Update (Finally.....)

Now that I've been back in the States for about 5 months now, I figured that I should update this. I apologize to those of you who have been checking my blog regularly, waiting on the edge of your seat for an update. :-)

As many of you know, I've been living with my best friend Marissa Oswald in Santa Rosa for the last few months. It has been a wonderfuly blessing living with her. I work full-time as a preschool teacher at a school in Rohnert Park. It is alot of fun, but very tiring.

I will start soon to begin raising support to return to the Dominican Republic for full-time ministry. This summer I will attend a missions training conference as well as a month of intensive language school before moving to the DR in August.

I appreciate your prayers during this time as I am working to save money and begin fundraising. Pray that I would trust God with my finances as I begin to raise support. Also, please pray for me during this time of preparation and waiting before I return back to the mission field. I know that God has some special things in store for me right now, even though I feel so impatient to get back to the DR. Please pray that God would be using me even now to further his work both here and abroad. Pray that He would be speaking to me and preparing me for what is next in my life as I am preparing to go into full time ministry.

I would love to keep you all updated during this process and will be doing so both my email, my blog and by snail mail. If
you were not on my mailing list before or have changed your contact information, please shoot me a quick email (lombard.katie@gmail.com) with your mailing address.

Thanks so much for all your continued support!

Con mucho amor,
Katie

p.s. here is a little family photo taken this Christmas:

Last Day

After almost 8 months of working at the school in Mata Gorda, the last day came. It was a sad, sad day, but I truly felt the impact that I had on the kids as during the morning orientation each of the kids stood up and said some sort of a fairwell message to me.



I don't think that I can write anysort of closing message to sum up my trip, I'm not quite ready for that yet. But I can say that God did an amazing work in me while I was there, and I am excited to see what He will continue to do as I return.

Ya Se Leer

Centro Preescolar Hogar Cristiano in Mata Gorda was please to present their first set of graduates. We graduated 4 girls who had achieved the goal of reading proficiency. They will now move on to 2nd grade.

The graduation started with a procession behind the flag.




Each of the graduates performed a demonstration of their reading ability and were presented with a certificate.



Here are the four graduates from our school with their padrinos.

Capital Siteseeing

The summer interns and I took a trip of our own to the capital to see the sights.

Our first stop was Tres Ojos, which is a set of three underground lakes. It was absolutely amazing, I'd never see anything like it before. Unfortunately, the pictures don't quite do it justice...






We spent some time in the old Colonial District, where there are old buildings from when Colombus first came to settle on the island.

Beach Trip to Puerto Plata

The summer interns and I were treated to a weekend at the beach in the middle of a busy summer. It was a great weekend of relaxation and bonding. Thanks SI!

Field Trip to the Capital

After 2 semesters of saving peso by peso, we were able to take the kids on a field trip to the capital, Santo Domingo. We loaded all the kids from both preschools, as well as all the teachers and several parent helpers onto a bus for the 3 hour trip to the capital.

Our first stop was to Trampoline, a children's museum, where the kids were led on a guided tour through exibits about space, the earth, the human body, and natural wildlife of the DR.





We then took the kids to an aquariam right by the ocean. It was amazing seeing the kids running through the aquarium saying things like, "look! There's Nemo!"




Many of the kids had never seen the ocean before and kept asking if it was just a big river. It was so fun to see them all so excited about seeing new things.




It was truly a treat to spend this day watching the kids learn so many new things and have so many new experiences.

Campamento

Two weeks ago the two SI schools joined together for a week of Vacation Bible School. We brought all 48 kids to the SI base for days filled with Bible Stories, games, dancing, swimming, and art. The children look forward to this week every summer and it turned out to be very successful once again. Here are some pictures from our fun week....

The children listening to a Bible story:


Coloring a picture after Bible lesson:


Gunny sack races:


Dancing the Hokey Pokey:


Swimming in the pool at the end of the day: