May/June 2017
I
want to personally invite you to come to Cherry Run Camp July 29th-Aug.
6th. I will be the resident
missionary this summer at camp and Aug. 3rd is Cherry Run Mission
Day. I would love to see as many of you
as possible throughout the week to catch up with what is going on with
you. Thanks so
much for your support!
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| Monte Plata Team |
Transition.
A word that is not always a welcome process, yet, is a journey worth
taking. How do you navigate life’s
transitions? Many times our default
strategies aren’t always sufficient to get us through the challenges. Instead of racing as fast as you can to get
to the other side, maybe, just maybe, God has custom designed this transition
for your own personal and spiritual growth.
Transitions can be a time of confusion.
Walking aimlessly. It can be a
time to recalibrate our lives – resilient and balanced lives. “Feelings of emptiness may overwhelm us
during difficult transitions, but we cannot let it consume nor define us. God and his redemptive purpose weaves its way
in and out of transition – unchanged,
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| Summer Intern Orientation |
unhindered,”
from Tim Austin’s book, ‘Transition
Companion.’ We can see this
demonstrated in the life of Naomi, when she, her husband and two sons left
Bethlehem for Moab. She left full of
life but God brought her back to Bethlehem empty-handed (Ruth 1:21). Yet we serve a sovereign God and
he had a purpose for Naomi’s life.
Continuing her story, Naomi ended up holding a grandson in the lineage
of the promised Savior (Ruth 4:16-17).
Tim states, “The dust of transition will settle. And when it’s all said and done I want to
thrive and shine in this new season.” These last two months we have been walking
through a variety of transition. My prayer
is that we grow spiritually, savoring this time of transition to be able to shine
in the new season God has designed for us here in the DR.
Sometimes greeting new
people can be easy, difficult, or so-so.
Why is this? When living
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| Teen sharing his testimony |
overseas
there are many people who come and go in your life and this can take a toll on
you physically, emotionally, mentally, relationally, socially and spiritually. Sometimes the difficulty is putting yourself
out there again knowing that this person you are about to invest in will not be
around for too long. Investing in
someone takes time and energy that some just do not want to give or do not have
the energy to give because they are drained and have exhausted all their
resources. Some believe it’s important
to invest in someone’s life no matter how long or short it may be because you
can impact their life or your life will be impacted by the person’s life. How will you know if you don’t take the
initiative? We welcomed new arrivals to
the island and KAI DR family, Briana and RJ.
They will be serving with KAI for the next two years. Briana arrived at the beginning of May and
she jumped in with helping to finish our child sponsorship project with the
kids at Palo Blanco School. She has been
settling into the daily living here in the DR by finding an apartment to live
in (I will be her roommate) and buying a car for her to get around. RJ just arrived last week and has jumped
right in with being oriented in how to host teams. He will be transitioning to Constanza this
weekend, which is where he will be living and hosting summer teams. Very thankful for both of these new
missionaries, team members and the calling the Lord has placed on both of them
in serving here in the DR.
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| Rebekah |
Summer interns have arrived! There are 17 interns who will be serving in our
ministries located in Monte Plata, Caraballo, Constanza, Palo Blanco & ANIJA
schools and the Ark-Jarabacoa. We just
finished a three-day orientation and training for our summer school program
with
everyone who will be
serving this summer. We had a great time
in getting to know one another, worshipping God together, studying God’s Word
together, and hearing testimonies from various teens and staff in our
ministries. This year, we were taught
about the five love languages of children from Dr. Gary Chapman and some steps
in helping to work with at risk children.
We are all set for Monday to arrive.
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| Anna, Shannon, Karen |
On
the flipside of welcoming people is saying good-bye. Saying good-byes are extremely important to
bring closure to one aspect of your life.
We do it in many ways like having a party, sharing words of affirmation
and thankfulness, and giving small tokens or gifts to remember us by. This month, we have had to say farewell to
two of our missionaries who have served here in the DR, Karen and Rebekah. I am very thankful for these two ladies and
their love for the kids and the Dominican people. They will both be missed. Another good-bye for me was Christina, who came
to help a young boy with a medical problem.
She also, volunteered at our ANIJA School in the first grade class. Each one of these ladies made an impact on my
life for which I am grateful to have known them and served with them. God’s
faithfulness. His goodness.
“O LORD God Almighty, who
is like you? You are mighty, O LORD, and
your faithfulness surrounds you.”
Psalm 89:8
PRAYER REQUESTS
Praise the Lord
for a
good Directors & Leaders Retreat!!
Praise the Lord for
Briana’s arrival!
Praise the Lord for the arrival of the summer interns!
Praise the Lord for RJ’s arrival!
Pray for Cherry Run Camp, as I
will be the resident missionary.
Pray for our
summer program with the kids and interns.
Pray for strength
and endurance.
Pray for Karen
& Rebekah as they transition to living back in the US.
Pray for the
Van Der Molen Family as they prepare to come back to the DR. Saying good-byes.
Pray for God’s wisdom and
discernment in all things.
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