Any of you who have come to visit us are sure to have met Frances and Esterlin. These cute little twins live up the street from us and have been regular visitors at our house for over three years now. I came across an old picture of them the other day and just couldn't believe how much they have grown.
Three years. That's how long we have been here in this beautiful place. This week we are packing our suitcases and getting ready to head off to the states for a year of nursing school, support raising, and family visits and our hearts are excited to go but also heavy with the thought of being away from home. We have seen some great stuff happen here in the Dominican.... people coming to the Lord, churches started, college students discipled, local missionaries raised up, illnesses treated, families restored and so much more. What a wonderful three years!
As we prepare to leave, we are spending every minute possible with the folks around us that we have come to know as family and also putting the last minute touches on the final two short term mission projects for this summer. We would appreciate your prayers as we finish up here and as we prepare to travel back to the states. Thanks everyone! We look forward to seeing many of you soon.
Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you all know that Alexander had his eye surgery this morning and it went very well. He is currently in Santo Domingo with his grandfather and Miguel. They are spending the night in a hotel and have a final appointment at 7:30 am to make sure everything is ok. Miguel said that Alex is eating well and doesn't seem to be in too much pain. Thanks to all of you who have prayed and to all of you who have helped raise funds to make this surgery possible. We will keep you updated on his progress.
We had
another great day here in the Dominican
Republic! Today we worked in the farming community. We spent our morning doing door-to-door
visitations. Most of the time was spent
with the leader of the community, Manomeleho. We all thanked him for the chance to come to his community and share the
love of Jesus. He said he was very
grateful for our service. We found out a
great deal about him and what his daily life consists of. Evan also found out that turkeys actually do
lay eggs. Manomeleho served us fresh
agua de coco, or, coconut milk.
After that
we proceeded to visit one of the few Christians in the town, Louisa. She was a great inspiration to all of
us. Please pray for this woman as she
shares the Gospel with her neighbors. Tonight we will be visiting a local youth group. We are all excited for it.
Continue to
pray for us as our trip winds down! Love
you Mom, Dad, Caleb and Andrew!
In Christ’s service,
Josuè
(Joshua Ostrander)
June 21,2008
Heather Lusk
So, today I
stayed at the base because I hadn’t quite recovered from throwing up.:( But, we had lunch once everyone got back from
VBS. I feel a little better, but I’m just not quite there yet. I know it may
sound weird, but even with no air conditioning, being sick like this here isn’t
that bad because I get to see palm trees outside and there’s latin music
playing everywhere. I thank God for that. So, that’s an upside. Yesterday morning we
went to Watchupita( I really don’t think that’s how you spell it), but anyway,
after we left there God just, well, I don’t know really(it’s hard to explain…or
maybe I’m just searching for the right words and can’t find them?). But yeah, I
just got done taking a bucket shower (AWESOME!!) After dinner tonight we’re going to
Ronny’s(one of our translators) youth group. I love spending time with this
group and the other group that I have met. They are so wonderful and caring!!!
Well, I guess I will talk to you all later then! Love yall!!
P.S.- Jeff, you know how you were giving me all that advice?
Well, you never said ANYTHING about the driving!!! I basically just assume that
you know how crazy their driving is. I’ll tell ya all about it later I guess.
Chow!
I love you mom, dad, and Heath and I hope that God is
working His magic with the family! TaTa!:)
Good
Afternoon. Today has been another
challenging day for our teams. We set
out for the farming community which is about 2 miles from our base here in San Juan. This was our second trip to the farm and we
were able to spend even more time building relationships with the people
there. Two of our three teams spent the
morning doing VBS with the kids. They absolutely love it when we come to
visit. We’ve been able to teach them
some of our games, such as Duck, Duck Goose, or, in their language, Pato, Pato,
Ganso. They’ve also been able to teach
us some of theirs as well. One of the
games the boys play here is betilla, which is similar to baseball, except you
use a stick and a bottle cap from a 5 gallon jug of water. Needless to say, I struck out on every
pitch.
This
afternoon, we went out to serve the people in the community. In order for them to get water, they have to
carry large jugs of water to the pump in the center of their village. This isn’t extremely far, but it’s still a
long walk. We would go to each home and
ask if we could fill up their water bottles and use that as an opportunity to
talk to them more and get to know them and even share with them about the
Lord.
I feel like
one of our ultimate goals on this short trip is to give a good name to the
missionaries who are here long-term. I
feel like God has definitely blessed this as we have been well received
everywhere we go. Well, that’s all for
today. Keep praying for us and for the
people of San Juan. God is definitely doing some great
things.
Hi April and Noah- I love and miss you!
Zach Wyatt
...........................................
So….I don’t
know where to begin or even what to say….YEEEEEEE!!!! I still can’t believe I’m
in Dominican Republic.
God is amazing. The people here are great. They are so sweet, very hospitable,
and friendly.
I still had
the “American” mindset yesterday while we were out street evangelizing. I was
worried the people might blow us off thinking we were a bother to them, or at
least ignore us. However, it was the complete opposite. They welcomed us into
their homes, brought us chairs, and had many stories to tell us. Maria, one of
the first women we met was so excited to see us that she even gave us her home.
