The Barnabas Foundation...

I need some help. As most of you know, I go to the Civil Defense every Sunday morning and have a prayer with them and share a brief devotion. It has proven to be a good investment of time but also quite a challenge. There are some Christians in the group but most are not so keeping fresh with appropriate devotional material is a little difficult. Does anyone know of a devotion book(s) that relate specifically to rescue workers? If you do, please send me an email and give me the scoop. I need help!

My email is: marsha.davidson@macregion.org

Sunday's are usually great and yesterday was no exception- we had very good attendance, especially considering that it was Father's Day.  Thanks Cool Spring and the PA nurses- we used the hygiene kits and T-shirts as gifts for our Dads and they were very much appreciated.

Victor and I went out to Guayacanal to visit. It was exciting to hear how Luis was doing- he accepted the Lord Thursday night while he was 1/2 drunk. He didn't tell his wife where he had been but when we visited and she realized he had been to church, she said, "Now I know- he came home 1/2 drunk but was so much at peace- he ate and went to bed without any of his usual fighting, etc."  And he hasn't drank since!

He shared with us that a while back, I think it must have been with the Lexington group, he was observing one of our meetings. He tried to talk to someone but they didn't speak Spanish so he didn't get too far. But he said he sat back with his bottle of rum, watching. And with no breeze or anything present, something came along and knocked over his rum bottle and he lost it all. He took that as a sign from God and then something brought him by our place last week.  Pray for him and his wife, that they will be filled with faith that will lead them to obedience.

Also, please continue to pray for Hope Chapel in Sterling, MA as they make final preparations for their week here. They arrive Thursday afternoon. I am getting ready to head to Santo Domingo to get the van for them! (It wouldn't hurt to pray for safe travel!) 

Tomorrow night we are participating in the cultural week at La Canela, showing the movie, Con Quien Te Vas?  I am exciting to see where that leads us.  The Hope Chapel folks will be doing some follow-up with.  Pray for the formation of a new group of people seeking the Lord through Bible study.

Last night was very special in Guayacanal. One man came, half drunk, but at the end of the evening asked how he could receive Christ. I told him that I knew another man who accepted the Lord while he was drunk, and how he had been transformed by Christ and has been faithful in following Jesus ever since. Pray with us for Luis Taveras as he begins this new journey of faith. Also, several others finally have shown interest in making the commitment to be baptized. That is the key for us in church planting- we have a group there but only one has been willing to make that decisive step of obedience and faith. Thanks for continuing to pray for that community.

Wednesday the movie went well in Villa de Yaque. It has a powerful message, the key if for people to respond in faith. 

I am getting ready now for the class tomorrow (we have our mid-term exam!) and for the Bible study in El 7 tomorrow evening.

I have another request for prayer, actually two. One, I have sensed that with all the special events, our leaders are either tired or maybe because of my lack of presence, a little lost. I haven't sensed a real closeness among ourselves or them with the Lord. Please pray for wisdom and sensitivity as I seek to talk with them and reaffirm them. Summer can be a difficult time with the heat and it may be that they are in need of a "revival." I have taken time for myself to rest and renew, and now I need to make sure they do too!  Second, I have talked with my supervisor about making some changes in how I do ministry- my methods have worked well to this point but for us to continue to grow and to multiply leaders, I think some changes are in order. Pray with me that God will be working in my heart and my colleagues to help me chart a new course that will lead to a multiplication of strong disciples and leaders in the Kingdom work. We are going to have a brainstorming session around the 10th of August.

Also, it is hard to believe that the time has gone by so fast, but Hope Chapel from Sterling, MA will be here in less than a week now! 8 people arrive to work with us in evangelism and discipleship August 2-10. Keep them in your prayers as they do final preparations. (Some of them have been here before with the Quest team, and some are coming for the first time.)

What a weekend! Friday night, the couples club went very well but not without some excitement. As I shared earlier, Morena and her husband came from El 7. He drove and as he was stopping to pick up the folks in Villa de Yaque (right on their way!) he was hit by a truck (who didn't bother to stop!). The car suffered more than US$1000 damage.  Every one was on edge with that turn of events but they had their seminar and seemed to enjoy it.

Saturday, Leadership class went well. We had 10 for Bible study in El 7- Hector came with me and he was so impressed with their earnestness and openness. We closed with a great prayer time.  It did rain which prevented us from showing the movie in Villa de Yaque but it was for the best- Sunday during worship we planned a special prayer focus each night and then showing the movie Wednesday, after we have prayed. 

The movie in Los Santos was well attended. That community has become very hard of heart- I don't know what is happening there but one "friend" of the church, at least he has been in the past, has started acting very strange, fighting and causing all sorts of problems, including ridiculing Christians.  Please keep Sol and our little band of believers in your prayers as they face this spiritual battle.

