Katie in the DR

Nalleli

2012-02-11T13:07:00.000-04:00

I know I have talked about Nalleli in a previous post, but here is a refresher. She is the daughter of Maira, who is the assistant at the preschool in Mata Gorda. Nalleli is 10 years old and goes to Doulos, an English emersion school here in Jarabacoa. She is also best friends with Pricila, our niece. Her mom asked me if she could come to my house once a week to practice English since she is struggling a little bit at school. So last week she came over with Pricila and we had a grand time! After doing homework, practicing English, painting nails, etc, we had lots of fun making pizza together and then watching "The Princess Bride".

I love Nalleli and refer to her as "mi hija potiza" (my artificial daughter) and she often slips up and starts calling me "tia" (aunt) when Pricila is around.

Please pray with me for Nalleli, that the time we spend together will be beneficial for her and that she will improve at school as well.

2012-01-30T17:48:00.000-04:00

We did a really fun art project with the kids in the after school tutoring group this past week. We had prepared various pieces for them to glue together to make masks. They had so much fun each making their own mask and even gluing some of the pieces to their own face! :-)

First group of the Year!

2012-01-30T17:45:00.000-04:00

We have the pleasure of hosting the Joshua Group from Hume Lake (a place near and dear to my heart) for two weeks here in SIDR. They are a great group of young people and I am really enjoying having them at the school helping me out in my classroom.

Mata Gorda Christmas Party

2011-12-21T19:24:00.000-04:00

This year we had a wonderful Christmas party again at the Mata Gorda Preschool. The kids performed two songs for their parents, received gifts and had refreshments. It was a great night and all the parents and kids really enjoyed themselves. Here is a video clip of the kids performing one of the songs, "Mi Burrito Sabanero" a typical Dominican Christmas song.

here are the kids with their gifts

Merry Christmas!!!

Update Video

2011-12-21T19:03:00.000-04:00

Here is the newest update video for Cristian and I. Enjoy!

Family

2011-12-11T18:28:00.000-04:00

This past week at church, Cristian's sister's husband, Francisco, was named as one of the Associate Pastors. It was a proud moment for Cristian and I as they move into this important position of ministry at our church. The picture is of our head pastor, Popin, and Franciso and the family.

Christmas time in Mata Gorda

2011-12-11T18:25:00.000-04:00

Here are some pictures of the kids in my class and some of the Christmas crafts that we have made in the last few weeks!

Aguilas Game

2011-12-07T07:46:00.000-04:00

As you know, baseball is BIG here. :-) A few weeks ago we went with a big group of friends down to Santiago to watch the two rivals in the Dominican Winter League battle it out. Our favorite, the Aguilas, won (of course).

Here is Cristian with some of his friends.

Cristian and his new best friend, Estaban who is a nephew of some good friends of ours.

Cristian and I.

Thanksgiving

2011-12-07T07:41:00.000-04:00

We were blessed by Agape Flights, the organization that brings down our mail, by a donation of everything we needed to make a delicious thanksgiving meal. It was so fun to cook my first Thanksgiving and share it with our closest friends.

Essentials in Discipline

2011-11-21T13:49:00.002-04:00

Last week we gathered all the parents together on a friday night and showed them a parenting DVD from Focus on the Family called Essentials of Discipline. It is a set of 3 dvds with 4 10 minute sessions on each DVD. The first night was a huge success. The dvds presented the ideas so well and the parents really enjoyed watching them and learning some important tools for discipline. It was fun to watch the parents whispering to each other saying things like, "that happens all the time!". I think they really learned some valuable lessons. What a great tool to offer parents of preschoolers.

Tragedy

2011-11-05T08:40:00.000-04:00

This is Rashel.

She is one of the most joyful, bright little girls that I have in my class. I pray the her joy and good attitude will be a light and strength to her family as they have just suffered a horrible tragedy.

On thursday Rashel's little baby brother of 1 year, Yandel, was very sick with a fever and vomiting and his parents took him to the hospital in town. (The public hospital if free for people who do not have insurance or can't afford care in a clinic. Unfortunately, the free price directly correlates to the quality of care.) The doctor gave him a shot and a prescription (without running any tests on him) and sent him home as it seemed his condition had improved. Several hours later he was still running a high fever and vomiting so his parents decided to take him back to the doctor. Again, the doctor gave him a shot (again, without running any tests) and sent him home. Several hours later he began sweating and trembling and passed out. Yandel never regained consciousness.

On friday afternoon we went to their house to visit. As is typical here when someone dies, the whole community was there sitting silently. The men were sitting out under a tree and when I went to give my condolences to the father, he hugged me with a longing for comfort but as if his body had no strength anymore. I can't describe to you the horrible look of pain in his eyes. It broke my heart and brought me to tears immediately.

Just then, Rashel came running out of the house, ("Kati!!!") so excited to see us. She ran to me and gave me a hug and then hugged Alberto. As Alberto held her she said, "Yandel died" so matter of factly as if she knew it was a big deal but really didn't understand the weight of it. Again I was brought to tears.

We entered the little shack and it was filled with women sitting and whispering quietly. The mother was standing huddling over the tiniest casket that I had ever seen. When she saw me she cried out my name in anguish and hugged me as if she would never let go, but again as if she couldn't help but let go. Again I can't even describe to you the pain in her eyes.

I sat and cried with her for a while and then went outside to hold Rashel. She was her normal joyful self and I played with her quietly, relishing in the sound of her laughter amongst all the crying. I held her as she ate her lunch and told me about her new cats and showed me her artwork hanging on the wall. And my heart was breaking the whole time.

I don't know how this family will come out of this tragedy. They are such wonderful, caring parents. I don't know how to tell them that everything will be ok and that God never makes mistakes. I pray that God will slowly heal them and draw them to Himself. Please pray for Rashel and her family.

New Slide!

2011-11-05T08:18:00.000-04:00

A while back I posted about how our slide was broken and was very dangerous for the kids to play on. I asked for donations to help us buy a new slide.

Praise God! A business associate of my dad's saw the blog post and donated the money for the new slide. Thank you! We waited almost two months for the slide to come and it is finally here! The kids were so excited when the box arrived.

They are so happy to have a nice new slide!

October Birthdays

2011-11-05T08:13:00.000-04:00

Last week we celebrated the October birthdays at the school.
Abigail turned 5, Rachel turned 4, Yely turned 3, Wander turned 4 and Luis Angel turned 4.

Yely really enjoyed the cupcakes!

Happy Birthday!

Crazy rain storm

2011-10-16T15:07:00.007-04:00

A few weeks ago we had a crazy storm that flooded barrios all over Jarabacoa. Fortunately, our house is raised up and no water entered our house, but our yard of grass was flooded with about 5 inches deep of water.

Our dirt road turned into a rushing river (which was nice cause it smoothed out all the potholes)

Our dogs enjoyed playing in all the water!

update on women's group

2011-10-16T12:19:00.006-04:00

As I think I mentioned in the past, Daisy, who is the site leader for Social Work in one of the other communities here with SIDR, has started coming out to Mata Gorda once a week to help start up a women's group which we hope and pray will some day turn into a full time women's social work site. We have had several meetings with varying attendance, so 2 weeks ago, one of the ladies suggested we walk around the community and personally invite the women to come to the next meeting.

Here is Daisy, left, and Kathy, right, inviting Judy, center, to come to the group:

Here is a pic of our latest meeting, where we had 12 women come and do a craft and hear a small message:

Please continue to pray for the women of Mata Gorda that the group would start up strong and that many women would hear the gospel. Also pray that God would raise up someone to come work with the women full time.

Women's group

2011-09-23T10:53:00.002-04:00

I am happy to announce that we have officially begun a women's group in Mata Gorda. This has been a dream of mine for some time now when I began the women's bible study last year. Now Daisy, the SI staff member who has a women's social work site in another community, is coming to Mata Gorda on tuesday afternoons to start a group here. Our ultimate goal is to have a full time women's social work site in Mata Gorda, but that plan may still be a year or so in the future. But the women are excited to have a group even if it is just one day a week.

Please pray for Daisy and I as we work on making relationships with the women and reaching out to them through crafts, activities and Bible studies.

Sala de Tarea

2011-09-23T10:50:00.002-04:00

This year we have changed the structure a little bit at the school and now have preschool from 9:30 to 1:00 everyday and in the afternoons 3 days a week we have opened a homework room for older kids aged 5-8. It has been great getting to continue working with some of the kids who have graduated from our program and see them succeed in the public school. Here is a picture of me helping Kisleidy, who graduated last year, with her homework.

First week of school

2011-09-23T10:43:00.002-04:00

The first week of school went surprisingly well. I have 9 new 3 year olds in my class and I was fully expecting a lot of tears and a hard week of adjustment. But, praise the Lord, the first week of school was wonderful! All the kids adapted quickly and are doing so well at school.

I am so thankful to be starting my fourth school year here at the preschool in Mata Gorda. I feel so privileged to be working in this wonderful community again and loving on these beautiful children of God.

Please continue to pray for Alberto and I as we begin this new school year with many new children and families.

Graduation 2011

2011-08-29T09:45:00.013-04:00

The wonderful work team ladies who made the beautiful graduation sign:

All the kids came dressed to the nines as usual:

This year I had to say good-bye to a few of my students, since next year we are only able to have 3 and 4 year olds at our school. (more info to come in a later post) So any student that was 5 years old had to be "promoted" from the school even if they hadn't finished the program.

Here are my "graduates":

Angel:

Isaias:

Enmanuel:

Yocaira:

This year we also had a piñata for the kids. The only problem was it burst after only two hits!

Of course the cake was delicious!

last week of school

2011-08-29T09:31:00.005-04:00

The last week of school we had a lot of fun! Since we had finished all of the curriculum for the year we decided to have a fun week full of art projects.

Here are the kids doing golf ball/marble painting.

Beading necklaces:

by the way...

2011-08-17T14:44:00.007-04:00

Before we moved into our house we noticed from the bubbling paint on the walls that there was some water filtration problems (a common problem with concrete houses). The landlord promised us that he would fix it and proceeded to paint a sealer on the roof. We moved in with all the confidence that the problem was fixed. Well after an unusually rainy summer, we are now seeing that the problem wasn't really fixed. For weeks I was mopping up puddles on the floor. See pics below:

Unfortunately, really fixing the problem is a VERY expensive project, and we are seeing more and more how "tacaño" (cheap) our landlords are. :-(

Pool Day!

2011-08-17T14:09:00.005-04:00

We took the kids to the pool again this year at the end of the summer. What a fun treat!

Field Trip

2011-08-17T13:31:00.012-04:00

During the last weeks of school we took the kids on a field trip to a butterfly farm. They were so excited as we had been reading books about how caterpillars turn into butterflies.

First, they got to take a look at some fish in a lake.

They then went out to watch the butterflies lay eggs on lemon tree leaves. The kids collected many eggs and baby caterpillars.

We then went to the butterfly sanctuary where they raise the caterpillars and protect the cocoons.

I even got to take home a few caterpillars and we got to watch them make their cocoons and hatch into butterflies in my classroom! It was such a fun learning experience for the children and adults alike!

New artwork at the School

2011-07-28T20:56:00.004-04:00

We recently got two new beautiful murals painted at the school by summer groups. The bathroom building got painted with a Noah's Ark scene and the side of our main building got a scene with Jesus and the children and the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 19:14
Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Fun Day

2011-07-28T20:22:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago I invited Nalleli, one of the older girls from Mata Gorda, over to our house to spend the night. She is best friends with our niece, Pricila, so I invited her as well. It was a crazy fun weekend which started out with a VERY special treat that Cristian brought back from the capital: Krispy Kreme!!!

After the girls spent Saturday helping me clean the house (they teach them young here, a tradition I will definitely continue with my own children) :-) we took a trip to the beach on Sunday. Nalleli had never been to the beach before so she was soooo excited. It was so fun for me to see such excitement and so special that we were able to treat her to such a fun day.
Here are Nalleli and Pricila:

Me and Nalleli:

July Birthdays

2011-07-28T20:01:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday to Enmanuel and Alexander!!

Where The Wild Things Are

2011-07-28T18:53:00.003-04:00

This was one of my favorite books as a kid and I always love reading it to the kids in my class. I'm pretty sure most of them have it memorized now...

Here I am "roaring my terrible roar" along with the wild things. :-)

june Birthdays

2011-07-27T19:54:00.003-04:00

Daniela, Stiven, and Kisleidy

our home

2011-06-19T08:11:00.006-04:00

The front view of the house:

Living room with 4 times passed down old sofas newly reupholstered:

"New" reupholstered old dining room chairs that we did ourselves:

Dining room:

Kitchen with the beautiful pantry that my dad made us:

Master bedroom:

There is also an office/sewing room and a guest room so we welcome any and all visitors!! :-)

Our Wedding

2011-06-18T14:51:00.013-04:00

~April 30, 2011~

Cristian and his groomsmen:

Me and my bridesmaids:

My flower girl, Lyla.

My grandma Lombard:

A goofy pic of my family:

Cristian's Family:

Cristian and I and the noviocitos (little bride and groom, a Dominican tradition) Marcella and Natanael:

To see more pictures, click on these links:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150203216795044.306530.697195043&l=c81ac12bb1 https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150203366025044.306591.697195043&l=cae33de448

Semana Santa

2011-05-11T09:34:00.002-04:00

For the second year in a row I participated in the Semana Santa Volleyball tournament here in Jarabacoa. You may remember that last year, my team got 4th place and the first place team was awarded US$1000. This year however, the sponsors dropped out so it was a lot more low key and there wasn't as much prize money. My team, Cecilia, Jessica and I, had been preparing and training for the tournament for months and we even had team shirts made! So we were very disappointed when we found out that since there was not as much prize money, the competition would not be as tough. But, nonetheless, the tournament was great and we won first place! We were very happy to be presented with RD$12000 (US$300) as our prize. :-)

VBS

2011-05-11T09:22:00.004-04:00

During Easter week instead of having regular class we did VBS at all the schools. All of the teachers teamed together and we spent one day at each school doing the same program everyday. The theme was based on the wordless book and the kids learned the salvation story and about what each color represented. Here's a refresher in you don't know about the wordless book.
black = sin
red = Jesus' blood
white = our sins washed clean
green = growing in Christ
blue = promise of eternal life
yellow = heaven
The kids had a Bible lesson, a craft, and game time during the day. We also provided them a healthy snack and lunch. It was a great way to end the semester of school and transition into spring break.

house cleaning

2011-05-11T09:15:00.002-04:00

The day before I moved in to our new house, a group of friends came over and helped us clean the house from top to bottom and fix up the yard. They were such a huge blessing as it was a huge job.

Here are Nany and Jhon inside the house. Notice the hose and the floor full of water. :-)

Here is Chulo taking a water break in the shade after pulling out old bushes.

I will post some pictures soon of the house now that we are all moved in. I am still working on sewing some curtains, etc, and getting things organized.

finger paint

2011-05-09T13:12:00.007-04:00

A few weeks ago the kids had a grand time painting with finger paint.

It started out as lots of bright colors but ended up all mixed together as brown.

I was pleased to see a few of the kids practicing writing their names in the finger paint.

Isaias has all the letters there, but they are in the wrong order. :-)

Llaves

2011-05-09T13:07:00.002-04:00

Each week at school we study a "letter of the week". The kids learn lots of words that start with that letter, practice writing the letter, and do activities that have to do with that letter. A few weeks ago we were studying the letter "LL" and I made a puzzle activity with llaves (keys). I had a bunch of old keys and I traced them on butcher paper and then colored the tracings with bright colors. The kids loved trying to find the matching key for each tracing and also tried to find which keys would fit into the doors at the school. :-)

April Birthdays

2011-04-09T09:16:00.003-04:00

On Friday we celebrated April birthdays with blueberry muffins at school.

Katerin turned 3, I turned 26 and Adrian turned 6.

My birthday

2011-04-09T09:09:00.003-04:00

My birthday was on wednesday and I wasn't expecting much, what with the wedding taking first priority this year. :-) I received a box of Thin Mints in the mail from my parents which was a WONDERFUL surprise! Then, on my birthday, I had to spend the whole day in the Capital completing the process for my permanent Dominican residency. When I arrived back in Jarabacoa at 8:30 pm I figured that my birthday had been wasted in the Immigration building and there was no time to do anything fun. However, much to my great surprise and delight, Cristian picked me up and took me to a friends house where he had a whole surprise party waiting for me! A bunch of my friends were there and we had dinner together. It was so fun and I felt so special and loved. To top it all off he had purchased this beautiful, delicious cake for me.

It turned out to be a good birthday after all. :-)

Please Help!! Special Donation Request.

2011-04-09T09:02:00.005-04:00

This is our playground. From far away it looks beautiful, especially since it just got a fresh coat of paint.

Now take a look at the slide.

Not so beautiful, right? Our slide has looked like this for about a year now and it is turning into a hazard for the kids. We are asking for donations to be able to buy a new slide for our playground. We estimate that it will cost about $200. If you would like to make a donation please make checks payable to Students International and include a note on a separate piece of paper indicating that it is for Mata Gorda School playground. Please send checks to:

Students International
PO Box 2733
Visalia, CA 93279

Thank You!!!

Fun Sunny Day Activity

2011-04-09T08:56:00.002-04:00

This past week we had a wonderful group come down from the Chicago area. They brought with them so much love for the kids, great ideas for projects and WATER BALLOONS!!!! I think that some of the kids had never played with water balloons before and we all had so much fun. We started off the activity with a water balloon toss to see who could toss the balloon the farthest without it breaking. After two round of that, we teachers had lots of fun throwing the remaining water balloons at the kids. :-) What a great activity! We will definitely have to do this again during the summer.

my new niece

2011-03-26T13:28:00.004-04:00

This last month I took a quick trip back to California to meet my new niece, Tabitha Lou. It was such a fun trip and I had a wonderful time with my sister and her growing family. I just love being an auntie!!

My sister also threw me a bridal shower which was so special to get to celebrate with a few special friends. Here is a pic of my mom, sister,new baby and me at the shower:

Birthdays

2011-03-26T13:25:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday to Yocaira, age 5, and Jomarlin, age 7!!!!

Balloon Animals

2011-03-26T13:18:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago the sister of one of our staff members was here to visit. She came to the school and made balloon animals for the kids. She was so amazing at it and the kids had so much fun choosing their animal and watching her make them.

She even made me one: lovebirds!!

New Blankets!

2011-02-10T20:51:00.002-04:00

A group that came down last year sent down a donation of new nap blankets for the school. We are all so thankful for these beautiful, soft, new blankets.

January and February Birthdays

2011-02-10T20:45:00.003-04:00

This week we celebrated January and February birthdays. Shown in the picture are Jose Agustin, who turned 5 in January, and Camilo who turned 6 this month.

Happy Birthday!!

:-)

2011-01-15T12:59:00.002-04:00

We're engaged! Date is set for April 30, 2011.

Please pray for Cristian and I as we embark on this adventure. Pray for God's leading and presence as we plan the wedding, that it would be enjoyable and free of stress. Pray also as we begin looking for a place to live that we could find something adequate and affordable, or as the Dominicans say, something with the 3 Bs: bueno, bonito, barrato (good, pretty, cheap). :-)

Cell Group Christmas Dinner

2011-01-15T12:52:00.003-04:00

As part of the local church that I belong to, I attend a weekly cell group. Every year they have a big Christmas party and this year I opened up my house for the party since we combined 2 groups for the party.

Important changes!! Please make note...

2010-12-27T17:16:00.002-04:00

We here at Students International Dominican Republic have decided to change missionary mail carriers. We now use Agape flights. Please take note of the following address for all letters and packages;

Katie Lombard
c/o Agape Flights STI #25923
100 Airport Ave.
Venice, FL 34285

SUPPORT CHECKS SHOULD STILL BE SENT TO THE SAME ADDRESS IN VISALIA!

Can't wait to get a letter from you!!

2010-12-27T17:03:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to participate in another Dominican wedding for my friends Chulo and Rossy. You may remember me writing about Rossy before (living with her boyfriend, lost a pregnancy a while back). Well several months ago they both made a life change and came back to the Lord and decided that they wanted to get officially married.

They asked me to be the Madrina (god-mother) of the wedding. In the Dominican tradition there is always a Madrina and Padrino who take part in the wedding and help the couple with the cost of the wedding.

In the DR, a Christian pastor does not have legal authority to marry, so the couple has to have a civil ceremony performed by a judge in addition to the church ceremony. One of the other jobs of the madrina is signing the marriage certificate. Here I am signing the certificate during the civil ceremony.

Here we are at the wedding: Padrino #1, me, Chulo, Rossy, Padrino #2

Oh, and I caught the boquet ;-)

December birthday

2010-12-12T21:57:00.003-04:00

We celebrated Francis' birthday at the beginning of December. He turned 5 this year.

Volleyball

2010-12-12T21:50:00.003-04:00

When I first moved to the DR, I was afraid that my love for volleyball would not be satiated here. However, I have actually had many opportunities to continue playing. THere are alot of people who like volleyball and I have gotten to know quite a few people who play at a competitive level. Starting in the summer, Jessica (SI missionary who runs a girls sports site) and I started practicing with a team in La Vega (about 30 mins away) in our spare time. It has been so fun to play with really competitive girls, and the level of play is almost like it was back in college. Here is a picture from one of our tournaments, we were hoping to qualify for the national tournament, but we lost in the finals. I'm up in the front by the net, second from the right.
I am so thankful to God that He has allowed volleyball to stay a part of my life, even as a missionary. Jessica and I hope that we can continue to play with this team and get to know the girls and coach better.

(late) November birthdays

2010-12-12T21:40:00.002-04:00

We actually celebrated the birthdays on time, but I am just late in posting this blog.

Here are Isaias and Kyarolin, who both turned 4 this year.

Family Dinner

2010-11-17T19:40:00.006-04:00

Whenever we have American groups come down for a work week, we always take them into the community one night to have dinner with one of the families. This is a great cultural experience and always one of the highlights of their trip. The last time that we had a group, our Dominican host, Katty, was curious about typical American food. So I decided to invite some of my friends from Mata Gorda to my house one evening for an American meal.

Here is Katty, Meri, Alberto, Enmanuel, Maira, Johanny, and Raffa in my living room.

The meal: Pork tenderloin, ravioli with pesto sauce, sauteed green beans, garlic bread, iced tea. They loved it!

Enmanuel especially enjoyed nibbling at the garlic bread and since that night mentions almost everyday at school about how he got to come to my house.

Cristian and I eating Molten Chocolate Baby Cakes for dessert. MMMMMM....

It was such a special night having these special friends at my house and cooking for them, which is something that I love to do.

Women's Retreat

2010-11-08T13:48:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago a group from Crystal Valley Church came to work in Mata Gorda. This church has been coming to the DR to work with SI ever since the beginning and they have strong connections in Mata Gorda. As they did in the previous year, some of the ladies from Crystal Valley put on a retreat for the women of Mata Gorda. It was really great for me to get to help out with this, since I have been doing Bible study with the women for some time now.

Every afternoon they started off by doing manicures or some other similar activity.

Then there was a talk and small group sessions. I had the challenge of translating everything from English to Spanish. Overall it was a great week and I know the women were really blessed. Praise God for this opportunity to continue connecting with the women and building relationships. The women here are so hungry for spiritual growth. Please continue to pray for God to raise up someone to come to work in Mata Gorda full time with the women and girls.

October Birthdays

2010-11-08T13:41:00.004-04:00

We celebrated the birthdays of the kids from school who had birthdays in October.

Luis Angel - 3 years old Melany - 6 years old

I also brought Feliz to school that day to play with the kids, which is always a big hit. My class made dog masks as an art project that day.

Fruit of the Spirit

2010-11-08T13:32:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago a few students from a visiting group started a project that we had had in mind for a while. In one of our classrooms they painted a tree on the wall and I finished it a few days later by adding the leaves and apples. I then wrote each of the fruits of the Spirit inside the apples. We have been using the mural to teach the kids about the fruits of the Spirit. The mural turned out beautifully and the kids have really been enjoying the lessons that come with it.

September Birthdays

2010-10-17T09:48:00.006-04:00

A few weeks ago we celebrated the birthdays of the kids who had birthdays in September.

Here is Smil, all dressed up with his tie. He wears this tie all the time to school, it is so funny.

Two of my littlest ones, Katerin and Luis Angel, who are always attached at the hip.

THe 3 birthday kids, Moises, Smil, and Riselys.

flowers from my garden

2010-10-15T21:42:00.008-04:00

This fall in the DR has felt a little more like spring. It has been warm and sunny most days and raining a lot too, which has been doing wonders for my garden.

Women's Ministry

2010-09-25T09:02:00.006-04:00

As I believe I have mentioned before, at the beginning of the summer I began working with the women of Mata Gorda giving a Bible study once a week. This has turned out to be a great success and the women are really enjoying coming together for our weekly meetings. The women are eager for a full time women's ministry in the community like we have in other communities in Jarabacoa. Unfortunately, since my full time responsibility is with the school I can only give them one day a week. Please pray that God would touch the heart of someone to come to Mata Gorda to begin a women's ministry site to work with these women full time. They are so eager and have a heart for the non-beliving women in the community. This is a prayer request that I have had for a long time, so please join with me in praying that God would provide someone to come and work with the women of Mata Gorda.

This fall we have been alternating weeks having the Bible Study and doing a craft. This last week I taught the women how to make rosettes out of cloth and they sewed them onto headbands or glued them onto hair clips. They absolutely loved this activity and were so excited to make hair accessories for themselves and their daughters.

Here is Madelyn concentrating hard on her rosette. She has two daughters in the school: Daniela, a new 3 year old in my class, and Mayerlin, a 6 year old in Alberto's class.

Josefina, Meri, and Maira:

Some of the girls modeling their new hair accessories made by their moms:

love

2010-09-22T16:53:00.001-04:00

toys

2010-09-17T18:04:00.003-04:00

I love to see how kids in Mata Gorda invent ways to have fun. Without the means to buy fancy, expensive toys they have to figure out other ways to make their own toys. I love seeing their creativity and how they always share their toys with all the neighborhood kids.

Here are Frannis and Jeuris each with one roller skate on.

This is the most common toy you'll find boys playing with here: an old tire pushed by a stick connected to a piece of plastic. They usually are making motorcycle noises as they run around with this.

New bookshelf!

2010-09-11T11:05:00.002-04:00

I've been wanting a bookshelf like this for some time now in my classroom and we were finally able to get it built. I absolutely love it and it is so much more functional than what I was using all last year. I am so happy and the kids are loving their new reading corner!

First Week of School

2010-09-10T20:22:00.005-04:00

We are back to school this week at the preschool in Mata Gorda. It has been so great seeing all the kids again, getting so many hugs everyday, and hearing the kids tell me I am pretty (especially after I cut my bangs.) :-)

Here are Isaias and Enmanuel, two of my littlest ones from last year who are now the "big kids" in my class. It is fun to see how Enmanuel's personality has changed now that he is a "big kid". Last year he was so timid in class and hardly ever talked. Now he is talking and smiling constantly!

Here is Angel, 4 years old, new to my class this year.

This is Taúmi, a new 3 year old in my class. This has been a rough week for her at school. I suspect that she is autistic, due to several common characteristics that she demonstrates. It has been difficult for me trying to help her cope being at school. Next week Amy, who works at the special Ed school, is coming to observe her to see if my assessment is correct. Please pray for us as we try to determine what the best course of action is for Taúmi, whether that means her staying at our school or transferring over to the Special Ed school to get better one on one attention.

Luis Angel, a new 3 year old:

Moises, a new three year old:

Wedding

2010-09-10T18:59:00.005-04:00

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to be a bridesmaid in the wedding of some dear friends here in the DR, Nani and Jhon. Nani and I have been good friends since shortly after I moved here to the DR and Cristian and I spend alot of time with the couple as well as our other friends Anyelo and Leona. I was so special to be able to take part in their wedding and share in the joy of their union. I also got to help out with a lot of the planning and organizing, which was quite stressful at times because the bride would ask my opinion on just about everything and say, "I just don't know because I've never been married before!" Haha, neither have I! But I did feel honored that she valued my opinion so much.

The day before the wedding turned out to be a crazy day since it was pouring down rain all afternoon. And when I say raining, I mean that the road in front of the church flooded to about 3 feet of water and the bottom floor of the church completely flooded. So when we were supposed to be cleaning the church and setting up for the wedding, there were also people walking around in knee deep water trying to save books from the church book store.

