Health Issues in Third World Countries

When people come to the Dominican Republic they usually know about the tourist places, eg. the beaches, the Colonial City, the whale watching, etc. What they don't always think about are the strange diseases you might come in contact with when you enter a different country.

Recently two members of our Christian family had very different health issues. One had several insect bites that became infected. At first, the doctors thought they were just simple mosquito bites and didn't do anything. When the infected bites grew to about the size of quarters, continuously oozed, and caused constant pain, the doctors finally realized they were spider bites. The bites were treated with antibiotics (twice a day injections for a week), lanced and drained. We are happy to report that there has been a complete recovery.

The second became sick and was diagnosed with dengue fever, a virus transmitted by certain mosquitoes. The symptoms of this disease are high fever, chills and general pain in your whole body. When you have dengue you need to rest quite a long time before you are back on your feet. After a week of continued high-grade fever and body aches, more tests were done, and it was concluded that the real problem was food poisoning. The correct treatment was given (different antibiotics). By God's grace, she has also recovered.

Thanks be to God for the recovery of our brother and sister. And thanks be to God for providing availability of treatments to help them recuperate.

(posted by Kathy Strackbein)

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

Independence !

Today we send special greetings to our fellow Christians in two of our sister mission fields -- Brazil and Mexico -- because both countries celebrate their Independence Day this month.

Brazil celebrates its independence on September 7. (For more info on the mission in Brazil, click here.)

Mexico celebrates today, September 16. (For more info on the mission in Mexico, click here.)

Each country's independence and freedoms are precious blessings from the Lord. But may we all remember that our true "independence" (freedom from sin and its eternal consequences) comes when we are dependent on Christ.

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

English Volunteers Introduce Each Other

Our EFL (English as a Foreign Language) volunteers from WELS Kingdom Workers are ready to start. Instead of writing their own "autobiography", they took a moment to introduce each other.

Polly Clark introduces Julie Majerus:

Then I heard the voice of the LORD sying, ¨Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?¨

And I said, ¨Here am I. Send me!¨ (Isaiah 6:8)

Julia has dedicated her life to telling others about Jesus. She served as Project Manager in the World Missions Promotions Center for four years and served in mission fields in Japan (1 year), Malawi (2 years), and currently in the Dominican Republic.

She is extroverted, friendly, and uses her talents and background in Communication to teach English and witness her faith at every opportunity.

She is the most selfless person I have ever met and I am privileged to know and work with her.

Here is what Julie writes about Polly:

Polly Helena...

... a communicator, educator & friend

Polly has utilized her communication degree to teach English in both North and South America and most recently in Southeast Asia. She enjoys traveling and sharing her faith with new people in her teaching assignments. Polly is also trilingual in English, Portuguese and Spanish. During her free time, she likes to cook and/or dance. :) She is an excellent asset to the team. I am thankful to have such a wonderful co-worker, roommate, & sister in Christ.

Rom. 1:16-17

Group Confirmation

On Sunday, August 19, six adults were received as members of Cordero de Dios (Lamb of God) Lutheran Church in Moca, Dominican Republic.

In a special service, Pastor Alex Torres (back row, left) extended the hand of fellowship to these new members. What a joyous occasion! There were many hugs and handshakes of welcome, celebrating our unity in Christ. May the Lord preserve these souls for His eternal kingdom.

(posted by Kathy Strackbein)

Missionary Monday's furlough presentations

Missionary Shiloh Monday is on furlough back in the states right now. One of the joys of furlough is to speak at various congregations to share news about the spread of the Gospel in the mission field. If you are in the area, you are welcome to attend any of the following presentations:

• Aug 22 -- Fairview Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI
• Aug 23 -- Crown of Life Lutheran Church, Hubertus, WI
• Aug 26/27 -- St. John's Lutheran Church, Baraboo, WI
• Aug 29 -- Mt. Lebanon Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI
• Aug 30 -- Peace Lutheran Church, Hartford, WI
• Sep 1 -- Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Menominee Falls, WI
• Sep 2 -- Living Word Lutheran Church, Waukesha, WI

Phone numbers and addresses can be found in the WELS Yearbook, in the yellow pages, or on the web through WELS Locator Search (click here). Please contact the local congregation for worship and presentation times.

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

One point of comparison

As one of the professors in our Dominican seminary, I thank the Lord every time I get to see the students progress in their understanding of Scripture and grow in their faith. This week I got to see some evidence of that growth once again.

One of the classes I teach is called "Hermeneutics" in which we study how to interpret the Bible. The number one rule is really to let the Bible interpret itself, in other words, let the Bible speak for itself. The Bible says what it means, and means what it says.

This week we discussed how the Bible often uses illustrations and comparisons to teach a spiritual truth. Figures of speech are common in literature, in teaching, even in our daily conversations. So it should be no shock that they are common in the Bible too, to help us understand. When we make comparisons, we really intend only one point of comparison; we don't intend the person we're talking with to go off and make comparisons for every little detail. For example, if I say my nephew is growing like a weed, you understand that I mean he's growing very fast. That's the one point of comparison. Anything beyond that--that he has green skin, prickly stickers, or roots growing out of his feet--is going too far.

That applies to illustrations and comparisons in the Bible too. We used the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) as an example. It is not uncommon to hear people explain the parable, saying that mankind is the man who was beaten up, robbed and left for dead, the devil is the robber, Jesus is the Good Samaritan who treats our wounds with oil and wine (Jesus' blood), etc. While those are interesting ideas, that's not the point of the story!

Looking at the situation when Jesus told the story, we see that Jesus told it to point out to the teacher of the law that he had *not* loved his neighbor as himself, as he had just claimed. Jesus is showing him how far he had fallen short by not showing mercy to others as the Good Samaritan did in the story. That's the one point of comparison. Anything beyond that is going too far.

Mankind was beaten up by the devil and left for dead in our sins? Yes. But that's not the point of this parable. Jesus has loved us, shown us his amazing mercy, and saved us by washing away our sins with his blood? Yes. But that's not the point of this parable. These truths are found in *other* parts of Scripture, often using *other* parables and illustrations.

After using a few other examples to apply the same principle, I got to see the light turn on. The men started applying this "one point of comparison" principle on their own, even correcting each other as loving brothers when they noticed someone was going beyond the simple, obvious point of comparison.

I thank the Holy Spirit for leading us to see and understand that the Bible says what it means, and means what it says, with simple, straightforward language.

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

Reaching out through English classes

This is just a quick post this morning to thank the Lord that our English as a Foreign Language (EFL) program is off to a wonderful start. We have received over 200 different names of people interested in learning English. Our two Kingdom Worker (more info here) volunteers, Julie Majerus and Polly Clark, together with members of the congregation, have started conducting personal interviews with the first 120 students to get to know them, evaluate their English proficiency, and design the classes to meet their needs.

They are putting in a lot of work, and it is already bearing fruit by God's grace. Already in the interviews, people have asked why we are offering these English classes for nothing more than the cost of materials. Julie and Polly took the opportunity to explain that it is an act of Christian love. "Jesus loves me, and I want to share that love with you by helping you however I can."

I've asked Julie and Polly to "introduce themselves" in a paragraph or two, so you can expect that in another post, coming soon. :-)

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

Driver's Training in the DR

This past summer while staying with my parents in Santiago, Dominican Republic I took some behind the wheel driving lessons with a Dominican teacher. This is what I learned.

-- Not all cars have seatbelts.
-- You can drive a car without a speedometer, odometer, or working gas gauge.
-- Girls get longer driving classes than guys.
-- You can pass on the right - if there is no other way to get around the car in front of you.
-- Driving makes the teacher hungry – the first stop of the class is always the grocery store.
-- Try to drive a car that when you stand next to it, at least comes up to your shoulders, this avoids hitting your head on the roof when you hit potholes!

(posted by Kathy Strackbein for David)

Fun facts about the DR

The following is a list of some "fun facts" about the DR.
(Thank you to Rachel Hartman for compiling them!)

• The Dominican Republic shares an island called Hispaniola with Haiti. The DR takes up about 2/3 of Hispaniola; Haiti takes up the other third.
• The nation became independent in 1844.
• Independence Day is celebrated on February 27.
• There are three mountain ranges in the Dominican Republic.
  
• Pico Duarte, the highest point in the Caribbean, is located in the Dominican Republic.
• Baseball is the most popular sport on the island.
  
• Musically, the Dominican Republic is known for merengue.
• Santo Domingo, founded in 1496, is the oldest European settlement in the Western Hemisphere.
  
• Sugar, coffee and tobacco are among the main exports of the Dominican Republic.
• There is a large gap between the rich and the poor in the Dominican Republic.
• Up to one million Haitians live in the Dominican Republic at any given time.

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

Baseball Bible Camp 2007

This is the fourth year that Dave Reinemann, a teacher and baseball coach at Northland Lutheran High School (www.nlhs.org), has come down to offer a baseball camp near one of our congregations. Andrew, a NLHS grad who had come on the first two trips, returned this year to assist and translate for Dave.

The congregation Cordero de Dios (Lamb of God) in Moca and Pastor Alex welcomed them warmly and used the camp as an opportunity to get to know neighborhood children (over 50 children participated) and share the Gospel with them. Each day started with a Bible story that showed God’s love in Jesus, especially the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32).

What LOVE God has shown by welcoming us into his waiting arms, just as a loving Father receives with rejoicing the return of his wayward son! We were dead in our trespasses and sin, but God has made us alive again through the life, death and glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ. We were lost, blinded by earthly desires, but God has found us through the Gospel. It is God’s LOVE that calls us to return to him.

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW