Update August 23

 Hello again from the Dominican Republic. First off I have to apologize for not posting an update for over two weeks now. I have not felt like writing a report and had to force myself to sit down and just do it. We have all been a little tired this last while. I think it is a combination of being a little under the weather and trying to cope with the heat. We did get some relief from the heat now thanks to the rain that we are getting from this new tropical storm that is moving through the area. The rain is very welcome here due to the fact that a large portion of the Dominican Republic has been without water for many weeks. This drought thing is not good. We are praying though that we do not see the possible 12” of rain that they are predicting for some parts of the island. 12” at one time is a bit much and could cause some major flooding in the DR and mud slides in Haiti.

 We have just over two weeks here before we go home. At times it feels like we just got here and at other times it feels as if we have been here forever. As I think about the short time we have left here I have very mixed feelings. In some ways I would like to be back at home in our safe and sleepy little town going about our “normal” lives. Then in the same moment I really do not want to leave because there is so much work, and so many needs here. I realize that we can not help everyone but if we do nothing we are helping no one. The needs that I am talking about are not merely financial or physical needs but far more important are the spiritual and emotional needs. I had one person in the village remind me of that this week. He told us that even if we did nothing else in the village but visit with the people we are bringing the people Gods love. He told me that they know full well that we are leaving the many comforts and the safety of home to do what we can for these people. The fact that we are willing to do that over and over again speaks very loudly for the love that God has placed in our hearts for them. This was a real encouragement to me because I have found myself thinking this week, “is what we are doing here actually making a difference or are we wasting our time?” You see so much need everywhere around you here, so it is very easy to get overwhelmed.

Cheryl

I too have been finding it hard to update. We have been away from home for almost 8 weeks, and, well, I’m going to be honest, contact from people other than immediate family has been minimal.

I’m going to say this because I think it needs to be said. And, I am fully aware that I am the first one going to admit that I’m among the guilty. I have not made contact with missionaries out longer-term on the mission fields. There. I said it. I fail to initiate contact with those who choose to heed the call and leave the comfort of their homes, and their families to go to a land, become part of a culture not their own. And why? Not for their own comfort, but to bring comfort and the love of Christ to the needy.

Jesus said that you don’t send a doctor to the healthy. Missionaries are headed out to needy people, and ALWAYS give of themselves in some way. It costs, it means the loss of comfort (both physical and emotional), sometimes the loss of material things (which we encountered this summer), and, the potential loss of contact with those who support while one is in an immediate circle, and once you leave that circle, well, you’re on your own.

I am writing this from experience, and I am writing my own guilt trip. I hope that once I return home, that I will actually heed my own words, and remember those who need to be remembered – even if I do not know them personally. It takes effort. But, speaking from experience, it is necessary.

Having said that, I want to say a HUGE thank-you to those who have made contact with us, and on behalf of other longer term missionaries, thank you as well.  Even though some do not write back, the contact is always appreciated.

So, I encourage you who read this to find a list of missionaries out in longer term service, and make the effort to contact at least one a month. It would mean the world to them, even if they do not acknowledge the effort.

May God richly Bless you as you serve Him.

Update August 9 2014

  That is another week behind us in the Dominican Republic. It has been a difficult week. We are feeling under the weather and are all quite tired. I think we have all contracted the Chikungunya virus. Thankfully it has not hit us very hard. Aches and pains and over all fatigue and some minor fever, but we have all been able to function to some degree. I have been able to teach my class every day but I did have to sit more than usual. Usually I stand and teach my class the whole time but this past week I just could not do that. Not sleeping well at night and not feeling well during the day has left me feeling very tired.

  My classes have been going well. I have not seen the attendance numbers that I saw last year but the guys that are coming are quite excited and eager to learn. My class is not the only one with poor attendance, they started a wood working class this week and had only 4 people sign up and I have not seen more than 2 students in the class. I am not sure why people are not coming to the classes aside from some being sick. We heard on the news this week that the effects of Chikungunya can last several months and on some days I have had to force myself to go so I can see why some would just not feel up to going to classes.

