As we prepare for the celebration of Christmas and remember when God showed His love to the world by sending us His son, we hope and pray that this season will be a time of blessing for you and your family, and that you will be able to feel God’s love wrapped around you!

Throughout this past year, we have had some wonderful blessings through our ministry and our marriage, as well as some challenges and times of learning and growth! Our 2009 goals and updates are updated below along with a few pictures that show some of those blessings and learning experiences!

One area we have both felt God leading us to grow in and build upon is in teaching, and over the last six months, we have clearly seen God leading us to become more focused on our Teaching Ministry. We have a new brochure that details our ministry goals and more refined focus, and if you are on our mailing list, you will be receiving it and this letter shortly. If you would like to be on our mailing list, just let us know! We are very excited to begin following God’s leading as we work toward accomplishing these goals in 2010!

As this plan became clearer to us, it also became clear that it does not exactly fit under the umbrella of G.O. Ministries. G.O. supports nationals through short-terms mission trips, and as we have been a part of G.O., we have seen the blessings for nationals and the American team members that result from these trips! We also have been blessed to be a part of G.O. and are so grateful for Amaury’s eight years and my three and a half years with the ministry. However, as we shared our plan with the ministry leadership, they also realized that it does not necessarily fit into the structure of G.O., and this was a sad and difficult realization for us. After some time of prayer and seeking counsel from our families and close friends, we have decided to transition out from under the umbrella of G.O. We are leaving on the best of terms and will continue to be advocates for G.O. and the work they do in the DR!

As of January 1, 2010, we will be joining with Kingdom Seeker Ministries, out of Illinois, who will be mentoring us through the process of forming an independent ministry and will be handling our financial donations during this time. We will continue to live and work in Santiago in the Dominican Republic as we pursue fulfilling God’s purpose for our lives. If you have supported us financially, we are so grateful for your support, and we hope that you will continue to do so via Kingdom Seeker Ministries. Please be aware that donations made to G.O. after Dec. 31, 2009, will not be forwarded to us and will be used to support the work of G.O. in the Dominican, even if they are noted to be for us. If you currently support G.O. through other forms of donations, we do encourage you to continue doing so!

Since we are beginning new with Kingdom Seekers, we will be in need of some "start-up" money to help us until our monthly donations are coming in on a regular basis. If at this time you are able to make a one-time donation to help us during this transition, that would be a wonderful blessing for our ministry!

Kingdom Seeker's address is Kingdom Seeker Ministries, P.O. Box 264, El Paso, IL 61738-0264, and their phone number is (309)310-4248. Our name can be included on the memo line of the check, or a note can be included with it to indicate it is for our support. All donations made to Kingdom Seeker Ministries in our name will be used to support us and our ministry in the Dominican Republic.

If you currently support us monthly using automatic ACH withdrawal, and you would like to continue that support, please call Cathi Christopher at the G.O. office at (502)493-9846 or e-mail her at cathi.christopher@go-ministries.org to instruct her to stop the automatic withdrawal as of the end of December 2009. Then please e-mail me at acg828@live.com and I will send you a Donor Authorization for Direct Debit form for you to complete and mail to Kingdom Seeker’s for ACH withdrawal to begin in January 2010.

Please pray for us as we begin this exciting new adventure in ministry! We are so grateful to those who faithfully support us on a monthly basis or through one-time gifts! Our brochure also shows where to send your much needed tax-deductible contribution. We look forward to sharing with you what God is doing in the lives of the Dominicans through your partnership with us!

Con amor en Cristo (With love in Christ),

Amaury and Catherine

2009 Ministry Goals and Updates

1) Amaury and Catherine will create a Drama Ministry team of young adults who have a desire to evangelize through Drama Ministry from at least five churches in the Santiago area. Work to refine and support a Drama program in those churches through Drama Camps hosted by teams or by our Drama Ministry team.
*The Drama Ministry Team began meeting in February and began with 10 members – two members from each of the following churches: Hoya del Caimito, Hoyo del Bartola, Hato del Yaque, Los Perez, and Los Guandules. We ended the year with six active team members who took part in every camp offered and participated in a majority of the meetings held.
*Four Drama Camps were held – one in Hato del Yaque in March with 18 participants, one in Los Guandules in June (working with the team from Northeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY) with 33 participants, one in Hoya del Caimito in August with 15 participants, and one in Hoyo de Bartola in October (working with the team from Woodland Hills Christian Church in Abingdon, VA) with 24 participants.
*Of the 33 participants in the camp in Los Guandules, 12 went forward after the service to repent and accept Christ as their savior!! The Drama Ministry team members from Los Guandules have also continued to work with the group that participated in the camp, forming their own Drama Ministry team in their church!
*No camp was offered in Los Perez due to lack of interest on the part of the two Drama Ministry Team members who decided not to continue being part of the team.

2) Amaury will teach classes in Business and in Etiquette and Protocol in area churches whose pastors have requested these classes.
*Amaury taught Etiquette and Protocol classes in churches in Los Perez and Hoya del Caimito, as well as a one day seminar in Palo Alto, and each class went very well. Several pastors have asked him to teach the class in their churches in 2010!

3) Catherine will continue offering English classes in churches supported by G.O. in Santiago and will train and support nationals who are beginning an English ministry in their churches.
*Jose Luis began his class in January with 20 students, and 2 students finished all three sessions. Catherine provided him with lesson plans and met with him before and during each session to review the plans and any questions he had over the material, and she also observed his classes regularly.
*In March, Catherine began offering a class in Hoya del Caimito for those who were interested in facilitating English classes in their own churches. Three students completed all three sessions of the class, and all three have expressed interest in facilitating a class in the future.

4) Catherine will continue advising the administration of Colegio Evangélico Isaías Emmanuel and facilitating teacher training in order to assist in creating an effective learning environment for students and supportive working environment for teachers, as well as continuing to work to help facilitate funding for the remaining 202 children who need sponsors.
*Catherine worked with the school administration in getting information and materials needed for the GO Kids program, as well as in helping to put together a new salary scale and the budget for the 09/10 school year.
*In April and August, Catherine worked with the school counselor to provide a Spiritual Retreat for the teachers to help form a more cohesive work environment.
*In June and October, Catherine facilitated teacher trainings on ADD/ADHD and using crafts in the classroom, respectively.
*In November, Amaury and Catherine worked together to provide a computer training for the teachers, showing them how to use the word processing software for lesson planning and how to use the presentation software and the internet as part of their lessons.
*Throughout the year, Catherine promoted the GO Kids program whenever possible and gave school tours to every team that went to Santiago. As of November 2009, all remaining students at the school were sponsored!

October included two very special visits for Amaury and I – our friend Sarah Longest from Louisville, KY, and my mom and a team from Woodland Hills Christian Church in Abingdon, VA! The picture to the left is my mom and I on our trip to Palo Alto for the team to see the retreat center and church where Amaury's parents minister - the city of Santiago is in the background!

While Sarah was here for a visit, she helped us prepare for the upcoming Drama Camp in Hoyo de Bartola that the team from Woodland Hills would be a part of leading, and she also led a teacher training at Colegio Evangelico Isaias Emmanuel on using crafts in the classroom. The teacher’s really enjoyed the training, as you can see from the pictures, which focused on recycling common household items to use for crafts that would also aid in teaching lessons in the classroom!

Sarah was also able to spend some time with her GO Kid – Noelmy – and Noelmy’s mom. Their meeting took place the same time as my English class, so to give my students some extra practice, they helped in translating! Afterwards, Sarah came to class and we had a time for conversation, which also helped them put into practice all they have been learning in class! It was a true blessing to have her here!

The day Sarah left for the states, my mom and the team from Woodland Hills arrived! In order to keep family and friends in the states up to date on their trip, we posted some pictures and comments about their activities on this blog, which can all be seen below.

The Drama Camp they helped provide was a wonderful blessing to the community of Hoyo de Bartola and especially to the 24 students involved! There are regular events at the church for the children, but this is the first time a team came to work just with the “jovenes” – or teenagers (camp participants were ranged from ages 12-16), and it was very special for them – one even asked if they would be back the next week to lead another camp! The team from Woodland Hills is pictured here with some of the students after they received their participation certificates during the church service.

Hoyo de Bartola is a garbage dump where somewhere around 600 families live, and life there can be very dark and hopeless there. Alcoholism, drug abuse, prostitution, and gangs abound, and all of these can be strong temptations in the lives of young people if they do not have something stronger to hold onto. Giving them the only true rock to hold onto is what God is doing through the church in “the Hole” through Pastor Felix Abreu and his family – they work in the church daily, bringing God’s light into that dark place. Having a team come down every day to help them in ministering to the community, as the team from Woodland Hills did, encourages and supports them, and as Felix expressed about the work the group did – will always be remembered by him, his family, the church members, and especially the youth who participated in the camp!

In addition to all the team did in Hoyo de Bartola, they were also a special encouragement to us! It was such a blessing to have each of them here, and especially my mom! She was able to stay with us in our home, and having that extra time together in the evenings to talk about the day and just have her as part of our daily lives was a special treat, and we have missed her since the team left. Our time with the team as a whole was a wonderful blessing, and we are grateful for their prayers, encouragement, and loving support, and we look forward to when they will all be able to come again!

This blog would not be complete without mentioning that at the end of October, we were also blessed by being able to travel to La Romana for a few days to see friends who had gone there to provide a medical/surgical clinic, and we are so grateful for our time with them! Even though our visit was short, it was special to us, and we were inspired and encouraged by all the team did in La Romana!

We also wanted to thank everyone for your prayers and notes of encouragement about our water situation. Thankfully, the day Sarah arrived, our water service returned to normal - God is always on time!

I will be travelling to the states on November 23 and returning to the DR on Dec 15. While there, I hope to see as many of you as I can!

May God bless each of you in all you do – you are all a blessing to us!

With love in Christ,
Catherine and Amaury

Woodland Hills Team - Saturday





Finishing the sets ...

Group picture - Woodland Hills Team, Drama Ministry Team, and Drama Camp participants! :)

Tomorrow we will be finishing the sets and the students will be rehearsing all day. Thank you for your continued prayers!

Woodland Hills Team - Thursday

Cutting wood for the drama camp sets ...











The nutrition center in La Mosca - the city landfill ...











Woodland Hills Team - Friday


Drama Camp begins ...

More work on building the sets ...

Step one of the set creation finished! They are now ready to be painted as scenery!

Thank you for your continued prayers! The week is going great! There were 24 participants in the Drama Camp today - many who are not regular church attenders. Please pray for them and for the team over the next two days!

Dios les bendiga! God bless you!

Woodland Hills Christian Church team arrives in the DR!

Here are a few pics from the first day - it has been a great trip so far!

Touring the new computer lab at the school ...

Roger learning how to bend rebar that will be used in the construction of the Central Church in Hoya del Caimito ...

The group on a stop up the mountain as we travelled to see the school, church, and ministry center in Palo Alto where Amaury's father is the pastor ...

Neil handing out presents to the students in the school in Palo Alto - matchbox cars for the boys and the stuffed turtles from the VBS students to the girls ... :)

Thank you for your prayers! Please be praying for us tomorrow as we will be beginning to build the sets for the Drama Camp and visiting a nutrition center and school in an area called La Mosca, which is an active city garbage dump where hundreds of people live in abject poverty, where a GO sponsored pastor is working to bring God's light and love to people surrenounded by darkness. See the La Mosca video that is linked on this blog to see a short video and find out more about the area.

Hasta manana! See you tomorrow!

Sometimes God reminds us of the blessings in our lives in the strangest of ways.

Nearly six weeks ago, the public works department of the city of Santiago began working on the streets in our neighborhood, which at some point many years ago had been paved, but had fallen into such disrepair that only in rare spots could the original pavement be noted. When we moved here in January, our landlady said they were going to be repairing the streets beginning in February, and I had nearly given up on the hope of not having to drive 2 to 3 miles an hour, maneuvering around the many potholes, in order to arrive at our house.

So, when the work actually began in early August, I was optimistic that in just a few short weeks, we would be enjoying driving on newly paved streets. However, not only did that not happen, I was completely unprepared for what did happen, and it reminded me just how much I have taken for granted in my life.

A few days after work began, it became apparent that they were going to do more than just repair the streets – they were also repairing the water and sewer system. This meant that all of the water and sewer pipes in our neighborhood were removed, without warning to the neighborhood residents. The first night we were without water, and before I knew the water had indefinitely been turned off, I was not worried. Being without water happens periodically in the Dominican because there is not a sufficient infrastructure in the country to supply water to the entire country at the same time, so water will be shut off to communities on a rolling basis (some communities more often and for a longer time than others – depending on the income level of those who live there). We were blessed to find a home for rent in a relatively wealthy community, so our water goes out less often than most, but we still try to keep ourselves prepared to be without water for a short time.

However, by the end of the second day, we were out of our “back-up” water, which is stored in a kitchen size trash can with a lid in our guest bathroom, and I had no idea what we were going to do. So, Amaury went to his family’s home in Hoya del Caimito, which is where the G.O. Ministry hub is located and a two to three minute drive from our home, to borrow 5 gallon water bottle for us to use. That night was the first unexpected blessing from God. Instead of coming home with 5 gallons of water, he came home with 15! I felt so loved, by both God and Amaury’s family. We were in need, and that need was abundantly met!

However, I have to admit, that I quickly forgot that blessing as the week progressed and we continued to be without running water in our house. We went and complained at the water company, along with several of our neighbors, and by the middle of the second week (during which time Amaury continued to go to his family’s house every night to fill up our water bottles) we did have “provisional” water hooked up to the cistern that is in front of the house, and I once again felt blessed, but not with quite the same joy I’d had the previous time.

We found that we could hook up our hose to the faucet and fill the water bottles, but since it is only a half inch tube that is hooked up to six houses and two condominium buildings, the water pressure is very low and often is so minimal that the water will not fill the hose, and Amaury has to fill the bottles directly from the faucet. Once again, I quickly forgot that God was meeting our needs and instead began to focus on the inconvenience of having to fill water bottles every day, having to do our laundry at a friend’s house, and counting every day of the six weeks that we have now been without running water. What I did not realize was the God was about to do something in my heart that I did not expect.

This past Sunday I was invited to a prayer retreat with the Dominican leaders for the G.O. Ministries women’s conference that begins tomorrow, and as I was talking to my mother-in-law about our water situation, I was suddenly convicted by my own words and lack of gratefulness for all I had in my life. Here I was complaining to a woman who never complains, despite not having running water in her home for the last 5 years, ever since she and my father-in-law decided to leave the two-story concrete block home (with two bathrooms) they have in Hoya del Caimito to move to wood house with an outdoor kitchen and bathroom in a poor mountain community called Palo Alto to serve the people there and build a church and retreat center, both of which are blessings to that community.

To Ramona’s credit, she listened and let me know she understood my frustration, and she never corrected me for my ungrateful spirit. Ramona is such an amazing example of a Godly woman and I am so thankful to have her in my life. God used this conversation to remind me that I have been richly and abundantly blessed, despite any current (and temporary) circumstances. There I was surrounded by Dominican women who regularly deal with not having the conveniences in their lives to which we as Americans have become so accustomed, and I was instantly humbled.

I cannot say at this point that I am happy to continue to be without running water in my home, but I can say that I have been convicted about my own selfishness and have stopped complaining. God has given me a wonderful husband (who continues to fill those water bottles daily), a loving family here in the Dominican and in the U.S., and great friends who support me and help me deal with the circumstances of life. What more could I truly ask for?

I can also say that I now understand in a way I have not before Paul’s instruction to us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 to, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” I will continue to pray that our streets will be finished and our water will be reconnected, but until that time comes, I will choose joy and give thanks for all God has done in my life.

Below are some pictures of recent events in our ministry that we are so thankful to have been a part of – the Drama Camp held Aug 1-2 in Hoya del Caimito and the new computer lab at the school – I hope you enjoy them!

Thank you for your continued prayers, encouragement, and support!

With love in Christ,
Catherine and Amaury

Hoya del Caimito Drama Camp!

New Computer Lab at Colegio Evangelico Isaias Emmanuel!

For the last few weeks, I have been looking for an opportunity to be able to sit down and write an update, but each time either the power was out (the last few weeks have been particularly bad with power outages here) or something else happened that kept me from being able to do so. I’m not sure if that was God giving me more time to process what to write, if it was Satan trying to get in the way, or if it was just a string of bad luck and bad timing. Whatever the case may be, today I was able to sit down and write about what has easily been one of the most significant and powerful weeks of ministry I have been a part of since I moved to the DR nearly three years ago!

