In the City

For those who have read my blog for some time or have been here and worked with me, you know that I have been trying to figure out how to bring community development into the mix of church planting among the urban poor. Through experience, I have seen that the chaos of the barrios- economic instability, lack of education, hope, empowerment are tremendous obstacles in developing leadership and planting new churches. So, after much prayer and experimentation, we are going to create “The Barnabas Foundation” (Acts 4:36) which will be the right arm of our church planting efforts. Basically, the foundation will work with the following goals:

1) help people become financially stable by
     a)providing micro-credit for the start of small business’ and
     b) encouraging and helping people finish their education.

2) develop a sports ministry that will involve sports camps and on-going sports activities that will enable our Baptist churches and church plants to form relationships with the young men and women of the barrios. The goal is to nurture saving faith among these young people through their participation in sports.

3) continue providing special funds to people who find themselves in medical crisis. In the past, we have helped provide for a cochlear implant, an open heart surgery along with several other surgeries.

4) continue providing special funds for church planting projects. Over the past several years, volunteers have provided resources to help buy land and simple structures in which the new churches meet and carry on their ministries.  We are hoping to build a basketball court in Villa de Yaque this Spring. Also, soon I will be sharing some news about water purification ministry plans.

There is a lot yet to be done- how all this will work is yet to be determined. I have a lawyer who is drawing up the legal papers to submit to the DR government, establishing us as a non-profit foundation. By law we have to have 11 members of a Board of Directors.  I spent this past weekend recruiting people to form the Board of Directors- I am excited with the qualities and experience they bring to the table, especially their heart for the Baptist work.  Above all, we want the foundation to be the engine for the development of strong healthy leaders who will lead many others to Christ through the planting of many churches all around the city.

How can you help? Pray, pray and pray some more for God’s guidance and direction for the Board of Directors. Also, if any of you have special skills in any of the areas listed above, please call me or email me (marsha.davidson@macregion.org).  I want to hear from you!!

Okay, we won! Who would have ever thought the Red Sox would win not one but 2 World Series in just 4 years? Hopefully they will keep on coming!  Now we need to root for the Cubs so they can finally win a title too- I always thought a Cubs-Red Sox World Series would be awesome but now it wouldn’t be the same. 

We are having RAIN AND MORE RAIN. The roads are closed in Bonao (water rising) making it next to impossible to get to the Capital- I had planned to go today but good thing I had changed plans!  Thankfully yesterday we didn’t have heavy rain during our worship times and had a pretty good participation, given the mud and “frio” (cold- it was a little nippy).

Paula, Victor’s wife, is supposed to be having surgery this morning- a hysterectomy. Please keep her in your prayers.  Also, as we were finishing up our worship time in Villa de Yaque, Belan got a phone call- his 26 year old nephew in the Capital had been killed. Apparently, he was held up by a group of thieves and they beat him to death. Please remember that family as they mourn his loss (made all the harder by the downpour!). 

You know the need for the Living water, but did you know that…

     Contaminated water is the #1 cause of death in developing countries?
    
     On average, one child dies every 8 seconds of waterborne disease?

We in the DR deal with issues of contaminated water.  I want to encourage those who are thinking about coming to work with us here, to help us bring Pure Water to the communities we work in. The Maguire Purifier is easy to install and use and has great potential to eradicate the illnesses associated with contaminated water (as well as save the poor money they spend to buy bottled water.) I will be sharing more later, but for $1000 you can buy a purifier and another $500-$1000 or so we can get it installed (tanks, etc.)

I don’t need to say much about the game last night- it was fun! I like those big wins- no stress!  Just three more…

Catching up on some ministry… Guayacanal- not much happened while I was gone. I was disappointed in one way but things never go according to MY schedule. We had a lot of rain (I know some of you wish you had it!) and several of our families there had family emergencies. I was VERY encouraged though to hear about and see the transformation that is taking place in their lives. Victor shared that he had dreamed, the Lord was speaking to him, and he remembered how the first group (prayerwalking) arrived at his house and how he opened his house and now the Lord was speaking to him and changing his life. He said it was such a powerful dream he woke up his wife and made her feel the tears on his face! 