In true Dominican style, the rented tables, table cloths and all other decorations showed up late. Well, I suppose "Dominican style" would be 1 hour late, and no one would think anything of it. But this was truly "Dominican late" : 4 hours!! So when everything showed up at the church everyone (or maybe just me) was stressed out from running errands all afternoon, buying extra candles etc, in the rain, on the motorcycle. And to make matters worse, our church's pastor thinks it is a good idea for the whole week before the wedding for the bride and groom not to see each other or talk. So this meant they could not coordinate together any of the setting up of the church. And I got elected to be the go between all day with Jhon calling me on the phone to relay messages to Nani. And Nani telling me to call Jhon to buy more lightbulbs. ANd when Jhon showed up to deliver the lightbulbs Nani frantically running to the closet to hide until he left. Whew!! Let's just say it was a very stressful day, and I think I was the most stressed out of all! Long story short, I left the church at 11:30 pm and there was still more decorating to do.

The wedding day actually turned out great, with very few minor hiccups. I spent all day doing hair (which I love) as i did the bride's and all the bridesmaids hair for the wedding. It again rained all afternoon and the power went out at my house just as all the girls were trying to put on their makeup. The wedding only started 1 hour late, which is good by Dominican standards (i've been to a wedding here where the ceremony started 2 1/2 hours late!). And the ceremony was absolutely wonderful, full of so much love and support. All in all, it was such an honor to be a part of this wonderful day.

Me doing Nani's hair:

All the girls:

Nani and I:

Ceremony in the church:

Cristian and I with Anyelo and Leona, who were married last fall:

graduation 2010

2010-08-25T09:29:00.010-04:00

This year we had four children graduate from the preschool to move onto the public school. Here are some pictures from the graduation.

This is Abbi. She is the daughter of one of our SI staff members and is in high school. This summer, just like last summer, she helped me out in my class as my unofficial summer intern. She is wonderful and was such a blessing to me and to the kids. Thanks Abbi!

Here are the graduates marching into the graduation.

Singing the national anthem:

Yadhira:

Mike:

Tommy:

Karla:

All the graduates and their escorts:

Mural

2010-08-23T10:05:00.006-04:00

This year has been a wonderful year of art at the school. Starting in the spring we had an intern at the art site who wanted to come a do art projects with the kids at the school. It was such a wonderful idea and it carried on into the summer. Every time we had a visiting team from the states they would come out to the school once during the week to do an art project with the kids. It was a great change of pace for the kids and a wonderful addition to their learning experience. Art and creative expression is such an important part in childrens' learning and development. I really hope this is a teamwork that can continue between the schools and the art ministry here in SI.

During one particular outreach, the art group painted a mural on a little building at the school that houses the water pump. It turned out so beautifully I just had to post some pictures of it.

The verse on it is Psalm 100:2-3
2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.

3 Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

What a wonderful way to share the gospel through art. Praise God that He is so creative and allows us to praise him and share his message through beautiful, creative ways.

Last day of school

2010-08-19T12:17:00.008-04:00

On the last day of school I brought my dog, Feliz, to school to play with the kids. The kids and the dog has a wonderful, crazy time running laps around the school chasing each other. Everyone definitely got their fair share of exercise and it was a fun and special way for the kids to finish out the school year.

Melany and Feliz:

Yinelvy and Enmanuel:

Riselys, Nalleli, me and Adrian:

Enmanuel, me, and Kyarolin:

Yohanna, Alberto, and Yajaira:

Pool Day

2010-07-14T21:23:00.005-04:00

Last friday we took all the kids from the school in Mata Gorda to the pool for a special end of the year trip. It was so much fun! We took them to a place called Rancho Dos Rios, which is actually a really nice hotel/restaurant here in Jarabacoa. The manager was so nice and gave us the admission price for half off. This was such a special treat for the kids. They had so much fun swimming and eating pizza. They especially loved floating around in the inner tubes.

This is the jacuzzi-turned-kiddie pool where my class spent their time.

I posted more photos to facebook, you can check them out here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=188718&id=697195043&l=7b0e403fcc

Class Picture 2010

2010-07-12T14:35:00.002-04:00

I will be sad to say good-bye to 7 of my students as they move on to the older class next year!

back row: Isaias, Adrian, Fransys, Alexander, Jose Agustin, Smil, Emanuel
front row: Yocaira, Yinelvy, Kyarolin, Eliamar, Riselys

Women's Bible Study Update

2010-07-12T14:32:00.003-04:00

The women's Bible study is going great!! Praise the Lord! We got rained out a few weeks in a row, but this last week we were back in action. One of the women commented to me that this has been the most successful Bible study group they have ever had. She said she has never seen the women so excited and talkative before. This is wonderful and such confirmation that God will take control. I was so worried about this study that I would not have enough so say to "lead" these women, but God has stirred their hearts and He is leading them and I just get to sit back and watch.

Child of the week - Eliamar

2010-05-13T17:04:00.004-04:00

This week's featured child is Eliamar. This is her first year in our school and she is 4 years old. Eliamar is very smart and will be moving up into the other class next year as she has already learned all her letters and numbers. I can't take the credit for her fast learning because Eliamar has a wonderful devoted mother who helps her at home. Eliamar's mother, Mecho, started noticing a difference in her daughter after coming to our school. So she has started coming to the church here in Mata Gorda and is also a part of the Bible study that has started this week.

2010-05-13T16:56:00.003-04:00

On Tuesday I had the first women's Bible study with the moms from the school. I had been really nervous about this since it is something that I had been wanting to do for a while, but was very unsure of myself. I have never felt like my gifts involve leading Bible studies or anything of that sort, but I really felt like God was calling me to do this. I decided on a book to read through together called "Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets THem Free". The first study we just laid a foundation for the book by looking at how we can counteract lies with God's truth. It went quite well. Six women showed up and I think that a few more will come next week.

Praise God for this opportunity to get to spend more time with the moms of my kids and share with them from God's word.

new stove

2010-05-13T16:32:00.003-04:00

This past week we bought a new stove for the kitchen at the school. We had been trying to save up money for quite a while to buy a new one. The old stove the we had was very small and the flame was very low, which made it hard to cook lunch for all the kids since it was almost impossible to fit more than one pot on the stove at once, and cooking for such large quantities made the process go very slow.

We had someone donate some money which gave us enough to purchase a new stove. Here is a picture of Juana, the woman who does most of the cooking at the school. She and the other moms were very excited when they saw the new stove.

April Trip Home and Fundraising

2010-05-07T16:41:00.005-04:00

At the end of April I had the opportunity to take 2 weeks off to come home and visit my family, as well as do a little fundraising. The week started off wonderfully visiting with my sister and family in San Francisco and celebrating my niece, Lyla's, 1st birthday.

I then headed up to Santa Rosa to visit my dear friends Marissa and Erik.

After that I came home to Mariposa for a few days and got to share at my home church, Ponderosa Basin Chapel, and well as spending a day sharing with the High School Spanish classes. It was fun to get to see the high schoolers excited about learning about my experiences living in a Spanish speaking country.
I then headed down to San Luis Obispo to visit my brother and grandma and share at my college home church, Calvary SLO. I then took the 7 hour Amtrak back to SF, splurged on a taxi to the airport with my 2 50lb. suitcases full of treats, shopping, and gifts and spent the night in the airport in order to catch my 6 am flight back to the DR.

