The Barnabas Foundation...

We had a record low this week- it actually has been down to 50 degrees! (10C). I know for some of you that doesn't sound bad, and to be honest, I have enjoyed it. BUT it really is cold for us! The Cool Spring Vision team arrives this afternoon for the weekend- I hope they bring some warm clothes! We will be sharing together about how they can continue to be involved in our ministry in the DR. They have brought teams here the past 4 years and last year they had two teams. 

Last night we had an interesting Bible study experience in the Hole. Partly because my heart was churning with different emotions, and partly because I hadn't really had time to sit and talk with our folks there, I asked them to share what was going on with them, in their hearts. Several responded that they have really struggled with life in general- the sense of monotony, doing all they know how to do and not getting any where.  It was hard to know how to respond- all I knew to do was pray, and pray some more!

I remember reading long ago in one of CS Lewis' books how God made us. Part of our human make-up produces these highs and lows.  I see it in my own walk- one day I can see things really moving, feeling good about the direction of my life and ministry and then other days, it is all blurry and confusing.  I don't know if you have days like that or not.  What I know is that in the low time is the real test of faith.  My heart really went out to the folks last night as they shared. I do believe that God's Spirit is at work, and sometimes that makes us uncomfortable. Please join me in praying that God will help these guys understand His will and that they will stay faithful even during this time of confusion.

A lot has been happening here at home... things have calmed down in regards to the thieves, but I scared myself to death last night. I have the armed security service still, and they came early last night. I heard some noise and didn't do anything because I am trying not to let myself get too worked up. But then I heard more noise and as I looked out the patio, I heard a rustling behind the trees and then saw two men emerge from behind the bush- oh boy, I was terrified. When they realized they had scared me, they called out that they were from Alerta. 

I can't believe I am sharing this but I am about to move again! We had a family leave Santiago so with all the issues going on here (they are constructing on both sides of me) I decided it would be a good time to move to the other mission house. It is not far from here, and is very nice. I will miss the yard here but the good thing is for the time being we will continue to use the house for volunteers. We are installing an alarm system next week which will eliminate any remaining doubt about security. I am not leaving because I am scared to be here, but realizing that with the construction going on, moving to the other house and using this one for volunteers is a smart move. (Groups are gone during the day and during lunch the construction crews are eating too!). I don't know when this will happen- either the first week of March or April. 

It has been a crazy around here to say the least. The break-ins continued all week. I noticed Tuesday late afternoon the first signs that people had been in the yard and from that point on, every single night this week, and twice on Friday night, someone has broken in. I have taken some preliminary steps to make things as safe as possible- yesterday we blocked up what used to be the door that they were getting in to the shed. It was going to be difficult to make it sufficiently secure, so I just decided it could be annulled. I am so thankful I have folks around me that have a willing spirit to help- the engineer came on a holiday with his crew and got the work done!  I also have a great deal of support from our IMB leaders- we hired temporarily a security service- they come periodically throughout the night to check on things.  What I don't get is that Oreo slept through the thieves (as did I) but she is up and barking her head off several times a night with the security guards! (They have access to my gate and actually come in the yard and walk around so it is the noise of the gate opening that wakes her up, unfortunately!) 

This whole situation has been more disheartening than I realized- this morning as I worshiped with my faith family in Los Santos and later in Villa deYaque, the emotional impact/toll caught up with me. It reminded me just how important it is for us to live out our faith, not alone, but as the family of God, the church.  I am really thankful for these small communities of faith! 

This coming week I will be back in the capital Monday overnight. I have friends visiting with Costa Rica and they fly out early Tuesday so we will do some sightseeing Monday afternoon and spend the night to be able to get to the airport early.  Then on Thursday I will be back in Santo Domingo to pick up the folks from Cool Spring Baptist Church. I am looking forward to their visit as we will be seeking God's direction for future mission project plans. 

Please continue to pray for God to guide us in the leadership of Los Santos, El Hoyo, Guayacanal and Villa de Yaque.  I am eager for them to have fresh leadership to guide them and lead them into a healthy, growing future. 

