Two Funny Stories (with Alec)

Sorry I haven’t blogged in a while, here’s something to chew on:

A while ago, Marcus and I were babysitting the “little three.” After the little ones were settled watching TV Marcus and I went into our room to talk (like all normal missionary teens do). Then we heard someone behind us, and we saw that it was Ellah. She giggled a bit, then slammed the door. *Click*. The door was locked (we have our door handle on backwards so the lock is on the outside, not inside). And so after begging the girls (and Isaac) to let us out, we were finally set free. The End

Time for number two (this one is a little shorter than the last):

Yesterday I was at the barber’s getting my Dominican hair on, when the barber stopped cutting, and walked to the door. After opening it he sneezed straight out then closed the door and resumed cutting my hair. The End

Thank you all for your support and prayers, they are helping a lot. I’ll try to blog more often.

God bless,         

Alec

A Short Summary Thing

Ok hey guys, Marcus here. So I was asked by a couple people to blog, and I really didn’t have anything interesting to right about… So I decided to write a summary thing. Alright, here we go.

So when we first got here in April it was extremely hard. We were all homesick and missing the comforts of our own home back in Nebraska. Well we slowly but surely got used to the Dominican Republic. There’s still a lot of things we miss, like friends, family, air-conditioning, carpet, a backyard, and much more. But those are some things that we’ll probably never get over. In May, the teams started coming down, and that was kinda fun. After like two or three teams came down, we met the interns. They were all sort of like family, and if any of you interns are reading this, I’ll never forget you guys. So more teams came down, and I made a lot of friends. Some were from Christ Community Church (Hi Pam!) and others were from Minnesota (Hey Charles and Casey!) So over all the teams were really fun. And then came August. And with August came school. And no more interns, and no more teams. And stuff started to get really boring. Math, Grammar, Science, History, Spelling and chores were always on our daily schedule.

And then we started to get invitations to meet with pastors and their families of the Christian & Missionary Alliance Churches. It was fun and all, but having the language barrier can sometimes make it really hard to make friends with the kids that we meet. Like one Tuesday night a few weeks ago, we were invited to a pastor’s house just to hang out. At first it was kinda hard, and slightly boring. But then some of their neighbors came by and asked if my brother and I wanted to play volleyball. Well, we went with them, and they led us right to the middle of the street, where they drew a line across the street, signifying the net. I honestly didn’t even want to play, but I gave it a try, and it turned out really fun. 

So over all it’s been really hard being down here, but it’s also been extremely fun too. It’s almost like by sending us down here, God has closed a lot of doors, but He’s also opened a bunch more. And until He opens the next door, I guess we’ll just have to praise him in the hallway. Well, that’ll have to be it for this blog.

Thanks so much for reading, and God bless.

DR Update

What’s happening in the DR?

Our schedule is changing compared to the busy summer.  We have taken the last couple weeks to begin homeschooling and see how that will work as we continue the café ministry.  Matt and Teri also began Spanish lessons three days/week for two hours.  Eventually we will add Spanish to the kid’s curriculum as well.  We continue to work with our regular students and a 14 year old boy who started coming in about a month ago at the café, three days a week (see the pictures).  Alec and Marcus have been helping with this young man and they are having a lot of fun.  Recently, we have also added two more guys and our cook from the café to the mix.   We have begun to attend the local church in Santiago on Sundays as well as the older three kids attending the Saturday night youth group.

Our upcoming schedule

·         Homeschooling

·         English three days a week with our “regulars”

·         Spanish lessons three days a week

·         Dinner with the manager of the Café and her husband

·         Church in Los Arroyos and connect with some of the families there

·         Visit an after school program with Compassion

·         Team building day with the café employees

Please pray with us…

Lord, please help us to adjust to the different pace of our new schedule and take time for our family.  Help us to continue to connect with our community both in the church, the cafe as well as the relationships we have already established.   Help the children to meet and connect with friends in youth group and church to help their time here.  Please help us all as we continue to learn and study our Spanish, help it to strengthen and build our relationships with those around us.  And lastly, continue to help us share your Word and do your work here in the Dominican Republic.  In Jesus’ name Amen.

Thank You for your partnership in prayer,

Matt, Teri, Alec, Marcus, Ellah, Madelyn and Isaac

Our Day Off

We usually have one day off each week, and a few weeks ago I decided to make this vlog (video log). Hope you enjoy!

-Alec

 

Adios!

Hey guys. Marcus here. So today I’m to be writing about something that has taken place two days ago (Wednesday). So, here we go!

At the very beginning of the summer, I cut my finger in our fan. So about a day later, I asked one of the Romano’s this, ‘What is the most painful thing you have ever experienced?’ Their answer I got was ‘Saying goodbye.’ Well, I kinda wanted to say ‘Yeah whatever.’ But I managed to keep it to myself. I guess I never realized how right she was until Wednesday…

So after saying goodbye to most of our beloved interns (James, Sam, Kristen, Anderson, and Brittany), we still had three left. Who? Well, if you really want to know, it was Meagan, Adam and Laura. Meagan was like the older sister I never had. And she sure acted like it, too. Bossy yet kind-hearted, annoying but hilarious. Well she left a day before Adam and Laura did, so they came over for lunch the next day. Well Adam and Laura were a young married couple from New Jersey (meaning they had ridiculously funny accents), maybe in their mid-twenties. The thing is they arrived like a month before the other interns did, and they stayed the longest, too. So Laura was… well… a short, funny, feisty, go-getting Colombian girl. Now Adam, well, he was definitely one to remember. He liked to hear what I had to say. But not only did he listen, he actually talked back. Even though we had like 15 years of age difference, we still were ‘friends.’ We talked about stuff, from the new Xbox to his broken pinky knuckle. And then I had to say goodbye. I never knew how painful it was to say goodbye. I mean, I know I’ll see my family again back in NE, but I may never see these guys again. They were like family to me. 