She continued to say it was no longer hers, we were welcome at any time and
that she was blessed to have had us there. In reality it was much more of a
blessing for us to meet her. I am ever grateful for this opportunity and plan
to further His work as His love over pours out of me and all of us here. Praise
the Lord! J
Beautiful
beautiful beautiful beautiful beautiful babies!!! I miss you! YE!
I took this picture this morning at VBS in front of our house. Our street has come alive with the arrival of this summer's Ambassador Team. The neighbors love these girls!! They are always in the street hanging out with the people and playing with the kids. The team will be with us until Sunday and then will head up to the mountains for 12 days of ministry.
Right now Miguel is off having a final good bye party in the farm community with the two youth groups that have been here for 8 days. Samantha is in her bed sleeping after a very fun time at Bible School this morning. The kids adore her and she gets passed around so everyone can enjoy her smiles and face grabbing.
Tomorrow the youth group heads out and we have a four day break before the next one arrives. We are busy but having a great time and enjoying all the energy that the kids have.
To those of you that have been praying for Alexander....
We have had several hurdles to jump over but the Ahmed Valve surgery for his glaucoma is finally set for a week from today. Please pray that all the travel details are worked out and that nothing else crazy happens! Miguel will be in the capital with Alex and his grandfather Monday and Tuesday while I manage the next project that is coming down. We'll post an update as soon as the surgery is done and let you know how it went. Pray for this little guy!
Thanks to you all for your love and encouragement! Enjoy the picture of our precious little one having a drum lesson with Daddy! Blessings...
A couple of participants report in on how their trip is going:
Wow! What a challenge today was! This morning our teams got
a chance to do street evangelism and door to door ministry. I’m a very shy
person so just striking up a conversation with people that I didn’t know when
there was a language barrier was hard for me. The first lady we came to was
working but the Dominican people are so polite and hospitable that she still
offered us seats and talked for awhile. The next two houses we went to were
easier to talk and share because they weren’t working and we had also done it
once before so it came a little easier. We had a chance to pray and talk about
personal salvation with many people throughout the morning and share the love
of Jesus with them. Lunch was the usual, rice and beans. After lunch we went
into town and held VBS and did some prayer walking. My group prayer walked
first then we helped with crowd control. There are so many cool people here.
They are so loving and have such big hearts! One little girl kept telling me
“te amo” ( I love you) over and over again. We must have given piggy back rides
for an hour straight during VBS. They really love playing caballetos (little
horses) or piggy back rides. Today was tons of fun but also very tiring! I’m
very much looking forward to the rest of the week and the fun and exciting
challenges that lie ahead!
Erica Schlabach – Brenneman
Missionary Church
P.S. I love you mommy, daddy, and mikeyJ
First of all, I praise God for making me able to stand the
heat. Ha!Ha! I want to share so much,
but there’s only a limited amount that I can share on this blog. I guess, I’ll
just tell you about today. Today, I woke up this morning, ate breakfast, and
did devotionals. Frances, me, Caleb, Zach, and our translator Sylvia went door
to door evangelizing. All the people that we came across were very polite,
welcoming, and just a joy to be around. I wish America was like this country on so
many levels because the people have a kind of trustworthiness within them. I
know for a fact that people in America
aren’t so trustworthy. I mean I could go up to a random door in America and
people will just ignore, pretend they’re interested in what we’re saying, or
just totally push us away. It’s not like that here in Dominican. All of the
people that we’ve met are extremely nice and humble. We walk along all the
streets and say, “Hola!” to everyone we pass and they actually respond back.
They don’t even know us, but I think it’s within their nature to be so nice
like that. We also went and did VBS for some kids in a neighborhood. We played
games, sang, acted out a drama, colored, and then the kids kept wanting more
and more piggy-back rides, lifts, and spins. Very tiring, but all joyful
because I was apart of their fun and we got to share the gospel. I am enjoying
every minute out here!!!!!! I am blessed
to be here, and blessed to have this opportunity.
First, we want to apologize for not posting in awhile. A lot
has happened in the past month! Right now we are running around getting the
final details in place our first summer trip. Here are some highlights of the
last few weeks…
In mid-May, our intern Emily went home after nine months of
being with us! We were sad to see her go and we celebrated her time here and
thanked her by spending two fun days at the beach. On the last night, Miguel
was able to baptize her in the Caribbean ocean
and it was really beautiful. We love you Emily!
Brother David: We are still working with David and getting
him ready for his nine month trip to Asia. His
most recent adventure was a trip to Dajabon and Haiti. You can read about his time
at brotherdavid.myadventures.org.
Summer trips: Sunday officially starts our summer season and
this year we have been working hard setting up four youth group trips and an
Ambassador trip. Miguel will lead the first two trips and oversee Ambassadors
before we head to the states in mid July. We spent all day today cleaning the
base house and apartment while Samantha hung out on the floor. She is growing
every day and her newest trick is sitting up by herself for about 20 seconds
and then toppling over into a little heap.
