Dominican Trip 2014

      This year we took a much smaller group to the Dominican Republic.  It was just Jeff's dad, grandparents, and us.  My so gracious parents came up to watch our children at our house, and Jeff's mom took our dog.   I really felt that I needed this trip to prepare my self spiritually and mental for when we eventually move down.  One of our goals this trip was also to look for a house to buy for when we move down.  Jeff and I feel that it would be much better to own a home then to rent.  It would give us more freedom in coming and going between the DR and the states.
       I have to say that when we first got down there, the reality of moving there hit me and thoughts of doubt began to flood my mind.  I prayed and prayed and began to break through those thoughts.  I am always reminded of this saying "God does not call the qualified, but qualifies the called".  God was able to give me a peace and help me to realize that He will give me the strength that I need when the time comes.
       There were so many experience on this trip that showed me a tiny bit of what God has in store for when we move down to do missions.  The first experience that stuck out in my mind is when we first arrived in the DR.  We stopped at our favorite chicken place to eat.  As usual there was a boy sitting in the door way watching us eat.  After a bit I went over and asked if he could read.  He said yes so I gave him a tract.  He sat right up and began to read every single word on the tract.  He was so intense in his reading.  We gave him some of our food and he was so into his reading he did not eat a single bit for a while.  We left the restaurant with boy still sitting and reading.  All I could think of was where that tract might end up.  Something so small can hold words that could change a persons life forever.
         Another time we were visiting one of the churches and one of the members had surgery recently.  We all gathered around to simple pray for her quick recovery.  It was the middle of the afternoon and nothing particular spectacular happening .  As we prayed for her the power of God began to fall and before I new it there were tears falling down many of our faces.  We were crying for no particular reason other than just feeling the presence of God.  What I got out of the whole experience is that we, as americans, are too busy for God.  In the DR the people do not have a lot.  They are can spend unlimited time with God.  If the church doors are open they are there.  So when we prayed it didn't take a whole worship service and sermon to get us to the point where we were open to the move of the spirit.  It only took a few minutes of prayer.  I don't want to loose that coming back to the states.  I want to stay open to the move of the spirit and ready at all times!
         There are so many other memories from this trip and it would take a while to share.  I will say I came back from this trip with a renewed zeal for spreading God's word!


Dios Te Bendiga!  Gloria a Dios!

When Your Not Sure Just Ask

     I do have to say that I am the impatient one.  Jeff can wait calmly and quietly until God comes through, but I on the other had am not so quiet.  So when it had been several years since we had made the commitment to God to go in to the mission field, my patiences was starting to wear thin.  We were looking at almost 8 years before we got our houses paid off, which is something we felt we needed to do before leaving for the Dominican Republic.  Then God opened a window and we were able to refinance everything so that we would have it all paid off in 4 1/2 years.  It just did not seem good enough for me.  I mean it was awesome that God cut the time in half but it still seemed so long to wait.  I also did not want to be praying out of God's will.  So I began to pray that God would give me guidance into how I should be praying, that He would open the door for us to get to the DR sooner or that He gave me strength to wait till the time was right.

     Fast forward about a month and I was on my way to fellowship service in Fulton, NY.  I was riding along with Jeff's grandparents, and wondering how much of the service I was going to be able to enjoy. I had three boys who were sitting in the car for two and half hours and Jeff was at work so I was pretty much on my own.  I prayed on the way that God would allow me to get something out of the service.  As I suspected, I did not get much from the sermon.  In fact, I have no clue what the preacher even was preaching on.  At some point, the preacher began to pray for a select few people in the congregation, calling them up and prophesying over them.  Before I knew it, the preacher was calling me up.  When I went up, the preacher asked me "If I could ask God for anything what would it be?".  I was utterly speechless, followed by tears that began to trickle down.  

     I had always wondered how Esther felt when the King had presented her with a similar question.  Was she ever tempted to answer in a different way that would benefit her?  Here I was being presented with a similar question and there was no doubt in my mind how I was going to answer.  I told God that I would like our debt to be pay off sooner so that we could leave for the mission field.  The preacher asked me three times if I believed that God could do it and every time, with all my heart, I said YES! He said to tell others about what God was going to do.  I did and still am!

    I cannot say yet that I know an exact time frame that we will be leaving in.  All I know is that God confirmed that we would be leaving in the next few years and I am anxiously waiting to see how He is going to do it.

    We ask for your prayers as we make some business and financial decisions that will place us in the mission field sooner.  Jeff and I also covet your prayers as we are going on a trip to the DR in a few days.  Not only will we be encouraging the christians in our churches and spreading God's word, we will also be looking at different housing options for our future stay.

Dios Te Bendiga!  Gloria a Dios!

A Retrospective View

 

  We want to be missionaries!  There so it is out there and seems like a good way to start off.  Jeff and I have wanted this for so long.  God has put a burden on our heart to reach out to those in the country of the Dominican Republic.  Many of you may or may not be aware of this but I feel that as the time draws closer I would like to start blogging about our journey so that you can follow along with us as we navigate to what God has for us.  So I am going to start off first giving you a view of what God has done in our lives.

     For me, the dream of being a missionary started as a little girl.  I remember reading about David Livingstone and all the things that he had done in Africa.  That is what I wanted to do!  Go to another country and share God's love with them.  I eventually was able to take a trip to Romania, which would only inspire my desire to go.  Fast forward several years, Jeff and I got married and after several years of marriage decided that we were going to pursue God's call for us to the Dominic Republic.  At that point and time we were ready to sell everything and go!  But thankfully to some wise council and prayer we realized that God had a different avenue for us to go down.  A few steps that we needed to go up one by one to prepare us for the ultimate goal.

     Our first goal was to some how come up with the money to build a church in the Dominic.  This is something that God had put on Jeff's heart when he was a teenager.  God divagated Jeff through the silver market and within 6 months we had 10,000 for the church!  Now I only share this step because it was such a God thing!  There is no way that came out of our own money and God just lead Jeff to the right deals to obtain it.  Jeff was then able to go down with a team this past year and build the church.

     Our second goal was a matter of finances.  As we prayed God began to build our rental business up to the point that we realized if we hang in here a while we can pay it all off and use the money to support ourselves in the DR.  What an amazing blessing!  This means we would be able to have a house in the states, buy a house in the DR and when we raised money for support it would mainly go to whatever missions that we are doing in the DR.  

    Since this all began I have been able to go the the DR twice and Jeff several more times than I.  First time I went was on our honeymoon and the second was last year when we took all the kids down with us.  That was an adventure and a half and another whole blog for another day.  We are continuing in our pursuit of what God has for us.  And I am excited and cannot wait for what else is in store for us.

   In the next few blogs I will begin to talk about our dreams for the future, some of our past trips, and just the general journey along the way.  I pray that God can use our story to inspire others to purse the dream that God has given them no matter if it involves being a missionary some where else in the world or to your next door neighbor.

Dios Te Bendiga!  Gloria a Dios!