It was a wonderful trip full of loving family and friends and great times sharing at my two supporting churches. Now it is back to school and summer teams that began this week.

Spring Break

2010-04-08T17:06:00.002-04:00

On Sunday I will be coming back to California for a little vacation time as well as to do some fundraising. I will be speaking at Ponderosa Basin Chapel on April 18 and at Calvary Chapel San Luis Obispo on April 25. I hope to see you there!

Trash Pickup Day

2010-04-08T16:45:00.004-04:00

This past week we took the kids on a walk around the community to pick up trash. Here in the DR it is quite customary to just throw your trash on the ground. Kids see this modeled at home so would naturally grow up thinking that this is OK. It is actually quite a challenge at the school to teach the kids about throwing their trash in the trash can and about how it is all of our responsibilities to keep the Earth clean. Before we went out to pick up trash, we talked to the kids about how God created the Earth beautiful for us to enjoy and that He gave it to us to take care of. We told them that when people leave trash on the ground it makes God sad that we are destroying His creation. The kids were excited to help, especially after we gave each of them a pair of plastic gloves to wear. :-) I also overheard some of the older kids talking about how in their homes they always throw away their trash and that they tell their parents to do the same.

Shoe Crew

2010-04-08T13:05:00.005-04:00

This past week we had a group from Taylor University come down with a huge blessing to share. They brought brand new tennis shoes for all the kids in Mata Gorda! We had measured the kids feet before to make sure everyone got the right size shoes. They started off the day doing running games and then each child has their feet washed and and their new shoes put on their feet. As each child was getting their feet washed we prayed for them. Eliamar was especially excited because her shoes had Dora on them. :-) This boy, Jordani, doesn't go to our school but he comes from one of the poorest families in Mata Gorda. I have never once seen him with shoes on his feet, he is always barefoot. He was so excited when he got his new shoes, I have never seen someone smile so big! And it was so cute to see him prancing around all day so proud of his new shoes.

a crazy weekend

2010-03-08T16:36:00.004-04:00

This past weekend I made a quick trip home. Now when I was in college a weekend trip home was made quite often, but now that I live more than 3,000 miles away, a weekend trip seems anything but rational. However, I did it. I think I actually spent more time traveling than I did in California. But I was worth the sleepless lay overs: I was headed home to go to my Grandpa Lombard's memorial service. Back in February Grandpa passed away from a stroke after living a long and happy 86 years. The service was a wonderful tribute to his life. He was a wonderful man who loved the Lord and served Him with his life. Although it is always sad when someone passes, I am so thankful that we can rejoice knowing that Grandpa fought the fight and finished the race and is enjoying eternity with his Savior.

Child of the week - Kyarolin

2010-02-26T11:00:00.001-04:00

Meet Kyarolin:Now, I know that teachers are not supposed to have favorites. Don't get me wrong, I love each one of my kids just as much as the next, but their are a few kids who just pull my heart strings a little more. Kyarolin is one of those. Maybe it is the fact that she looks like a Cabbage Patch Doll.Or the fact that she sounds like a cartoon character when she talks.
Or the fact that she says that she is my daughter. In any case, I love Kyarolin and she is a joy and a laugh to be around. This is her first year at our school and she is 3 years old. Her main accomplishment that she has made this year is in the area of social development. At the beginning of the year she would be content to spend all of recess in my lap and never interact with the other kids. Now, the fact of the matter is that I would be happy to have her in my lap all day long, but I knew it was important for her to play with the other kids. So I started encouraging her to play with the other kids. I would take her over to the sand box and sit with her for a few minutes and then leave her contently playing alongside the other children. She has developed greatly in this area. She is still shy, which is fine, but at least she talks and interacts with the other kids more.
Kyarolin comes from a loving, stable household but her parents are not Christians. There is also a bit of turmoil in her household as her oldest sister, Diosmeri, who was the only real Christian of the family, just turned up pregnant by her boyfriend and got thrown out of the house. Pray for her family that they would come to a saving knowledge of Christ.

Happy Valentines Day

2010-02-20T10:37:00.000-04:00

For Valentines day we did a special art project with the kids at school. They turned out so cute and the kids were very excited to have something to take home to give to someone who they loved for Valentines Day. And of course it was another great opportunity to teach the kids about the greatest love of all: that God has for His people. It is so precious to me to teach my kids that no matter who else loves or doesn't love them, God always has and always will love them.

Student of the week

2010-02-19T14:59:00.003-04:00

Meet Adrian.

Adrian is 4 and this is his first year at the school. He was a late enrollment as one of the students dropped out. When his mother first brought him to the school she ensured me that he was a diablito (a little devil). This was very sad that she said this because she said it right in front of him, not in jest. She then told him that he had better behave himself because his teacher (me) was very mean and would spank him if he was bad. I quickly assured her that I was sure he was a good kid and would do just fine. Needless to say, this was not really the way I wanted to start out with him. I much prefer positive reinforcement instead of threatening punishment. But many parents do not give any form of positive reinforcement at home and think that the only way of discipline involves threats and spanking. Then kids grow up learning to not respect authority but only to fear punishment, which for many kids is not enough incentive to obey. Many parents and other people refer to kids as malcriados or poorly-raised. It makes me sad to hear people say this about kids because it makes me think that not even the parents care enough to try to raise their kids properly.
As it turns out, Adrian is anything but malcriado. He is a very sweet kid and always has a smile on his face. More recently he has starting tell me that he loves me about 50 times a day. He is extremely intelligent and has already learned to write his name all on his own. His mom tells me that he always insists on doing his homework by himself, with no one helping him.

Since he has started at the school I have also seen a change in his mom. She is a very nice lady and often comes to pick up Adrian early from school just to sit in the classroom and watch him. Sometimes she still makes comments to him that I would not necessarily approve of, but as she observes the way that I speak to the kids I see her attitude changing. Please pray for Adrian and his mom (Yesenia) that she would see her child the way that God sees him: as a blessing and a wonderful creation. Pray that she would understand that raising her child is a responsibility that God has given to her and that the way she treats her child now will affect him for the rest of his life.

Child of the week - Alexander

2010-02-05T18:05:00.005-04:00

I have decided to do something that I promised a long time ago: present a child from the school each week.

Meet Alexander.
Alexander is 4 years old and is in his second year at the school in my level 1 class. He is very smart and will be moving on to the next level class at the end of this year. He knows his whole alphabet, all the colors and can count very proficiently. He is still working on his handwriting skills and is getting better at writing his name without help. He is a very energetic child and especially enjoys playing with toy cars. His parents are not Christians so please pray for Alexander and his family that through him his family may come to know and worship Jesus.

Here he is receiving a Christmas gift from his sponsors (who happen to be my parents.):
If you are interested in sponsoring a child please contact me by email. lombard.katie@gmail.com

Sports

2010-02-05T16:51:00.004-04:00

Every Friday we do sports and games with the kids at school. We feel it is important to also teach the kids about physical fitness (you can never start too young, right?) so we always start that time off with doing stretches and other exercises. Since I love yoga, and kids are usually pretty flexible, i like to include some yoga moves into our stretches. Now, I don't tell the kids we are doing yoga I tell them that we are doing "animal exercises". Those of you who have ever done yoga know that many of the positions have animal names. Here are the kids doing an "Upward dog/ downward dog" which I told them was called the Lion to get them to growl at the end.I think it is cute how you can see some of them growling in the pictures.

Back to school!!

2010-02-05T16:44:00.002-04:00

The kids are excited to be back to school after a very long Christmas vacation!

A Big Accomplishment

2010-01-25T11:55:00.002-04:00

During the last year and a half that I have been here in the DR I have discovered a love that I have for translating. Now, for those of you who know me you know that one of my least favorite things in public speaking, but I have found that I love it when I am not the one coming up with the words to say. :-) When we have teams here that come down from the States, every morning one of our staff members gives a Bible study talk. When that staff member happens to be a Spanish speaker, I am often called upon to translate. Like I said, I really enjoy doing this. Also when we have teams, we get the church service translated. Last summer I told a few people, "my goal is to be the church translator by next summer." This is a pretty bold statement, considering the circumstances. Allow me to elaborate: our pastor is one of the fastest speakers around. There are American missionaries who have been here for years and still don't understand his sermons. Oh, and did I mention his sermons are an hour long? So I've been quite intimidated at the thought of offering my services as a translator, even though every Sunday I sit in church understanding every single word coming out of his mouth.

Well, yesterday I was faced with my worst fear. I was asked to translate. I was so nervous to be up in front of everyone and scared that he would say things that I wouldn't understand. Before the service I met with the pastor in his office. "Are you nervous?" he asked me. "A little," I under-exagerated. "You know what?" he said. "I am the last person who anyone would imagine would want to be a public speaker. But God has given me this responsibility to take the Good News to the Dominican people. And now this is your responsibility: to take God's words to the North Americans who are here this afternoon." Good point. Basically he told me to suck it up and do what God wants me to do.

And I did. And it went well. I made a few mistakes, sure. And I'm sure everyone in the crowd could see my hand shaking as I held the microphone. But I spoke the Good News. I was God's voice speaking through the pastor in Spanish to the English speakers. I was an instrument used by God to carry His message. And that's all I really want in life.

An unpleasant Surprise

2010-01-20T07:55:00.002-04:00

This week it was back to the school to starting cleaning and organizing to get ready for the next term of classes. When I opened the door to my classroom I found it fairly dusty but not in too bad of shape. I then looked over to my cabinet where I keep all my art supplies and noticed that the doors were half open and there was a bunch of stuff on the ground in front of it. I thought this was pretty odd but then thought that maybe the earthquake had knocked some stuff over. I went over for closer inspection and started to take things out and out runs and HUGE rat!! And I do mean huge, it was about 8 inches long. Disgusting. So after screaming and running to the other side of the school and waiting for some of the kids to take everything out of my closet so that they could catch the rat, I went back in to assess the damage. I never know a rat could eat so much stuff!! This little devil not only ate through a jar of bird seed that I used for discovery table/ science projects, it ate through bottles of paint, construction paper, cardboard boxes, tissue paper, foam art supplies....basically everything!! I literally had to throw away about 1/2 of my art supplies. And did my classroom ever smell bad!!! I had no idea that a rat could cause so much damage. This is not the way that I wanted to start off the school term: without supplies. But now at least I know that I should get a new closet because the doors of this one doesn't shut very well. And I need to store everything in strong plastic tubs to keep out rats and cockroaches.

Live and learn.

Family Christmas in the DR

2010-01-17T13:59:00.002-04:00

This December I decided to stay here in the DR and not come back to California and instead welcome my whole family here for Christmas in the Caribbean. It was such a blessed time having everyone (mom, dad, leah, jared, lyla mae, and jacob) here in my home and sharing with them my love for this country and it's people. It was also wonderful to have them here to get to know my boyfriend of 8 months, Cristian. Despite the small language barrier he and my family were able to get to know each other wonderfully using "spanglish" with minimal confusion.

We had Christmas Eve dinner (the big celebration here in the DR) with Cristian's family complete with roasted pork, the traditional dish for "Noche Buena". We then had Christmas morning at my house, complete with ebelskivers (danish pancakes, a Lombard family tradition) for breakfast. The next few days were spent relaxing at my house, hiking to waterfalls, visiting Mata Gorda, and the guys going crazy on motorcycles. From there we travelled to a beach resort on the south side of the island in a town called Boca Chica. We spent 2 beautiful days relaxing by the pool and swimming in the warm caribbean sea. On our last day we toured the capital city of Santo Domingo, stopping first at "Los Tres Ojos" which are 3 underground lakes, and then walking around the Colonial District where there are many old historic buildings from the days of Columbus.

Overall it was a wonderful trip and I am so happy and thankful that they were all able to make the trip down here. It is always so wonderful to me to have all my family together, especially after not seeing them for more than 6 months.

If you would like to see pictures of their time here you can click on this link which will take you to my facebook album (you will be able to look at the pics even if you are not on Facebook.)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=142674&id=697195043&l=77a3676dcd

Earthquake in Haiti

2010-01-17T13:48:00.002-04:00

I have received many emails from people wondering how the DR faired in the huge earthquake that hit Haiti on Tuesday. Rest assured that all is well here. Many people felt the tremor but there was not damage in the DR. Praise God. Thank you so much for all of your concern and prayers. Please continue to pray and support in any way possible the relief effort in Haiti. Pray for me as well as I (being the bleeding heart that I am, according to my dad) would love to go first hand and help in anyway possible. Pray that I would be able to use wisdom in discerning what is the best way I can help, whether that means helping out here in the DR with the many displaced Haitians and orphans who are being sent here, or if it means actually going to Haiti. Both of my roommates work with Kids Alive international, which is a large international missions organization that specializes in working with orphans and at risk kids. They have already been in contact with the government officials of both Haiti and the DR and will be accepting Haitian orphans into their DR orphanages and care centers as early as this week, so there is definitely a possibility that I could get involved there as well.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. I will be working on putting together another newsletter soon, so keep your eyes out for that.

Viaje al Pueblo

2009-12-18T17:00:00.012-04:00

For the last day of school before vacations Alberto and I decided to do something special with the kids. The majority of the kids from our school live in the community of Mata Gorda, which is a small rural community about 20 minutes from town. Most of the families only go into town about once a week at most and it is very rare that the kids ever go; only if it is a special occasion or if they are sick and need to see a doctor.

So Alberto and I decided that it would be really fun to take the kids on a 'field trip' into town. We rented a taxi mini-bus and loaded all 22 kids and 4 teachers inside.
The kids were so excited as we began our journey into town, pointing out landmarks that they recognized to show us that they had been to town before. There was also a lively discussion determining who had been into town more than the next kid.

Our first stop was the town park. Now, this is not a playground park like many of you might imagine but more like a town square. In most Latin American towns there is one or many parks like this one always next to a large Catholic church.

Look at these two cuties waiting patiently for instructions. The kids had a blast running around the park and up and down the stairs.
We then bought them ice cream, about 50% of which was dropped on the ground, but they all enjoyed it nonetheless. Next we took them to Doulos Discovery School, which is a very nice private Christian school here in Jarabacoa. They have a really cool playground so we let the kids play there for about an hour.
They especially enjoyed the koi pond with fish and turtles!
To top off the day we took them to Pica Pollo for friend chicken and fried green bananas for lunch. Yum!!

