Just got home this afternoon late from a two-day drive.  Dry pavement and a fun companion made the journey quite easy!

An update on David and Jill and our grandboys:

David’s doctor appointment today was positive. The doctor took all the staples out and said the wound and the incisions looked just as he expected them to look. David is now 12 days into recovery. He is moving a bit more each day. On Monday he expended a huge extra amount of energy to go 45 minutes away into Oklahoma to see his grandmother in the hospital. She was taken from her Nursing Home on Friday with a blood clot which moved from her leg to her lung. She was responsive when we were there and she expressed that she knew how much he loves her that he would make all the effort to see her. He’s was really exhausted, but I know wouldn’t have not gone for anything!

Thanks to everyone who is praying for him and Jill and the boys. I had a lot of fun with the boys while I was there.  And one day we made the cutest paper bag handpuppets from kits at Walmart and the boys put on a show with a blanket draped over David’s walker for the stage. I got to walk them to school and back two days, as well. We even went to the Wild Things Farm and went on a hayride, saw all kinds of animals, did a real old-fashioned pump to get water, and picked our own pumpkins.

And Jill makes an excellent nurse!  She is taking great care of David and her boys.

So this Nana/ Mom is peaceful tonight as I put the day to bed!

Blessings to all!

This is the most efficient way I know to get the request out for prayers for our dear son-in-law David. He had a motorcycle accident Saturday morning and broke his left leg .. compound fracture. They “cleaned up” the wound in OR Sat. aft and left the wound open for surgery Monday. They didn’t do his surgery until 8:15pm last nite  — two hours to put a rod thru one of his lower leg bones.  The other (fibula and tibia) “will take care of itself,” according to his doctor. He will not be in a hard cast, but no weight-bearing for six weeks.

Tonight he is in “excruciating pain” and has been for over 8 hours. The pain block was to have lasted about 12 hours, so had worn off by 1p this afternoon.  Please pray for him that the pain will be subdued and he will have relief!!!

My experience with broken bones is confined to my feet, but I can testify that it is WORSE than childbirth pain and that’s according to my “natural” birithing of our two daughters.  And my broken bones were nothing compared to a major leg bone into which a metal rod has been inserted!

David needs DIVINE INTERVENTION!! 

Thanks to all who are reading this right now!!  And blessings upon you!! May you never know this pain, or if you have, may it never come again!! [Nahum 2:9b]

[Just found this page I had typed and "lost" on May 17 .. maybe the other one I lost is somewhere buried in the website, as well.  Will go ahead and publish this now, even if it is a bit redundant, there is still some info I hadn't included. Thanks for bearing with the redundancy!]

Hello to all our family and friends:

Arrived Santo Domingo at 11:30pm on May 15 but by the time we had cleared Customs, it was well after midnight.  Since we’d gotten up at 3:30am, we were nearly at 24 hours travel time before laying our weary bodies down.  Our ride from the airport at nearly 90mph was interesting, to say the least!!!!  Again, thanks for ALL who are praying for us!!

Friday am after breakfast my tummy reacted to something it didn’t like, so I spent the day resting, which we had planned to do anyway.  Ian got to swim in the pool and thinks he’s in heaven with 100% attention from his Nana and “Papa,” as he now calls his Poppy. 

Today I feel better, but today was a nightmare trying to get our AmEx Travelers’ Checks cashed.  We met a dear lady from the American Embassy here in Santo Domingo at the MIami airport.  She had given me her cell number, so I called and she “happened” to be nearby and offered to take us by car to see if a money exchange was open.  She even took us by Western Union.  Because it is Saturday — and a holiday weekend for the Domincans because yesterday was their Presidential election — nothing worked.  Finally, we called Am Ex and they gave us instructions.  We went back to the hotel desk and VERY NICE clerk did help us, so we were able to get some money at last.  Then we walked to a nearby supermarket and bought water and few other snacks.

Have had a short swim, now will eat supper — room service. Ian begs to have them bring the food to the room, as he loves the treat!!  Still trying to be careful and figure out what will be safe to eat.  So far, most has been tasty.