  On Friday morning when we got up Jacolyn noticed that her iPod was missing. After doing a quick inventory we found that our iPad and approximately $200 cash was also missing from my wallet. I usually do not like to keep that much money in my wallet here but I had forgotten to take money along to get fuel for our vehicle on Thursday so I put the cash into my wallet so I would not forget in the morning. When we checked the house to see where the person may have entered we found that one of the doors that we usually do not use had been left unlocked. The lock can only be unlocked from the inside and it was not broken so it must have been left unlock unintentionally. Usually I go around the whole house checking all doors and windows before I go to bed but this night I had not done that.

  Although we had some thing stolen from us we thank God today that none of us was hurt. This could have turned out very different than it did. Thursday night was the first night since we got here that I slept all night. Every other night so far I have been awakened by some noises several times per night. If I would have heard some one in the house and confronted them things could have been very much different. Only a week or two ago a man was shot in his own house (Approx. 4 miles from here) when he confronted an intruder in his home. So as we are feeling hurt that some of our things were stolen and violated by some one invading our home we are also feeling so much more thankful for the love and protection that we have, are and will be receiving from our God.

Please pray that we will still feel secure here in the aftermath of these events.

Cheryl

As Chris said, this week has been again different for me. With both girls achy because of the chikengunya, I again didn’t spend as much time in the village as I would have liked. We stayed home on Wednesday, but instead went Thursday and Friday mornings. Again I prepared a craft, this week the children will make paper bag puppets, gluing on eyes and a tongue and using crayons to decorate the rest.

We continue to make deeper relationships here. Yesterday morning one of our good friends was given her own house. Through circumstances some tenants vacated one of the homes in Villa Paraiso 2, and our friend, her husband, and her two children now have a home of their own. Until now she and her family have been living with relatives. After she was finished with her morning volunteering job (she helps hand out protein shakes for the elderly and needy from the church kitchen) she led us to the house. It was filthy. She was prepared; she had buckets, went to purchase cleaning supplies, and got to work with a few of her friends immediately. We helped for a while, and then had to leave because we were only staying for the morning with the girls.

This morning (Friday) after we had finished with the Daily Bread Feeding Program that is provided every Friday for lunch, we again went to our friend’s house. She had hung curtains, moved an arm chair in, and has two foam mattresses on the cement floors in the bedrooms for sleeping. There was also one kitchen chair. No kitchen table, no fridge, no stove, no cupboards, but two small shelves to store her utensils. She was so happy.

Again I am humbled. I pray that somehow her family will receive everything they need to complete their home. Again I see the difference between needs and wants. Here it is striking. Many in this world work toward accumulating everything they want, while so many have so little of what they really need. I wish the gap was smaller. In fact, I wish there was no gap.

So ends almost week 6 of being here in the Dominican Republic. I pray that God continues to fulfill His purpose for our time here.

God Bless.

Update August 2, 2014

Update August 2, 2014

 We have been here in the Dominican Republic for nearly 5 weeks now and I have taught my class for 4 weeks. We continue to have some new students starting my classes. There are also many students that have not been able to attend every day due to many reasons including illness of them or a family member that needed their care. This has made it a challenge for teaching this year. I cannot set a definite learning plan as there are so many students missing classes and if they miss one class they do not get the information that I am teaching that day. I have had to customize my classes every day to suit the students that are there. This leads to some review for some students in order for others to learn new things. I know that some review is good but I also do not want students getting bored and dropping out as a result. Please pray that I will continue to teach as God leads.

  There is still a very great need for rain here. The Dominican Republic is currently experiencing the worst drought that they have seen in 15 years. Many places have no water. The lack of water definitely does not help improve the lack of proper hygiene and only adds to the poor health of many here. There is a Tropical storm building to the east and heading for the DR. If this storm brings rain it will be very welcomed here. Along with the locals we are praying that the storm will hit the Dominican Republic and that it will not build into a major Hurricane before it gets here. Keeping up with the weather forecast has been interesting. It seems that the United States sees this storm as a bad thing and is hoping that it will stay off shore but the Dominican Republic sees it as a good thing and is hoping that it will bring rain to the areas that really need it.

