He Came

A very blessed Christmas to everyone. These are some photos of the Nativity decorations we saw this year, which were very few. The real reason for Christmas, the coming of the Savior, brings great joy to us. He came. God became man to save us.






When I look at all the blessings the Savior has given me, all the joys, all the comforts He brings, my heart rejoices. He came. Then I remember all my feeble efforts at fighting sin, how easily hurtful words slide off my tongue, how easily vengeful thoughts fill my heart, and I know that He came to save me from the consequences of all these sins. And again my heart rejoices. He came. He came. What a privilege to know His name, to serve Him, to tell others about His love and grace.





But, sometimes, even knowing of His love and having received so much of His grace, I let too many peripherals get into the way of serving Him and telling others about His love. Just as Santa tries to take the glory away from Jesus, too many worldly things occupy my day and I don't have enough "time" to tell others, to serve Him and to praise His name. People see all the worldly things that occupy my time, but may not hear me speak of His great love. He came.

He came to save me. The center, the focus, is Jesus, the Savior. He came to be my Redeemer. He came to be my Light. Even after seeing all my sins, my weaknesses, my lack of love -- He came. What greater gift could I ever receive? He came to be my Friend. He came to be my Savior. He came!

Christmas Portraits, Santiago 2009

These are some typical photos of how the city is decorated.









Fruit stands with apples, raisins and gum drops are very common. We also see plenty of roast pork, usually sold along the side of the road, where you can buy it buy the pound for your family get togethers.






























This is what Christmas looks like here, where the night time temperature is still 79F at 8PM. Since it stays warm, outside decorations are very popular.












The decoration theme this year seems to have been: ribbon and butterflies. We have also seen more Santa's this year than ever before.

Dangerous Job

This past week I saw something interesting - and frightening at the same time. We saw some painters working on a six story building. The painters worked in pairs. One man stays up on the roof and makes sure the ladder is secure and also is in charge of raising and lowering the five gallon bucket of paint for the man below.






The other man climbs down the ladder. With one arm he hangs on to the ladder, and all the painting is done with the other hand. As you can see, there is no safety equipment - not even a security rope for the painter. He just climbs up and down the rope ladder right out in the open.





Update:

A few weeks ago I told you about Juan and the robbers that tried to take his motorbike. The bullet wounds have healed up nicely. But, apparently, the bullet did some damage to one of the nerves that control the muscles in the wrist. Juan can close his fist but is unable to lift his fingers and wrist in any kind of upward motion. He is wearing a cast for the time being and may have to get some therapy. Please keep him in your prayers. Juan had been hoping to go into the medical profession. If he does not regain the motion in his hand, he may have to choose a different life's work.

Thanksgiving 2009

We cannot give God anything: for everything is already His, and all we have comes from Him. We can only give Him praise, thanks, and honor. Martin Luther

We rejoice at the less important things which we enjoy according to the Second Table of the Law in that our bodies and possessions are protected. For these gifts are of minor importance when compared with those which we enjoy according to the First Table: That God has revealed Himself, has made know what He intends to do with us, gives His Word, grants faith and the Holy Spirit, hears prayers, daily increases His church, etc. These things are so great that no tongue is able to amplify and praise them as they deserve....For only those are truly thankful who receive the gifts of God joyfully and rejoice in the Giver. Martin Luther

God grant that we follow His Word to praise and thank our dear Lord for His precious blood, which He so freely offered for us. And may God keep us from the terrible vice of ingratitude and the forgetfulness of His blessings. Martin Luther

God's Blessing Be With You

"May God bless you" is a common expression used among the believers here in the DR. On Saturday night, this blessing was repeated numerous times as two members of the Moca congregation were joined in holy matrimony.

Juan Manuel and Laura Patricia were married by Pastor Alex on Saturday night. Previously, both of them had dated unbelievers, but on the advice of their pastor, decided to stop these relations and try to find a believing partner. God answered their prayer and led their hearts to love and care for each other. After having postponed the date numerous times, everyone rejoiced with them when the "final" date was set and wedding plans were set in motion.

Many family members and neighbors who are not members attended the ceremony. Pastor Alex gave a beautiful sermon as a witness to these people, giving them an opportunity to hear the true law and gospel message. It was also an opportunity to give personal witnesses during the meal and festivities.

"God bless you" carries the desire that the Creator and Preserver of the universe shower all his love and care on the person who receives this blessing. It is a desire for the person to remain in the faith and to be among the believers around the celestial throne. It carries the desire that the person continually find comfort and strength in God's Word and be guarded from temptation and despair. It is with all these thoughts in mind that we say to Chiquito and Patti, "May God's blessing be with you".

Elections

Next May, the people here will vote in their local mid-term elections. The streets are already filled with posters and ads for all of the candidates from the three different main political parties. All the candidates are already campaigning to get as many votes as possible.

How does this affect the church work? Much of the campaigning is done on Sunday when people are off from work. For several Sundays now, Juan has had to postpone the beginning of the service while we wait for a candidate's parade to go past the church. This video was taken from the door of Juan's church.

As you can tell from the video, it gets VERY loud and the parade is quite long. Those people who don't have speakers blaring, are honking their horns and playing their radios full-blast. It is impossible to begin services or to concentrate on the Word with such a racket going by.

After the parade is past, your ears continue humming and buzzing for a while from all the loud noises. When we start singing our hymns -- it sounds very sweet!





In other news:

We want to again thank all of you for your prayers for the work here and for our safety. On Friday night, one of our members, Juan Fransisco, received a gunshot wound. Bible class had finished and he had already taken one person home on his motorbike. He was coming back to the church to pick up a second person to give them a ride home. Some other men on another motorcycle began following him, pulled out a gun and shot him in an attempt to steal his bike. Juan was able to continue riding his bike and arrive once again at the church property. There the members that were still around attended to him and took him to the clinic. Thanks to the Lord, the bullet exited his body and all he needed were some stitches.



We are all rejoicing and giving thanks to the Lord for His loving protection of Juan. Please rejoice with us that Juan is well and recovering. The Lord sent his holy angels to watch over Juan. And we thank you, also, for all your faithful prayers.

Reformation 2009

1. When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said "Repent", he called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance. (Ninety-five Theses of Luther)

Last week both Moca and Pueblo Nuevo had a showing of the Luther movie in their respective churches. It was an excellent opportunity to review our Lutheran beliefs and also to witness to others who are always curious about that "Lutheran" means.

94. Christians should be exhorted to follow Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths and hells. (Ninety-five Theses of Luther)

Many of the new people that attended were from a Catholic background and were surprised to learn Luther's reasons for beginning the Reformation. They were amazed at his love and regard for the Word and of the persecution he had to endure from the pope and from the church.

62. The true treasure of the church is the Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God. (Nintey-five Theses of Luther)

Both pastor Alex and pastor Juan spoke of God's using Luther to bring the truth of the Gospel to light. Works and indulgences are a way to give glory to man and draws their hearts from the true treasure - the Gospel of forgiveness and grace in the Savior.

Fellowship Nights

In an effort to reach out to others, the Moca congregation has initiated a series of Fellowship/Game nights. Some of our members are married to spouses that are not members. Many have parents, brothers and sisters, and other family members that are not members. Everyone is encouraged to bring their friends and neighbors along also.

We are getting together on Sunday nights to offer members a chance to bring others who are not members of the congregation to spend time with us and give them an opportunity to get to know us. Our desire is to show them our Christian love and open doors for them to speak about spiritual things.

We play games, talk, eat and enjoy our time together. Dominoes is always a favorite and a common card game here, "Casino" is also popular.

So far, these gatherings have had an excellent attendance. Many members are bringing their family members and we have also seen many new faces. It is our hope that by providing opportunities to spend more time with others, there will also be many more opportunities to witness to them and tell them about the hope we have.

Contrasts

Living in a foreign country can give you a different perspective. We have the privilege of meeting new people, learning a new language and new customs. It is a continuous learning process and we always feel like we are learning new things.






I thought it might be interesting to show you some of the contrasts between our two countries. These are some photos showing the difference between two countries. The pictures on the left are from congregations in the U.S. The pictures on the right are from our congregations here in the Dominican Republic.






Different parts of the world, worshiping the same Savior.











Thanking God for the gift of salvation, be it with gold and silver or with paper and plastic; coming to worship Him in SUV's or on motorcycles. The thankfulness of the hearts is the same.

Useful

What good is a boat out of water? That is what we thought when we saw these two boats in San Pedro that had been pushed up onto the rocky shore by strong waves. It is a very strange sight to see the boats, so close to the water and yet - basically - useless.

A boat out on the ocean is a beautiful sight. A vision of strength and beauty. When an object fulfills it's function it is an amazing thing to see.

That boat made me think of Jesus talking about believers. Connected to Him and his Word, Christians carry out their functions of praising Him and in gratitude witnessing of Him to others. He gives us purpose and usefulness. Apart from Him, we stumble, become confused, easily fooled and eventually dry up. Could that happen to me? Could I become useless in God's kingdom. "Apart from me you can do nothing" John 15:5

A few months later, we went back to see the boat again. It had been stripped down to just a few pieces of wood. The city officials had taken some pieces off the boat and scavengers came and finished taking away anything else that was left. How tragic. Something that had been designed and built to serve a useful function was now destroyed.

God has given us faith and he continues to give us his Word to feed and strengthen that faith. We thank Him for keeping us and pray that he would help us to be useful instruments in his kingdom. We also thank all of you for your prayers and support. Your letters, emails and prayers motivate, comfort and encourage us to continue serving Him who makes us useful in his service. Thank you.