Christmas Party

2009-12-18T09:06:00.008-04:00

This past wednesday we had a Christmas party for the kids in Mata Gorda. In true Dominican style, nothing went as planned. :-) The projector that we were going to use got loaned out to someone else, so we had to find another one at the last minute. THanks so much YWAM!!! Then the movie that we were going to show (the Nativity Story) ended up not having Spanish audio so we decided to show The Jesus Film for kids instead, since it was in Spanish. Then I was trying to make stovetop popcorn at the school but the stove was so slow in heating up that I stood there for like 30 minutes without a single kernel popping. Needless to say I was feeling a little stressed and frustrated, but God took care of all the details and everything ended up working great/ ANd nobody really seemed to mind that we were running late because events here typically don't start until at least an hour after the announced time. THe movie was a huge success and the popcorn was ready just in time Once the actual movie started the little school was packed. Many community members showed up for the movie which was wonderful. After the movie everyone was treated to some home-made treats. The party continued with each child receiving a bag full of gifts. The gifts included stuffed animals, toy cars, purses, playdough, puzzles, pencils, candy and a new toothbrush and tube of toothpaste. The kids were so excited to receive these gifts as many of them would otherwise not get any gifts for Christmas.
The party was so much fun and it make me so happy to see the joy on the kids' faces when they received their gifts. Praise God for the joy He brings us during this season. I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to share this joy and His love with the children of Mata Gorda.

A very sad event

2009-12-15T14:33:00.002-04:00

This past week we experienced an unfortunate event in the community of Mata Gorda. A women who lives near the school was shot and killed by her abusive husband. She is survived by 3 small children all under the age of 10. On the day of the murder the children came to the school crying after witnessing their grandmother collapse upon hearing the news. It was kind of surreal having the kids with me all day, because I could tell that they were upset, but they didn't quite understand what was happening. It simply broke my heart looking at these kids and knowing that they would grow up the rest of their lives without their mother. Fortunately, the community of Mata Gorda has rallied around the kids and are all pitching in taking care of them. One family is even talking about adopting the daughter, which would be wonderful as they are a strong Christian family.

Please pray for Mata Gorda during this hard time as many are still suffering the after-affects of this tragedy. Especially pray for the children who are now without parents. Pray that they would grow up being loved more than they could ever know and that they would learn to know and love God, their heavenly Father, who is always with them no matter what tragedy strikes.

Semester Student

2009-12-15T14:27:00.004-04:00

Here in the DR Students International has a partnership with Bethel College in Indiana. Every fall they send a group of mission minded students down to study spanish, take cross-cultural missions classes and work in our ministry sites. I had the pleasure of having one of those students helping out in my classroom for the last 2 months. Meet Caitlin.
It was such a pleasure having her in my class. She was a big help and such a sweet girl to get to know. She just left this past week to head back home and it was very sad to see her go.

I have 8 grandchildren... make that 'grandpuppies'

2009-11-10T08:20:00.005-04:00

Yep, that's right. Feíz had her puppies.

FELÍZ!!!!

2009-11-03T15:04:00.006-04:00

As many of you may remember, back in January I got a cute little lab/dalmation/great dane mix puppy. She was the sweetest dog ever and I loved playing with her and going running with her. Sadly, at the beginning of the summer she disappeared. I'm still not sure if she ran away or was stolen but it was very sad for me as I had grown very attached to her. Well, the summer went on, me still missing Felíz and then I moved into a new house in the middle of August. This new house has a nice yard and I was planning on looking around to try to get another puppy. Then, one morning, Felíz miraculously finds her way back home!! I was so happy I almost started crying. It is such a mystery, I have no idea where she was; she was gone for 4 months!! It has been so nice having her back, she is still the sweet, gentle dog that she was as a puppy.

Well, to make the story even more exciting, about 2 weeks ago I started noticing that she was looking a little plump. Not just like I had been feeding her too much, but seriously large. Yep, you guessed it: she's pregnant! So, my thinking is she much have gotten pregnant before she came back to me. Nice that she came back home to have the puppies.... Now she is huge and I think she will have them any day now. Oh joy....

Bomberos

2009-11-03T14:39:00.004-04:00

Water is always an issue here in the DR. It is kind of strange, actually, since it rains so much here, but more often than not there is no water flowing through the pipes here in the campo (countryside) of Mata Gorda.

This past week our cistern had completely run dry and there was no water coming from the street to fill it up. This meant not only the school but the entire community was out of water. THere were still dirty dishes from lunch from the day before and the classrooms hadn't been mopped in 2 days, so we decided that it was time to take some action. We called the firefighters in town and had them bring out a truck full of water to fill the cistern.
The kids went crazy seeing the firetruck and had lots of fun watching the fireman fill up the cistern with the huge hose.

Francys even got to sit up in the front of the truck!!

Thank the Lord that we have water again!!

Video Post

2009-09-12T18:47:00.002-04:00

I put together this video to send to churches and supporters. These clips were taken this first week of school of my new class of 3 and 4 year olds. Enjoy!!

A fun science activity

2009-08-02T11:29:00.008-04:00

Some of my favorite activities to do with the kids are activities outside. This past week we took magnifying glasses outside to look at all the different leaves on the trees around the school

Then we took the leaves inside and made crayon rubbings of our findings
It was a great activity, as the kids love to be outside as well. And I loved seeing their surprise and excitement as the image of the leaf showed up on their paper. That's what I love about teaching: the wonder and excitement of discovery.

End of the year Pics

2009-08-02T10:34:00.004-04:00

next post..... graduation!!!

Cultures Collide

2009-08-02T10:20:00.004-04:00

This past team I had the pleasure of not only working with a new team of American students, but also a group of Korean students. A group came from a church in Michigan with a group of mainly Korean exchange students. It was so fun for me to learn a little about Korean culture and I loved listening to them speak Korean amongst themselves. They were great students with amazing hearts for service. The kids at school especially enjoyed when they taught them how to write their names in Korean! Here we are with our names in Korean
Here is Chang Woo writing our names in Korean

My unofficial summer intern

2009-08-02T09:52:00.002-04:00

Meet Abby.

Abby is the daughter of one of our Colombian staff members, Daisy, who works at the women's social work site. I invited Abby to come and help me out this summer in my class. She was a huge blessing to me as she is a native Spanish speaker and was able to be a big help to me in my class. And the surprise blessing came when I realized that she was also very fluent in English! She integrated herself right in with the summer teams of Americans that came and went every two weeks. I am so thankful for Abby's willingness to give up her summer vacation to help me and my kids and serve the Lord with her talents and love for children.

Thanks Abby!!!

VBS

2009-08-01T21:30:00.005-04:00

Summer is winding down here is Mata Gorda. Both the teachers and the kids were feeling like we needed to change things up here at the school So we decided to put on a VBS for the kids. It was pretty simple, but turned out to be so much fun. The kids split into three groups and rotated throughout the day doing art activities, playing sports and learning a Bible story.

The best part of each day was the end when we would quiz the kids on the memory verse of the day. We had a sound system set up and the kids loved talking in the microphone. It was very entertaining watching the kids stumble through the verses, but even sweeter hearing the Word of God come out of these kids' mouths. I was reminded of Psalm 119:11 that says "I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You." Essentially that is our goal: to teach these kids God's word so that they might choose to follow Him. It was a sweet reminder of the eternal impact of every little thing that we do.