In the City

It has been an interesting week! The Discipleship class at Villa continues to go very well and I am hopefull it will lead to the adults forming an on-going discipleship group.  Yesterday Victor and I were in La Canela- I am very excited with Simon and his family. They have finished the first book in the series and eager to start the second. Simon shared that he is very weak in reading and writing but he wanted to study so bad that his children helped him complete the book! I was impressed. We had a great conversation about salvation and he is eager to be the start of a new church that will minister to his community. That is pretty awesome- he is also begging us to visit his family here in Santiago. It is awesome!

We had to put the project in Guayacanal on hold- we will do the study later (October 8-12) and hopefully next week finish the building. I got sidetracked Thursday and Friday and couldn’t get the materials ready.

Thursday I was on my way to Villa for the study when they called saying they were without power and not to come. So I turned around and went to the grocery store (she said she would call within 30 minutes if the power came back) so I was going to wait to see if I was going or not before coming all the way home. I went in the store for less than 15 minutes and when I returned to my car, parked directly under a light on a busy street, I discovered it had been broken into! They got my gym bag which has been serving as my briefcase/purse and gym bag all in one. I shouldn’t have, but I had my wallet in there which means they got my Driver’s license, US and Dominican, my debit cards, my cedula card (Dominican ID, etc,) and they can probably easily figure out where I live based on some bills I had in my agenda to be paid.  They stole my Bible and discipleship class notes, etc. So, it has been a discouraging few days trying to sweep up the mess! I think I have things under control now. I have added security at my house for a while during the hours I am not home and we are working to put up some permanent protection, extra lighting, razor wire, etc.  I have calmed down and things are returning to normal. I am still dealing with replacing my documents that were stolen- that is going to be a slow, frustrating process. 

What was interesting to me was I was just disgusted (partly with myself for being so lax about the security of my wallet) with the situation and grumpy dealing with the hassles of replacing everything until we went to visit Simon and share with him. It was a great lesson to me- our problems are temporary but being able to share in God’s plan and make a difference in the lives of others is something NO ONE can steal and it is greater than anything I lost. So I got over being grumpy and enjoyed the rest of the day and the meeting in Villa de Yaque (even the rush hour traffic didn’t upset me!). 

This week has gone by FAST!!! Monday was a holiday here and the streets were quiet. I love those kind of days! Tuesday I spent traveling to and from the Capital for a meeting with fellow IMB missonaries. It is always great to get together, share, pray and plan for future ministry initiatives. We are blessed with a great group of missionaries; it is exciting to be a part of what is happening here in the DR- among our missionaries and our National Convention churches.

Our Bible Class in Villa de Yaque has been awesome- we have had 15 adults on average each night. They have an obvious desire to know God and His Word better which is just awesome. Last night as we learned more about the Bible, the biggest question they had was, How can I know it better? Out of that came some talk about finally getting an adult Bible study organized which would be in addition to our Wednesday prayer/Bible study time.  Please continue to pray for this good group of men and women and for Hector and Milagros that they would be able to take the interest and build it into a long term habit of Bible study.

The church building in Guayacanal has been a huge success. We met last night and everyone was excited with how it has developed.  It is really cool!  Our plan is this weekend to finish up with the doors and windows. All that will remain after that is painting it.  We rescheduled the Bible Course there for October 8-12 because the early hour just wasn’t working so we will give ourselves another week to promote it and get folks ready.  It will also give us a chance to finish the building. Out of meeting last night, we are making plans to help the community organize a Mother’s Club which is a pretty powerful group which can help petition government offices for needed services, such as running water!  Pray for Victor as he helps them and for Francisco and Audiledi as they emerge as leaders in the church and community.

Well, I can breathe a little easier. The Red Sox clinche a playoff spot. They have me nervous but at least now we know we are going forward! 

As long as I have been here, I am still amazed at how things work in this country- just since Wednesday, we have taken out a wall at the church in the Hole to expand our “sanctuary.” From one day to the next! Tomorrow we will fill in the back area with concrete and get things fixed up nice.  AND, we got our wood material ordered and delivered and the church is 3/4 enclosed out in Guayacanal- it is amazing how quickly things can get done. No building permits, inspections, etc., etc. The church in Guayacanal looks awesome!  It is exciting!

I visited with the folks out in El 7 today- things are going well. We continue to have a strong faithful group who are seeking to know the Lord better. Pray for them this week- the community is celebrating “San Miguel”- a week long festival to St. Michael, complete with lots of drinking and partying!