Tonight we were going to show the movie in La Canela but they have asked us to wait until next week so we can be apart of their celebration of Cultural Week- I am going to investigate this because in many places this celebration involves a lot of idol worship. Pray for this unique opportunity and that we will be able to distinguish clearly what it means to follow the One True God.

A personal update: My mom is out of the hospital and awaiting a few appointments to determine when they will do surgery.  I got the stitch removed from my nose yesterday. The biopsy report showed that it was pre-cancerous. The doctor thinks she got most of it when she did the biopsy so I will be using lots of sunscreen on my face for the next two months when I will go back to see her and determine if I need further treatment. Thanks for your prayers.

Last night's movie went very well.  Several people who are really needing to make decisions were moved. One guy left without talking to us (very unusual) and his wife grabbed me and asked me to pray for them because she felt he was close to making a decision. Another lady shared with Sol after that she really likes drinking rum and that has been a stumbling block for her but since she has started hearing God's word she doesn't enjoy it as much. Please pray for her and her family as they wrestle with some life-changing decisions. And then there is Johnny. He too was very moved- pray for him and his family as they also try to come to terms with the question: With who will go?  Maybe in English it would be better: Who will you follow? 

Tonight is our Couples Club- I am on my own cooking again because Pilar had a commitment but I think I can handle Tacos. Thanks to Cool Spring for some of your leftovers- they will be used tonight!  Morena and her husband (from El 7) will be participating for the first time.

Tomorrow, if all goes well, we have seminary class. A particular prayer concern, Sol and Carolina, for different reasons really need to come to terms with the material we are covering- working in teams and developing the people around us as leaders.  Sol is about the only leader in her community- she needs God to bring her into contact with new people who have potential to join her as a leadership team. Carolina has several other strong leaders to work with but getting in harmony and working together is not always easy when you have several strong leader types.

After seminary, we have our Bible study in El 7 and then if there is no rain, we are going to show a movie in Villa de Yaque. It will be a different movie I think because we have shown Con Quien Te Vas there before.  Sunday is a normal worship day except that we will be showing a movie in Los Santos- one for the Sunday school and then another one in place of our regular worship time. A thankyou to the Quest teams and to FBC, Big Pine for the gift of the movies- I hope you realize how your gifts keep on giving!!

Thanks for your prayers- La Canela will have the movie next Tuesday. We visited there last night and it was fun to see the kids playing with the soccer balls Cool Spring donated.

It has been a good week- finally we got just a little bit of rain.  My yard desperately needs some!  It felt good to be back teaching my class again at the seminary. I am teaching the second half of Leadership- I always learn a lot myself as I work to prepare the class!  I saw a great movie last night that illustrates some key aspects of leadership- it was called Pride- it is based on a true story of a swim team from Philadephia. Check it out!

Sunday worship went very well.  We had a good group in each of the churches. I felt good to be back with all of them.  My schedule has been out of whack for a while with various projects and our Annual Meeting.  Monday and Tuesday were my days off and it felt good to be off the road. I got a lot of little projects done here at home which always makes me feel good. My office finally got a cleaning out!  I actually have some shelf space now!

Tonight we began a series of showing movies. I don't do a lot of this but we decided it would be a good summer activity. The movie, Con Quien Te Vas, was very well received. Victor told me he saw several people crying during the movie so he was going to make some visits. We had well over a 100 people. I couldn't help but think back 6 years when we first began working in the Hole and what it was like when we showed a movie- chaos! Tonight, we had everything set up on the BB court, we had the chairs from the church and from the club and it was anything BUT chaotic.  It was nice to see progress!

Tomorrow night we will be in Guayacanal. I am praying the movie will help several folks make a decision about "with whom and where they are going in life."   Friday night is the marriage enrichment seminar here at the house, and then Saturday is seminary class and at 5pm the youth at El 7. I am going to look into showing a movie in Villa de Yaque on my way home from El 7. And then on Sunday, we have normal worship except in Los Santos we will be showing the movie.  Pray that the message of the movie will move people at a level which leads to some life-altering decisions. Pray for our leaders in each place, that they will be able to use this presentation in their sharing with friends and neighbors.

Personal update: I have a suspicious looking spot on my nose. I have been putting it off for a long time but finally went to check on it today- the doctor thinks at worst it is pre-cancerous and maybe not even that. She did a biopsy to make sure; the results will be back by Monday, so they say.  In the meantime, I have a swollen nose and I bled bad enough she had to put a stitch in my nose- I imagine that looks great! Life is always an adventure!

When I talked to my mom today she was not feeling well. Apparently she is having a relapse. I don't know if she will get to the point where she has to be hospitalized again or not, and I don't know how this affects her heart study. She was scheduled to get a monitor for 48 hours this Friday. Please pray she will recover from this latest episode without having to be hospitalized, etc. I think she is pretty tired of that!