La Canela: Simon and his family continue studying the Bible and I believe are feeling called to become followers. He is an awesome leader! I came away yesterday very hopeful with what God will do there.

Villa: They didn’t do a whole lot while I was away. They did get to La Barranquita and had a good experience. This group of people lack a leader who can motivate and guide them. Please pray for them, and for me to know how to deal with this and to know who God would send to help them.

Los Santos: They also had a set back in that the man who was going to preach called and left a message at my house (which no one ever heard) that he COULDN’T go! But Sol said they managed okay and had a good service. They went one Sunday to visit in La Canela which went well. Their plans for Gurabo fell through.

The Hole: Things are normal- Felix’ business is going well in the sense that he has a lot of work. But he is experiencing a cash flow problem and a few clients who started projects and then have not paid.  He is kind of discouraged. I think it is all part of getting started in your own business and am trying to encourage him. One thing which encourages me- he continues to work hard and is growing in his desire to serve the Lord in ministry.

Wait to you hear this: Victor had a chance to have lunch with the president of the country!! He was almost next to the president- I saw the pictures! He shared with him the terrible conditions of the hole and asked that they be relocated and that area of the hole be replanted with trees.  They have already sent two engineers to study the situations (they were appalled and said they would treat the matter as urgent.)  So, if Leonel wins reelection, we may see a big change in the Hole! 

It has been a long two days of travel- lots of hurry up and waiting!  But, the BIG WIN last night erased any discomfort! I got to my hotel room at 11pm just in time to see Dustin Pedroia’s homerun, giving us a 5-2 lead, and from there, well, what can I say- 11-2 or 35-5 the last three games!! I am excited for the World Series to start on Wednesday but I hope we don’t have to stretch it out to a game 7- I have too much going on to deal with the stress. Let’s just win it all in 4!

Enough about sports (although in New England, sports is a great topic- The Sox in the World Series, the Patriots undefeated, and the Celtics have a promising season ahead, and yes, I am bragging just a LITTLE bit.) 

The Water Conference was awesome- I think what impressed me even more than the whole purification process and how relatively simple it is and what a great impact it can make on people’s life/health, was the presence of so many people (60+) literally from Coast (LA and Oregon) to Coast (Philadelpia and Florida), from Africa to Latin America, young and older gathered together because of a common passion to minister in Christ’s name. It was so inspiring to hear the stories of what God is doing in so many places around the world through these people.  God is so much bigger than we often realize! 

I am back and will begin tomorrow trying to make some concrete plans of how to put all this into ministry plans!  Thanks for your prayers for safe journey.  It was awesome to reconnect with Mill Creek folks and Cool Spring folks and to meet so many new people both in Virginia and at this conference.

I am here in beautiful Kentucky, learning about a simple water purification system that can be installed just about anywhere.  It can purify water at the rate of 55 gallons/minute!  I am excited about the possibilities for our ministry among the urban poor barrios. Providing a community with Pure Water is an awesome gift and creates an opportunity to share about The Living Water.  It will make a great project for any volunteer group!  You can check them out at edgeoutreach.com.

I will be here in Crestwood, KY (just outside Louisville) until Sunday afternoon when I will head to New York, overnight, and fly out to Santiago next Monday, arriving home around 4pm. 

Thankfully I have internet accessibility but I am not sure I have a phone in my room. (Haven’t even had a chance to go there yet!)  So, if I can be of help, contact me at marsha.davidson@macregion.org and I will do my best to get back to you ASAP. 

It has been a wonderfully busy several days here in Virginia, visiting old friends and making new ones!  I am looking forward to the water purification training as well (Friday-Sunday in Louisville, KY).  I am excited with the possibilities of using that in our ministry strategy- already two volunteer groups here in Virginia (Cool Spring and Mill Creek) are interested in making the water purification process part of their project.

Please continue to pray for Victor, Sol, Carolina, Hector and Milagros along with Nelson and others as they explore new points for beginning new works. Also, I have had some fruitful brainstorming time in my travels to think through some changes in how we organize for ministry. I am excited about getting back and talking with them and getting going again!

