On November 11, I returned to the states after a September and October full of wonderful blessings and some challenges as well! One of the wonderful blessings that has also at times been a bit of a challenge over the last two months has been continuing to work with my English students in Hoya del Caimito and Los Guandules. The pictures to the left are of the students in Caimito (top) and Guandules (bottom) with their certificates for completing the classed offered.

These classes started in January, and as of the end of October, we completed 12 of the 16 lessons in the curriculum we have been using called Spoken English Learned Quickly, and my students are speaking and reading English! In fact, they have become so comfortable with the material, which is very well designed, that they are continuing to study on their own to finish the material while I am in the states (they are using CDs and photocopies of the lessons I gave them before I left), and I will be “testing” them when I return to the DR in December!

Each week, my students continued to surprise me with their desire to learn and continued attendance in class, despite dropping class numbers. However, what surprised me the most was the request of one of my students to begin to study more intensively in order to begin teaching English classes himself! This is one of the goals of the English classes, to have a student of the class become a teacher who can then start teaching and reaching out to many more people than I can if I were to continue teaching by myself, and the material we are using is perfectly set up for that!

Jose Luis has been working with G.O. for several years heading up our baseball ministry, reaching out to young men in Santiago for Christ through helping them improve their baseball skills and teaching them about teamwork, and through being an example of Christ’s love in their lives, and now he wants to add teaching English to that in order to reach out to even more people! He has been diligently studying for classes and practicing (he is pictured here to the right with his certificate for the class), and he also began taking classes at an institute (along with his wife) to learn as much as possible about the English language! His dedication to the young men who are a part of the baseball ministry has inspired many, and now his desire to teach English in order to reach out to the people of his community is also an inspiration and an encouragement to me.

Over the last two years, as I have been teaching my English classes, I have at times been discouraged and a bit overwhelmed as class sizes tend to fall from 20 or more at the beginning to 5 or less by the end of the classes. As well, teaching Spoken English is very different from teaching high school English, which I loved and came very naturally to me, and I have honestly missed it and my students at Sacred Heart Academy in Louisville, KY. There have also been times when I have questioned and prayed about whether or not I am to continue offering English classes here in the DR, but God has continued to lead me to offer them, regardless of the class size, showing me that He has a plan that is much bigger than what I can see and more important than how useful I might be feeling at the moment.

Seeing Jose Luis’ enthusiasm, initially for learning and now for teaching English, and more importantly for sharing the love of Christ through whatever avenue is available, has been a source of joy and encouragement to me. Now, I can honestly say that it was a blessing that the class I taught for the young men in the baseball ministry dwindled to Jose Luis and one other student, because the smaller class allowed me to focus more on these two individuals, one of whom will now begin teaching as a result! In the picture to the left, I am showing him how to access the class material on-line and using a CD of the entire curriculum that I left with him - as you can see, he is very focused and attentive!

Additionally, my last class with my English students in Los Guandules was also a very special time. After receiving their certificates, these students proceeded to thank me for the class and express what it meant to them – all in English! After the first session, which ended in April, the group had a party for the class during which they presented prepared skits, prayers, and songs, all in English as well. However, this time was even more special to me because it was unscripted – we were conversing in English – one of the main objectives of the class, and since the material used Acts chapters 1 through 9 for the lesson texts, they learned to do this through studying God’s word!!

Even more exciting, Griselda, one of the students from this class and the wife of the pastor in Los Guandules, will be leading the others through the last four lessons as a “trial run” for teaching her own class! Griselda was a student in my very first English class in January 2007, and it has been a blessing to see her skills develop and now be able to encourage her to teach her own class!

Please be praying for Jose Luis and Griselda as they continue to study and prepare to teach classes. Please also pray for all of the students in the classes as they also continue learning English and also learning about Jesus and the truth of who He is and what He wants for us.

It is only through your continual prayers, support, and encouragement that I am able to bring God’s word to the DR through my English classes, and I am eternally grateful for this! Thank you for all you do to support my ministry!

With love in Christ,
Catherine

Usually when I start an update of my blog, I do it in a pretty typical style of describing all the things I have done since my last update, and I could do that this time too. My English classes are continuing, there have been meetings with teachers and parents at the school, school started on August 18, and there have also been teams for which I gave school tours and translated. I have included pictures from some of these events below. However, I want to do something different with my blog this time around – I want to tell the story of one of the events that occurred over the last month that significantly affected my life and the way I view my ministry.

The story starts in August 2007, when a team came down from Hikes Point Christian Church in Louisville, KY, and I met Sarah Longest. Sarah was one of the team members, and she was like a bright light, full of energy and a desire to reach out and help and share the love of Christ. At the time, I was actually pretty low and in the midst of a dark time. That summer had been physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually exhausting for me for many different reasons, and when this team came, I was not looking forward to another week of construction, and I was feeling the pressure of completing the planning for the upcoming week’s Drama Camp.

So, I remember Sarah for the light that she was for me during that week, when we began talking about the possibility of her coming down to do a teacher training at the school. Sarah is a teacher – she has taught all levels from pre-school to high school – and after I gave her team a tour of the school, she sought me out to talk about doing a teacher training. Her excitement was contagious, and as we talked, I could see that any training she came down to offer would be beneficial to our teachers.

I next saw Sarah in December when I was in Louisville and I went to church with her, when she gave me 50 books to take down to the school – in the form of two classroom sets of novels – Charlotte’s Web and The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe – which she had because she had asked her family to donate money to buy these books for the children at the school in lieu of giving her Christmas presents (just one small example of her kindness and generosity that continues to humble me). We also met and had lunch to catch up and talk some more about the possibility of that teacher training, which we hoped might take place in February or March. I remember being surprised at how tired she looked, and she said she had been having some health problems, but with her usual smile and bright outlook, shared that a routine procedure would likely take care of everything and that she and her husband were hoping this would also then allow them to get pregnant! I left that lunch feeling blessed by Sarah’s friendship and praying that she would be healed.

But healing would be elusive – that routine procedure ended up showing that at 28 years old, Sarah had a rare cancer that would require a full hysterectomy and months of chemotherapy. Even thinking about that now brings a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes. I could hardly believe what she was going through, and my heart and prayers went out to her. Needless to say, her possible trip to the DR was cancelled, and any thoughts or conversations about a teacher training came to a full stop. There were much bigger things at stake, particularly getting Sarah well – which from the DR end meant praying for and encouraging her as best as I could, and trusting in God to take care of her.

The next five months were incredibly difficult for Sarah – she kept a blog of her experiences, which kept everyone who loved her up to date and current on specific prayer requests, but more than anything else, it showed her love for and trust in God. The grace, confidence, strength, and peace she had throughout this experience inspired and challenged me in my faith, and the one thing that always seemed to remain was her beautiful smile. The results of her chemo show her cancer free – an amazing blessing!

And as a blessing on top of that blessing – on August 13, Sarah returned to the DR and on August 14 she gave that teacher training!! There is professional jargon I could use to describe what she shared with the teachers – including student motivation, teaching to the Multiple Intelligences, using learning centers, and including learning styles in lesson planning – and all of it is important and was information that was welcomed by the teachers – but mostly what she shared was her love of teaching and reaching out to help others, and her bright smile communicated more clearly than any words the excitement and joy she felt in being there to share of herself with the teachers. Below are some pictures from the training!

While Sarah was here, we also visited several ministry sites that she had either been to or heard of before – Hoyo de Bartola, Villa Cafeteria (where the church is with which Hikes Point Christian partners), Hato del Yaque, and La Mosca – and her love for the people of the DR and ministry being done here was evident everywhere we went. The picture to the right is of Sarah and a boy from La Mosca whom we met while he was taking a break from helping his father find metal scraps to sell by picking through the garbage dump that overshadows this community. At each place we visited, one of the things I saw in Sarah is also one of the things God has been working on me to do in my ministry – to see everything with fresh eyes, noticing how God is working, praising Him for what He is doing, and joining with Him in His work. This is what we are each called to do, wherever we are called to serve Him, and this is how Sarah’s visit has affected the way I view my ministry. Over the last two years, I have grown accustomed to life here, and the places and situations of the people in those places where GO is doing ministry had begun to appear “normal” – and though those situations may be “normal” for the people in them, they are not what God wants for His children because too often those situations are ones which lack hope, light, and the life Jesus came to give us. This has also prompted me to reevaluate my ministry focus, looking at what I have been doing with fresh eyes from a more eternal perspective. Please pray that I will see, hear, know, and respond to God’s leading and direction so that I can more effectively join Him in the work He is doing so that all His children will come to know Him and His saving love, grace, and mercy! Thank you for your constant love, support, and prayers! With love in Christ, Catherine PS - See more pics below ... These pictures are from parent meetings we held to review changes to the GO Kids program - all the children in the school are now being treated as though they have sponsors, being given books and school supplies, which means we desperately need more sponsors!!! Please check out the GO Ministries website for more information on sponsoring a child if you are interested! These pictures are from the first day of school - presenting the faculty and staff to the students, and students working in their classrooms - it was a great day!

July 24, 2008


One of the things I love about being a part of G.O. Ministries here in the Dominican is that no two days are ever the same! So far this summer I have been involved in translating for our basketball clinic, facilitating and sometimes translating for children’s ministry, as well as being a part of our school’s graduation ceremony and continuing to teach my English classes!

Basketball week is one of my favorite times, as I have been a huge basketball fan ever since attending UK (GO CATS!!). This year was special because the week was actually a “Sports Week” that included basketball, volleyball, baseball, and aerobics – reaching over 300 Dominican children, adolescents, teens, and adults! Each morning there were clinics for each sport, which include “huddle times” where the coaches share with their players about Christ and challenge them to accept Christ or to deepen their faith, and in the afternoon the teams in each level play each other in a tournament.

In the evening there are basketball games between the Americans and Dominicans, so between working with the basketball camp and the evening games, there was a lot of basketball to watch! This year I translated for the coaches working with the 11 to 13 year old level, and it was a great experience to help the children and coaches build relationships. Sports is an amazing vehicle to reach people for Christ, regardless of cultural or language differences, and many of the lessons learned by Americans and Dominicans alike were not only about sports, but also about God, His love for us, and the life He wants to give us!

Another way teams come to share God’s love here in the DR is through children’s ministry, and these times are always fun and a wonderful way to bring light into the lives of children, many of whom live in desperate circumstances and may not experience unconditional love in any other way in their lives. During June and the first part of July I have facilitated children’s ministry with teams in Los Guandules, Hoyo de Bartola, Palo Alto, Los Perez, Hoya del Caimito, Hato del Yaque and Villa Cafeteria, and it has been an amazing blessing to be a part of this ministry.

These are all very poor areas, where families may earn the equivalent of $3000 to $4000 (US) per year and many children appear to be neglected and left to their own devices – one child in Hato del Yaque was playing with a “toy car” made from a used juice drink box with stones for wheels held in place with sticks and string. However, when the teams come, they spend a morning or afternoon with the children singing songs, sharing a Bible story, and working on a craft to help them remember the story, while also sharing hugs and laughter, and the light and joy in the children’s eyes when the team arrives, as well as during and after their time together shows how important these times are in their lives!

June 26 was an important time in the lives of our students at Colegio Evangélico Isaías Emmanuel – it was graduation day! Students in our pre-primary program graduated into first grade, students in fourth grade graduated into fifth grade (equivalent to going from elementary to middle school in the states), and our eighth graders graduated, ready to go on to high school! It was an exciting day for the students and their families that included a parade through the neighborhood of Hoya del Caimito, where the school is located, and a ceremony at the Centro de Cultural (Cultural Center) in downtown Santiago! Around eighty percent of our students will go on to high school – most to a public school setting, which is very different than our school, with an average of 50 students per classroom and classes that meet in the evenings from 5:30 to 9:30. It is difficult for students to learn in situations such as these, which is why we would love to expand to offer high school – one of the long term goals for the school!

One of the exciting events in the English ministry was having a “student teacher” work with me during the month of June. Melissa was one of our interns for the summer, and during her time here she also completed an internship for her education degree. Working with Melissa as she prepared to teach the English classes and then watching her teach was a blessing! She did a great job and had the students up and moving in the class to demonstrate concepts – they played a competitive “game” to learn the difference between “to, two, and too” and the students were very engaged and excited to participate (especially in the class for the Baseball Ministry! Her energy and enthusiasm were evident in the class and in how the students responded to her!

July has continued to be full of teams as well as working with the school to prepare for the next school year. Some very exciting things are happening at the school, and I will include more about that in my next blog!

Thank you for all that you do to support my ministry!

Con el amor de Jesucristo,

Catherine

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

May 9, 2008

The first two weeks of April were full of exciting events for both the English and Drama ministries! During the first week of April my English classes wrapped up with “despididas,” which are “leavings,” during which the students received completion certificates for the material we covered. Almost all of the students plan on continuing with the classes when we begin again in June! Then, on April 12, the Drama classes successfully presented their parables and scenes from Romeo & Juliet! Pictured here is the cast of Romeo & Juliet with the masks they made for the masquerade ball in Act I, scene 5 of the play!

One of the most exciting despididas happened at Los Guandules. Griselda, the pastor’s wife, who was a student in my first class and is now my assistant in this class, planned the event with presentations in English by each of the students, cake, her special homemade juice (which was delicious!), and gifts for me from the class! I had no idea any of this was planned, and I enjoyed every minute of it! Two students sang a children’s song, two others had a conversation, two prayed, two gave short speeches, and one read Bible verses! Pictured here are the two who gave speeches, and the class with me and the pictures they gave me as wedding presents!









While my English classes were finishing up, my Drama classes were working toward their production, which took place on April 12! We had two full-cast Saturday rehearsals prior to the 12th, which was complicated by the fact that only half the cast came to the first one, but they were all there for the second one and for the dress rehearsal the day of the production! It was also only at the second full-cast rehearsal when I realized that there were nearly 50 students involved in the four classes together – separate, they were great, but having them all together at one time was a new challenge I had not anticipated! To say the dress rehearsal was a bit rough would be putting it mildly, but amazingly, and only by the grace of God, it all came together beautifully! Pictured here are the casts of the parables and of Romeo & Juliet just after our final rehearsals.










Thankfully, I was not alone in this! Karen George, another American staff member, and Amaury were both there with me during the classes and rehearsals in April, and only with their help, and God’s blessing were we able to pull everything together in time for the presentation! Along with helping in the classes and backstage, Karen also organized the youth group from the church to come and help during the production with crowd control backstage and refreshments for the parents afterward! Amaury helped the students design their costumes, made wood swords for Romeo & Juliet, helped backstage preparing for the show, and ran the sound and took pictures during the production! It was a great night, and several students have asked when the next class will be! Most of these students live in our neighborhood, and hopefully they will also be involved in the Drama Camp this June with the group that is coming from Woodland Hills!









I returned to the states on April 22, and as usual, have been traveling ever since! Over the last two and a half weeks, I have traveled to or through six different states, spending time with friends and family. I also worked at Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY, for a fundraiser for the ministry selling KY Derby souvenirs in the week before and during the Derby. It was a great fundraiser for the ministry, and I love a reason to return to Louisville!

While I was in Louisville, I was blessed by two wedding showers – one hosted by four of my closest friends and one hosted by the women with G.O. – and by an Open House hosted by the English Department at SHA! These times were filled with love and laughter, and they were wonderful times to share the excitement and joy of my marriage with my friends!

This month I have clearly felt God pouring out His love on me, and I have been overwhelmed by my thankfulness for all He has done! From the blessings of my English and Drama classes, to my time with my family and friends who have “showered” me with their love and gifts for my wedding, God has let me feel His love through the people in my life.

Also, through my relationship with Amaury, God is continuing to draw me close to Him and show me that He is involved in every aspect of my life, and He will take care of all the details, if I just let Him. Please be in prayer for us this month as we prepare for the wedding on May 24 – we are looking forward to our new life together and to the opportunity to do ministry together!

You are each a blessing in my life, and each time I think of you I thank God for you!

“Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His love endures forever.” 1 Chronicles 16:34

Con el Amor de Jesucristo,Catherine

April 6, 2008

March started off with my trip to La Romana to work with the team from Northeast Christian Church in Louisville, and it was a great trip! This month, I have also been continuing to work with my drama classes to prepare for our “obra del colegio” – or “school play” – which is scheduled for Saturday, April 12!

Our first night in La Romana, we had the opportunity to have dinner in the homes of some of the church members, and I was the translator for my group! We were able to share a wonderful meal and get to know the family and all about their lives - the pastor actually had to call our host to tell him it was time to bring us back to the church, as we had stayed longer than was planned! The picture to the left is of our group and the family we visited.

While in La Romana, I worked with the dental team translating and organizing the list of patients. We worked in four different locations – screening patients at the rehabilitation clinic we were at last year, as well as at a school for the physically and mentally challenged, and those patients came to see our dentist at a state of the art dental clinic at Hogar del Niños that we were able to use, which was an incredible blessing! We also screened and saw patients at the dental clinic in Centro Mutualista, the center where the church Northeast partners with is located. Through it all, in four days, our dentist screened over 200 patients for treatment, and with the dentists from the clinics at Hogar del Niños and Centro Mutualista treated over 100 patients!

Priscilla is the same dentist I worked with last year, and I shared with the team this year, that the patience and love she shows - her specialty is working with physically and mentally challenged children - remind me of how God is with us. Many of these children cannot understand what is happening to them, and all they can see is their fear - not knowing what Priscilla is doing and that it is for their best, which is much like us when we are in a challenging situation and all we can see is our fear - not knowing what God is doing, but it is always for our best.

Hogar del Niños is an incredible organization, which first began as a school, but has become much more! There are over 1500 students at the school, which educates students from pre-primary through 11th grade (next year they will include 12th grade), but the services they offer do not stop there. There is also the dental clinic with three full-time dentists, a school for the deaf, a computer lab with 50 computers, a library that could be compared to any school library in the states (these pictures show what I hope and pray will become a reality at our school!), a day-care/nursery with over 200 beds, a full-time pediatrician, two full-time psychologists, a pharmacy, a large cafeteria that feeds the students three times a day, and a beautiful playground area that includes a full-size basketball/volleyball court!

Beyond the services they offer, our time at Hogar del Niños was inspiring to me for many reasons. We were able to work with a staff of dentists and assistants who truly wanted to help as many children as possible – they even scheduled follow-up visits with several of our patients and gave them medicine from the school’s pharmacy! On a regular basis, this clinic treats students from the school, from the surrounding community, and from the Bateys – the sugar cane fields that surround La Romana, which are some of the poorest areas in the country. We were also able to spend time with the Administrator, who shared the history of the school and their intention to do more than just educate. She was also very interested in my work in Santiago with our school, and she gave me some ideas to help find support!

The one thing our team noticed, however, was that even though Hogar del Niños does wonderful things and addresses the intellectual, emotional, and physical needs of their students, the one thing that was missing was addressing their spiritual needs. After discussing this as a team, we decided to be more open about why we were there, and on our second day at the clinic, we brought the director a copy of the book Heaven by Randy Alcorn (in Spanish), and crosses for everyone we worked with that one of the small groups at Northeast had made. We prayed with the patients before the day started, and we also prayed at our mealtimes with the staff, during which we ate the same meal as the students, which was better than any cafeteria food I have ever had! It was difficult to leave at the end of the second day, as we all felt we had shared a truly special time at this special place.

Once I returned to Santiago, I began working to prepare my drama class students for our “obra”! We learned to work together as a team – the picture to the left is of the Thursday afternoon class doing an activity called the “Human Knot,” which is a great lesson in communication and cooperation! We also began blocking the scenes – the picture to the right is of the Tuesday morning class preparing to present the parable of the “Lost Sheep.” The students in third and fourth grade will present the parables of the “Lost Coin,” the “Lost Sheep,” and the “Prodigal Son” – and the students in fifth through eighth grade will present three scenes from Romeo and Juliet! These will all be presented the evening of April 12 at 7 pm – please be praying for us! This week we will be putting the final pieces together – including costumes and props, and having our final dress rehearsal the morning of the 12th!