This was reported yesterday in the DR news. Imagine how these expenditures affect the poor... 

Six billion spent on "macuteo"
In 2006 Dominicans spent RD$6 billion in "macuteos" or small bribes, according to findings in the National Study on the Cost of Corruption for Dominican Households carried out by Gallup and financed by USAID. The services that required the most "grease" was to assist those seeking documentation to travel abroad, for which Dominicans paid RD$2 billion. Getting someone out of jail or avoiding jail time cost Dominicans RD$842 million and obtaining birth and death certificates cost RD$341 million in small bribes. The study also highlighted payments that were made to obtain drinking water, check the electricity meter, get a cedula, a good conduct certificate, acquire a passport or get a loan at the bank. The study also indicated that 2.1% of a household's monthly salary is allotted to those macuteos, or RD$2,856 per month for services that are supposedly free. The poll was taken from 1 March 2007 and 28 March 2007 and the study has a 2.37% margin of error. The study was conducted nationwide.

It has been awhile since I have updated the blog.  As I shared, the strike on Monday was peaceful. Over 70% of commerce here in Santiago was shut down and nearly all the public transportation nationwide was stopped. Navarette had one fatality which also shut the city down on Tuesday as the burial of the victim took place. I was able to go to El 7 on Wednesday- we had 10 young people come! We have started a bible study of Decubra 1 which is about basic biblical truths of salvation. They are going to lead their meetings, using dramas and music as they learned from the Cool Spring group.  We begin this Saturday at 5pm. Pray for Cesar and Chercha who are in charge of preparing the meeting/study this week.

My mom was released from the hospital last night. She has something going on with her heart that they need to investigate before they can operate on the intestines. I don't know how the long the process may take. Thanks for your prayers for her- she is home and feeling great again. Hopefully this heart issue will not turn into anything serious. 

I start again at the seminary teaching Leadership 2 this Saturday (2-4pm)- I am in the process of getting my class plans together. 

Victor and Sol are going out to Guayacanal tonight for our regular Bible study and to see how things are after our big focus last week. Please pray for this area, for the seeds that have been planted to grow and for folks to take the lead in the developing church. Pray for Johan as he begins his walk with the Lord and for wisdom for us as we seek to help him grow strong spiritually.

The rest of the week has been spent taking care of some business stuff- the mission van needed the AC fixed, I had to work at the airport for our mail service, I had the electrictian install a proper outlet for the ice freezer (it is now out on the street with the water jugs), etc.  The house is sort of back to normal. I am still not completely rejuvenated but I am working on it. As Isaiah says, He who waits on the Lord will renew his strength..." I am waiting!

It has been so quiet- my "family" of 70 is gone, and no one moving in the streets.  Apparently, the strike was successful in grinding the country to a halt BUT without a lot of violence, thankfully.  I have read of just a few fatalities due to the strike- one in Navarrette and another in Bonao.  There were three hurt in a bombing accident in Cien Fuegos Sunday night as the strike was beginning. I was so thankful the Cool Spring group had arrived home before any of this started. I was thankful for such a quiet day- I have only left home to walk the dog!  Pilar called and invited me to lunch but I said thanks but no thanks- I am staying put! She laughed!

Please pray for my mom who is hospitalized again. She has had another attack of diverticulitis and apparently will have to have an operation soon to alleviate the problem. She wasn't feeling well this weekend and finally went in to the Lahey-Clinic Sunday afternoon where she was admitted. Thanks for your prayers.

We had a WONDERFUL time at the beach today- everything went so well, the weather was great- not too hot, had a few sprinkles to cool us down a bit, the drive went fast and we came back a new road- across the mountain where we saw some of the prettiest scenery in the DR.  I was glad to see everyone have a chance to relax and enjoy themselves after a long, productive ministry week.  And to top it all off, we came back to my house for the famous porkchop cook-out. I want you to know they ate 50 pounds- that is right, no typo- of porkchops!  Whit was especially happy. The best part of that was that Pastor Ramon and his family were here to cook it for us and enjoy a few moments together.

So, folks, they have had quite a week- lots of good ministry and then one day of recreation. I am relieved to have gotten them this far- nobody has been really sick, no one has gotten hurt, everyone seems happy so I count that all for good! Tomorrow morning we will load them up around 5:30am for a 5:45 departure to the airport- they should be there PLENTY early to get checked in. I hate to tell you this but last night they were so tired they couldn't even listen to blogs! They were walking zombies- so tonight they will hear the blogs from yesterday and I have prepared today's for them to read tomorrow at the airport- we just didn't have much time after getting back from the beach- the pork chops, visit, good-byes, and them packing up.  So, pray them home safely and pray for all the seeds they planted here!