The Fields are Ripe, Harvest Time is HERE!

The last 3 weeks have been really amazing. Karina spent her last week here, just about non-stop every day with Dominican friends. I was busy doing estimating work in the daytime, but we spent time every night with Dominicans. Following having 4 visitors from the neighborhood at church with us, we set up a Bible Study for Monday night, Feb. 16 @ Juan Luis and Juana's house. More people showed up than we expected. We took turns reading, mostly passages from John about the character and purpose of Jesus. It went REALLY well. Karina had to leave the next day, but I continued to visit and talk each day with the family from Calle Cuatra. (4th St.) I ate rice, beans and chicken about every day at one house or another. The family is pictured below from the 1st Bible Study. It included 2 brothers, a sister, a mother, both of the brothers' spouses, a niece and a nephew. This pictures shows part of the group...

I continued to meet daily, eating in one home or another, beans, rice and chicken! They knew Karina was gone and so they adopted and fed me! Our conversation often covered topics from the Bible. We also just had great fellowship. Our Monday night Bible study continued the next week, covering more questions that they had, and spending again, most of our time in the Book of John. Then we read through several passages in Acts, including the story in Acts 16 about Paul and Silas in jail in Philippi. The two brothers, Juan Luis and Victor (the guys that have been working in our yard), Juan Luis' spouse Juana and their sister Leonis all wanted to be baptized. We made plans for the next evening, after work, for us to all go to the river. Dave, our neighbor has been reaching out to the brothers since fall of 2007. We spent time with them last year as well, but it really has been God working in their lives over the last few weeks that moved them to this decision. Here we are on the river bank, reading from Romans 6, discussing what we're about to do...

Once in the water, the guys were baptized. Victor is with me, Juan Luis with Dave. "Yo te bautizo en el nombre del Padre, y del Hijo, y del Espirtu Santo, para perdón tus pecados y para recibir el Espiritu Santo."

Then the ladies stepped in.

I baptized Leonis... &

Dave baptized Juana.

This journey had taken these sisters in law and made them sisters in Christ. They were SOOOOOO happy! So were Dave and I!! (I forgot to mention the angels rejoicing as well.)

Then only God could have predicted this. A nearby youth came up and asked us if he could be baptized as well!! The youth minister met with him for awhile, then after more discussion with Dave and I, all in Spanish of course, Dave and I baptized him together.

With God, all things are possible. To top it off, he works 5 days a week, less than a block from the youth minister! They exchanged numbers and he's becoming part of the youth group! Here's the "visible" happy group! (Couldn't get a picture with the angels.)

That day didn't end there. Just as in Acts 16, we ate together, then took in a boxing match. (well the eating together happened in Acts) Here the Dominican lands a good left on the Cuban boxer.

Well, that was last week, this week was more food and fellowship. I had rice and chicken, or rice and rooster every day. Since they fight roosters down here, I joked that we were eating the "gallo perdido", the rooster that lost! Earlier today, I helped out at Juan Luis and Juana's house. They had some sand delivered and used some left over cement from work at my house, to pave the floor in their house. I encouraged Juan Luis to put an address out front so the sand would be delivered...

He's training a plant to provide him some shade. We didn't read about the worm in Job. I don't want him to worry about his plant.

Here's the street view this morning...

It didn't take long to attract spectators...

Inside, Juan Luis, or Topo as they call him, is working to level out the dirt, but also to dig a ditch at the top side there. That's the neighbor's block house, so because the roof doesn't meet and it rains inside, he planned for a trough for water to run out.

Here's the back yard...

Mother and daughter in law were enjoying watching the work.

Victor did the smoothing while Topo did all the mixing.

Juana was coming out of the bathroom after inspecting one of the new lights I mounted. Before today, they only had one bulb on a cord and moved it from one room to another, stretching the cord to the ONE outlet in the house. I installed a triple switch and now they have a bathroom, dining room and kitchen/bedroom light. (the plan is to move the kitchen to a front room later, but for now it's in the bedroom.) Topo and Juana have been together 14 years. Topo is 30 now.

There's more I could write. There's no end to the good that God is doing down here. Lives are changing. Stay tuned for more...

En Cristo,

Ken

Food, Fun and Fellowship with Outreach

We want to share the fun time last night enjoyed by the jovenes (youth group). We partner with Isaias, the youth minister here, and enjoyed hosting a spaghetti dinner and domino night in the dorm. We were planning to have it outside of our house but have really experienced tropical rains this past week...more about that in next paragraph. So we had it in the dorm and actually, as God would know best, it was much better that way, easier to cook for 50, more room and light and the thing that was best is that all the folks in the neighborhood (and especially all the bored kids hanging out on the corner) could hear all the laughing and fun they were having! Ken spoke for a few minutes between eating and playing about how the first shall be last and last shall be first using the passage in Mark 9:33-35. Just as the disciples argued about who was the best, these kids argue in the street about who plays the best ball, dominoes, etc. In the spirit of the verse, Ken awarded the WORST 2 scores the first pick of prizes. Only half the kids there were Christians, these others were kids from the hood", who normally hang out on the street corners, watching whatever is happening. Ken and I had suggested a BUNKO version of dominoes which switched up the players after every game. It was definately a hit and everyone loved it! The food prep starts. Biggest wooden spoon I've ever seen! The serving line AFTER the rush. No time for pictures DURING the rush! Gathered up for information about Valentine's Day activity and then Ken did the Devo... Ken directed the table setup and began the games... Table number one, actually it's the table that Ken and I got the first week we were here back in December of 2007... At 11:00 pm they were still hanging around. Most walk home, so staying late wasn't really an issue. Some had already left.

It has rained everyday for a week. We had blue sky 8 days ago, but haven't seen the sun since. As the Bible says, it rains on the "just and the unjust." However, it is tougher on the poor when it rains than the rich because most of their houses leak and many of them have dirt floors, therefore, when it rains, they have mud floors and then have to wait for them to dry out. The only pieces of furniture many of them have are plastic chairs and tables. Of course their beds get wet and mildew when it rains. We are seeing more and more how we as Americans are blessed way more than we can even begin to realize. Even in our dry house here, all of our clothes feel damp until we get a sunshiny day. (We would post a picture, but just imagine gray with rain.) Another encouraging thing...the men here have been having a men's class on Authentic Manhood once a week. Last week there were 35. It's a class on DVD that's been dubbed into Spanish. http://www.mensfraternity.com/ Here's a shot from last week's class. Ken is running the computer and projector, surprise, surprise! In our last POST, the couple we were having dinner with and his brother have been coming and are really wanting to improve their lives and their marriages. That's really what it's all about, helping the nationals improve the quality of physical living which opens doors to improving areas in their spiritual walk. Both of these guys have worked in our yard last year and this year but this year we have really seen them blossom. It's a fine line to keep our Dominican relationships as friends versus employees and whether they are genuine or just wanting money, but it has been very rewarding to watch these men gain trust in us, to hear about their childhood and what has made them who they are today (could be a whole post within itself) and to start asking questions. Ken is studying with both of them. Isaias got them Bibles. Of course, it is all in Spanish, so Ken is soliciting help at times to make sure they are understanding each other. Reading the passages together is helping with the communication. Bendigos/Blessings, Karina UPDATE from earlier in January........ (we didn't talk about this in previous post, so Ken is posting it here.) Posting from KEN: Earlier this year, we hosted Caleb Norkus for a Soccer Camp in a Haitian Community here in Santiago. Dozens of kids came out and worked out with the Carolina RailHawk professional. Helping with the clinic were Casto Fernandez, himself a former college soccer player and two of his daughters, Danielle and Alexis. Alexis played soccer for years and Danielle served as a translator. On day two of the camp, shoes were distributed, many of which came from Caleb’s CASL team members. What excitement to receive soccer cleats in a country dominated by baseball. Here's a link to the article that ran in the News and Observer along with a picture I took: http://www.newsobserver.com/print/sunday/other/story/1372007.html Caleb gives testimoney about his journey back to God. Head drills... Here’s a video of their trip which sums it up better than I could with words… http://vimeo.com/2794306 About 2 weeks later, Lifepointe’s Donnie Williams and his daughter, Molly, came down on an exploratory trip. They went to feeding centers, church sites as well as touring the dorms available to prospective teams. The feeding center is next to the old building with the kitchen. Plates are passed through the window. Casto is helping... The Dominican children in the Hoya del Bartola (the HOLE) love to be held. Eight years ago when GO started working there, they ran when they saw "white people". What a difference eight years a feeding center and hundreds of Gringos coming to build a feeding center/church building has made in the lives of these people. Donnie couldn't resist giving this little boy a ride on his shoulders.

As you can see the kids just come up to see the Americans. They aren't asking for money, or things, only attention.

Karen is introducing the children to the new "gringos".

Casto was remembering his Cuban roots when he saw this pig. Well, I don't know what he was thinking, except that he did ask before he got close, "Is it safe?"

This is a view of the HOLE from the top. It is a garbage dump. It used to be official, now folks from nearby just bring trucks of trash to throw over the edge.

The initial sight of the garbage, just causes you to stop and stare.

More later.... Stay tuned.

In Him,

Ken

New Experiences...

First, we did get to watch the Super Bowl as a group of gringos down here. We hosted the game due to cable trouble at the neighbors. They brought the TV over and we used the other neighbor's cable connection!

But that wasn't a new experience...post from Karen next:

WOW, tonight certainly was a new experience!!! Juan Louis is a neighbor, who does work around our house and garden, like cleaning, raking, watering, cement and brick work, tree removal, banana cutting....(I could go on and on.) . The picture below shows us at the plastic dinner table, covered with a linen table cloth (actually I think it was a sheet). With the help of his brother Victor, the three of them build the house in a day and a half about a year ago. It is only scrap wood and scrap metal, probably mostly gotten from other people's trash. The wall behind the table is the NEIGHBOR'S exterior wall. It is just part of Juan and Juana's house now. The roof doesn't go all the way to the neighbor's wall, so the dirt floor gets muddy every time it rains. They borrowed a hot plate to cook for us, rice, potato salad (Dominican style, they always put carrots in their potato salad and is very good) and chicken. It was GREAT! We provided the strawberry soda, a favorite locally and with Ken. They don't have a refrigerator, so they took leftovers to Juan Louis' mother's house to save until the next day. They were so hospitable and I wish they were smiling in the picture because they are such happy folks but the guy who took the picture (just walked in off the street to say hi) had never used a camera before and it took about five minutes just to show him how to look through the lens and push the button to take it.

After dinner, we settled in for 2 hours of Dominican Dominoes. We brought our table and dominoes over for the game. Notice that the official table has built-in cup holders! Nice!

We will have fond memories of this night forever. I took this picture and wish it showed more of the house...it really puts in perspective the luxuries we take for granted. "Everything else is worthless compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting all as garbage so that I may have Christ and become one with him." (Phil 3:8-9) Juana was so proud of her kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. She gave me a tour. The kitchen for now is in the bedroom, but they hope one day to build one in the corner of the dining area. She had her purses and shoes hanging on nails above the bed. I asked where is her mirror to put on her makeup and she took me to the bathroom and had one little mirror about 8x10 above the sink and then grabbed another one that was stuck in a crack in the wall so she could look at the back of her head and get this...it was a rear view mirror off of a car and the medal that attaches it to the car was the handle...worked great! The word gerry-rigging has taken on a whole new meaning living here. The Dominicans are quite clever and can make things work out of almost anything. (They do take what is counted as garbage and re-use it!)

Juan Louis and Juana have been visiting church and after finding out this past weekend that they don't have a Bible, we're putting it on our to-do list for this week. He has been attending a class along his brother Victor on authentic manhood. Ken is taking it with them along with quite a few Domincans.

Dios te bendiga/God bless you,

Karina

From Ken:

I took a trip down to Batey Pino and Batey Cuchilla on Ground Hog Day. (I saw my shadow, so I guess it's 6 more weeks of 80 degree weather.) I went with some guys to look at the purchase of some land for a church building in two locations. We also toured the dorm and church in the area already built by G.O. in Batey Nueve. The dry, dusty, arid, desert island like conditions were a stark contrast to just 2 hours north in our home in Santiago. We've had rain 4-5 times a week, in the south, there were cactus bushes everywhere and a completely different feel.

Below is the current construction site in Batey Nueve, a model for the other 2 sites we looked at. The first floor serves as a feeding center and church building. As the church outgrows the bottom floor, a second floor will be added for church services, while children will be downstairs for their classes during service. A commercial kitchen with refrigeration will be installed upon completion.

Here is the site at Batey Pino (pine). There currently is no church there. Driving through the area, we saw a witch doctor's house, clearly marked with carvings, symbols, etc. It reminded me of writings in the O.T. of the prophets. This is the current building at Batey Cuchilla. It is wood construction with concrete covering the walls. The new building will be BLOCK and Concrete. It is beside the old church as the other picture shows. The old building will stay up until the new building is complete.

I'll post more updates as I get them, including other photos from the Batey trip!

In Him,

Ken

Settling in, in Hoya del Caimito

We're 11 days into our mission trip in 2009 and are settled back in our old pad. We signed the lease today and paid the phone bill, so it's official. The transition has been much easier this time. Our old house was furnished and waiting for us. (the neighbors had balloons on the front door) We have an additional set of bunk beds in our master bedroom, which we've not yet rearranged, but our air mattress on the floor still provides a good night's sleep. (The street noise and cats howling in heat at night have awakened us several times, but not TOO often.) Our plants are thriving out front. We had a security door installed just before we went home in April. It's a nice addition now. We have a screen in it, so we leave the white door open most of the time. We miss our church family and family group at home, but we went to 5 different churches here in 8 days, plus extra activities, so we're meeting new folks and renewing relationships with folks we met over the last 2 years. We're looking forward to finding our place here. Beginning in February, there are teams here for about 8 straight weeks, so we're preparing for the storm of activity. Speaking of storms, we've had some really hard thunderstorms at night. I hear it's cold back up in the "Old North State". It's a benefit of being on a tropical island. We had to describe to some locals how cold it was back home. They asked if there were heaters in the house! We explained about fire places (which is an alternate cooking method here we've seen and smelled) and about central heating. I'm not sure they grasped it. Here, the houses have neither heating or air conditioning. Seems odd to say, but not odd living here. It seems natural. Power bills are MUCH lower! We hope to have weekly updates once the teams start to come regularly. Thanks for reading! Sincerely, Jorge y Karina

A Quiet, Merry, Cary Christmas

Last Christmas was spent with friends in the Dominican Republic. Luke and Melinda joined us on the 26th. This year, Melinda is staying in Europe, where she's been spending her Junior year at the univeristy in Montpellier, France. http://melindakays.blogspot.com So that she wouldn't be spending Christmas without family, Andrew and Luke left on the evening of the 23rd on the non-stop to London, then landed in Geneva on Christmas eve. They took a ski shuttle from the airport to Chamonix, France to stay at a youth hostel with Melinda. Their plans include a trip to Venice, Florence and they'll bring in the new year in Rome with fireworks. Luke is on Christmas break from UNCC and Andrew's company closed for 2 weeks for cost cutting reasons. God worked everything out for them to be there!

The married boys are with in-laws this Christmas, so we just spent a quiet night watching "Christmas from Saddleback with Rick Warren" on FNC last night. There were no toys to assemble, no boxes to bring in from the neighbors, and no one but us to put the luminaries out on the street. IT WAS AWESOME! The married kids will be joining us in Charlotte to be with the Miller family on Saturday. Later, the 8 of us, (married kids and their wives) will be going to the beach to bring in the New Year! It's not Rome, but Atlantic Beach is a close second.

Andrew arrives back from Italy Jan. 2nd. Nathan and Angela leave later that day from RDU as well. Luke returns Jan. 12 to start back at UNCC, only this semester, he'll be attending ROTC classes as a newly sworn in member of the North Carolina National Guard.

We're counting down the days until we leave for the Dominican Republic on January 2nd. We'll be with a Soccer Mission group from Cary, including Caleb Norkus, one of the Railhawk professional players. We've known Caleb since he was a baby. We attended church with his whole family 30 years ago. We'll be working with the Haitian Soccer teams sponsored by churches in Santiago, DR.

We promise to put small updates in more frequently this year, including a narrative of our entire 2007. If you have trouble sleeping, then after we get that posted up, you can save it for bedtime reading. It'll be like a family slide show, or home movies, only worse!

Much love from Karina y Jorge!

So much to say...

So much has happened these last couple of weeks, it's hard to put it into a blog. First some GREAT news from the home front... A new location of LifePointe Church was launched 2 weeks ago in Wake Forest, NC and 595 were in attendance!!! People are seeking, whether in the US or down here. Pray for the work in Wake Forest. God is changing lives.


We had a tremendous group from Hanover College down, doing construction and medical missions. Karen and I both worked with the Medical team, translating and encouraging. I'm including some pictures from the medical clinic. We saw lots of folks with sinus infections, scabes, fungal infections and parasites. The clinic was conducted in what's referred to as "the Hole" (see previous posts for more information)

We're without teams this week, but 2 arrive in a couple of days. We'll be really busy then. In between teams we are spending time with the locals, both from church on from the "hood". Karen and I have been in several Dominican homes in the last few days.
Keep us in your prayers!
K&K