Alive and Loving It!

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand.  Think about things of heaven, not the things of earth.  For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.  And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all His glory.  Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you.  Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.  Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.  And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts.  For as members of one body you are called to live in peace.  And always be thankful!

Colossians 3:1-4, 12-15

 
 

  

 

 

Clearly I am not the best at putting pictures on my blog, but I had the opportunity to spend 3 days this week at Pasitos de Jesus Orphanage for girls in Boca Chica and wanted to share some of the moments that I caught on camera.  I usually only visit once a week, but what a blessing these girls are to me!  Most of them come from pretty bad backgrounds.  They have been abused, neglected or their parents have passed away or can't take care of them.  And yet, Dalma, the founder has instilled in them the love of God.  And so, while they are normal little girls who have their moments, in all, they are joyful, playful and full of hugs.  Every time after visiting, I marvel at what a wonderful blessing the ministry is to the girls, to me, and to those who have the opportunity to visit.  There are some who just "pass through" as Pasitos is a safe place for girls who need a place to stay for a few weeks or some months.  For others, this is the only family they really know as they have lived with Dalma for much of their lives.  And for some, they still battle their pasts.  I pray that the Lord will continue to bless them by putting Godly people in their lives.  I pray that He will put the resources in front of them for them to be well-educated.  Mostly, I pray that He would allow them to overcome their pasts and truly fall into relationship with Jesus so that they can live focused on the eternal.

Today at church service, the sermon was about Colossians 3.  The message was one that focused on our need to concentrate on our eternal life and not be so preoccupied with the problems, challenges or luxuries of our life on earth.  After all, if we are dead to life in this world, there are so many things that truly don't matter, right?  And yet, we worry, we are anxious, we wonder what if, we ask why, we are greedy, we worship the things of this world, and we are hateful.

But, clinging to God, having an eternal perspective, and focusing on His promises are truly the answer to being alive and loving it!

I think about the kids that I meet and hug, the girls at the orphanage that I get to love on, the kids that I get to drive around, the people that I work with on a daily basis, and the missionaries who try to glorify God each day in their ministries.  I think about the people back in the States who are truly using their resources, their hands, and their gifts to glorify God because they understand truly what He did for them by sending His son not only to die, but to live again.  While I know that none of us can fully understand what it means to be raised to new life with Christ, I praise Him for those people in my life of who have devoted their daily walk to Him. It is our daily walk that affects the non-believer and grows the faith of those whose faith is small.

I pray that my understanding of His love for me will not stop at my salvation, but that it would make me want to live more and more for Him, increasingly leaving behind my worldly ways.   I also pray that for all who are reading this.  May you become more and more alive in Christ.  May you live for Him -- not just in word, but in deed, not because that is how He saves, but because He saved and you are grateful!
 

I thank God for those whom He has put in my path to serve.  May I love them well.  May I serve them often.  May His light shine and not mine.  

Updates and Prayer Requests:

I am finding out that there are some out there who read my blog posts, but was wondering how many have browsed the general blog in a while.  Please check out the tabs across the top of my blog for information about Child Sponsorship and How You Can Help my Ministry here.  They are all newly updated!  

• I am almost done with testing at Emanuel House.  Thanks be to God!  Please pray to finish well.
• The family we shopped for uniforms for went to school on Monday.  Pray for that transition.
• I will be preparing for my first Woman's Conference with other SCORE missionaries next week.  I have lots to do before then.  Please pray for my organization and endurance.
• We made a design for the Emanuel House Library and are still collecting Spanish books!
• I finally have an address to send care packages to me.  Please check out the How You Can Help tab.
• I am feeling more and more at home and in community.  Thank you for your prayers!
• For those who read about my friend who attempted to kill herself, she accepted Christ and is a whole new person.  I am so grateful to have the opportunity to pray with her and visit.
• I have found a church in both Juan Dolio and Quisqueya that I can attend regularly.  Thanks for the prayers.
• Bible memorization is still a challenge.  Please continue to pray for me!
• Emanuel House kids will come back to school on Wednesday after almost a month out of school for testing.  Please pray for excitement and for the teachers to incorporate all that they've learned into the classroom.

A "TYPICAL" Weekend?!?

Many times people ask me to tell them what my schedule looks like.  I have finally begun to get a rhythm to my day and thought it would be fun for you all to kind of see what my weekend looks like, focusing mostly on today.