Here is a picture of Adam, Laura, Alec and me down below. Well, I’m sorry to say, but this is the end of this blog ;) Anyways, thanks for reading, and I hope you have a blessed fall! 

Final Week

It is hard to believe that today marks the start of our final week of Short term mission teams coming to the DR.  We have been working hard with a new team arriving every Saturday since April 26^th, with one week off near the end of May when our interns arrived.  If you haven’t seen our schedule, it is at the bottom of this blog. 

Although this busy schedule was a huge challenge, we handled it pretty well.  Another thing that was challenging was the poverty that we witnessed every day.  Even though many of the people we worked with had very little, they seemed to be content.  Several times a woman has come to our house and dug through our trash cans out front, looking for food.  That was really hard to see, but imagine how hard it was for her.  Do you feed her and then when more people come, feed them too?  Do you just pretend you don’t see her?  The first time we just said, “hi” and kept on going, because it surprised us.  Then, Teri set some mangos from our tree in the trash to help a little.  Maybe that sounds like not doing much, but we wanted to be subtle, and still help. 

We also see people on the streets asking for help.  We try help when we can, but there is so much need and you don't always know if it is real.  Once we gave money to someone on the street that was walking through traffic on crutches and looked pretty bad.  After traffic started moving, I looked back and saw him holding both crutches in one hand and walking fine.  When you see that, you get upset and think that you got fooled.  But we did not let that keep us from helping others.  A good friend once told us something that stuck.  She said, “I would rather get to heaven and find out that I was more generous than I needed to be, than the other way around.” 

The point is you don’t always know the circumstances that someone is dealing with.  That is true for anywhere, not just the DR.  If your action is motivated by Love, then there is nothing to be ashamed of if things are not what they seemed. 

Please pray for as and we will pray for you that the Holy Spirit lead us to help those who really need it.  Amen 

Our Weekly Schedule

Sunday: Breakfast at 10 then Church on the Beach (~1 hr drive each way). Then back in Santiago with Dinner at 6 and Orientation until 8:00-8:30

Monday – Wed – Friday: Prayer at 7:30; Breakfast at 8; Leave for worksite/ministry at 9 until 4:30ish; Dinner at 6 and after that Devotional until 9pm

Tues – Thurs: Prayer at 7:30; Breakfast at 8; Leave for worksite or ministry at 9 until 4:30ish; Dinner at 6 and after that there is a Church Service on Tuesdays and we have a Staff meeting on Thursdays until 9:30-10pm

Saturday: Turnover Day: Old team leaves and new team arrives.  We have to clean our Work Team Center and get everything ready for the next week.

We have one day off each week.  Some of our team will have Saturday and the others Sunday and it rotates.

Just a note

 

As I sit down to blog I am wondering what all to report.  There have been so many things happening here in the Dominican that it is hard to pick just one.  After some thought the thing that comes to mind is how blessed we truly are.  This isn’t a new revelation but a new perspective for us.  We knew that coming to the Dominican Republic wasn’t something that many have the chance to do.  We knew that getting our church behind us was a huge blessing, not to mention the support from our families.  But this week we have seen so much more.  Last week both Matt and I have had the pleasure of working with our kids.  Again this isn’t something new or that we haven’t been doing all summer but it is something that we love. 

A few mornings last week Matt took the boys to work with him in the town of Moca.  The church there is adding a second floor for the Pastor and his family to live in.  While the boys were there they worked on pouring the stairs.   It is fun to hear them all share their stories from the day and how hard the work was.  While they talked you could see how much they enjoyed working together.  They worked with the Pastor and they know how excited his family is about their home.  Even though they were hot and tired they loved being a part of something much bigger than themselves. 

In the afternoon I was able to take the boys a few times and separately the girls another time with me to VBS.  Again, they all worked hard helping out where it was needed.  There was a day the girls decided to stay back with Matt because they remembered the pastor’s daughter from earlier in the summer and they wanted to play with her more.  Not only did they play but together they cleaned out the wheel barrels of cement.  They laughed as they told me the stories of spraying each other with the hose.

Then there was Friday when the only one that wanted to go anywhere was Isaac.  The others wanted to stay home and just relax after all the work they had done last week.  When I went to leave for the café he just cried and said he wanted to go. At first I was hesitant to take him because it is slow and at four he tends to become bored and a little busy.  But when I looked at him I thought why not if I was at home he may not have this chance to go to work with me.  We stayed at the Café for over 3hrs and he really enjoyed it.  It didn’t matter to him what we were doing or that we were practicing English, it just mattered that we got to do it together. 

I know this wasn’t really about all we are doing here in the Dominican Republic but it is something God  is showing us.  Thank you all for your continued prayers.  Please continue to pray for strength and endurance for our last two weeks of teams.  Pray for our team to finish the summer just as strongly as we began.  Lastly pray that God continues to show us how we can help those in our community. 

God Bless!