June 12, 2008

This last month has certainly been a whirlwind! While in the states I was able to visit with several supporters as well as meet with the missions committee of Northeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY, and with potential team leaders from Woodland Hills Church of Christ in Abingdon, VA, and hopefully each church will be sending a team down this fall! As well, using gifts from supporters and ministry money I had in reserve, once I returned to the DR on May 13, we were able to purchase a 2000 Toyota Land Cruiser!! This is a huge blessing and a great vehicle for ministry opportunities we will have! The most exciting news to share, however, is that, on May 24, Amaury and I were married in a beautiful ceremony at a resort here in the DR!!!

The wedding ceremony took place at Casa Marina Beach in the town of Sosua here in the DR, and it was a beautiful wedding and a wonderful time with family and friends!!! My parents, sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew all were able to come, as well as Amaury's parents, uncle and aunt, and brother and sister-in-law and most of the G.O. staff. Along with our invited guests, one of the interesting items about getting married at a resort is that vacationers are also present, so we had many more people witness our wedding than we expected! God did use this though, as our ceremony, which was done in both English and Spanish, was clearly representative of our beliefs as Christians, and several vacationers commented to our friends and family in attendance on the impact it had on them. After our vows, the first three things we did were repeat the confession of faith, take communion, and have a foot-washing ceremony to show our desire to love and serve God and each other. Everything about the ceremony was perfect, and God could not have given us a better gift to bless our wedding than the sunset He painted that night!

In addition, we had a reception in Santiago on May 25 for family, friends, and co-workers, and it was also a wonderful celebration! It was held in the house where we will be living for the next year or so, and I cannot think of a better way to bless the beginning of our life together than to celebrate our marriage in this way!

One of the things that has been a bit overwhelming since coming back from our honeymoon (which was also beautiful!) is trying to figure out how I will get everything organized at the house and be a good wife while also managing my ministry and working with teams. Amaury has been patient, supportive and helpful, but I have still felt the pressure to do everything “perfectly.” God spoke to this directly through a recent devotion that was based on Isaiah 41:10, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” This was an excellent reminder that I will not be able to do any of those things on my own, but if I allow myself to be led by God’s “righteous right hand,” He will give me all I need and lead me through this time. I know that if I depend only on Him, He will lead me to be a better Christian, wife, and missionary two months from now that I am right now.

One of the ways God has clearly shown us that He is providing for and taking care of us was through the process for purchasing the vehicle, which was surprisingly smooth! I fully expected problems and challenges to arise as very little happens here without some issue or another arising, and it seems that things always take longer than expected, but the opposite happened with this purchase. There were no problems with the money or the paperwork (other than a misspelled name – his, not mine – that was easily changed), and this was all definitely a blessing! Around $4000 in gifts were given as of mid-May, and I sincerely want to say “Thank You!!!” to all who gave toward the purchase!

With what was given, it was a step of faith to use money from my reserve (about half was used) to make up the difference, but doors were clearly opened, and we truly felt God leading us in this, considering the ministry and personal needs it would meet. Gifts toward the purchase can still be made – just go to the G.O. website at http://www.go-ministries.org/, and make an on-line donation using PayPal, or print the donation form that can either be mailed or faxed in to the office. Gifts should be marked "Catherine Sipperley ministry gift" in the space provided (both the on-line and print formats have a space for this). My new name is officially Catherine Sipperley de Gracesqui here in the DR, but I will be changing it to Catherine Gracesqui for my US paperwork as soon as I am able to do that through the US Embassy here.

Last week began our busy summer schedule, during which we had three teams – one team provided a medical clinic in Los Guandules, one of the poorest areas of the city, and the other two teams did construction on two different churches. I translated for the medical clinic, and it was a great experience! Most of the time I was in the pharmacy, but I did spend a short time translating for the doctor on the team, and I translated when we visited homes in the community after the clinic ended to invite the community members to church. Visiting in the community after a clinic is one of my favorite things to do! We share with everyone we talk to that even though we were there to meet the physical needs of the people, we offer that because of our desire to share the love of Christ with them who is the only One who can truly meet all of their needs. Our group met with several people who expressed interest in coming to the church and all were grateful for the clinic!

One of my English classes is held in the church at Guandules, and during the clinic several of my students were asking when class would begin again! I am excited to start teaching, and the classes will all begin next Monday, June 16! The class in Guandules will be on Monday and Wednesday afternoons from 3 to 4 pm, and I will have two classes in Hoya del Caimito on the same days – one from 5:30 to 6:30 pm for the young men in the baseball ministry – and the other from 7 to 8 pm for people from the community in Hoya del Caimito and from Hoyo de Bartola. The rest of the summer I will be translating for medical clinics (we have another one this week!) and doing children’s ministry. It will be a busy schedule, but it will also be filled with many opportunities to share the love of Christ and be His hands and feet here in the DR!

Please continue to pray for Amaury and I as we begin our new life together while also managing our schedules – which will be very different at times. Thank you for all that you do to support our ministry!

Con el amor de Jesucristo,

Catherine