Freddy Antonio Aquino

Freddy Antonio Aquino (nickname "Charlie") was born in Bayaguana, Dominican Republic on September 27, 1979. He has had a variety of jobs over the years, working in a rice mill, farming and cattle, house painter, mechanic, and in the "zona franca" free trade zone manufacturing. Beyond his high school education, he has taken courses in Human Relations, Public Speaking, and Cell Phone Repair.

Freddy attended the Pentecostal church for much of his life and came into contact with the Lutheran church in what the world would consider a "chance encounter". In 2003 he was just waiting at a bus stop in the city of La Romana. Julio Corporan, pastor of the Lutheran church in San Pedro de Macoris, was waiting at the same bus stop for the same bus. Julio started talking with Freddy about the Lutheran Church, and Freddy became interested. He actually went to Julio's house and watched a video called "Spiritual Identification". From there he moved on to Bible Instruction Class and became a member by the end of the year.

Freddy has served his congregation by teaching Bible studies, preaching and evangelizing. He studied in our Bible Institute in order to serve better, and has been studying full time in the seminary since 2006.

"Charlie" is married to Elizabet, and they have a four-year-old son, Freili.

We thank God for Freddy, Elizabet and Freili; and pray that he bless Freddy's ministry.

The Lord bless you with his peace,
NW

Obed Bazin

Over the next few weeks, I hope to introduce you to our Seminary and Bible Institute students here in the DR. We start with Obed Bazin:

Obed was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on September 19, 1977. He studied Economic Sciences in college, but moved to the DR before finishing. In Santiago, he worked in the "zona franca" (free trade zone) where he sewed polo shirts for a clothing manufacturer.

In May 2003, a friend of his told him about English classes that our mission was offering, and he decided to participate. The teachers (who were WELS Kingdom Worker volunteers) invited him to attend church services. He liked the doctrine he heard and decided to join the congregation.

As a member of the Haitian congregation, he attended church and Bible studies, and participated in evangelism efforts. He started studying Bible Institute courses and then graduated from the BI in August 2005. He has been studying in our seminary ever since and should graduate in 2009 or early 2010.

We thank God for Obed and his service.

The Lord bless you with his peace,
NW

September Birthdays

September is a busy month of birthdays for our mission family:

• 19 Sep -- Obed Bazin, one of our Haitian seminary students
• 19 Sep -- Sam Monday, son of Missionary Shiloh and Molly Monday (he turned 5!)
• 21 Sep -- Kiero Guerra, a Dominican Evangelist, currently studying in the US
• 24 Sep -- Vanessa King, one of our WELS Kingdom Worker volunteers teaching English as a Foreign Language classes
• 27 Sep -- Freddy Aquino, one of our Dominican seminary students
• 04 Oct -- Julio Corporan, one of the Dominican pastors/seminary student (it's *almost* in Sept)

We enjoy celebrating another year of God's grace with these, our brothers and sisters in Christ. May he grant them all many more years of his grace.

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

Hanna and Ike updates

The following reports were copied from www.dr1.com:

The Center for Emergency Operations (COE) has lifted the Tropical Storm watch for the DR, explaining that tropical storm Hanna is no longer a threat. According to COE director Colonel Juan Manuel Mendez Garcia, Hanna isolated 51 communities, caused the evacuation of 10,745, damaged 2,149 homes and destroyed 4 bridges and damaged two main roads. The government has set aside RD$300 million to assist victims of Hanna. The Presidency's Social Plan will also distribute 884,000 pounds of food throughout the country. Hanna caused the most damage in Monte Cristi, Dajabon, Azua, San Pedro and San Jose de Ocoa.

COE officials have also called for the mandatory evacuation of families located near the Sabaneta Dam in San Juan de la Maguana. Monte Cristi Civil Defense regional director Maximo Ventura explained that 1,1090 families in that region have been evacuated.

Authorities are now monitoring Hurricane Ike that is expected to bring rains. National Meteorological Office director Gloria Ceballos explained that by Saturday Ike is expected to be near the DR's north coast, but sufficiently north to not cause major damage. However, close monitoring of the storm is cautioned. Officials are also keeping their eye on Tropical Storm Josephine, which has formed off the coast of Africa and is headed towards the Caribbean. It is too early to tell the path that Josephine will take.

