punta cana.



Glorious day at the beach...I got to check surfing off my bucket list that day :)

I don't really even know where to start about our 2 weeks out in Punta Cana. First I'll tell you a little bit about Punta Cana in general. It is in the southeast part of the island and is absolutely gorgeous! It almost did not even feel like the Dominican Republic, because it is literally its own community. Very wealthy people live there and there are many resorts.  For example people who live there go on weekend shopping sprees to Miami and stuff like that. Two missionary couples moved out there about 2 years ago to start the first evangelical church in the area (there is one Catholic church, but other than that no churches in the city). They started the church last April and God has blessed it so much thus far.

We visited some Russians in the community. We all had a great time of fellowship with food, conversation, and singing.

Alyssa and I had the opportunity to observe and serve with the Climies and Stutlers with their busy lives in Punta Cana (plus see some of God's gorgeous creation!). The first week we stayed with the Jeff and Deborah, who have 2 children, AJ (6 years old) and Olivia (3 years old) and second week with Julie and Zach Stutler. We participated in many random ministries, including Bible studies, small group discipleships, helped prepare crafts for children's church, helped out with kids, hung out with the "AlliTeens" the youth group at church, washed lights at the church, helped at the Christimas show rehearsals the children are going to do, participated in a community fundraiser and met MANY people from the church and in the community. Because it is in the early stages of this church, relationship building is crucial. So we had the opportunity to meet people, eat meals with them, go to parties, etc. The church also put on an early Thanksgiving dinner for the community. Many non-churched people attended along with people from the church, but it was a great outreach to the community.

Early Thanksgiving dinner at the church, Allianza.

Sunday school...Julie does a great job!

Christmas baking/decorating with AlliTeens :)

I really enjoyed seeing much of what goes into starting a church and the beginning stages of it; I also really loved experiencing how some missionaries live life! I have got to experience how vital building relationships is, especially in such a warm culture like in the Dominican Republic. God is showing me more and more that with His grace, He can help me serve cross-culturally long term one day. He is also showing me the reality of how difficult it can be! I praise God for this experiance and all He has and is teaching me. Please pray for our last week and a half as we finish up the semester with school and everything else.



give.live.love.

God don't make mistakes...

One hard part about being here in the DR is the spiritual aspect.  We are doing ministry and going church, but the churches we usually go to are in Spanish, which makes it difficult to get much from it. I have felt like I haven't been learning anything new about God, though. It has been fine, it's just a different feeling. But the last couple of weeks God has really challenged and grown my faith. I am realizing that He has been growing my faith and knowledge of Him this whole time, I just had not realized it and had not experienced growth in this way before. He is doing this in a way I never would have imagined....not through the corruption I've seen in the city, or the poverty I've seen in the country, or just the stress of not knowing the language. No, He is teaching me faith through non-stop problems with my computer.

Beautiful mountains in the middle of the country

This is a big issue since all of my studies are done on my computer. Thankfully, since one of the missionaries here has the same computer brand as me, the first three issues were fixed easy enough, with out too much stress. That was not the case for the last issue. I had to take it to a shop and some guy said he would try to fix it (thankfully he spoke English!). The first step of faith was to leave my computer with him...you hear all these stories about people stealing stuff, so I was worried about that. It was still there later that day when we went to pick up, but was not fixed. I took it back to him again the next day because he said he would try something different, still not knowing if he could fix it, or if my computer would still be there when I went back.

we gave some school kids a snack of bread :)

let me introduce you to Gabriela, my hair stylist :)

After getting back from dropping it off a second time, I tried to focus on some homework, but was having a hard time since I was still stressed out about my computer, (and for those of you who may not know me very well, I do not stress out about things very easily). I had my ipod in on random country songs and the song that starts playing is called "God Don't Make Mistakes" by Jamie O'Neal. And it was just a great reminder "that's there's a reason to keep believing, God don't make mistakes." That just hit me, because I was so consumed with my computer and wondering what I was going to do if I couldn't get it fixed (since I still have at least 5 more papers to write), that I forgot that this did not surprise God.

we carved papayas for Halloween!!

In the mean time, a dear friend e-mailed me asking if I needed anything and mentioned that my mom had informed her about my malfunctioning computer. God worked it out that she was able to send me a computer! It brought me to tears to see how God cares so much about every detail of our lives and that He uses His children to accomplish His perfect will. It is so true that you never know the effect you may be having on someone!

many kids' only meal, we helped serve

Later that day I went to pick up my computer and he was able to fix my computer, so it could do basic functions, till the new one got here! All my data on my computer was not lost as well! And I only had to pay 500 pesos (less than U.S. $15). God is so good! I would have never thought that through my frustrating computer, God would teach me something and grow my faith! You never know with Him!

Thank you as always for your continued prayers. Alyssa and I are in Punta Cana for two weeks to do ministry with the missionaries here, so thanks for your prayers. Also it is getting to a real busy part of the semster, so prayer for good time-management would be good too! And prayer that I would finish my time here in the D.R. focused on what God wants me to do, and that I will continue to grow in faith.

give.live.love