While putting these scenes together has been fun, it has also been challenging, and one of the things I realized through all of this is that God is continuing to teach me that only He is in control. This month, my devotions, which come from a devotional a dear friend sent me called Sisterhood of Faith, have all been guiding me to put my trust in God, be sure to spend time with Him, and let Him lead me. This book is full of stories of women, past and present, who have responded to God’s call in their lives, and their stories are inspiring and humbling. A verse that I have been encouraged by from one of these devotions is Ephesians 3:16, “From His glorious, unlimited resources God will give you mighty inner strength through His Holy Spirit.” I know that if I depend on my own strength to do what God is leading me to do, I am not truly doing what He wants – He wants us to do what He is leading us to do and to depend on His strength to get it done – in this way the glory is His, which is one of our purposes in this life – to glorify and honor Him. Please join me in my prayer that the dramas we present will do just that – glorify and honor God.

On April 22, I will be leaving the DR to come to the states for a short three-week visit – first in Atlanta, then in Louisville, and finally in Virginia before traveling back to Atlanta to fly back to the DR on May 13. Please pray for safe travel and for God’s blessings on my time!

Your love, encouragement, and support are blessings from God!

Con el Amor de Jesucristo,
Catherine

March 3, 2008

This last month has been an exciting time in the DR! We have hosted teams from Kansas City, Kentucky, Michigan, and Illinois, and while I was not with them much due to my teaching schedule and work in the school, the service they have done has been a blessing to the people of the Dominican! I was able to attend some Women’s Ministry seminars that the women from Kansas City Baptist Temple held in a few of the churches we work with, and I was blessed by their teaching and sharing of themselves. The picture to the left is of the seminar in Hoyo de Bartola that took place shortly after one of my classes there, so I was able to stay and participate. These women came and shared their personal stories and what they have learned about God, and one of the best lessons for everyone was that we all share similar struggles in our personal lives, regardless of the country or culture in which we live. They also brought with them a “Love Letter from God” that they shared with the women, and it brought many to tears to be reminded just how and how much God loves us!

This month, we were also able to purchase 163 new books for the library, thanks to generous donations from Hikes Point Christian Church in Louisville, KY, and First Church of the Nazarene in Dalton, GA! These books were for the fiction section of the library, which the students use for the Reading Program we implemented at the beginning of the school year. The picture to the right is of our morning librarian, Aurelis, with the books as she prepares to organize and process them so that students can begin checking them out. Also, the team from Northeast Christian Church in Rockford, IL, brought additional books in fiction and another set of elementary level encyclopedias in Spanish! Some of the books they sent are from series that can be hard to find here, but the students truly enjoy them, and the afternoon librarian, Alexandra, commented on how excited the students will be because of how much they like those series!

My English classes are going well, and my students are learning from the new curriculum I have been using. I found it through an on-line Christian newsletter – Brigada.com – that is published by Doug Lucas, the president of Team Expansion. Thanks Doug! The classes are focused on spoken English and are beneficial to both beginning and advanced students, and the lessons are each based on a set of verses from the first chapter of Acts. So, I am able to teach English while teaching about Jesus! The picture to the left is from my class in Hoya del Caimito, which is one of my most diverse classes, including people from the community who do not attend church as well as some new church members. It is a fun class, as they are very interested in learning, and they continually help and encourage one another.

One of the most exciting things that will be coming up is the school play my Drama classes are working on putting together. With students in third and fourth grade, we will be presenting the parables of the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the prodigal son together as an introduction to the fifth through sixth graders abbreviated production of Romeo & Juliet! While buying books for the library, I found a shortened version of the play in Spanish, and two weeks ago, we began practicing to present it! It was fun to once again be directing students through Act I, scene 1, which I basically know by heart from my time at SHA working with actors from the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival who would come each year to introduce the play to our students! My students here are excited to be part of a production, and I am excited to see what God will do through all of this! Thankfully, another full-time staff person – Karen George – who is here with her husband for just a few months, has offered to help with the Drama classes and the presentation, and while we are just in the beginning stages of putting everything together, it looks like it should be a great experience for everyone! The presentation will be on April 12, so please be praying for us through the next six weeks!

