Gallbladder ... Glory

Placeres has a job as a maid, cleaning houses and taking care of small children. For the past several years she has worked for several of the missionary families here in Santiago, DR. Many opportunities have arisen to witness to her and invite her to visit or attend our services and Bible studies. Another such opportunity arose when Placeres had her gallbladder removed this past month.

We visited her several times at her home while she recuperated. On one visit we were able to again offer a law and gospel presentation to her. At the beginning of the presentation she said she hoped to go to heaven because she was trying to live a good life and do God’s will. After hearing about sin and how it has contaminated everything is us, she admitted that her life was too full of sin to be able to help her get into heaven.

We then spoke about the Savior, of Jesus as our substitute, and how His life and death have paid for our sins. When asked a second time if she thought she would go to heaven, Placeres responded, “Yes, because of all that Jesus has done for me.”

Glory be to Him who through a gallbladder operation opened the door to witness to this precious soul. Glory to Him!

(Article submitted by Kathy Strackbein. Thanks, Kathy!)

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

He came for engineering; he leaves with much more...

Rona Abraham came to Santiago to study engineering; he wound up finding peace and joy in the truths of the gospel.

Rona grew up in Haiti where voodoo and spiritism are prevalent. Watching out for the "evil eye," evil spirits and curses is part of daily life for most Haitians – even in Rona’s family. They live afraid.

But when Rona moved to Santiago, his life was changed. Through a series of personal contacts that God was leading the entire way, Rona heard the gospel. He learned that he need not be afraid because there is One who cares for him. One so powerful that evil spirits must flee before him. One whose love is so great, he willingly gave up his life as the ransom price for the sins of the entire world. One so powerful that neither death nor hell could hold him in its grasp. Rona learned about Jesus.

Now knowing the peace and joy of the gospel, Rona decided that he wants to be a pastor – to share his peace with others. He gave up his engineering studies and dedicated himself to full time studies in our Dominican seminary. Lord willing, Rona should graduate from the seminary this spring. He then plans to return to Haiti to show others that they need not be afraid. To show them the all-powerful, all-loving One who is their Savior.

Rona Abraham came to Santiago to study engineering. He will leave having found peace and joy in the gospel, to share that peace with others in Jesus.

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

Seminary Fellowship Day

LATTE professors are working in Santiago training six future leaders for the church in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The men study seminary courses every weekday and also participate in church and evangelism activities.

Several times a year we plan Fellowship Days in which the students, teachers and their families spend some time together – playing, eating, and sharing their faith.

The day begins with a short devotion in which everyone joins their hearts and voices in praise to God for all His blessings. The devotion is followed by an activity of interest to all which is related to the work of the church.

After this activity, the group breaks up for games and fun. The children enjoy stories, puzzles and games. The favorite game for the men is dominoes. The women are learning different board games. This is a great time to strengthen the bonds of friendship between our families and become more united in our goal of growing up in Christ.

Three cultures - Dominican, Haitian, American – all coming together to serve the Lord and extend His gospel to all nations. People from three countries, three cultures, three languages all one in Christ, united to serve Him.

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

(Submitted by Kathy Strackbein. Thanks, Kathy!)

Geometry or Geography?

The previous post (below) should be Geography 101. Looks like I'll be heading back to English 101.
(Thanks, Larry, for the correction :-)
NW

Geometry 101

For those of us who need a refresher in geometry, here is some info on the DR:

The second largest nation in the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles, with Haiti occupying the western portion. To the west are Jamaica and Cuba; Puerto Rico is east beyond the 112-kilometer (69 mile) Mona Passage; and the southern tip of Florida is about 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) away.

Situated in the heart of the region between North and South America, the country is bathed by the Caribbean Sea on the south coast and the Atlantic Ocean to the north. With a land area of 48,442 square kilometers (18,704 sq. miles), it is larger than the Bahamas, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, all the Virgin Islands and the entire French West Indies put together. The Dominican Republic is slightly larger than the Netherlands, and approximately the size of the US state of Maryland.

The Dominican Republic is a land of contrasts with towering mountains and rocky cliffs, rain forests, fertile valleys, cacti-studded deserts, 1,600 kilometers (994 miles) of coastline and about 300 kilometers (186 miles) of prime soft sand beaches. The country is crossed by four rugged mountain ranges bisecting northwest to southeast. The largest is the Cordillera Central with Pico Duarte, the tallest point in the Caribbean, rising over 3,175 meters (10,417 ft). Three large fertile valleys rest between the ranges, one of which holds Lake Enriquillo in the southwest, the lowest point in the Caribbean falling 40 meters (131 ft) below sea level. It’s the only salt water lake in the world inhabited by crocodiles.

(The above information is from www.dr1.com/travel/thedr/map.shtml.)

Our WELS missionaries are working in the cities of Santiago (the 2nd largest city in the DR) and San Pedro de Macoris (along the southern coast). Future plans include reaching out with the gospel to the capital city of Santo Domingo and the northeast region of Samana through family and friends of members.

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

Alexandra

Alexandra (bottom of picture, red shirt) is the daughter of one of our seminary students. Alexandra is a lively five year old and recently fractured her forearm while playing. The fracture was put in a cast for several weeks. When the cast came off, it was discovered that the bone had not been set straight, so now Alexandra has a crooked forearm. (Her parents opted not to put her through the trauma of re-breaking and resetting the bone.) The doctor hopes to straighten it with therapy and exercise as she is still a child and has much of her growth ahead of her. That is the health care available to people living in third world countries where progress is slow to arrive.

Alexandra’s father is faithful in bringing her to church and in teaching her God’s Word at home. May the Holy Spirit continue to strengthen the faith he has put into her heart until she reaches her heavenly home, where her arm will be “crooked” no more!

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

(Article submitted by Kathy Strackbein. Thanks, Kathy!)

Meet Missionary Monday

Yes, it's time for 3M -- Meet Missionary Monday.

Missionary Shiloh Monday and his wife Molly arrived in the DR straight from the Seminary in 2003. They live in Santiago where he mentors the pastoral ministry for two congregations: Iglesia Cristiana Luterana in Santiago and Cordero de Dios in Moca (just outside of Stgo). He is the outreach missionary for the field and occasionally teaches a seminary course.

Molly is a blessing to the field with her support of Shiloh, her always cheerful and positive words of encouragement, and the "bonus" of her medical knowledge as a nurse. She enjoys staying home to raise their two children, Sam and Sophia. And we can't forget the third one on the way--Molly is due in mid-May. Please pray that the Lord keep mother and child safe in his care.

Sam, born 19 Sep 2003, loves going to Sunday School and "Jesus' house". He's also becoming quite the expert on tractors and big machines.

Sophia, born 15 Feb 2006, is learning about Jesus, too, from family devotions. She loves to play with her big brother and has a smile and giggle that are simply contagious.

We'll get to know the Mondays better in future posts. May the Lord bless the labors of their hands and give them joy in ministering to his saints here in the DR.

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW