E' pa'lante que vamo'

Unfortunately, construction for the new temple has been temporarily put on hold due to insufficient funds, so there is no news regarding this portion of the blog.

On a brighter note, we met a missionary couple the other night at a couples’ dinner of another congregation. This couple is working with the organization Teen Challenge (Desafío Juvenil) here in Santiago in La Ciénega, close to Casa de Dios Puerta del Cielo. (For those unfamiliar with Teen Challenge, it is a Christian organization that works to bring in drug addicts to house them, to put them through a curriculum which teaches them about freedom and God’s love, and to help them work towards a holistic healing and healthy lifestyle. So, a rehabilitation center that creates redeemed Christians who graduate and eventually become pastors themselves to help others find freedom from drugs and the lifestyle of drug addicts.) We were able to spend a few hours at the Center with some of the graduates of the rehab, and we were invited to participate in a going away party for the current pastor. It was beautiful to see a very large group of “manly men”, previously very hard men, say heartwarming things about another man whom they love. Very touching.
After the party, the missionary couple took us out to dinner and we were able to share a little about each other. They are in their late 20s and have been married 4 years. They have been redeemed by God and have amazing stories to tell. The man, José, is actually a graduate of the rehab program, and will be taking the place of the pastor leaving the center. His wife, Nelly, emigrated from Mexico to the states and experienced an incredibly disturbing life B.C. (before Christ), and she is working on opening up a women’s rehab, as they do not yet have one here for women. Dinner with them was refreshing (they also both speak English) and they were able to help us process things we’re experiencing as “missionaries” (they kept calling us that).
They invited us onto their radio show on Wednesday, which apparently can be heard online. We’ll let you know if we plan on doing that. We hope to be able to build somewhat of a friendship with this beautiful couple in the time we have left here. Nelly says that since seeing us, she has believed that we will have a future with Teen Challenge in some form. We’ll see 

At Centro Cristiano and Casa de Dios, it seems like members have begun to see things a little bit differently. Instead of just attending church services, they have been more motivated in recent days to look a little more outwardly and it has been apparent because they are actually seeking out friends to bring to the services.

The Youth Camp is coming up soon, so all the kids are counting down and getting really excited. There are several kids who don’t have enough money and are bummed that it looks like they might not be able to go, so we are trying to come up with some fund raisers here to help raise the money for those who don’t have it (it costs RD$800, so about US$25). We’re thinking of having a ‘homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies’ party with those who want to raise money and they each can take their batches and sell them. People make sweets and sell them a lot here, and since they don’t really have chocolate chip cookies here, we thought it would be a good sell! Any good ideas of some easy activities, let us know.