While I am enjoying teaching, my schedule has proven to be a challenge. Please continue to pray that I will have strength and wisdom while teaching, and that I will not get too focused on “working” and lose sight of my ministry. It seems that I am constantly on the go, and I am regularly reminded of my need to find time to rest, pray, and study God’s word, so that He will continue to be at the center of my life.

Next week, March 8 – 14, I will be going to La Romana to work as a translator with a team from Northeast Christian Church in Louisville, my home church, and I am looking forward to the trip! Please pray for safety as I travel across the country on my own and for the team as they travel here, and please pray for the medical clinic they will be providing. It should be an exciting week!

Thank you for all you do to support my ministry!

Con el Amor de Jesucristo,
Catherine

January 16, 2008

I arrived in the DR on December 31 (without any travel problems this trip – praise God!), and I have enjoyed being back “home”! It was a wonderful experience to ring in the New Year here with fire works being set off all over the city that the G.O. staff and nationals all watched from the balcony of our pastor’s home and a Christian concert I went to with a group from our church that lasted until 6 am (the picture to the left is from the concert)! After recovering from my trip here (and from being awake for more than 24 hours), I spent the first two weeks cleaning and reorganizing my apartment – it’s amazing how dirty a place can even get when no one is living there – and preparing to start teaching English and Drama again while balancing my time at the school, where classes started on January 7!

On Monday, January 14, I also started teaching English classes again in Hoyo de Bartola, where I will be every Monday and Wednesday afternoon. The picture to the right is from the first class, which had 19 students! Three other English classes will also start this week – two here in Hoya del Caimito, and one in our church in Los Guandules. One of the classes in Caimito will be for the church, and one of my former students will be my assistant, learning to lead the ministry herself! The other class is for young men who are a part of our Sports Outreach Ministry, specifically for our Baseball Ministry. The picture to the left is from the first class, which met Tuesday; some of these young men may have the opportunity to go to the States to play ball, but they will need to be able to speak English, so they are motivated to learn, and it should be a great class! The class in Los Guandules came about because the pastor’s wife was one of the students in my first class in Caimito, and she did very well in the class. She will be my assistant for this class, and I will be training her to take over the ministry in her church throughout the class!

My role at the school has changed a bit for this semester, and I will now be at the school on Tuesdays and Thursdays to continue to work with the teachers and administrators on utilizing the discipline plan and strengthening classroom management skills, but instead of doing the observations myself, I will be working with our school counselor to train her to do the observations and facilitate the discipline plan. I will also be teaching Drama classes through April that will culminate in a school play in April – the first classes were Tuesday, January 15, and they were exciting! There were 16 students in the morning class and 40 students in the afternoon class! As a result, I split the afternoon class into two sessions, and if more sign up for the morning, I will split that class as well!

As of now, my schedule looks like this:

Monday - 9-10:30 am English class at Guandules
3-4:30 pm English class at Hoyo de Bartola
7-8:30 pm English class at Hoya del Caimito

Tuesday - 8-5 Colegio – Drama classes in the morning and afternoone
6-7:30 pm English class for Sports Ministry participants

Wednesday will be the same as Monday, except no evening class.

Thursday will be the same as Tuesday

Friday – I will work with teams that come down on an as needed basis

Saturday - am free to work with teams as needed
2-3:30 pm English class at Hoya del Caimito

Sunday - am - school tours when groups are here/church/rest :)

My time will be very full, so please pray that I will have the energy and enthusiasm to keep up with everything!

As I have been planning and beginning to work my schedule and continuing to adjust to life in the DR, God continues to teach me that He is truly the only One for whom I am here to work and to please. It is in my nature to please people, especially those in authority over me, and too often I allow what someone else thinks of me to have influence in my life. So, I am learning how to balance Godly counsel with people’s personal opinions, all in light of what God is showing me through my personal quiet time and study of His word. Please also pray that I will be able to do this, as I am sure this year will have its share of challenges and exciting opportunities!

Thank you for your continued love and support of me and my ministry, these mean more to me than I could ever truly express.

Con el Amor de Jesucristo,
Catherine