Last month a team of teenagers and their youth ministry leaders from Northeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY, was here from June 23 to 30, and it was an amazing week! The team had a few challenges to overcome from the start when they arrived but their luggage did not – not one bag – they only had what they had carried onto the plane – and their luggage did not get here until June 26 – halfway through their trip! Thankfully, the ministry was able to provide them with clothes and some necessary items from the donations earlier teams had left, and they handled the whole situation with grace and good spirits that were encouraging and humbling to witness!

Thanks to the strong leadership of the team, their focus immediately became trusting in God to take care of getting their luggage to them according to His timing and being available for ministry throughout their entire time here, regardless of the circumstances – this was one of the most important qualities of this team for us and something that taught us lessons in walking humbly and loving kindness that we will not forget, just as we will not forget them.

The team’s ministry focus for the week was a Drama Camp in Los Guandules – a very poor area of Santiago where GO has built a church and a nutrition center. The week before the team arrived, the community had suffered a terrible mudslide that destroyed 70 homes. Luckily no one was injured or killed, but the devastation to the community is clear just a few houses down from where the church stands. The houses affected by the mudslide lay piled on top of one another down what was once the top of a hill overlooking the nearby river. We shared this with the team and took them to see the area, and then encouraged them that this week of Drama Camp would be an incredible opportunity to share a positive experience with the youth of this community who so desperately needed God’s light and love to be poured into their lives.

And so a youth group from Louisville, KY, took on that challenge and poured themselves into a group of youth from Los Guandules in Santiago, and the results were an amazing week full of blessings, big and small, and the joy and hope that only Christ can bring into our lives!

This Drama Camp was similar in structure to the previous one we held in Hato del Yaque, and the students took classes in Voice and Movement, Stage Direction and Blocking, and Costume Design, but this time, mixed in with the 33 camp participants were team members who helped teach and also participated in the classes! The drama they worked on was different as well – the script for this camp came from the three “lost” parables – the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son.

While the classes were going on, other team members were working with Amaury to build movable sets to be used in the drama that would be presented at the conclusion of the camp during the Sunday evening worship service. Building the sets was a new element for the Drama Camp as well, and it has been a dream of ours for a long time to be able to have sets of this type in the churches where the camps are held in order to strengthen the drama ministries that the camps are meant to “jump start.” Each set has two scenes painted on it – the center panels rotate so that the background can be quickly and easily changed during a production. Deciding to do this as a part of the camp was a step of faith, as all we had were the plans and materials but no actual experience putting them together. However, the team easily took on this challenge, and we were thrilled to find out that several of the team members were very artistic and they painted beautiful scenery! The results were better than we had imagined they would be!


































The camp itself went very smoothly, and our Drama Team members and the Northeast team members worked well together, supporting and encouraging one another and the students, and when it came time to present the drama during the church service, everything came together perfectly – we did not think it could get any better than this, but God was not finished with the group yet!

After the drama presentation, the team from Northeast left the service to do children’s ministry with the children in Los Guandules, and when the time was almost over, Amaury came in and told me that I may want to come in to the service or send the team leader in, because 12 of the Drama Camp participants and the father of one of our Drama Team members had come forward at the end of the service to accept Christ as their Savior!!!

After the drama presentation, the pastor, Rafelito, preached on the parable of the prodigal son, to build on the lesson that had been presented in the drama, and God’s message was clearly heard and accepted! Just when we thought everything was coming to an end, God showed us that He was just beginning His work! Please pray for those new believers in Los Guandules, as they are now in baptism classes with Rafelito and have also become a part of the church’s youth group!

Next weekend, August 1 – 2, we will be holding another Drama Camp – this time in Hoya del Caimito with our Drama Ministry team, and I am sure we will note the difference of not having the team from Northeast here with us. We learned many lessons from them, and hopefully, we will put those lessons to good use with this next camp. Please pray that all the details for the camp come together and that God will continue to use our ministry team and the camps to reach those in need of His light and love.

There are not words to express how grateful we are for your continued prayers, encouragement, and support!

With love in Christ,
Catherine and Amaury