It has been an eventful week. I discovered Tuesday that my friendly theives had tried to break in once again- my kitchen door shows signs of having been violated. I spent all day yesterday in the capital in different meetings (which were excellent, by the way!). I actually spent the night because my friends from Costa Rica didn't arrive until midnight! When we arrived home this morning, I discovered that my shed had been broken into and various things were stolen. I was a little rattled and haven't quite figured out what was lost- I know a sewing machine was stolen but all my foot lockers with various equipment were all opened but I haven't sorted it all out.

I have spent most of the afternoon talking with an engineer about options to shore up our security. TO be honest, this is very frustrated. It seems no matter what we do, they eventually find a way around it.  BUT, pa' lante- which is a saying here which means, "on we go."  I am working on some estimates for a security alarm for both the perimeter of the property and the actual house. 

You might wonder what Oreo was doing during all this- and it is a good question. She must have been asleep! She is a good protector of ME but if I am not around, I don't think she gets too upset about anything.  What a dog!

Thanks for your prayers both for safety and peace of mind! Lots of exciting things are happening ministry wise which I will share in time.

Yes, I enjoyed the game yesterday- got back from Guayacanal at the end of the second quarter.  Here in town, the Aguilla's (Santiago's baseball team) are playing Licey- archrivals!- for the Dominican Winter Baseball League title. It is a best of 9 series and we (Santiago Aguillas) were leading 3-0 with three straight blow-outs BUT last night Licey won. 

Our national convention went excellent- Sol and Carolina graduated from the seminary along with 14 others.  I am very pleased and proud of them. Continue to pray for them as they develop in the spiritual walk with the Lord and their respective ministries. I made a number of contacts for upcoming projects and am real excited about what God is doing! Sunday services went well- had good attendance. I didn't particpate with Los Santos because we had a pastor preaching there (he goes every third Sunday of the month.) 

Please continue to pray for the leadership of our three churches and the mission in Guayacanal- we are praying and talking with some folks about how to make my transition without leaving them hanging.  I have several meetings and trips planned for this week and also have some friends coming from Costa Rica- I am looking forward to our time together. It should be an eventful week!

It is a quiet day today- a holiday. Oreo and I had the streets to ourselves this morning! I love this kind of days. I am planning a much needed day off here at home. I have not slept well for the past week for some reason and my head and heart are spinning with so many things happening. Please pray for me to get rested up for a very full February!

This is an exciting weekend as we have our national Baptist convention.  During the Friday night meeting, Carolina and Sol will be graduating from the Seminary, which is pretty cool. I am happy for them and ask that you continue to pray for their continued development as spiritual leaders. 

Also, a group of 4 men from Mill Creek Bapist Church in Fincastle, VA are traveling tomorrow to Louisville to participate in a training on the Maguire Purifier, which is the unit I have chosen for our water projects. I am so glad they are going, it will be a huge help to me here as we get this project going! Pray for their safe travel (they are calling for snow and ice!) for great fellowship, and a good learning experience. 

Meanwhile, at the national convention, the Dominican Edge representative, Alberto, will be meeting with a group of our Dominican Baptists (I hope!) to give them an overview of the unit. He has one so it will be a great opportunity for our folks here to see it and get a good explanation of its capabilities.  Alberto just happens to live in the town where our meetings are taking place so I am trying to arrange for a brief meeting for him to come over and give us the overview. 

I also will have almost all of our Foundation board members present at the convention so I hope we can get ourselves organized a bit more and schedule our upcoming work! A lot has changed since we started!  Please continue to pray for our legal process- I am hopeful that by the first week in February we will be legally incorporated!

And one last thing... our Coral Springs office is in the process TODAY of shipping us two water purification trailer units- these will be used more in disaster type situations. We hope it gets on the ship today or tomorrow which means it will arrive in Puerta Plata next Friday. Right now in Santiago, our water company is still crippled (in their treatment of water) by the effects of TS Olga.  It could be we could help them out with these units. I won't know until we get them and see what we can do with them.   

Thanks so much for your prayers as all these projects unfold and for your generous support through SBC channels to allow us to serve here in the DR.

It has been a good weekend- Go Patriots! You can be sure I will be hurrying home after worship Sunday afternoon to see the last half of the game!

I was glad to finish up the week long Bible study course in Guayacanal- it made for a long week but it was well worth it.  We got to share and talk about putting our faith in action and how to live on a daily basis for the Lord. Please continue to pray for those folks- I think a good group of them will be baptized soon.

I was in Santo Domingo yesterday, had an orientation meeting regarding our new strategy and my new role. It is exciting to dream about the future. I have to admit- right now I am pretty whipped- my mind has been racing with new ideas and trying to get some things in place and yet still dealing with an already full schedule!  It has been a long two weeks!

Please be in prayer this week- we have our national convention when we will share our new personnel configuration and how we are working to support our national convention's mission strategy. It promises to be a very exciting time. I hope to have many informal meetings with various leaders to get the ball rolling on some new initiatives as well.  I appreciate your prayers in all this. 

Also, please pray that God would provide quickly new leadership for my three churches and the mission in Guayacanal. Although I won't "leave" them, I do need to get them into the hands of someone very soon because I am going to be traveling quite a bit these next few months and having volunteer groups in (already scheduled groups!).  Obviously we won't allow them to flounder, so in the meantime I am carrying a double load, carrying on our regular ministries and Bible studies and working on the new human needs projects and preparing to receive an additional 12-25 groups!  God, please hurry up and show us who you have to be pastors for these new churches!

That is my question too. Basically, our desire to make this change is to further both our church planting goals. We recognize how valuable human needs/community development projects are as we seek to "preach" the Good News of Jesus.  Showing God's love goes a long way in terms of backing up what we "talk" about.  Also, it is natural and healthy for those who "have" to work alongside those who don't have, so that we all have the  basic necessities (like pure water, job opportunities, etc.) Secondly, we want to provide more opportunities for our SBC churches to come and work with us. One of our goals is to host over 100 teams a year! (Not this year though- I leave for Stateside assignment in August!)

I often hear from young people who want to come for a month and work with us.  We have had a few come and spend a few weeks and it has been a blessing for both sides- our ministry here and in the lives of those who come. If you or someone you know is interested in this type of experience, please let me know. (I already have one young lady we are working with on this very issue.)  I am thinking we may try to have a small group every year come for an extended time, learning more about missions as they do missions.  Pastors and youth leaders, if you know of some folks, high school Seniors or College age, let me know ASAP so we can see if we can put together something for early June.

What does all this mean for my church planting work? That is a good question too. I can't imagine that I would ever leave that entirely. I will have to make adjustments in leadership because obviously I can't be all over the country and continue to teach and lead and visit in my 6 communities here in Santiago.  I will continue to be involved with them- they are my church family now! Pray with me as I seek to find some people to help provide stable leadership for them so that my erratic schedule won't hurt their growth and development. It will be hard to make this transition, for me and for them, but I really believe in the long run it will be for their good- I believe they will grow and develop more now than ever before.

It has certainly been an exciting beginning to 2008. Yesterday a group of us went to the Capital to check out the water purifiers and as a bonus we learned about CURE International- an international foundation that provides surgical care to children with disabilities- their work is so inspiring! 

This morning we were off early and it feels like we went to the backside of the moon! I had a blast- it was a rural area, beautiful scenery all the way there and back, and we met a lot of really interesting people.  We met up with some of our national convention leaders, fellow IMB missionaries and also a volunteer team from Georgia- what a mix of people! It is so awesome though to see the international family of God together, working and sharing God's love together. Like I said, I had a blast!

And to top the day off, I received official confirmation that my job has changed. We are making changes in our personnel to meet the challenges of our country and to better accomplish our mission- which is to plant multiplying Dominican churches and to assist Southern Baptists to be on mission with God.  I am our new Human Needs/Volunteer Strategist. What does that mean? Good question- we are hammering out the details still but basically, I will be working to develop human needs projects that will further our church planting efforts. I have been doing that within my own ministry setting for a long time and many of you have participated in various projects. Now I will be working on a national level, working with all our IMB church planting teams as well as our National church planters.  I am excited about the possibilities and the opportunities we have together to impact the DR with the transforming presence of Jesus as we share his love in tangible ways. 

I am off to Guayacanal to continue our week-long Bible course- so far, so good. Last night I got there just in time- barely getting in from Santo Domingo and it was COLD! Tonight we are learning in more detail what faith really is all about and what prayer is all about.  Keep us in your prayers as we work through these important topics!

You'll never believe it- we are back to rain everyday! It has been that way all weekend long- hopefully tomorrow this cold front will pass. (I won't mention that our "cold" front means temps down close to 60 degrees at night.  Those up north might not want to hear that.

Sunday was a super day- I enjoyed our worship times and was please with our participation level as well.  Thanks for your continued prayers for all our developing churches and their leadership. 

This week promises to be pretty full- we are starting our Basic Bible course tomorrow night in Guayacanal. The rain has me a little nervous but I told them that unless we had another Tropical Storm we were going forward no matter what. We have had to postpone things way too much! Pray for a good community turnout and especially for the Junta de Vecinos group (that is the community leadership group) as they have expressed a desire to participate.  As we move closer to the water project, it will be great to establish better relationships and especially have a chance to share Biblically what and why we believe, and give them a chance to respond in faith and obedience to Jesus' invitation to "follow me."

Tomorrow there is also a medical clinic in Bella Vista, one of the sectors of Santiago hit worst by Olga. One of our local churches has been working there since the disaster struck, ministering to folks, distributing food, leading special worship services. Tomorrow is the medical clinic and then we hope to be able to buy some mattresses and stoves for the folks still need after the TS.

Wednesday I am hoping to take a small group to the Capital to check out a water purification project in process at one of the hospitals. The EDGE ministries team from KY is arriving tomorrow to install this and I hope to have a group of missionaries, convention leaders, as well as some of my local leaders there to see it and begin to picture how to use it in our church planting efforts.

Thursday we are heading to "Limon de Yuna", about an hour from here, to distribute food as part of our disaster relief efforts. This community was unfortunately hit by both Olga and Noel! We are working to put together a team to begin church planting there.

That is the week in a nutshell- please keep all these activities in your prayers- we need them!

2008 is off to a great start! The fireworks at the monument were spectacular and we had a blast. New Year's Day was very quiet and restful and then Wednesday things got going again! I had big plans to get a lot done but almost all of what I wanted to do, I couldn't. (It was one of those days that was hard to find people at work, etc.) so I spent the day catching up on email, phone calls, paper work for the group projects, etc. and then made some visits in the afternoon and we had Bible study Wednesday night in the Hole.  Thursday was a bit more normal; I spent all afternoon catching up with our folks in La Canela and El 7.  And then we came back to Guayacanal for our Bible study time. We had a good participation and it seems as though the new Junta de Vecinos group is pretty interested in joining us for our Bible course which begins next week. I was encouraged by the participation.

Yesterday I was able to get the legal paper work completed and the lawyer has all he needs to get everything turned in. I am pleased to get this behind me. Pray now that the process will be completed without any difficulties and we will be approved quickly. 

Now for the big surprise: Thursday night one of the ladies in Villa de Yaque called me to see if she could baptized Friday (because it was her birthday!) She has been ready to make this step for a long time. I was excited to hear her enthusiasm and didn't want to dampen it by saying no, I couldn't get it organized on such short notice so I said I would do everything possible. I called some missionary colleagues from the capital who had already mentioned maybe coming up to get the van so I asked if they would come and do the baptism too! It turned out to be his first baptism!

We found a nearby river that was perfect- we had to hike in across a tobacco field and down an embankment; it was a beautiful setting! We had a brief service with prayer, some scripture about baptism and believing in Christ, and then some church members shared testimonies of how God had been working in Morena's life, and then finally Morena herself shared her about her faith experience, and then she and Doug went into water and she was baptized! It was very simple yet very beautiful.

Please be in prayer this weekend for our worship services Sunday. I have the Civil Defense devotion at 8 and then Los Santos at 8:30am, Villa de Yaque at 10am, the Hole at 2:30pm and then Guayacanal at 4pm.