What a week! I have been busy trying to finish up some ministry projects as well as getting my house secure before leaving tomorrow morning for a 10 day trip to Virginia and Kentucky.  The church in Guayacanal is almost complete- I hope it will be all done and painted by the time I come back.  We had some good visits with folks yesterday- Johnny is sick- he has a non-malignant tumor in his stomach and gastritis.  Please pray for him these next 10 days- he is taking some medicine and will be reevaluated to see if the tumor has diminished.  He has a very strick diet to follow as well.
We visit with Victor and his wife and he shared how disappointed he was that so many of his “friends” no longer come to visit him. He said before, when he was earning more money and drinking, they would always come and drink and eat. Now that he doesn’t offer them beer, they don’t come.  It is tough to realize that your “friends” weren’t really friends! Victor (from the Hole) said he had a very similar experience. Pray for Victor and his wife as they chart a new life in the things of God.

While I am gone, all three of our churches will either be working with our missions (Guayacanal and La Canela) or seeking out new opportunities. Los Santos will be visiting some people in Gurabo who have heard the Message and want a church to guide them. Villa de Yaque will be visiting a community where some of them used to live. We heard recently that there is no church there and I am asking them to go and pray and see if the Lord may open a door for us to begin a ministry there.

I will be visiting with Cool Spring Baptist Church in Mechanicsville and Mill Creek Baptist Church in Fincastle, VA. (I used to serve on their ministry staff.)  I am thrilled about getting to visit these two churches and talk about future ministry plans here in the DR. From there, I will go to Louisville, KY for a water purification conference sponsered by Edge Ministries. We are excited about how we can partner together to provide pure water as well as the Living Water to the urban poor here in the DR. 

Please keep me in your prayers as I travel- tomorrow through the 22nd. Also, even more importantly, pray for our ministry here, that they would move forward and explore these new ministry initiatives even in my absence.

And now, I must leave you because the Red Sox have begun! True Christians every where will be rooting for the lovable Red Sox!!

As I was leaving on my daily morning walk with the dog yesterday, I discovered that someone had tried to pry open one of my iron doors! One of the hinges had given way because it was rusty but fortunately, they couldn’t get in. As the day wore on, I discovered that it had happened around 11:30pm- while I was still watching ballgame (enjoying the Yankees loss!).  Oreo gets the credit for saving the day because around that time she woke up and barked her head off- I let her outside and she stayed out there for quite a while. I never even suspected someone had been in the yard, let alone trying to get in the house! Thank goodness for dogs and their keen hearing skills! (And I was grateful that once again I didn’t realize what had happened until the morning when I could actually do something about it!)

So, yesterday was quite busy- I fielded birthday calls and visits all day and we did our best to protect my house from further intrusions.  I think we have things under control. There is a certain amount of risk that can’t be avoided but we are trying to do what we reasonable can do to keep me safe. Your prayers are very welcome!

There are several interesting developments:

1) The family of Simon in La  Canela have been very faithful and eager in their study of God’s Word and really are interested in bringing their whole community to know Christ. Simon seems to be a very upright man and has a very strategic mind. Pray for him and his family!

2) Morena and her family in El 7 have stayed strong. Yesterday we began a Bible study with just them and a few others from the community. Our desire right now is to see them strong in their faith and healthy in their doctrine and from there make continued efforts to reach the larger community.

3) Miguel’s family (Los Santos) has been sharing Christ with family members in Gurabo (near Camp David for those of you who have eater there) and they are eager for a continued presence and the beginning of a church. Pray for Miguel and the other members at Los Santos as I challenge them to take the lead in developing this ministry opportunity.

4) Nelson is a young man in Villa de Yaque who seems to be a very sincere believer. I felt Sunday in our worship time that God might be calling him to be a pastor. Pray for him and for me as well as our other leaders as we seek to minister to him and nurture him in his calling. He also shared with us his burden to see a church planted in La Barranquita (where a good part of the Villa folks came from.) He went back to live there but when he saw the spiritual condition and the fact that there was no church there, he came back to his mom’s house. I pray we can plant a church in this community as well. Pray for Nelson and the Villa church.