"Moments of joy. "

On Wednesday night, we had the joy of going to Speedway in Lights at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, TN, with my family, and while we were there, those were the words God spoke into my heart.

He showed me those "moments" through watching a young girl skipping to "Joy to the World" alongside of her older sister as they walked through the crowd at the Christmas village, through seeing Amaury share fresh Kettle Corn with my family, and through all of us being awed by the beauty of the lights and music surrounding us.

My favorite moment was watching the Symphony in Lights inside the speedway as the music played Handel's "Messiah" and the lights flashed and danced to the changes in the music, thinking how grateful I was to be there in that moment, listening to music that celebrates our Savior's birth, sharing this Christmas with my family and my husband - it was a moment I will not soon forget.

Standing in the midst of this beautiful Christmas celebration, I was reminded of my favorite Christmas verse from Luke 2:10,

"But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.'"

He is the reason we have such moments of joy in our lives.

As I thought more about this today, I realized that God has been giving us these "moments of joy" throughout this Christmas season. One of my favorite things about living in the DR is that Christmas season begins much earlier than in the states - the first decorations in Santiago went up in late September - and it lasts longer too, ending after King's Day, which will be celebrated on January 10 this year!

So, the Christmas season began for us when our Drama Group first started rehearsing their latest production, "Navidad: Tiempo para Cambiar (Christmas: Time for Change)," in mid-September. It then continued through November with the graduation for the two classes Amaury had been teaching in the prison since mid-August, the conclusion of Amaury's residency process, the presentation of the Drama Group's production, and my trip to the NCTE in Orlando, FL, with the other high school English teacher from SCS. And now, we are in Virginia, where all day today snow has been gently falling as we finalized Christmas preparations in anticipation of "Noche Buena," which literally means "good night" and is the Spanish name for Christmas Eve.

It has been a "full" season in many aspects, and many of them blessings! To share these with all of you, we have included below several pictures from the last few months. They are representative of those "moments of joy" and we hope you will enjoy them!

With love in Christ,
Catherine

Rehearsals for and the presentation of "Navidad:Tiempo para Cambiar" - a Christian retelling of "A Christmas Carol" - the Spirits are Angels, and the third Angel gives Scrooge the opportunity to accept Christ as his Savior, which he does!








































Our group watching "Mickey's Christmas Carol" at our house - it was an impromptu moment as we waited for transportation for our day trip with them, and they loved seeing "their parts" being presented by Mickey and friends!










Our "pasadia" with our Drama Group - a day trip for fun, fellowship, and a time of prayer and sharing!











Graduation day for Amaury's most recent Protocol and Etiquette and Intro to Business classes at the men's prison - Mr. Lynch, the Director of Santiago Christian School, shared a message with the participants about Christian business principals, and he was impressed by how attentive and focused the class members were!











Catherine is now directing a "jovenes" (youth) choir at our church in Hoya del Caimito - they sang a special in November and one for Christmas!











Amaury's most recent Protocol and Etiquette class at the church where some of our Drama Group members attend - they are excited about him coming to teach other classes in the future!



Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año Nuevo! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Hola!!

Recently, Catherine was working with her seniors at Santiago Christian School on their personal narratives that they could use for their college applications, and we thought we would apply one of her lessons to our blog update this month. So, just as a personal narrative should "show" rather than "tell," we thought we would do just that through a "photo blog"! We hope you enjoy it!

Here is the patio Amaury was working on while Catherine was in the states - he built the fountain and swing, and he put the gravel down to create a quiet place for prayer and reflection. It has been a blessing!












Amaury gave a "cultural" orientation to teachers at SCS with Catherine translating - he was rated one of the highest presentations in the faculty review of the Teacher Orientation!












In August, Catherine was sworn in as a Dominican citizen, so she now has dual citizenship!









In late August, some members of our Drama Group came with us as we visited classrooms in a local public high school to announce that we were starting again and to invite new students to participate. From those visits, six new members joined, and we began meeting and rehearsing for our next production, which will be A Christmas Carol on November 16!

The Drama Group visiting classes, ...











doing some improvisation activities, ...












learning to work together as a team by "untying" a "human knot," ...











and receiving their scripts and roles for the production!











Recently, Amaury taught a Protocol and Etiquette class at a friend's church ...














and everyone loved the class! It's a great way to build relationships! The participants asked when Amaury could come back and teach his Principles of Business and Finance Class!

Amaury has also started teaching two new classes in the men's prison, but taking pictures there is a special privilege preserved for class graduations and other special events, so we'll have some when those classes finish!

We hope you liked our "photo blog"! We are so grateful for your prayers and support of our ministry - lives are being changed through sharing the truth of who Christ is with our students here in the DR, and we could not do that with out you!

Dios les bendiga MUCHO!! (God bless you VERY MUCH!!)

With love in Christ,
Amaury and Catherine

This blog update is a little different than our others! Besides the background and layout changes, the primary author has changed as well! This time, Amaury wrote and Catherine translated! For those who want to read the update in Spanish as Amaury wrote it, it is included first. The English translation follows under each paragraph! Enjoy!!

Hola!
Hoy es un bonito día. El sol esta brillando y mi computadora esta tocando alabanza para Dios, un día perfecto para hacer el blog por primera vez! La verdad es que no tenia idea de como se hacia, pero mi hermosa esposa con su paciencia me explico en que consiste.

Hello!
Today is a nice day. The sun is shining and Christian praise music is playing on my computer, a perfect day to do the blog for the first time! The truth is that I had no idea of how to do this, but my beautiful wife with her patience explained it to me.

Un día al final de mi clase de Protocolo y Etiqueta en la cárcel de hombres en Santiago, tuve que ir a la oficina encargada de educación de la cárcel buscar el listado oficial de los estudiantes, y cuando voy entrando se acerca unos de mis estudiantes que esta acusado por atentar contra el Presidente de la Republica anterior. EL me muestra una pintura y “Wow!” me quede asombrado al verla no solo por lo bonita que estaba, sino por el mensaje que lleva.

One day at the end of my Protocol and Etiquette Class at the men’s prison in Santiago, I had to go to the office of the person in charge of education at the prison to get the official listing of students, and when I entered, one of my students approached me who is charged with offences against the former President of the Dominican Republic. He showed me a painting, and "Wow!" I was amazed to see it not only how good it was, but also for the message that it carries.

El comenzó a explicarme el significado de la pintura, y fue el siguiente..
Un hombre sentado pensando cabeza abajo, lleva dos vida, un lado bien vestido y el otro destruido. Debajo de su silla al un reloj de arena que marca el tiempo que le queda para elegir una de las dos vidas. Pero al un problema el esta encadenado a una de esa vida y el reloj sigue corriendo. A cada extremo en la mano hay ejemplos de cada vida. La derecha posee todo los tipos de drogas que existen. La de la izquierda simplemente le ofrece 4 cosas: un gorro de graduación que represente el éxito, una llave que representa la entrada al cielo, una Biblia que es el mapa para llegar a Dios, y un regalo que representa la vida eterna.

He began to explain the significance of the painting, and he said the following ... A man is seated with his head down, he has two lives, one side is dressed well and the other is destroyed. Beneath his chair is an hourglass that marks the time remaining to choose one of his two lives. But the problem is that he is chained to one of the lives and clock continues running. At each end in the hand are examples of each life. The right has all types of drugs that exist. The left simply offers four things: a graduation cap representing success, a key that represents entry into heaven, a Bible that is a map to get to God, and a gift that represents eternal life.

En el extremo derecho detrás de la mano al un mundo oscuro y Satana esta representado por un búfalos. Del lado izquierdo, al mundo es claro y se pueden ver en los cielos los ojos de los Ángeles observándolo. La pintura muestra que cada persona tiene dos opciones en la vida, una lleva a destrucción y la otra a vida eterna, y el tiempo esta corriendo para hacer la elección.

At the far right hand in the back is a dark world and Satan is represented by a Buffalo. On the left side, the world is clear and the eyes of angels watching can be seen in the heavens. The painting shows that each person has two options in life, one leads to destruction and the other to eternal life, and time is running out to make the choice.

“Wow!” es increíble verdad! Y es el mismo objetivo que estamos buscando de ellos através de los clases mios, ayudarles elegir bien.