We do have one serious prayer request and that is for
Alexander. We have been working on getting his eye surgery for months now and we
are in the final stages. We finally got him parasite and anemia free only to
discover yesterday that he now has amebas. Today he will take three doses of
meds to kill the amebas and on Monday he will see the doctor that will assist in
the surgery. If all goes well, the surgery will be performed next week. We are
really praying this can happen as the pressure in his eye is at a dangerous
point. Please pray for his health and that we would have favor with medical
staff and that the surgery could be done soon!! We will update on the process
in a few days. Thank you for praying!
We love you all and will write again soon. Blessings…
I am so stinking excited to write this post to you. It's been about 3 months since I have wanted to write, but now the time is right for the curtain to be drawn! As you can read about in the end of our story, you'll see that one of our core desires is to send Dominicans to the missions field. We are committed to disciple making, training, and sending our Dominican brothers and sisters to take the gospel to the nations. It's a ministry that we call "Dominican Rising", the idea being Dominicans rising up to answer the call to "go". It is the kind of dream that gets my blood churning and my feet running.
GOD has been moving and we are thrilled to share with you that HE has raised up our first Dominican missionary. If you have had the opportunity to visit us, I'm sure you have also had the privilege of meeting him. Because we'll be sending him to a closed country, he will be going by another name for his safety. Allow me to introduce you to brother David.
David is a local San Juan brother who grew up in the local church here. After the LORD tugged on his heart about three years ago, we have been working closely with him to help him live out the missionary life he has been called to. The past two years have been spent training him for disciple making and church planting. And now, he is ready to make the jump!
In late September, brother David will be heading to the far east, making a closed Asian country home for 8 months. He will be ministering alongside dear friends of ours as part of their long term ministry of preaching the gospel to unreached people groups. It's a journey with incredible risk, one that requires incredible faith, and he is ready to lose all for the sake of CHRIST! Praise GOD!
Kristen and I are blessed to be spiritual parents to him, and I would like to ask you to pray for David. He is in the process of raising up prayer warriors and financial support to fund his trip. We who have the means need to get behind this guy and fan the flame GOD has placed in him. For more on David, check out his blog or email us.
PS If you know his real name, please refrain from using it on any comments. Thanks.
We had three great events this week in our family! The first
is that my (Kristen's) sister Lauren was able to spend her spring break with
us. She had lots of fun playing with her first niece and seeing the sights of San Juan. Lali, we loved
having you and hope you can come back soon! The second was Miguel's birthday which we
celebrated with a day trip to the beach and a batch of his mom's famous
chocolate chip cookies. The third was that we cleaned out all of Samantha's 0-3
month clothes and replaced them with 3-6 month ones. I think it really hit us
how fast she is growing! She is such a cutie and talks to us all day long. After the short term project and my
sister's visit, the three of us are enjoying some quiet time as a family. Well, maybe not so
quiet! Right now Miguel is playing the guitar on the couch and singing to Sammi
while she "sings" back to him. Here are
some pictures from this week. Love you all!!!
Any of you who have come to visit us are sure to have met Frances and Esterlin. These cute little twins live up the street from us and have been regular visitors at our house for over three years now. I came across an old picture of them the other day and just couldn't believe how much they have grown. 
As we prepare to leave, we are spending every minute possible with the folks around us that we have come to know as family and also putting the last minute touches on the final two short term mission projects for this summer. We would appreciate your prayers as we finish up here and as we prepare to travel back to the states. Thanks everyone! We look forward to seeing many of you soon. 
Right now Miguel is off having a final good bye party in the farm community with the two youth groups that have been here for 8 days. Samantha is in her bed sleeping after a very fun time at Bible School this morning. The kids adore her and she gets passed around so everyone can enjoy her smiles and face grabbing. 
First of all, I praise God for making me able to stand the
heat. Ha!Ha! I want to share so much,
but there’s only a limited amount that I can share on this blog. I guess, I’ll
just tell you about today. Today, I woke up this morning, ate breakfast, and
did devotionals. Frances, me, Caleb, Zach, and our translator Sylvia went door
to door evangelizing. All the people that we came across were very polite,
welcoming, and just a joy to be around. I wish America was like this country on so
many levels because the people have a kind of trustworthiness within them. I
know for a fact that people in America
aren’t so trustworthy. I mean I could go up to a random door in America and
people will just ignore, pretend they’re interested in what we’re saying, or
just totally push us away. It’s not like that here in Dominican. All of the
people that we’ve met are extremely nice and humble. We walk along all the
streets and say, “Hola!” to everyone we pass and they actually respond back.
They don’t even know us, but I think it’s within their nature to be so nice
like that. We also went and did VBS for some kids in a neighborhood. We played
games, sang, acted out a drama, colored, and then the kids kept wanting more
and more piggy-back rides, lifts, and spins. Very tiring, but all joyful
because I was apart of their fun and we got to share the gospel. I am enjoying
every minute out here!!!!!! I am blessed
to be here, and blessed to have this opportunity.
David is a local San Juan brother who grew up in the local church here. After the LORD tugged on his heart about three years ago, we have been working closely with him to help him live out the missionary life he has been called to. The past two years have been spent training him for disciple making and church planting. And now, he is ready to make the jump!