  This week Cheryl was in the village on Monday and Friday but stayed home Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday because she contracted the Chikungunya virus. Fortunately it did not hit her as hard as it does some others. She was still able to function somewhat but had quite a lot of pain and everything required considerably more effort than usual. Praise God that it did not get any worse and that she is getting better.

Cheryl

As Chris said, this week has been different here for me. On Monday afternoon a painful headache set in, the first sign of the virus. Tuesday morning it was hard to drag myself out of bed, and the rest of the week, well, I did what I had to do at home.

   Again I was moved by the resilience of these people we have come to love. I have in my home the comfort of a fan in the 37-42 ish degree Celsius heat. Most of the poor do not. Air movement in this heat for me is a necessity. For them too, but they don’t have it. On Friday morning, (it was a half day in the village so I went to help with the Daily Bread Feeding Program) Chris and I took a walk down to the college. Across the street and one house down lives a close friend who also came down with the virus this week. Chris told me this one day during the week when he came home for supper. She got up from her bed and came into the sitting room when her son told her that we were there, and as I went to hug her in greeting, I felt how hot she was because of the fever that accompanies this virus. And, I felt for her, because, there was not a fan in sight. Mid day in these tin roofed homes, it sounds like there are raindrops gently falling on the roof, when in fact it is the tin buckling because of the heat. There is no such thing as insulation between the roof and the room, just rafters. And so it is in the Dominican Republic and many other poor countries.

   Someone once said to me, “But they are used to it.”, In reference to the heat and other conditions that the poor live in here. Visiting in their homes, I don’t agree. They know that they are poor. They know that others (like myself) live in what they consider luxury, that luxury being a fan that works, water that can be poured from the tap and enjoyed, automatic washers and dryers, air conditioning, a vehicle or two, shopping money, among other things. They or there neighbors have TV’s on which they see movies, the homes in movies, western culture, and again, what they don’t have.

   And, in spite of not being used to it, they are grateful for what they do have. They have family. When an elderly couple from the church came down with the virus, neighbors and family took care of them. There is no home-care here. There is no pension plans, there is no un-employment insurance. There is no government assistance of any kind. If you have nothing, you have nothing. And yet, they are grateful for the support they do have. I am humbled by it all.

   So ends almost week 5 of being here for me. Next week, God willing, I’ll be back in the village, to be humbled again.

God Bless

Update July 25, 2014

Well week 3 of classes is done. Slowly the attendance in my class is starting to increase again. There are several students that were not attending because they were sick that have started to come again. There are still some that are sick but at least we have had some students show up every day. There have also been a few new students that started this week and other people asking if we still have room for more.

 Like last year God has been providing equipment for the class to work on as we have needed it. We were able to diagnose and repair a pressure washer for another ministry here for no cost to them or for us. It was a perfect learning tool for my class to use the diagnostic skills that I have been teaching them. We also had a van that belongs to one of the students that had some electrical issues that fit in perfectly with the electrical diagnostics that I was teaching at that time. God is always faithful and provides what we need as He sees fit. This students van was a double blessing as he did not have the money to get it repaired and we found multiple small issues that were relatively inexpensive to repair. The diagnostic time in a repair shop would have been very costly but there were very few inexpensive parts needed to complete the repairs.

 Here in the Dominican Republic it is hard to find a repair shop that can effectively diagnose mechanical or electrical problems so learning these skills can be very beneficial for the people.

