Handing out "The Promise"

Below is a short video clip (one minute, fifteen seconds) from an evangelism event in San Pedro de Macoris. A group of members from Santiago and Moca travelled to SPM to participate. We handed out copies of "The Promise", a colorful 14 page magazine which summarizes the Gospel story in seven lessons: (1) God's creation, (2) The fall into sin and God's promise of a Savior, (3) The Savior's birth, (4) The Savior's death and resurrection, (5) We are declared not guilty, (6) The Holy Spirit gives us peace, and (7) The promise of eternal life. [Check out the website for Multi-Language Publications located in the "Recommended Links" section to the right if you would like more info on this excellent evangelism tool available in many languages.]

As we handed out "The Promise" we also invited people to a special service in the afternoon. God blessed us with a full house. We thank God for the fellowship the members from the four congregations were able to enjoy, and for the opportunity to share in San Pedro the Gospel Promise of forgiveness of sins and life eternal through Jesus Christ.

In the video, Pastor Alex from Moca hands out "The Promise" in a few colmados (small grocery stores) with typical Dominican music playing in the background.

[Thank you to Missionary Phil Strackbein for submitting the video.]

The Lord bless you with his peace,

NW

Pentecost Party

This post dates back to May 3rd. Sorry for the delay -- I'm trying to catch up :-)


At the end of each 6 week English class session, we provide an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) party for our students. This is an opportunity to get to know our students better, meet their family members, and share God’s Word with them.

This session, the party began with fellowship teamed with playing cards and dominoes. Snacks consisted of apples, crackers, ham and cheese, cookies, peanuts, raisins, and the popular homemade “rice crispy bars”.

Volunteers and craft projects welcomed the students’ children. Coloring sheets, crossword puzzles, and crafts kept the little ones busy the entire afternoon.

The English teachers hosted an activity similar to the popular game show “Jeopardy” focusing on things the students learned in class. Topics included “numbers”, “verbs”, “animals” “weather”, etc…. There were even two topics labeled “Helena” and “Julia” to see how well the students knew their teachers. The final bonus round featured the topic “Pentecost”, highlighting the theme of the occasion.

The event concluded with a Bible study led by Pastor Shiloh Monday. A blessed opportunity to share the coming of the Holy Spirit and message of the Savior with all!

[Thank you, Julie, for writing this post. We thank God for both Julie and Polly for their volunteer service as English teachers this last year.]

The Lord bless you with His peace,
NW

Robbed again

As you can see from the title of this post, our church in downtown Santiago was broken into again. I can't go into too many details right now, but here’s a quick summary:

(1) Thursday night/Friday morn (May 22/23) – thieves bent back a zinc (tin) roofing sheet and came down through the ceiling tile in the back third of the church (only front two thirds has cement roof). They took the CPU of a computer and a DVD player (I hope they watch the Communicating Christ DVD that was in it.) On Friday, we filed police report and cleaned up the broken ceiling tiles, replaced tin sheet and secured it as best we could.

(2) Saturday night/Sunday morn (May 24/25) – thieves broke in again, this time they completely removed the burglar bars at the women’s bathroom (we see now they were poorly installed) and forced open the louvre window. This time they cleaned us out: 29” TV, water cooler, the rest of the computer (monitor, speakers, etc), window a/c unit, wall fans, Missionary Monday’s tool set, even a 3 liter bottle of communion wine! By God’s grace we had removed the congregation’s cash on hand lock box after the Friday morning break in, so they didn't get that.

After a delayed Haitian service on Sunday, I attempted to file a police report, but was told to come back on Monday. Obed, one of our Haitian seminary students, and I replaced the burglar bars (temporarily) with cement, and cleaned up except for four items that had obvious fingerprints. Following EFL classes and the Spanish service in the afternoon we removed anything we thought the thieves might come back for (used batteries, three fans that remained, etc).

Mon morning we planned for a “work day” at church to improve security, only to arrive and find out that during the night they had broken into the veterinary office below us and took their computer and some equipment! Within a few minutes after we got there, news people started arriving. Freddy and I were interviewed. I even got to speak live on the radio with Jose Gutierrez, a well known news and commentary program here in Santiago with a large audience.

The police “CSI” team arrived and after they finished taking fingerprints, we cleaned, fixed the roof better and cut back tree branches to open up visibility. Still in the morning I went to file our police report from Sunday, only to be told to come back in the afternoon. I went back in the afternoon (an hour before they told me to return), and after waiting two hours, was told to come back the next morning!

So on Tuesday I went early to file the police report that we couldn’t finish Sunday or Monday because their computers were down. After close to three hours of paperwork and waiting in lines, the case was put on a list to be assigned an investigator. I finally went to church, hoping to get in at least an hour of seminary classes. Immediately when I arrived at church, however, some of the neighbor businessmen came over and said they knew where our stuff was.

Since our case was still waiting for an officer to be assigned to it, we had to return to the police station personally to inform them. They “immediately” assigned us an officer who took his time waiting for a partner – then he told me that they didn’t have a vehicle!!! “Can you drive us?” they asked. “What if you take someone into custody?" I responded. “Well, we’ll put him in the cargo area...” (I have a jeep-style vehicle.) Next thing I knew, Freddy (one of our sem students) and I were driving around these two officers to do their investigation. So much for teaching any seminary classes...

After asking around and driving to different places looking for information, we are 99% sure that the next door neighbors to the church either are responsible for the break-ins or at least bought the stolen merchandise from the thieves, to resell it later. But we have no confidence that the police will do anything about it--unless we decide to "wet their hand" (mojar la mano), give the police a cash incentive to act. (What we take for granted in the US!)

But God is good. We wait to see what the Lord has in store for us. Your prayers are requested!
Believe it or not, that is the *SHORT* version!

With you, declaring God’s praises!
NW

[By the way, in the third and fourth pictures above, you're supposed to notice what *isn't* there -- no TV on the TV cart, no air conditioner unit in the window...]

Hosanna, Loud Hosanna

Yes, this post dates back to Palm Sunday (March 16). The following is a video of the seminary students singing "Cabalga Majestuoso" which is equivalent to the hymn "Hosanna, Loud Hosanna", found as hymn 130 in Christian Worship: A Lutheran Hymnal. (You may purchase a copy through Northwestern Publishing House at this link -- and no, I was not paid for that plug :-)

[By the way, the first stanza was recorded from behind the students. In the second stanza, you see their faces from the front.] I hope you enjoy it!



The Lord bless you with his peace,
NW

Translation into French

As has been mentioned in previous posts, our mission in the DR has the blessing of being a stepping stone into Haiti -- even though Haiti is not currently an official mission field of the WELS. One challenge, however, is that none of our missionaries speaks French. That means we entrust the work into the capable hands of our Haitian brothers who are studying with us (in Spanish).

As our Haitian students look to the future, they want to take the Gospel with them back into Haiti and start a national church there. One step in the process is translating our current materials from Spanish into French. What a blessing the Lord has provided in Rona Abraham! (To see other posts about Rona, click on "Rona" in the list of labels below.) He is a LATTE graduate now working on his engineering degree here in Santiago so that he can return to Haiti and support himself with a job as a professional while also sharing the freedom he knows in Christ with his fellow Haitians.

In the meantime, he is working faithfully at translating resources into French. He has completed the majority of courses for the Bible Institute (pre-seminary), various Evangelism resources and Bible studies, and will soon start on seminary level courses.

Join us in asking the Lord to bless his efforts, to give him wisdom and insight as he wrestles to force our Spanish books to speak French, and for continued funding for his translation projects. We trust that these resources will be blessings for the Haitian church for years and years to come.

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

Easter transportation

I wanted to share a few pictures from Easter Sunday. As mentioned in the previous post, three congregations joined together for a joint celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord. Cordero de Dios (Lamb of God) congregation from Moca had the longest distance to travel.

A friend of the congregation owns a van. The women and children (and anyone else who fit) rode in the van:
The men came on their motorcycles. It was an impressive caravan:

The Lord bless you with his peace,
NW

Holy Week in the DR

My apologies for being so far behind. This is some information on Holy Week in the Dominican culture, in our Lutheran church, and for the mission families.

Dominican culture
Holy week (Semana Santa) is important in the Dominican Republic. The majority of people have vacation from school and work. Their focus is on Good Friday. This as an opportunity to point toward the empty tomb and share the good news, "Christ is risen! Yes! He is risen indeed!"

The pre-Lenten Carnival is the most popular festival in the DR. The tradition began in the 1600s when the people wore masks to mimic the custom practiced in Europe. Traditionally, this was a time of confession and “taking away flesh” in preparation for Christ’s passion. Today it has been mostly secularized. Colorful dance groups, floats, bands, and masked characters are featured in village square and parades of major cities every Sunday in February. Link to carnival: http://www.colonialzone-dr.com/traditions-carnival.html

Sweet beans (habichuelas con dulce) are a traditional cuisine served often during the Lenten season. In the past, this sweet bean dish was eaten on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent as a substitute for meat. Each region of the island usually adds a special or secret ingredient to make their recipe distinct. Link to the recipe: http://www.dominicancooking.com/desserts-beverages/1439-habichuelas-dulce-sweet-creamed-beans.html


With the Lutheran Church

On a Friday evening during Lent, one of the student pastors, Freddy, hosted a song service in his apartment. We sang hymns, shared special Bible passages and memories; Freddy also read a poem he prepared for the event. His wife, Elizabeth, and other members of the congregation spent the afternoon preparing a large kettle of “Habichuela con Dulce” for us to enjoy during the evening. It was warm and sweet!

English Easter Party -- At the end of this session of English classes, we had an English Easter party. An opportunity for students to spend time with our church members and ministry leaders. We began the day with socializing and playing games. Cards and dominoes are always on the top of the list. For children, two volunteers ran a craft room that kept the children busy for 3 hours. We served snacks consisting of chips, peanuts and raisins, grapes, apples, cookies and bars, and lemonade. We played JESUS Bingo, using English words connected to Jesus Christ. After several games, the day concluded with a video and Bible Study on "What Easter Means to Me". We had over 60 attendees with 39 staying for the Bible Study.

Services -- During holy week, the Haitian and Dominican congregations in Santiago had combined worship services on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. The congregations in Moca and San Pedro kept their regular schedules. Due to the influence of the Roman Catholic Church on Dominican society, most people consider Good Friday the focal point of Holy Week, with Easter Sunday and Christ’s resurrection as almost an afterthought. Every year the missionaries and national pastors encourage members to remember BOTH events for our salvation. With that encouragement, Easter attendance is slowly going up among our members.

Special orders of service were prepared for Thursday, Friday and Sunday. The service on Maundy Thursday led worshipers through personal preparation and examination before receiving the Lord’s Supper. The service on Good Friday focused on confession and the absolution that Christ’s death for us makes possible. Easter Sunday’s service was a joyous celebration of the victory Christ won for us. There was no special music like organ preludes or choir anthems because the national church has not yet been blessed with church musicians — we use recorded musical accompaniment — but even so the members tend to sing with a little extra emotion in their voice this time of year.

For the Mission Team

The Dominican Republic does not have the same traditions for celebrating Easter as in the United States. In fact, Easter itself is almost not celebrated at all. As mentioned above, the emphasis here is on Good Friday. For many Dominicans, Easter Sunday is not for going to church to praise God for the resurrection and to celebrate new life in Christ, but for going to the beach or traveling to visit family. American traditions like the Easter Bunny, coloring Easter eggs or doing an Easter egg hunt are unheard of. When Missionary Wagenknecht offered some colored Easter eggs to his seminary students last year, they didn’t know what to do with them. “Eat them??? They’ve been colored—are you sure they’re safe???”

Individual mission families may hold their family devotion early on Sunday morning to substitute for an Easter Sunrise Service (which is not a tradition here). Some bring Easter candy back with them from furlough and save it to hide for their children on Easter—they have to practice self-restraint not to use it up early if their furlough was the previous summer. In past years the mission families have joined together on Easter Sunday after church activities for an Easter brunch—but since that isn’t until the late afternoon, we affectionately call it “Easter brupper”.

No matter where we are or what the traditions are, it is a joy to celebrate Christ’s victory over Satan, death and sin. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!


The Lord bless you with His peace,
NW

Another brother, another blessing

We thank God again for leading another sinner declared to be a saint in Jesus to declare publicly his unity with us in the faith. Alfredo was received as a communicant member yesterday (Mar 3) in the Santiago Dominican congregation.

What a joy for his wife Emerita who was already a member of the congregation. Already married for many years, they are now united even more by publicly confessing the same faith in Christ their Lord. What a blessing to express their common faith when -- side by side -- they receive the Lord's body and blood together in the Lord's Supper. We pray God bless Alfredo, and all of us, keeping us in the true Christian faith until He calls us to His side in the glories of heaven.

The Lord bless you with His peace,
NW

Glory to God for another brother in the faith

Rejoice and give thanks to God with us. The Haitian congregation in Santiago celebrated the adult confirmation of Wisler on Sunday, Feb 17. What a joy to confess publicly the unity we share through faith in Jesus!

May the Lord bless Wisler and all of us as we continue to grow in the knowledge of Christ.

The Lord bless you with His peace,
NW

Milwaukee, WI furlough schedule

Join us at any of the following. Click on the name of the church or school for directions.

Sunday, Feb 3 -- St. Peter Lutheran Church, 1205 South 8th St, Milwaukee
9:15am English service
10:30am Bible class presentation
12:00 noon Spanish service

Monday, Feb 4 -- Calvary Lutheran School, 110 Division St, Thiensville
8:00am Chapel

Tuesday, Feb 5 -- Wisconsin Lutheran College, 8800 W Bluemound Rd, Milwaukee
11:00am Chapel
11:30am Presentation

Wednesday, Feb 6 -- WELS Synod Administration Building, 2929 N Mayfair Rd, Milwaukee
8:00am Chapel

Thursday, Feb 7 -- Wisconsin Lutheran High School, 330 N Glenview Ave, Milwaukee
8:30am Chapel

The Lord bless you with His peace,
NW