Tropical Storm Noel

This past week Tropical Storm Noel passed directly over the Dominican Republic. It began to rain on Friday afternoon and has continued for the past 5 days. Meteorologist reports predict we may still receive more rain today and tomorrow.

This quantity of rain has taken quite a toll on the island. Bridges have been washed out and rivers are overflowing. In the capital city of Santo Domingo, the streets have become waterlogged since the underground aqueducts are overflowing and spewing the water back up onto the streets. Many homes have been washed away with mudslides. The heavy rains caused a nationwide blackout on Sunday. All flights out of Santo Domingo were cancelled Sunday. Rice, banana, onion, cassava, potato and tomato crops have been wiped out by the rains and mudslides.

In the midst of all the destruction and loss, we lift our eyes to our heavenly Father and give Him thanks for the safety of all our missionaries and members. He has watched over us and kept us safe, giving us strength and opportunity to help those who are in need.

A grateful thank you to all of you who have called and sent emails. We ask for your continued prayers as the whole country begins to recuperate.

(posted by Kathy Strackbein)

Technology woes :-)

Technology can be such a blessing when used to share the Gospel. We are showing a video Bible study entitled "Saneamiento Espiritual" (Spiritual Healing) after the EFL classes for students interested in having a healthy relationship with God, with themselves and with others.

Getting ready for the Bible study (our copy is still on VHS tapes), I entered the tape into an older VCR -- and it got stuck! I *patiently* began taking the VCR apart, one piece at a time, trying after each piece to remove the tape manually, but without success. Well, after about half an hour or so, I finally got the tape out, but this was the end result for the VCR:


Thankfully, we had another VCR that we could still use.

We are finishing our sixth week, and out of our 90 students in this first session, over 25 different students have participated in the Bible study at least once, with about 10 staying regularly. As we continue to develop friendships with the students in English class, even more of them are starting to express interest in the church and the message of free and full forgiveness in Christ that we preach. God is good!!!

The Lord bless you with His peace,
NW

Freddy Antonio Aquino

Freddy Aquino is a young man studying at our seminary in the Dominican Republic. Raised in the Pentecostal church, he was studying at a Nazarene institute when he met Julio, another of our seminary students, back in 2002.

Through Julio, Freddy studied the Bible and was confirmed in the Christian faith in 2003. He immediately began Bible Institute (pre-sem) studies, which he finished in early 2006.

As an example of his love for the Gospel and desire to share its life-saving power with others, Freddy left the his job and "comfort zone" of family and friends in San Pedro and moved with his wife Elizabet and infant son Freilin to Santiago (where they didn't know anyone) to attend our seminary. It was a major change in their life, but they have settled in and enjoy the support of their "new" family, fellow Christians in the seminary and local congregation.

We pray for the Lord's blessings on Freddy's growth in the Word, his service to God's people and his family's joy and contentment.

(By the way, this post can also be found on our fellow blog "LATTE on the Road" -- click here.)

The Lord bless you with His peace,
NW

Quarantined

Almost two weeks ago, both of our EFL volunteers contracted pink eye (conjunctivitis). They woke up in the morning with their eyes pasted shut and endured itching and puffiness during the day. In order not to infect anyone else, both teachers quarantined themselves, staying inside their apartment for the next four days.

Since the pink eye didn't start until late in the week on Thursday, they missed only one evening of classes. (Kathy Strackbein and Missionary Wagenknecht were "guest teachers" that evening.) Julie and Polly were very conscientious *not* to spread the pink eye, disinfecting pretty much anything they touched for a week!

They were able to get some drops for their eyes and also antibiotics to fight the infection so that by Sunday afternoon they were back in the classroom. We thank the Lord for granting them a speedy recovery. The rest of us missed seeing them at their classes and get-togethers. Glad to have you back, Julie and Polly!!!

(posted by Kathy Strackbein)

Prayer suggestions

What a marvelous blessing prayer is! Almighty God, the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe, invites us to pray with the same confidence and persistence as dear children talk to, ask and thank their loving father. Jesus teaches to call on God as "Our Father in heaven" (Matthew 6:9). "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give hims a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" (Matthew 7:9-11)

Occasionally brothers and sisters in Christ ask us what they should pray for on behalf of our mission. Following are some suggestions, but is by no means exhaustive:

• Pray for the Latin American national churches that are striving to grow and become self-supporting sister churches of WELS: the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mexico, the Evangelical Lutheran Confessional Church in Puerto Rico, and those in Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Brazil.
• Ask God’s blessings on the LATTE team as they help spread the gospel in Latin America: Missionaries Schlomer, Martens, Retberg, Strackbein, and Wagenknecht.
• Thank the Great Shepherd of the sheep for the seminarians and national pastors serving him in the Dominican Republic: Rona Abraham, Obed Bazin, Julio Corporan, Alexander Torres, Freddy Aquino, Robert Helve, and Elise Abraham.
• Call on our God of grace to bless Missionary Monday's ministry, to watch over the Monday family and to grant them joy.
  
• Pray that the Holy Spirit would strengthen and keep the members of our congregations -- most of whom are first generation Christians, or at least first generation confessional Lutherans -- in the true Christian faith until they receive the crown of life in heaven.
• Ask our loving, perfect Father to help Christian parents raise their children in the "training and admonition of the Lord".
• Seek the Lord's favor on Cordero de Dios (Lamb of God) congregation in Moca as they look for their own permanent building to dedicate to the Lord's service.
  

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

Rainy Days

When it rains it pours - how true here in Santiago. When it rains our streets turn into rivers. When it rains hard the drainage system is not capable of handling the amount of water that accumulates. There is also the additional complication of all the trash that is thrown on the street every day which is pulled into the system by the flow of the water. The garbage covers and fills up the grates, the water backs up and the end result is flooding on the street and in people's houses.

Thankfully the waters subside within a few hours, so if you are patient you can get where you need to go. This is just another aspect of life in the DR that we become accostumed to especially during the rainy season.

(posted by Kathy Strackbein)

National Holiday, "Nuestra Senora de Mercedes"

In 1494 while Columbus was fighting with the Taino "Indians" for control of the island, the Virgin supposedly appeared to the Spaniard soldiers.

Columbus led an inland expedition to round up Tainos to give to his men as slaves. A large company of natives from the valley below attacked his troops here and supposedly the fight was not going well for the Spaniards until Columbus raised a large, wooden cross on the hill; an apparition of the Virgin perched atop it, and the emboldened Europeans slaughtered the enemy. (cited from the Dominican Republic Rough Guide, 2000)

The apparition became known as "Nuestra Senora de Mercedes", our lady of mercies. This story is celebrated every September 24 as a national holiday. Ninety five percent of Dominicans still consider themselves Roman Catholic. People flock to the sight of the apparition and worship the virgin as the patron saint of the island.

Please pray for us that we may have many more opportunities to witness to the people here and bring them the joy of the True Savior, Christ Jesus. He does not come to us in dreams and visions, but choses to come to us in the very real and tangible message of the Gospel, found in His Word and Sacraments.

(submitted by Kathy Strackbein)

The Lord bless you with his true Peace in Jesus,
NW