 We had an amazing God moment in our class this week. On Tuesday one of my students explained to me that another one of my students (his neighbor) had not been coming to class due to a major depression that he is going through. He said that he had not eaten for several days and had been caught with a gun to his head three times in that last little while. We always start our class with prayer so this day we spent some time praying for this man. Then on Thursday during a conversation with this same student he told me how he was getting very discouraged and bitter toward another missions organization here as he had applied for a house from this organization a long time ago and he was told that he would have a wait of up to 2 years. He explained to me how great the need is for his family to move into a proper house. I could see his need but I explained to him that this organization gets hundreds of applications every year and they have to evaluate the needs of the applicants and determine where the needs are the greatest. After our break that day I felt lead to talk to my class about how God takes care of our needs as He sees fit. Sometimes we get so caught up in our own needs that we are blinded to the needs of others. I shared part of my testimony with my class and then explained that sometimes God allows us to go through tough times so that we can grow. I also explained that sometimes God puts us in a certain place so that we can be a blessing to others. I suggested to this student that if he had received a new house he would not be living next door to his depressed friend and that he would find it harder to be an encouragement to him if he lived somewhere else. My closing statement at the end of my class was “Maybe God is keeping your family where you are because your neighbors needs are more urgent that your own”.

 After lunch that day this student came to my class to tell me that he had taken some food to his neighbor and sat with him to eat lunch together. This was the first meal this man had eaten in days. He was not eating because of his depression not because of a lack of something to eat. Today we stopped in at their house on our way home to pray with these men. When we were leaving, the man that I talked to in my class came over to me and told me that he knew now that he was living in this house because his neighbor really needed him there right now. We really need to continue to pray for his friend as he is not a Christian and he really needs Christ in his life now.

 This Ministry here is turning out to be so much more than an engine repair class. I am excitedly waiting to see what God has planned for me and my class next week.

Cheryl

I continue to pray that God will fulfill his purposes for us here. It has taken me these three weeks to again feel at home here. This year shopping is easier, preparing food is routine (anything not cooked or boiled needs to be washed twice, once with bottled water and then again with lime water), and, I’m learning that Jennifer’s reoccurring ear infections are from the water from the shower. Ear plugs are necessary for her with any contact with unsterile water.

This week has again been humbling for me. I continue to be grateful for the people here that God has put into our lives; their giving natures even though they have so little. Often Jennifer will come to me and say, “Mom, they gave me a cup of juice!” Or, she will come carrying some little gift that a little friend gave to her, the other day she showed me a small Christmas ornament that a little friend had given her. It touches my heart to think that they have so little, and of what little they have, they give.

As Chris said, we stopped on our way home from the village today to pray with one of his students and his neighbor (also a student).  The look of gratitude in both of their eyes, not to us, but to the God who sent us, was an emotional moment for me. I am sometimes overwhelmed with all the hugs of greeting, and farewell that happen here. They are all heartfelt on both sides.

Saturday’s will be children’s ministry day in the Children’s Church, and although I cannot commit to being there every Saturday, I have been asked to prepare a simple craft for each week. This week the children will be decorating a card that says “Jesus ama _____________. Jesus loves (insert name of child). Next week, paper bag puppets, with glue on faces. Please pray that the children will take these crafts home with them, and be reminded each week of the lessons they learned. I have also been asked to do data entry at the offices of the Technical College as they do not have a secretary at this time.

Jacolyn continues to build relationships with young people her own age. God has blessed her with a few peers from her own age group that know some English, so she does not feel as isolated as she did last year. We are thankful for that blessing.

Update July 19 2014

It has been 2 ½ weeks now since we got here. I have taught the classes now for 2 weeks and it is going quite well aside from the poor attendants due to many sick people here. There are also several guys that said they would take the course that have not been coming because they do not have the 300 pesos ($7.50) to pay for their registration. I know that this does not sound like a large sum of money but for a lot of the people here that is a fairly large commitment. It is difficult to say that they can not take the course if they can not pay but past experience has shown that if they do not have to pay for their courses they do not take them seriously. This is not unlike many people in Canada or the USA.

 Up until Wednesday this week we have been blessed with the use of a truck to drive to and from the village every day, but Island Light Ministries has a work team out here this week and the truck is needed to transport them to and from the work sight so we are taking the public transportation for a while. This means we have to get up and out the door an hour earlier every morning to get to the pick up point and we need to wait for the van in the village at the end of the day. This is not a huge inconvenience if the van actually returns to the village in the afternoon. We had to find a different ride home one evening this week because the van did not return to the village and we have only taken public transportation 2 days now. That makes it a 50% chance of having a ride home so far. Welcome to the Dominican Republic!

 On Friday Jacolyn and Jennifer were helping a visiting team paint the church for Island Light Ministries. While they were painting an 18 year old volunteer helper from the village had a mishap with a ladder. The end result was a toe nail torn mostly off his big toe and a badly twisted ankle. Please pray for healing for his ankle and toe and that there will be no infection as a result of this injury.

(Cheryl)

Saturdays are usually my day to be at home and take care of laundry and housework, but not today. Island Light Ministries visiting team from Texas took this morning from 10 – noon as a children’s’ ministry time. This was good, but, I was also asked to participate by providing crafts for a potential of 50 -75 children. I am learning ever more and more that God provides.

When we arrived this year, we found out that there have been some changes to the existing programs that were running when we left here last year. The Children’s Church that ran every Tuesday morning was suspended for a time, and was in the process of being started again. I was asked if I could get together a craft for each week once the program was again up and running. I was given some materials, and had already 2 activities ready to go for 50 children.

Well, yesterday afternoon it was sprung on me that I would be in charge of the crafts for the Children’s Program this morning! I already had 2 activities, there were some face paints available, the team brought colouring pages, and also bought some nail polish at the supermarket, and we were ready to go! I continue to be in awe of how God preps His people. The children sang, heard a Bible Story, and each had some form of a craft to take home with them. God is good, and He provides.

 

Update July 12, 2014

 Hello again from the Dominican Republic. We finished our first full week of ministering here. It has been an interesting week.

 On Monday morning I had only 4 people in my class and in the afternoon I had to cancel my class because only one student showed up. I waited until 1:45 and my class was supposed to start at 1:00. I was told later that the guys in my afternoon class had told my interpretor that most of them could not be there until 2:00 and my interpretor had neglected to tell me. After we left there were several students that showed up between 2:00 and 2:30.  So now we are starting the afternoon class at 2:00 to accommodate the majority of the students. Out here if the instructor is not at the school when the students arrive on the first day of classes it can take up to a week to get the people to start coming back. 

 The classes are going well. We did get an experienced translator for my class. He does not know very much about engines but speaks both English and Spanish fluently. He also has a strong desire to learn all that he can so he will be and excellent fit for what we need. Praise God for an answer to prayer by filling that need for us. 

 There are very many people here that are sick with chikungunya (a viral disease transmitted by the bite of infected mosquitoes.). This virus causes extreme head aches, extremely sore muscles and joints and sometimes fever and rash. It is not usually fatal but it can be if there are other health related issues that have weakened the immune system. As a result all the classes in the technical college are experiencing very low attendance.

 They are predicting that 60-70% of the population here will get chikungunya before the end of this spread. the majority of the people in the village we are working in either have it or have had it. Please pray that we will all remain healthy as we minister to these people.

 On Wednesday evening after church the pastor and his wife asked us to go with them and do some visitations. There are several of the elderly that attend the church that are very sick as a result of this virus and had asked if they would come and see them and pray for them. We visited two homes and prayed over the sick people and were stopped in the street and were asked to pray over one of the leaders in the church who had  been at the evening service but left early as he was not feeling well. 

 On Friday we went to the village to help with the feeding program. There were several of the regular local volunteers that did not come to help because they were at home sick so things got a little hectic for a while. We did manage to serve approx 100 children and 25 adults (mostly elderly) a hot lunch despite the lack of help.

 Please pray for the people in the Dominican Republic as they are fighting this virus and caring for others that are sick. 

Thank you and God Bless

Chris, Cheryl, Jacolyn and Jennifer Peters