Mile Deep International: Yep... that's the name of the non-profit that's being founded in order to aid the multi-faceted ministry here in the Dominican Republic and hopefully in other locations as well in the future. And, yep... WE'VE BEEN INCORPORATED!!! YAY! So Mile Deep International officially exists! Onto the next step... lots and lots of paperwork. But it's all pretty much done. So that's good.
Temple 411: This week, a lot of block was laid for the new temple…but Thursday and Friday there was little work because there wasn’t any money left neither to buy the rest of the proper materials nor to pay the workers. Friday, we went to the other pastor’s house to use the internet and we checked our bank accounts online…$300 had shown up which ended up being enough to pay the workers for last week and the next! Thank you to those who donated!!! It looks like this week the workers will be measuring for the windows, reinforcing with rebar, and finishing the laying of block to leave us with the first story of the new temple! YAY!
Bar guys: Also this last week, we stopped by the bar on the corner again (where the men drink and play dominoes outside all night) after a Bible study, and we were invited to sit down and watch them play. Dominican dad came to join us and we ended up having some really good conversations with a few of the men. One of them was very moved by our conversation (well, he was also drunk), and he began crying, saying how he loved the LORD but felt stuck in what he was doing and the life he was living. We were able to encourage him and his friend, so we hope to visit them again in the near future.
Our hike w/youth: Saturday morning, we set out with Fernando (a guy our age from Centro Cristiano), Isaac (a young guy who grew up in Casa de Dios Puerta del Cielo), and Yanelis (the girl from the youth group who had the Quinceañera) and we caught a jeep up the mountain to the part where the hike begins and goes to the peak. It was a hard workout! Then, after the hour and a half of hiking the steepest and muddiest mountain I had ever hiked, we ate our lunches at the top, and took an hour to climb down, expecting that a jeep would pass by to carry us back down the mountain (the part that is not the hike, just the rocky road)…it never came! We had to go all the way down the mountain! We didn’t get home until around 5pm. Enduring such a trip with this group brought us closer and hopefully began a developing of closer relationships.
Saturday Preaching: We did the preaching as a team on Saturday night for the youth (Saturdays are the youth services…we were very tired from our hike). We took an idea from our former pastor of Mosaic, John Edgar, to show that if the church is going to succeed in changing the community around it, everyone needs to play their part in it. We brought in a pile of big rocks and asked volunteers to pick up the entire pile of giant rocks and move them to the back of the temple in one trip. No one could do so, of course, because the pile was too big and the rocks were very heavy. We then asked EACH person to pick up one or two rocks and move them to the back of the temple, and we would see how much easier the task was and how much quicker it was done when they all worked as a team. We read 1 Corinthians 12 and explained the importance of each person and their efforts in the work of God. It went pretty well. Kids always like illustrations and activities.
Youth class Sunday: Then, Sunday, we taught the parable of the sower (Matthew 13) using 4 different surfaces of soil outside. As I read and asked questions to get the kids thinking, Chris acted out each explanation of the seed and soil with a shovel and beans picked from the surrounding vines.
It, also, went well.
Bar guys: Also this last week, we stopped by the bar on the corner again (where the men drink and play dominoes outside all night) after a Bible study, and we were invited to sit down and watch them play. Dominican dad came to join us and we ended up having some really good conversations with a few of the men. One of them was very moved by our conversation (well, he was also drunk), and he began crying, saying how he loved the LORD but felt stuck in what he was doing and the life he was living. We were able to encourage him and his friend, so we hope to visit them again in the near future.
Our hike w/youth: Saturday morning, we set out with Fernando (a guy our age from Centro Cristiano), Isaac (a young guy who grew up in Casa de Dios Puerta del Cielo), and Yanelis (the girl from the youth group who had the Quinceañera) and we caught a jeep up the mountain to the part where the hike begins and goes to the peak. It was a hard workout! Then, after the hour and a half of hiking the steepest and muddiest mountain I had ever hiked, we ate our lunches at the top, and took an hour to climb down, expecting that a jeep would pass by to carry us back down the mountain (the part that is not the hike, just the rocky road)…it never came! We had to go all the way down the mountain! We didn’t get home until around 5pm. Enduring such a trip with this group brought us closer and hopefully began a developing of closer relationships.
Saturday Preaching: We did the preaching as a team on Saturday night for the youth (Saturdays are the youth services…we were very tired from our hike). We took an idea from our former pastor of Mosaic, John Edgar, to show that if the church is going to succeed in changing the community around it, everyone needs to play their part in it. We brought in a pile of big rocks and asked volunteers to pick up the entire pile of giant rocks and move them to the back of the temple in one trip. No one could do so, of course, because the pile was too big and the rocks were very heavy. We then asked EACH person to pick up one or two rocks and move them to the back of the temple, and we would see how much easier the task was and how much quicker it was done when they all worked as a team. We read 1 Corinthians 12 and explained the importance of each person and their efforts in the work of God. It went pretty well. Kids always like illustrations and activities.
Youth class Sunday: Then, Sunday, we taught the parable of the sower (Matthew 13) using 4 different surfaces of soil outside. As I read and asked questions to get the kids thinking, Chris acted out each explanation of the seed and soil with a shovel and beans picked from the surrounding vines.
It, also, went well.
2 comments:
I like your rock illustration to show the power of working together. Also, something that may not have been mentioned, is that rocks can be easily thrown, which makes moving them very easy. Actually, I would probably do that next time. Another thing, I beat out Hillary for the #1 spot this week on the comment board. So, I'm pretty happy about that. Thanks for continuing to update your webpage; it makes me feel involved even though you guys are doing all the work.
yay for hiking and closer relationships!! that is exciting!! and i love that your dad came to the bar with you guys!! i think you are rubbing off on him, little by little!!
as for dan beating me out...i will just have to try harder next week 8D i love you guys!!
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