"Wow!" it is really incredible! And this is the same goal that we are hoping to achieve for them through my classes, to help them choose well.

En esto ultimo día me eh dado cuanta de la importancia de los curso que nuestros ministerio esta llevando acabo principalmente en la cárcel. El viernes 29 de julio fue la graduación del curso autosuperación y autoestimas donde 27 hombres de los 30 que empezaron la clase tuvieron la oportunidad de graduarse. De los otros 3, a dos les dieron la libertad y el otro esta enfermo de tuberculosis. Yo no sabia nada, por que solo el había faltado a una clase.

Recently, I realized the importance of the courses that our ministry is offering mainly in the prison. Friday, July 29, was the graduation of the Self-improvement and Self-Esteem course, in which 27 of the 30 men who started the class had the opportunity to graduate. Of the other 3, two were given their freedom, and the other is sick with tuberculosis. I didn't know anything about his illness, because he had only missed one class.

El dia que el falto de la clase, que fue dos semanas antes de la graduación, uno de sus compañeros se acerca a mi y me dice que Pablo Aria esta enfermo en el hospital y haber si yo podía irlo a ver le. Dije claro que si, y cuando termino la clase camino a mi casa me detuve en el hospital. Cuando llego al área donde estaba el habían dos policías cuidándolo. Me dejaron entrar sin problemas pues ya me conocían. El estaba acostado y al escuchar su nombre, levanto su cabeza. La alegría que el sintió al verme fue grande. Era la ultima persona que el esperaba ver por allá, y su cara reflejaba los que el sentía.

The day that he missed class, which was two weeks before graduation, one of his classmates came up to me and told me that Paul Aria is sick in the hospital, and he wanted to know if I could go and see him. I said of course, and when I finished the class and was on my way home, I stopped at the hospital. When I arrived at the area where he was, they had two policemen guarding him. They let me enter without problems because they knew me. He was lying down and when he heard his name, he lifted his head. He was very happy to see me. I was the last person that the expected to see there, and his face reflected what the felt.

Comencé a hablar y el me dijo que era tuberculosis. Me conmovió al oír esto, por que era uno de los hombres mas alegre de los cursos que yo he dado, pero los que mas me sorprendió fue cuando llego una hermana de este, la forma en que el le hablaba a su hermana de mi como profesor y de la clase que estaba recibiendo un 90 % de los que decía era sobre el curso. Me sentí alegre al saber que el curso estaba haciendo su trabajo.

He started to talk and told me that he has TB. I was shocked to hear this, because he was one of the more cheerful men in the courses which I have given, but what surprised me most was when his sister arrived, the way in which he spoke to his sister of me as his teacher and of the class made up 90% of what he talked about. I was happy to know that the course was doing its job.

El día de la graduación a pesar que el no estaba presente por que estaba en cuarentena en una are refringida de la cárcel para que la enfermedad no llegue a otros. Le enviamos su pedazo de biscocho junto a su certificado. A pesar que el había rebasado su limite de ausencia para graduarse por su enfermedad, el ya había demostrado que si podía graduarse.

He was not present the day of the graduation though because he was in quarantine so that the illness would not be carried to others. We sent him his piece of cake together with his certificate. Even though he had exceeded his limit of absences to graduate because of his illness, he had already demonstrated that he could graduate.
Pero una de las cosas que mas me hizo sentir bien el día de la graduación fue ver el 95 % de los estudiantes del curso de etiqueta y protocolo graduándose también en autosuperación y autoestimas.

But one of the things that made me feel the best on graduation day was to see 95% of the students of the Protocol and Etiquette course also graduating from Self-improvement and Self-Esteem.

Thank you for your continued support of and prayers for our ministry! When we experience days like the ones Amaury described, we are overwhelmed by the blessing it is to be able to share Christ's love with those in desperate need of Him here in the Dominican!

Con el amor de JesuCristo,

Amaury and Catherine

P.S. See below for pictures from the last few months ...

Graduations - Santiago Christian School, Amaury's second community-based Protocol and Etiquette class, and our Drama Group ...

Drama Camp in Palo Alto with Woodland Hills Christian Church ...

Construction of water cistern project in Palo Alto...