Missionary Wagenknecht on furlough

This last Wednesday (the 19th) I started my two month furlough. I'll be celebrating the Incarnation of our Lord together with my family this Christmas in Sun City, AZ, Casa Grande, AZ, and Yorba Linda, CA. If you're in the area, come to visit!

I also have a few presentations scheduled. The schedule for December and January is confirmed. The schedule for February in Milwaukee area is still tentative.

Dec 23 -- Grace Lutheran Church, Casa Grande, AZ -- 8:30am
Dec 30 -- Our Savior Lutheran Church, Sun City, AZ -- 10:30am
Jan 13 -- Grace Lutheran Church, Yorba Linda, CA -- 8:30am

Jan 20 -- St. Mark's Lutheran Church, Duncanville, TX
Jan 22 -- Immanuel Lutheran Academy, Ft Worth, TX -- am
-- Calvary Lutheran Grade School, Dallas, TX -- pm
Jan 23 -- Holy Word Lutheran Grade School, Austin, TX -- am
-- Trinity Lutheran Church, Temple, TX -- pm
Jan 24/25 -- South Central District Pastor/Teacher/Delegate Conference, San Antonio, TX
Jan 27 -- Emanuel Lutheran Church, Las Cruces, NM

Feb 3 to 7 -- Greater Milwaukee, WI area -- details still to come

If you're in the area any of those dates, please come to the presentations. I would love to share with you the joys and blessings the Lord is pouring out on our mission in the Dominican Republic!

Looking forward to meeting many of you in person!

The Lord bless you with His peace,
NW

CSI: Santiago

As promised, part 2 of the Santiago church robbery. (Be sure to read the first part by clicking here or by scrolling down if you haven't read it yet).

There seminarian Freddy and I are, looking at the broken locks, scanning the room to figure out what is missing. A thousand thoughts a minute. What to do? First things first. Freddy calls 911 to report the burglary.

Wonder of wonders! A police car actually shows up! --The Dominican police force is *not* known for its reliability.-- The officer looks the building over, then tells us we have to go to the station to file the report. He'll meet us there.

By now the other seminarians have arrived, so they can watch the building as Freddy and I go to the police station. Once we find the right office, Freddy and I wait about 20 minutes for the officer in charge to show up. We tell him about the robbery. He calls for the "scientific investigation" team to accompany us back to the church to investigate the scene, then he will write out the report. We wait 10 minutes for them to show up. The investigation team tells the officer who called them that he has to fill out the report first before they go. They argue for a few minutes about what comes first, the report or the investigation. We wait another 20 minutes as the officer takes out a grade school writing tablet (I think it had "Dora the Explorer" on the front) and writes out a rather general report by hand. There is a computer in the room, but it is being used as a big CD player... --The Dominican police force is not known for its efficiency.--

Finally the report is written and we can lead the CSI team to the church. The "scientific investigation" consists of digital photos and dusting the doors for fingerprints. Since this isn't TV, they don't find a case solving fingerprint on the first try--nor do they solve the case in 43 minutes (60 with commercials)--but they do find one they think is "promising". Freddy and I are both fingerprinted so that they can rule our fingerprints out. We'll see if they get a "hit" on the fingerprint they found, but I'm not holding my breath.

By the time the CSI team finishes and leaves, it is our normal break time, so the seminary students go for a quick snack before starting to clean up. Right next door to the church, behind the fruit stand where the guys get their snack, is a run down house that has been abandoned for almost half a year now. Julio says, "Let's look around to see if the thieves left anything there." Can you guess what happens next?

While I'm still in the church starting to put things away, I hear Freddy call out "Professor Natan! Natan! Venga!" (Prof Nathan. Come here!) The thieves DID leave something behind! There behind some stairs is our window air conditioner unit. They had obviously placed it there planning to come back for it later.

Again, we see the little blessings the Lord showed us. He allowed us to recover the most expensive of the six items that had been stolen! We were even able to joke about--now the thieves are going to call the police to complain that we stole back what they had rightfully stolen from us! :-)

It was a long day, but after cleaning the church, buying and installing a new lock for the door, a new (much stronger) padlock for the gate, making copies of the new keys for everyone, etc. I finally go home. The story, however, would continue the next day......

Advent in the DR

Two quick side notes:
(1) Please continue to be patient waiting for my promised update on the church robbery in Santiago. Thanks :-)
(2) For those who stay on top of international weather, thank you for your prayers as subtropical storm Olga passes our island. We expect heavy rains and some wind for the next 24 hours, and government emergency response teams are ready -- especially in low lying areas -- but we don't expect any major damage. We are in the Lord's hands.

Now, a few quick pictures of our church this Advent season:

• The altar of our church in Santiago

• Bulletin board in Santiago church (Isaiah 9:6)
  

• Seminarian Freddy practicing on the keyboard

The Lord bless you with His peace,
NW

Santiago church robbed

"Keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."

Jesus' words in Matthew 24: 42-44 became more vivid this past Tuesday morning as I arrived at our ministry center in Santiago at about 7:30 am to get ready for seminary classes. I unlocked the padlock and took off the chain from the gate along the street thinking it was another normal weekday morning. My heart sank as I arrived at the top of the stairs to see the gate to our front porch wide open and the front door ajar. Everything became slow motion for a moment as I saw that both door locks had been pried open and were now lying on the door mat in pieces. All I remember thinking was: "Oh, no..."

Seminarian Freddy had hitched a ride with me that morning, so we went in together to check out the damage, expecting the worst. The thieves had gone through the entire building opening cabinets, dumping out boxes, breaking into a locked storage room looking for anything of value.

They wound up dismounting and taking a window air conditioner unit, an inverter (battery backup system for the building), DVD player, radio/CD player, computer speakers and a wall fan.










Despite the feeling of being "violated", we thank God as we recognize that He was still protecting us and our resources:

• Noone was injured.
• Everything they took is replaceable.
• The thieves took computer speakers, but not the computer itself.
• They took the DVD player, but not the TV it was hooked up to.
  
• One of the few boxes the thieves did *not* look in was the one containing a small lockbox with the congregation's offerings.
• They left a mess, but did not vandalize or break anything other than locks.

I wasn't expecting thieves to break in on Monday night. What a vivid reminder that the Son of Man can come at any time also, even when we least expect him!!!

We are trying to prepare ourselves to prevent the thieves from returning--stronger locks on the doors, a security system, possibly a night watchman. What amazing grace that God himself prepares us through the Gospel to actually welcome his Son's return!!! Jesus has saved me from my sins. I am forgiven. I am ready for Jesus to return.

[ There is more to the story, even with a few unexpected twists. But you'll have to wait a day or two until I can write more... ]

The Lord bless you with His peace,
NW

Streaming in the DR

On Wednesday, October 31, members of our Dominican mission family watched the Reformation service from Risen Savior Lutheran in Milwaukee. The service was broadcast (or "streamed") live over the internet. We were able to project the service on the wall so everyone could see and participate. Copies of the worship folder were handed out so we could sing along with the hymns and follow the readings.

We also shared this service with our Dominican congregation. They were happy to listen to a former missionary, Seth Haackenson, and to share the mission message given by former missionary Roger Sprain.

We thank WELS for this opportunity to share in this service of praise. We also thank the people at Multi-Language Publications who helped to organize this transmission. Above all, we give thanks to our merciful God for preserving His Word among us. To Him be all the glory.

[ Thanks, Kathy, for the post! --NW ]

English Classes - Session Two

Our volunteers have started the second session of their English classes. I decided to try and find out what all goes into preparing just one class.

In the picture, Polly and Julie are writing out their lesson plans for each class. They research all their resources according to the needs and level of their students. They create all their own original worksheets, adapting them to the level of their students. Games, activities and group activities are also chosen to reinforce the language skill being taught.

Preparing for each class also includes administration duties such as taking attendance and calling students who have missed class. Copies must be made for each day's activities which involves a walk to the copy shop and waiting in line for your turn. There are also homework activities to be corrected.

Julie and Polly arrive early for each class. They unlock the gates, open the doors and windows and begin to set up their teaching area. Chairs and tables are put in place, some dusting might need to be done, mop the floor if necessary, get out all their teaching aids. Also, a quick check to see that the bathrooms are clean and stocked.

Now that they have begun to form relationships with their students they are starting to make home visits to the students. The visits are set up with the students and usually involve finding their way around the city and then spending time with each student in their home, getting to know their family and using the visit to make an evangelism presentation.

Our volunteers are working hard to teach excellent classes and also to reach out with the gospel to all the students. We appreciate all their hard work. Thank you!

[ Thank you, Kathy, for the above post. --NW ]

Mission Family

Two Fridays ago (16 Nov), after we finished our English Bible study, we celebrated Molly Monday's birthday as a mission family. One person volunteered to bake a cake, another person brought the ice cream and a celebration was on the way!

We want to thank Molly for all that she brings to the field, for all the help she gives and for her thoughtfulness to others. Thanks Molly!

We also thank the Lord for these opportunities to enjoy our Christian family. Through our weekly Bible studies and these family celebrations, the Lord blesses us through the study of His Word and strengthens the bonds that unite us as a family on the mission field and as a family in Christ walking together towards our heavenly home.

Praise Him with the Keyboard

Presently, there are several people receiving training to play hymns with the chord method of piano playing. Each of the students is a member of one of our congregations and our goal is that in the future we will have people able to read music and lead the members in singing and praise with musical instruments.

We would like to give our deepest thanks to Roxanne Martens (wife of LATTE Missionary Ralph Martens) who wrote the music course that the students are using. She wrote the program herself and gave us permission to reproduce it to train more people. So far it is working well and the students are making good progress.

We thank the Lord for gifted people like Roxanne who are willing to share their talents with the church, and we thank God who bestows musical talents on His believers and fills their hearts with the desire to praise Him by learning to play hymns to His glory.

[ The above was written by Kathy Strackbein. We thank the Lord for her service as well. --NW]

Where shall I serve, O Lord?

Rona Abraham is our first seminary graduate in the Dominican Republic. (Read other posts about Rona by clicking here.) He graduated in July and was so excited about returning to his home country of Haiti to share the life-saving Gospel with so many who are still lost in sin and unbelief. But...

...Rona may not be able to carry out his plans. He intended to return to Haiti and start a "tent ministry" -- sharing the Gospel while supporting himself with a secular job. With his seminary diploma giving him the title of "licenciado" (equivalent to a bachelor's degree), he planned to get a job as a teacher. But...

...He recently found out that since our seminary is not yet registered as an "institution of higher education" with the Dominican government, his degree is not recognized. Without a degree, he cannot get a job. Without a job, he cannot support himself in Haiti. So...

...In the DR, we are looking into the requirements to register our seminary so that we can confer degrees that will be recognized and accepted. In the meantime, we ask for your prayers:

• that the Lord would bless our efforts to register the seminary
  
• that the Lord would guide Rona to know where and how He wants him to serve
• that the Lord would direct us as we consider other alternatives

James reminds us to say, "If it is the Lord's will" when we make our plans for the future (James 4:15). We know that all things are in His hands -- His good and gracious hands! We, therefore, trust Him to bless Rona's ministry wherever that may be.

(The above was first posted at our sister blog "LATTE on the Road". For more information about our LATTE travels in other countries, click here.)

The Lord bless you with His peace,
NW

Substitutes

Substitute – "to put in the place of another person or thing".

Nate W. and Kathy S. worked as substitute teachers in the place of Julie and Polly while these two Kingdom Workers were at home recovering from pink eye (see the post titled "Quarantined" here).

To begin the day Nate and Kathy each made a trip to the girls’ apartment to pick up a copy of the lesson plan and a list of the student’s names. In the afternoon, they arrived early to set up the classroom and look for all the necessary materials to teach the class. The substitutes had also helped out with the registration and interview portion of the English classes, so they were not complete strangers to all of the students.

When the students arrived, we saw how disciplined they were. Everyone wrote their name on a sign-in sheet, put on their name tag and took their seat. Of course, the first question was, “Where is Polly? Where is Julie?” We heard many sympathetic, “Ooh”s when we explained their health situation.

The teaching went well and even though the students missed their teachers, they were happy to have substitute teachers so as not to have their classes canceled. Nate and Kathy were also happy to have this opportunity to serve. It made them appreciate all the teachers do to help their students learn a new language.