Villa de Yaque had a Junta de Vecinos (community leadership council) meeting (Friday late afternoon) for the whole community and invited me. It was a good experience. One of the other churches’ pastor was present and it was interesting to observe him and get a feel for his perspective. (I usually just hear commentary from my leaders.) I was impressed. I hope we can work together more in the future. I am never opposed to cooperating with other Christian churches in our areas but I just usually don’t have a lot of time to make contact and nurture a relationship. I came away Friday afternoon realizing I probably need to make some changes in that area.

The Bible Study course was excellent in The Hole- every night for an hour and a half, and the people hung in there all week!  Tonight we heard several different testimonies of things they had learned which is helping them figure things out spiritually a little better. There was a lot of excitement which is encouraging to me.  One specific prayer request: one young man came every night and he clearly states he wants to walk with the Lord and follow Christ but he had to figure some things out. I think after this week, he is pretty close if not there. He struggles with an alternative life-style which displeases him.  Victor talked with him last night and offered to help him get some counseling to deal with the issue. He accepted so we will get him together with a Christian counselor for at least a month (4 visits) and see where it takes us. Please pray for him- he really is seeking the Lord and has so much to offer his community and church.

I also had an engineer out to look my property over for security purposes. We have a plan in place- hopefully next week we will get started on getting the razor wire properly installed around the whole fence line. In the short term, we got the point of entry pretty well closed- it is covered in barb wire! 

Last night we kicked off our intensive crash course on what it means to be a Christian. Our first topic was Salvation- it was a great time- we were able to identify the core teachings of Christian salvation in a fashion that will help our people lovingly confront the many erroneous ideas that we come up against.  Tonight we tackle the Bible- it will be a little bit of how the Bible came to be, and a little bit of Bible drills, and also outlining some questions that can be asked of each Biblical text to make sure we come to a correct interpretation of the Bible. 

Felix and I went out to Guayacanal to make plans for enclosing the church.  It was great to visit however briefly with our folks. We bought the wood we needed, it should be delievered Saturday and Felix is donating his time to oversee the project along with a couple of the men from Guayacanal.  I am excited about this step for several reasons: 1) we will be able to store our chairs, etc. in the building once it is finished, 2) as the season change soon, it will be cooler in the evening and people would be incomfortable sitting outside, 3) the ladies of the church want to keep it clean but currently the kids go there and play and make a mess, 4) and most importantly, we can resume our quest to have the health department come out once a month to give free clinics. We have to provide a space for them, and what we had was not sufficient- they wanted walls!

I want to thank all of you for helping get this structure built- first to Lexington Baptist, the Quest team who donated the money to put in the floor, and now to Hope Chapel for providing the funds to enclose the building.  I believe this building will be a blessing for the community through the ministries of the church!

By the way, Cool Spring and Hope Chapel- Jo-an is still here! He won’t leave until next Monday because his grandmother got sick. I hope to visit with him some more before he leaves.  I’ll keep you posted.

On another note, I have discovered that someone(s) is/are breaking into my yard. So far they have stolen my hose and a tarp I had covering some church benches we have stored here. I am working today and tomorrow to try to shore up the area where I think they are getting in and then trying to look for a long-term solution.  (The house behind me was bought and the new owner has completely abandoned it, not even maintaining security for it so the local deliquents have adopted it as their gathering spot and now have figured out how to get into my yard. I know they sold the hose and tarp for $ to buy drugs.)  I am not scared at this point, but it has certainly made me feel a little nervous.

My thumb hurt this morning from working the remote control so much last night- the Red Sox were playing the Yankees (not a good result!) and the New England Patriots were also playing, after having spent most of the week in the headlines in an unpleasant development! I was happy, flipping back and forth between the two and although I have been disappointed before, I am hoping for a World Series/Superbowl year!

Yesterday was a good Lord’s Day… I was able to visit all the churches and we visited in La Canela.  I was glad to see everyone and enjoyed the little welcome party they had for me in The Hole- it was a special touch!  While I am pleased and excited, I am also very aware of the hard work that lays before us!

This coming week, we begin a very focused study on the Christian Life, beginning with the basics of salvation, moving on to a basic orientation to the Bible, the spiritual habits, and finally, the character of a Christ-follower. We are initiating our study in The Hole- every night this week, Tuesday-Saturday. I have never done it quite this way before- usually it is done one night a week. My hope is that we can focus this week on the basics, equipping our members to be able to simply and clearly teach others these basic truths.  Every conversation I have here reminds me of the spiritual confusion that clouds the hearts and minds of people.

One thing to rejoice with- yesterday afternoon we met in Villa to catch up on things and talk about the future. One of our members shared she had a difficult situation she needed help with. Making a long story not so long, she had gotten into a bad business deal- a supposed friend took advantage of her and she was facing paying $1800 pesos for a refridgerator that didn’t even cool! Rather than loan her the money to pay the loan shark who was threatening her, the members decided they would go with her to the Court and plead her case. She got a hearing for Thursday. I suggested they go immediately and let the lady with the non-refrigerating refridgerator know. When they did, the lady immediately gave back the money so R. could pay the loan shark off today. I am so thankful for this group of people who support each other and help each other through mistakes and tough breaks!

Upcoming projects…

• we have long wanted to get the Public Health department to send doctors to Villa and Guayacanal since these two communities are quite removed from health care. We now have the structure in Guayacanal and through some special gift monies, we are going to enclose it. Felix has offered to work this weekend on it so we are going to check it out and get the wood ready.  I am excited for this important step forward!
• Victor is working on getting us ready to incorporate a foundation that will serve as an arm to our ministry, particularly in encouraging education, job training, and help to get started earning a living.  Pray for him this week and next as he enjoys his vacation and works on our special projects!

I hope tomorrow and Wednesday I can touch base with the folks in Guayacanal and El 7- they are the only groups I haven’t seen yet. I hear good reports from Guayacanal but we have not been in touch with Morena. Pray they are still together, seeking the Lord!

I sure am missing New England weather! I left New Hampshire where it was 40 degrees in the morning and when I arrived here at 7:30pm, it was over 90 and the humidity had to be 110%.  Oh well…

My mother once asked my nephew (when he was starting Kinder) what part of school he liked the best. He thought for a few minutes and finally said, “Going home.”  I am not sure I would say the best part of vacation is going home, but it did feel good to get back home.  I had a great time in New England visiting with family and friends and was able to be a part of some significant family events for which I am grateful. 

Yesterday everything I touched had problems. My internet connection had to be reinstalled, my car wouldn’t start and left me stranded three different times (and still won’t start this morning.) But such is life. The important thing was I was able to touch base and see most of my leaders and hear good reports about the ministry. Los Santos had a “Focus on the Family” program while I was gone and it was very well attended. I am pleased with that.  The other churches held there own and two of the missions are doing well. Apparently no one was able to connect with El 7 while I was gone so I imagine we will have some ground to cover there.  All in all, things went well and we have some ambitious plans for the Fall.  We covet your prayers as we seek to be very focused on “healthy doctrine, healthy leaders.”  More about that later.

Tomorrow will be a normal Sunday except I will be going to La Canela in the morning, after the service in Los Santos, and then visiting Villa de Yaque later in the afternoon. They will do their own service and then we will have a “business meeting” (better to call it a “family meeting”)  late afternoon, after the worship time in The Hole.  I trust each of you will have a wonderful day of worship too!

Time goes by so fast! I leave Thursday morning for the DR! Just to give you a brief update- my mom is doing well. She came home Thursday night from the hospital and so far all has gone well. She has a variety of follow-up appointments in the coming weeks. Thanks for continuing to pray for her.

A Celebration of Life service was held yesterday at FBC, Sudbury for Paul Gallier. It truly was a celebration of his life and of the Lord he loved and served. I saw many old friends from various contexts which was a blessing. I also was able to drive my nephew back to UMass Amherst and see his dorm room, (He just started there this past week.) Please continue to pray for my sister-in-law, Christy, and all of her family. The weeks ahead will be difficult as they adjust to the physical loss of Paul.

I am in Sterling, MA today and will visit Hope Chapel where my brother is pastor. They sent a team in August to work with me in Santiago and so it will be fun to meet the extended family members of those folks as well as visit with old friends.

Just a reminder, I have had very limited access to email. During the “hospital week” I could check email and update the blog, but apparently, none of the email I sent was received. Maybe it had something to do with the intra-hosptial network. Please don’t be offended if I didn’t return your email- I tried! You can reach me at 603-493-6809.

I appreciate all the prayers for my mom. She is doing well- the tubes are coming out one by one. I think she will come home by Friday, if not tomorrow.

Please remember my sister-in-law, Christina, and her family. Her father (Paul Gallier) was officially pronounced last night at 12:04. It has been a very difficult time for all of them. It is hard to lose a loved one, especially so suddenly.  They will have a celebration of life on Saturday morning at First Baptist Church, Sudbury, MA (the church I grew up in).  Paul was a faithful servant of the Lord right to the end. In the past hours I have thought how impressive it is that he was an active leader in the church all his life, finishing strong.  

It is a beautiful Labor Day here in New England- a warm 85 degrees and the sun feels wonderful.  Most of my weekend has been spent either in the hospital or driving to and from.  My mom is doing fairly well- she hasn’t felt very good the last two days but that is sort of to be expected.  I think she is improving which is a good thing.

Another emergency prayer request… my sister-in-law’s father (and a family friend) had an accident while riding his bike. He had to be air-lifted to the UMass hospital in Worcester. I’m not sure of his condition, other than he needs our prayers. Please remember him (Paul Gallier) and his family.