Today, Saturday:

7:00am - I woke up & got ready for the day.

8:00am - I studied my Bible while drinking hot tea on the front patio.

8:45am - Kids started to arrive for my Saturday Bible Study that I began about a month or so ago.  I have quickly gone from the two kids pictured below to 15 this morning.  We are studying Matthew.  Today we talked about John the Baptist and how he baptized Jesus, didn't consider himself worthy at all to do so, how the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove, and how God proclaimed Jesus to be His son.  Kids then drew what they understood from the lesson.  Memory verse for next week? Deuteronomy 10:12

These are the first 2 kids that I invited to Bible Study. 

They've been coming faithfully since August.

11:00am - I packed sandwiches for a group of 5 kids who we decided to take to San Pedro.  4 of these kids have not been going to school because they don't have the money for uniforms.  Their mother has 10 children.  Four of them are of the age to go to school.  One, who is 13, cannot read and thus will have to get some help before she goes, and the others are registered, but couldn't go without uniforms.  So, today, with huge smiles on their faces, they piled in my car.

 We packed 5 kids in the back seat on our way to buy uniforms.

[OH YES!  I GOT A CAR LAST MONDAY!  It has been a true blessing!  And, I am seeing what it is like to have a car and cart kids and Mirqueya around to do ministry.  Thanks to all who have donated to me.  You've made my life a lot more easy!  The 15 kids who came today are kids I met when carting them to get tested yesterday.  Doing so gave me the opportunity to invite them to Bible Study.]

Finding a reliable car that doesn't call attention and that 

was in the budget was not easy.  God blessed me with this 2004

Nissan Murano.  I pray that it keeps me safe and has many 

miles of ministry!

12:00pm - I hung out in a local grocery store with the kids while Mirqueya exchanged american money to dominican money.  We played "I spy with my little eye" and walked around the store.

2:00- We stopped to eat the packed lunches (cheese sandwiches, bananas, vanilla oreo cookies, water) - Oh, did I mention that the little girl threw up somewhere between 12:00 and 2:00... something about motion sickness... [We road the remainder of the time with no air conditioning and windows down.  Somehow, 95 degree weather is better than air... I'm just happy that it didn't happen again.]  We ate lunch in San Pedro next to the beautiful Carribbean Sea (a first for the kids).  They played under a grape tree and collected shells while Mirqueya and I watched.

Going shopping was a big deal for these kids.  Some of them had never 

been to San Pedro which is just 15 minutes from Quisqueya. They came

dressed in their best clothing!  It was quite windy and

we picked a shady spot next to the sea.

3:00 pm - We shopped for new uniforms (2 uniform tops, bottoms, socks and shoes) for the 4 kids.  A group from DC visited them last week and left money for the uniforms.  Additionally, we bought underwear for all of the kids.  Honestly, I told Mirqueya that the money wasn't going to stretch that far.  She told me to pray and confidently brought up the uniforms to the counter and watched the screen.  I did pray, but it was something like, "God, please let this work.  I don't know how in the world it will, but please?"  And miraculously, the counter went to 4,600 pesos.  (We had 4300).  Mirqueya, of course, had a connection with someone who knew the owner and the price went down to right under 4,200 pesos.  What?  God is crazy... seriously.  We both looked at each other and went to the car in shock of God's abundance!  We had enough left over to buy a few gatorades even.  FYI - 4300 pesos is equal to $100.  There is no reason why it should have bought all of that, but the look on our faces when it did... and the joy that it will bring to these kids who will go to school for the first time in their lives on Monday was PRICELESS!!!  So happy for Mirqueya's faith today!

These are the kids and their mom when we arrived back

to the house from shopping.

4:30pm - I arrived back in Quisqueya, dropped the kids off and picked up 2 more kids to test them back at Emanuel House.  On the way, we ran into a "gaga" which is a voodoo ritual.  People were walking the streets with a huge red, black and white flag.  I believe last week was the National Day of the Bible.  I am told that gagas often happen after Christian holidays or celebrations and the people walk through the streets cursing them.

Around 5:00pm - I was testing a little girl named Caterin and heard the gaga parade go by Emanuel House.  (I had thoughts to go take a picture, but thought better of it.)  Why give the devil that satisfaction?

6:00pm - I decided to let the 11 year old child who was sitting waiting on his brother read a few books that I have.  He read four of them and his favorite was Bernstein Bears' Moving Day (in Spanish of course).  I can't wait until we have a library.   On his way out, I invited him to Bible Study next Saturday.

Over the last month, I have been the "testing coordinator" as

the teachers and kids at Emanuel House prepare to get  laptops

(shown above).  Standardized testing is a new concept for both

teachers and students and has been a challenge and has opened my 

eyes to the incredible needs in reading and mathematics. 

7:30pm - The children left. I checked my email, facebook and started cooking dinner for me and Mirqueya.

8:30pm - While eating, I gave Mirqueya a little informal English lesson.  Two of Mirqueya's close friends came over to pray and spend the night, and they shared in the meal.  (meal = chicken and rice... no veggies today so I ate an apple...)

11:00pm-ish - A nice cold shower and to bed I go!

Tomorrow, Sunday:  

9:30am - I will go to church service in Juan Dolio (about 20 minutes by car).  I will ride the bus tomorrow to give my car a break.  Gas here costs $6 a gallon. I have a mid-size SUV... It guzzles gas!

12:00pm - I will eat the "Weekly Pot Luck Lunch" with the missionaries.

6:30pm - I will go to service in Quisqueya.  (I am trying a new Baptist church here.  Please pray for me to find a church here that I am comfortable going to.)  I think this is really important for my ministry here so that as kids come to know Christ or become more curious about Him, I can refer them to a church that is well-grounded in the Word.

I am currently reading Ecclesiastes.  Overall, Solomon is pretty bitter throughout it.  And, I think it's a great book for anyone who has turned cynical.   After everything that Solomon, the wisest man ever to live, had been through, he wrote at the end of Ecclesiastes: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone's duty.  God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad  (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).

May He continue to bless me and those around me.  May He continue to open the hearts of others to know His word, love others, and live in a way that is pleasing to Him!  May I continue to fear Him and do His will.

Please continue to pray for me:

• Pray for us to finish testing.  Next week we have a workshop the whole week, but there are still loose ends.  Pray for endurance for me!
• Please pray for provision in terms of library shelves and Spanish books for the kids.
• Please pray for the other kids at Emanuel House whose parents struggle to provide for them with daily needs (whether that be with uniforms, food or other school supplies).
• Pray for God's continued wisdom and guidance for me in ministry.
• Pray for growing friendships and continued sense of community here.
• Please pray for safety and that my car continues to be in good shape.
• Pray for my days of loneliness and missed friends and family in the States.
• Pray for the kids who live around here... for the spiritual battle that goes on around them!
• Please pray for me to get rest.  
• Pray for the oldest girl in the family we were with today.  Her name is Yocairis.  She needs to learn to read so that next year she can go to school.  She, and many others in this community have never gone to school.

I praise the Lord for sending me here.  Although I do have hard days and sometimes wonder if I am being "productive" enough,  I am grateful to be able to cook for Mirqueya, drive kids,  teach them about Jesus, hopefully give the community access to books, and to be able to learn more and more each day about the Dominican culture.  I praise God for continuing to teach me about Him, for strengthening my faith, and for helping me learn more about who I am in Him.

On Friday, I celebrated another missionary's birthday.  I thank God for bringing friends into my life.

Address for Books

If anyone is interested in helping with my reading project and would like to donate books, I have a friend who will be traveling to the Dominican Republic next month.  He has agreed to check 2 extra bags of books.

Remember, any books that are in Spanish that would help little kids learn to read or that would encourage them to read would be great.  Most kids do not recognize their letters, don't know how to read fluently, or don't have parents who can read.  They are all very behind where they should be. Any Spanish kids books would be a blessing even if they are gently used.  If you would like to order the guided reading books from Scholastic, please order them off of this website: http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/guidedreading/espanol.htm

Justin will be traveling on October 10, so please send books no later than October 4 to:

Adrienne Christian
c/o Justin Machado

3172 Pine Cone Ct SW

Lilburn, GA 30022

Please include a note so that I'll know who the books came from.  (Eventually, I will probably include something on the inside of each book to the effect of Donated By:, so please let me know which books are from you.)

If you would like to donate books but cannot before October 6, I will update with some more one-time donation addresses.  I am working on a permanent address to send packages as well.  I will continue collecting until I have enough books.