To follow seasonal storms, see http://www.dr1.com/forums/weather-beyond/...

Thank you, brothers and sisters, for your concern.
The Lord bless you with his peace,
NW

Prayer for Latin America Traveling Theological Educators team

Lord of the living harvest, bless the labors of the LATTE team, a team of missionaries aiding in the seminary training and continuing theological education of national pastors throughout Latin America.  Bless especially their efforts to use modern technology and the internet to offer their classes in various countries at once in the near future, even as rising travel costs make it difficult to be present personally and teach their students face to face.  Thank you for giving us modern technology to be used as a tool in the spread of your saving gospel.

Amen.

The Lord bless you with his Peace,

NW

Santiago break-in #4

I'm a little pressed for time, so please accept this quick note.

The downtown Santiago outreach center was broken into again this last Tues night/Wed morn (Aug 19/20). That’s number 4 if you’re keeping count. The thief (I personally think it was a one man job) stole the offering from the past few Sundays and a large tool box that one of our members had left since he was working on replacing all of the electrical outlets and switches. It is indeed frustrating, but we know we are still in the Lord’s hands and he PROMISES to work even this out for the good of his children. We take him at his word!

We renew our efforts to make the building more secure.

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

OK after Fay

The Dominican Republic has been in the news lately in the states due to a minor earthquake (tremor) and Tropical Storm Fay. Thank you to everyone who has called or sent emails asking how we are doing. We thank the Lord for your concern!!!

I can say that -- by God's grace -- we are all OK. Some of us (including me) didn't even notice the tremor last week. Tropical Storm Fay brought heavy, heavy rains and strong wind gusts, but none of our members were negatively affected. At least, not to my knowledge.

We were actually thankful for the rains because it has been quite dry here lately. The water authorities were starting to ration water service. And that, together with longer blackouts of electricity than normal, was causing greater tension and stress in certain communities. The rains from Fay helped alleviate that a little.

We keep Haiti, Cuba and the southeastern US in our prayers as they also were/are in Fay's path. May the Lord keep all in his caring and protecting hands.

The Lord bless you with his Peace,

NW

!En tu mano están mis tiempos!

"My times are in your hands." - Psalm 31:15

Our Lord wisely teaches us to rejoice more than anything because our names our written in heaven (Luke 10:20). What greater blessing could we ever receive than salvation from hell and the free gift of eternal life by faith in Jesus? We take our cue from God's holy angels and find our next greatest joy in every single sinner who repents (Luke 15:10).

We also find many reasons daily to rejoice and for which we are compelled to give thanks to our gracious and merciful God, who "still preserves me by richly and daily providing... all I need to keep my body and life" and "by defending me against all danger."

Missionary Monday - and all who have sent him to preach the gospel in the Dominican Republic - give thanks to the Lord for sparing him from serious injury or death last week. On his way to the grocery store on Wednesday night, what we presume was a stray bullet smashed through his passenger-side window and out the driver-side window, passing within inches from his body as he drove. By God's mercy, Missionary Monday was not hit by the bullet or injured at all, with the exception of a few tiny pecks in his right forearm from broken glass.

Stray bullets and shoot-outs, though not common, are not unheard-of happenings in a city the size of Santiago. Innocent bystanders are occasionally injured or even killed because of such criminal or reckless behavior. Perhaps this is not much different from the city you live in. It is certainly no different from the dangers that threaten each of our bodies as we drive our cars or ride the bus or fly in an airplane. As the Lord extends our lives day by day and uses his powerful angels to protect us, let us all remember that "all this he does only because he is my good and merciful Father in heaven, and not because I have earned or deserved it." And "for all this I ought to thank and praise, to serve and obey him." Ask Missionary Monday, and he'll say it with you: "This is most certainly true."

"I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live." - Psalm 104:33

Only in the DR...

I have been away from home a lot this month, so updates have been few. Here, however, is a quick posting of pictures you might only see in the DR (or similar countries...)

How many people can *you* fit on a motorcycle?

Someone used a bit too much coloring on their Easter eggs. (Yes, these are colored chicks.)

An overpass to nowhere...

Any guess as to why we have so many power outages?

The Lord bless you with his peace,
NW

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