Ester is a daughter of God

God is good!

This morning we celebrated the baptism of Ester Robert, infant daughter of Helve and Millianard ("Tabitha") Robert.

"You are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ....If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." -- Galatians 3:26-29

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

On a personal note...

I just returned from a one week vacation in Arizona to celebrate my parents' 40th Wedding Anniversary. God is good!

The whole family was able to get together in Camp Verde, AZ (between Prescott and Flagstaff) where there were plenty of mountains to climb, Native American ruins to hike to, and swimming holes to cool off in.

I thank God for 40 joy-filled years of marriage for my parents, and for their fine example of Christian love and parenting for my two brothers and me. God is good!

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

In their own words...

Before we said farewell and Godspeed to the young men and women of Project Timothy 2007, I asked them two questions:

“What was your biggest surprise about the Dominican Republic?”

• The garbage
• The living conditions weren’t as bad as I thought they were going to be
• How friendly everyone was
• How open / welcoming everyone was – even complete strangers

“What was your favorite part of the trip?”

• Teaching the Bible stories
• Teaching the children
• All of it

On an island where the great majority of visitors go straight from the airport to the endless number of all-inclusive beach front resorts to be pampered and served, how refreshing that these young Christians found their joy in serving others. Motivated by Christ’s love for them, their delight was to share the story of Jesus and his love with little children.

Join us in thanking God for their service!

Now as the missionaries and Dominican members’ work continues, pray for the Lord’s blessings as we try to follow-up on the contacts that were made so that we can *CONTINUE* to share the life-saving gospel with many more souls.

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

Project Timothy update

After another set of technical problems last week that prevented me from updating, here is a quick note on the blessings the Lord granted our mission field through Emily, Emily, Hannah, Kathy, Chris and Levi -- students from Luther Prep School (www.lps.wels.net) in Watertown, WI who were part of Project Timothy 2007.

They came prepared with two Bible stories -- the prophet Jonah and Jesus calming the storm. To reach more children, we schedule one story in the morning and one in the afternoon in a different area each day of the week. We still have to finalize our stats, but we estimate having taught over 400 different children.

We thank God for this opportunity to present the message of Jesus' love and forgiveness to so many children. We thank God for both Emilys, Hannah, Kathy, Chris and Levi -- together with their chaperons Matt and Erin Nottling -- and their service. May the Lord grant them safe travels home and many blessings during the summer!

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

Project Timothy / Hurricane Season

Today we welcome a group of six students from Luther Prep School (www.lps.wels.net) and their chaperons to the island of Hispaniola. They are here through Project Timothy, a program of our synod prep schools to expose high school students who have already expressed interest in entering the public ministry to ministry opportunities in home and world missions.

They will be conducting VBS style classes in a number of different areas, helping our local congregations make contact with children and parents in their area. Classes start next week, so I should have plenty of pictures for the updates next week! We pray for the Lord's blessings on their efforts to share the saving gospel with Jesus' little lambs.

On a side note: Today is also the official beginning of hurricane season in the Caribbean, which goes until November 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (www.noaa.gov) predicts 13-17 named storms, 7-10 hurricanes, and 3-5 *major* hurricanes this year. Two years ago, their predictions were low, last year they were high, but usually they are pretty close.

Please join us in asking the Lord for favorable weather and his protection this hurricane season.

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

Babies Ester and Santi

Due to technical problems, I haven't been able to update for two weeks. My apologies!

What better way to come back, though, than to announce God's grace in granting two recent arrivals to our mission in the DR.

On Thursday, May 10, Helve and Mili Robert had a baby girl -- their first child. Helve is one of our six seminary students, and the recently Called student-pastor of the Haitian congregation here in Santiago. After going back and forth for months before her birth between the names Ester and Rut, they finally decided on Ester. Please keep Mili in your prayers since she had a difficult delivery and is still recovering, on bed-rest at home. We look forward to Ester becoming a child of God through the sacrament of Holy Baptism soon.

To announce the other birth, allow me to share an email from Missionary Shiloh Monday:

Dear family and friends,

Well, I missed it... but he arrived safely. Praise God with us for his special gift of a baby boy and for granting a safe delivery for mother and child!

James Edward Monday was born on Monday (oh, please... stop), May 14 at 2:45 PM. He weighed 8 lbs 15 oz and measured 22 1/2 inches long. Molly arrived at the hospital at 11 AM and braved it "alone," with the help of the doctor and nurses, of course. Shiloh was on an American 747 somewhere over Kentucky or Tennessee at the time, chatting with strangers and enjoying beverage and snack service.

We will call him "Santiago" in the DR, as that is the equivalent of "James" in Spanish, and if it sticks, it sticks. Sam and Sophie already love calling their brother "baby Santi."

Santiago, God-willing, will become a son of his heavenly Father on Sunday at St. Paul's, Ixonia, WI.

God's blessings to all of you as you share the news of his grace in Christ to all those around you and in all the world,

Shiloh

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

First Seminary Graduate

Thanks be to God for being with Rona Abraham, our soon-to-be first seminary graduate here in the DR. We ask the Lord to bless him as he plans to return to Haiti this summer to share the Gospel with his fellow Haitians. His planned departure, however, leaves a vacancy in the Haitian congregation here in Santiago where he was serving as a student-pastor.

To fill the vacancy, the Haitian congregation met and called Helve Robert, another Haitian seminary student, to serve as their shepherd. We praise God for providing this gift to the church, another humble servant who will lead God's people to see Jesus their Savior. Please join us in praying for the Lord's blessings on Student-Pastor Helve's ministry.

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

PS -- My apologies for not updating last week :-( I'll spare you my list of excuses :-)))

Break the code

Here's some fun: Can you decipher this note that was left for me the other day? I'll help by typing it out:

Natan tiene un paquete en Bisne emiu

The first part is easy: "Nathan, you have a package in..." But what's "Bisne emiu"??? It took me two days to figure it out. "Bisne emiu" is how my Spanish speaking friend understood "Business Mail", the name of my mail service back in the states! :-)

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

San Pedro de Macorís

What an enjoyable weekend in San Pedro de Macoris. Since the congregation granted its pastor a sabbatical to study at our seminary in Santiago, a missionary goes every other weekend to teach Bible classes and lead a worship service. It is a three hour trip one way, so we try to make the most out of every trip.

After heavy rains prevented some of my Saturday visits, most of the members still came for Saturday evening Bible class — we just started at 8:00pm instead of 7:00, waiting for the rain to stop. We’re working through the Catechism to prepare Patricia and Neli for confirmation, so we studied the 8^th Commandment.

The small but faithful family of believers gathered Sunday morning for worship at 9:30 (starting the service by 9:45). The Gospel was Jesus’ third appearance to his disciples after his resurrection (John 21:1-14). Like young children who love to hear their parents read the same stories or sing the same songs over and over again, we never get tired of hearing about Jesus’ resurrection and its guarantee of victory over sin and death.

Making a few visits after the service, I was able to schedule Bible classes with some prospects in two weeks. Then it was back to Santiago to get ready for this week’s seminary classes.

Thank you, Lord, for safe travels and the joy of gathering around your Word with your saints in San Pedro de Macorís.

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

Great minds...

You know the saying "Great minds think alike." We in the DR now have proof that it is true.

Gathering for our special Maundy Thursday service during Holy Week, Prof. Phil Strackbein and son David walked in both wearing wine-colored (purple) shirts and black pants. They hadn't planned it that way at home; it just happened.

As the members were joking about father and son dressing alike, in I walked with a similar wine-colored shirt and black pants. Proof positive--Great minds *do* think alike!

:-)

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW