer. Prayers were
offered for our safety and protection; that we would be effective in our work;
for our transition into a new culture to be smooth; and many others. Everyone extended their hands to offer their
prayers for our family. We are so appreciative
of all the prayers. We know that God
hears them and will be faithful to guide and protects us.
Below is a beautiful picture that was taken during the prayer
from Chris’s upper floor. You can see
everyone extending their hands and if you look close you can see Isaac (our 3 yr
old) holding his hands out too. I guess
he was receiving all the prayers on behalf of our family. Thank You all for your Prayers!!
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Departure and House
On April 14, 2014, we will be leaving for Santiago, Dominican Republic. Praise the Lord!! Please pray for us as we prepare for this BIG day.
We have close to 40% of our finances raised, but we are going on faith that the rest will come in these next few months. We only need about 83 more commitments at $40/month.
This week, the Romano family also found a house for us. It has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms that are very interesting. One has a bidet so no wiping necessary and another has the toilet inside the shower. I am looking forward to trying that out. If you never have seen a bidet, Teri tells me there are You-tube videos about it (but isn't that the case for just about anything). Don't worry, Teri assured me she did not watch the videos. There is a huge Mango tree in the back yard. There are no appliances and no furniture, so we will be purchasing all the necessities when we get there. Our rent is 16000/month....pesos that is. That converts to about $400/month. This is a good deal for the house and the location. We will be only a few blocks from the Romano's, a block from the Police station and a couple of blocks from the connection café. There are no screens or glass on the windows. They are just basically shutters, so we will have to install screens to keep the pests out.
We are very excited to have a place to live. No we just have to get ready to go. Thanks for all your prayers and support.
Here is a picture of the outside of the house.
We have close to 40% of our finances raised, but we are going on faith that the rest will come in these next few months. We only need about 83 more commitments at $40/month.
This week, the Romano family also found a house for us. It has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms that are very interesting. One has a bidet so no wiping necessary and another has the toilet inside the shower. I am looking forward to trying that out. If you never have seen a bidet, Teri tells me there are You-tube videos about it (but isn't that the case for just about anything). Don't worry, Teri assured me she did not watch the videos. There is a huge Mango tree in the back yard. There are no appliances and no furniture, so we will be purchasing all the necessities when we get there. Our rent is 16000/month....pesos that is. That converts to about $400/month. This is a good deal for the house and the location. We will be only a few blocks from the Romano's, a block from the Police station and a couple of blocks from the connection café. There are no screens or glass on the windows. They are just basically shutters, so we will have to install screens to keep the pests out.
We are very excited to have a place to live. No we just have to get ready to go. Thanks for all your prayers and support.
Here is a picture of the outside of the house.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Our First Trip to the DR - Day 2....overdue
Well, time got away from us and we never got back to telling everyone about our 1st trip to the Dominican Republic. Now, Matt is planning a second trip in Feb to do some prep work and we haven't even finished posting about our first trip. So we just decided to make this video as a summary. Please click the link below and enjoy!!
Saturday, January 18, 2014
A little breathing room
This weekend we had the chance to go to Missouri to see Matt's sister and her family. We were at first hesitant to leave, after all we have a few things to take care of. We started listing what we needed to do to go and how it would take some time to get everyone packed and what would we do with our puppy? Oh, and we decided this on Wednesday and we were leaving Thursday. But we were going, thanks to some great friends who agreed to watch our puppy and everything will be fine.
We decided to go and just relax and give ourselves a break. We have been going nonstop as does everyone with kids, but now we added our mission trip to the mix. We needed a break and a chance to allow ourselves time to just step back and breathe. We needed to look at all God has done for us up to this point. It seems when we pray we always ask for help or for God to provide. Well, this time we want our prayers to be that of thanksgiving.
We have so much to thank God for as He has provided for all our needs....
Our thanksgiving prayer.... We are thankful for God meeting our everyday needs, good health, a wonderful job, beautiful home, a great working furnace. But we are also thankful that we will get a break from winters and wearing big heavy coats to stay warm. We are thankful that our kids will see another place and truly be able to feel what it is like to help someone in need. We are grateful for our families who are so supportive and willing to help us in every way possible. We are thankful for our new missionary friends who are so willing to find us a home and check on it frequently. We are so blessed to have friends we can trust to rent our house while we are gone. We are grateful for our church, who is behind us and encourages us along our journey. We also appreciate that there are so many who are faithfully praying and giving to us financially, some that we have yet to meet. This is not a complete list, but just the things I can think of right now.
Lastly thank you all for continuing to believe with us and support us.
We decided to go and just relax and give ourselves a break. We have been going nonstop as does everyone with kids, but now we added our mission trip to the mix. We needed a break and a chance to allow ourselves time to just step back and breathe. We needed to look at all God has done for us up to this point. It seems when we pray we always ask for help or for God to provide. Well, this time we want our prayers to be that of thanksgiving.
We have so much to thank God for as He has provided for all our needs....
Our thanksgiving prayer.... We are thankful for God meeting our everyday needs, good health, a wonderful job, beautiful home, a great working furnace. But we are also thankful that we will get a break from winters and wearing big heavy coats to stay warm. We are thankful that our kids will see another place and truly be able to feel what it is like to help someone in need. We are grateful for our families who are so supportive and willing to help us in every way possible. We are thankful for our new missionary friends who are so willing to find us a home and check on it frequently. We are so blessed to have friends we can trust to rent our house while we are gone. We are grateful for our church, who is behind us and encourages us along our journey. We also appreciate that there are so many who are faithfully praying and giving to us financially, some that we have yet to meet. This is not a complete list, but just the things I can think of right now.
Lastly thank you all for continuing to believe with us and support us.
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Santiago Experience 2013 in Review Video
Check out this Video summarizing 2013. It is amazing to see how God is moving in the DR. We are so blessed to be going to work in the field there.
If you want to see more about the Mission in the DR that we will be joining in a few short months, please visit the website http://thesantiagoexperience.com/
If you want to see more about the Mission in the DR that we will be joining in a few short months, please visit the website http://thesantiagoexperience.com/
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Happy New Year!
A heartfelt New Year's greeting from our family to yours!!
We hope that you had a wonderful time with your family celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and that you will have a Blessed 2014!!
As we near the departure date for our mission trip, which will be sometime in the middle of April, the reality of picking up and moving is hitting us pretty hard. Christmas was a great time for our family as usual, but there was also a little sadness in knowing that we are moving away from friends and family for a couple years. The lesson that I have learned over and over again rings so true, especially now....the focus of the season is Jesus and not us. In the commercialized world we live in, that can be easy to forget.
A few positive notes.....
Next year, we will be celebrating Christmas with new friends.
We will be in a much warmer climate (very exciting)
Most importantly, we will be in the Mission field doing some amazing things, helping our neighbors, and making a difference in people's lives.
Update on our plans
At this point we have about 1/3 of the money we need. Our focus these first few months of 2014 is to get the rest of the funds through individuals or families who can make a commitment to give faithfully each month. $100,000.00 sounds like a lot of money, but it will only take 105 of these monthly commitments at an amount of $40.00/month. At this point we need about 85 more commitments at that level, or less if people commit at a higher level.
If after reading this, you feel a little nudge in your spirit to join us on this Mission through a financial contribution, please don't ignore it. We just ask that you pray about it and do what you feel is right for you....and if you feel you want to help out, please email us at mtap5@yahoo.com and we will get you the information you need to get started.
Thanks for all the prayer support that you have been giving. We know God hears our prayers and we have seen Him working through all of this. Please keep the prayers coming. We will create another post with specific prayer request. God Bless You!!
We hope that you had a wonderful time with your family celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and that you will have a Blessed 2014!!
As we near the departure date for our mission trip, which will be sometime in the middle of April, the reality of picking up and moving is hitting us pretty hard. Christmas was a great time for our family as usual, but there was also a little sadness in knowing that we are moving away from friends and family for a couple years. The lesson that I have learned over and over again rings so true, especially now....the focus of the season is Jesus and not us. In the commercialized world we live in, that can be easy to forget.
A few positive notes.....
Next year, we will be celebrating Christmas with new friends.
We will be in a much warmer climate (very exciting)
Most importantly, we will be in the Mission field doing some amazing things, helping our neighbors, and making a difference in people's lives.
Update on our plans
At this point we have about 1/3 of the money we need. Our focus these first few months of 2014 is to get the rest of the funds through individuals or families who can make a commitment to give faithfully each month. $100,000.00 sounds like a lot of money, but it will only take 105 of these monthly commitments at an amount of $40.00/month. At this point we need about 85 more commitments at that level, or less if people commit at a higher level.
If after reading this, you feel a little nudge in your spirit to join us on this Mission through a financial contribution, please don't ignore it. We just ask that you pray about it and do what you feel is right for you....and if you feel you want to help out, please email us at mtap5@yahoo.com and we will get you the information you need to get started.
Thanks for all the prayer support that you have been giving. We know God hears our prayers and we have seen Him working through all of this. Please keep the prayers coming. We will create another post with specific prayer request. God Bless You!!
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