In the City

Psalm 95:3-7
For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.

In the last several weeks I have this call to worship found in Psalms has come to mind (and heart) as I had an opportunity to scuba drive in Grand Cayman, taking in the beauty of the underworld, marveling at the exotic colored fish and circle around the island of Cozmel on a scooter, admiring the beautiful shore, and more recently, taking in the beauty of the Lake region here in New Hampshire. The wonders of creation never cease to impress me! What a great God we serve and what a wonderful home He has made for us!

I have had an opportunity to talk to folks back in the DR. They came through Fay without too much diffulty- the normal heavy rains which produce flooding. Their biggest problem right now is the extended power outages. There have been some riots in Santiago and the Cibao as people protest. 

The works are doing well. Villa de Yaque is going through an identity crisis- we have constantly struggled to define the church as the Body of Christ which may work together with community groups but being careful to make sure not to confuse the church as a community or political group. They have struggled with that issue and are continuing to struggle under Dany’s leadership as interim pastor. Please pray for him and our leaders there at Villa as they seek to identify themselves as church.  Los Santos is doing well, and The Hole is in a rebuilding phase… continue to pray for Victor as he deals with some important issues in his life. 

I am trying to work out the legal aspects of getting two 1997 ambulances into the country- there is a group willing to donate them if we can work it out- please pray with us that we can figure out the legal issues so we can get this equipment. 

Little by little I am getting settled in. I made a decision about transportation- no car but a Suzuki Intruder 700! Great gas mileage and the back roads sound good to me- taking it slow and easy!  I also got connected- my new cell phone number is 941-400-4862.  Feel free to give me a call.

Saturday I leave for Orlando, Fl– setting sail Sunday afternoon on a cruise through the Western Caribbean. It is a family vacation, celebrating my parents’ birthdays and 50th anniversary.  We will all be together except David and Kristen, who are in Kansas but we will visit with them in September.

Finally, I made it. Thursday was a long traveling day… I nearly froze with the AC on the planes and later the bus- it took me several hours to thaw out… Living in the Caribbean can mess you up I guess. I enjoyed a full day yesterday- shopping, getting myself settled in (still have a long way to go on that score), visiting with my parents and also both brothers.  We are expecting a crowd today of my nephew’s friends. Hopefully the rain will hold off.

My VOip phone is working: 941-244-6280 or you can call me on my parent’s phone: 603-463-7619.

Let me share a breif thought with you… for the past 8 weeks I have been completely focused on upcoming projects and getting ready to leave. I made lists constantly of things that needed to be done and worked those list every minute! Whenever I had an unexpected break, I would pull that list out and work on getting another item marked off.  And amazingly, everything got done, all the projects went great, and I am now home.  Yesterday I woke up with absolutely no agenda- it felt good really.  We talked, listened intently to the commentary surrounding Manny’s trade to LA, went shopping, etc.  And you know what? The day passed just as quickly as all those days in the DR working my lists!  We can be completely focused or we can live with no focus, and our time slips by just the same.

Here is a thought to ponder: 

A life without purpose is a languid, drifting thing; Every day we ought to review our purpose, saying to ourselves: This day let me make a sound beginning, for what we have hitherto done is naught!
- — Thomas A. Kempis

I am really thankful I had all those “lists.” They represent purpose: those volunteer projects, the people an ministry behind them, they represented responsibilities to friends, family and rcolleagues, and all of which I am incredibly grateful for.  God has truly blessed me with a wonderful calling to serve as an IMB missionary in the DR, and I am sure glad I had all those “lists” of things I had to do because of all the people and ministry they represented.  One time Jeremiah was complaining to God about the difficulty of his task, and seeing the wicked prosper.  God’s reply in Jeremiah 12: 5 is a bit stunning:  

       “If you have raced with men on foot
       and they have worn you out,
       how can you compete with horses?
       If you stumble in safe country,
       how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?

Ponder that: “what we have hitherto done is naught”!  As great and burdensome as our task may be, God has even greater things in mind for us!  If we get tired out racing on foot, how will we compete with horses?  Let’s consider our purpose, and make a sound beginning each day!