Tomorrow?? The beach … Boca Chico .. most popular around here.  We have only caught a glimpse of the ocean as we had a bit of a “tour” this afternoon, chasing our money.  So we are excited to see, taste and feel the true Dominican!!

Love and Blessings to all! And please continue to keep us in your prayers.

How blessed we are in the USA!!  My aunt, who had opportunity to do much world travel, always said there is no place on earth like the United States!!  We have new eyes, as we look around our home this morning, as we go about our “usual” morning routine — as we re-enter the privileged existence we have in this world!  I made coffee: took a VERY CLEAN pot and filled it quickly and easily with clean, PURE water (relatively speaking, of course) from the tap and poured it into my electric coffee maker and within five minutes — coffee (Dominican!!).  Our refrigerator is cold and holds an even temperature because we do not typically have disruptions in our service or power.  Our home …. so many materials things I cannot even begin to number — and stout, solid walls that separate our NINE rooms!!!  And our yard!!! Green, beautiful grass and so expansive — no debris, no trash everywhere, no broken pipes and no wires – electric or otherwise – dragging onto the ground.  And our roads!! Wide lanes, orderly movement of vehicles even when changing lanes — speed limits, visible law enforcement, such a sense of safety and protection (again, relatively speaking!!).

When we cleared Customs in Ft. Lauderdale yesterday, we were in a very long line, many of whom were Dominican who had been on the plane with us.  Suddenly, a Customs agent said to us — “You are Americans, you are Residents, you go to that line.” There were about ten people in that line. I felt like royalty — really.  And my gratitude for our Customs and Border Protection officers was overwhelming.  I truly cannot describe how we value the law and order in this country after having experienced the vulnerablility we felt as Caucasians and “Americanos” in the DR.  The poverty and need there is consuming!!

The Dominicans themselves exhibit a sense of vulnerability, as we observed with the various people with whom we had to do. That, in fact, is one of the key words that Vision Mundial uses about the children who are absorbed into their care — the vulnerable ones, as all children are really!  But  all the more in the DR.  We received something from WV while we were away that said in 2007 a law has been passed, but not implemented, that  would help thousands of children receive birth certificates, giving them a nationality and rights as citizens of the country.

So, what does the Lord want of us, having had these experiences? That will be what we will be determining in the coming days.  I have been reminded a number of times during this trip of the passage of Scripture that I had marked in the small Bible I carried as a bride –

Michah 6:8 He has told thee, O Man, what is good and what the Lord requires of thee — to do justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Please pray that all children be respected and garanteed their rights — that the law will be implemented!! 

We are so grateful for you prayers — more than you can possibly imagine!!! We could feel your prayers surrounding us throughout our travels.  Dios te bendiga!!  Jesus te ama!!!

[God bless you!  Jesus loves you!]

 We are exhilirated with the experiences we had yesterday.  It was harrowing on the roads. They ARE loco in the way they drive. Carmen, our interpreter from WV, said if you can drive in Santo Domingo, you can drive anywhere in the world!! [Our driver from the aeropuerto drove 90mph! Our drivers since have been much more reasonable!!]
   Natanael’s family are all Christians.  The grandfather (Abuelo) was so tender-hearted. He wanted us to pray with his family almost as soon as we arrived.  We did so shortly before we left.  The grandmother (Abuela) was very sweet, as well, and is a true horticulturalist.  She was proud to show us herplants in a contrived covered area on the side of the structure where they live.  They live in a wood hut, tin roof, no walls, only curtains hung to separated four spaces in the quarters plus a very unhygienic kitchen.  While we sat there, a rooster hopped in thru the open window (no glass, of course, only a wooden shutter that could be used to close it.  He hopped onto a table of sorts beside
the window and hopped right back out.  I imagine the table is used for food preparation, as well.  Ian and I walked into the kitchen to see the rooster out back and saw the ducks they raise “as a small business.” They were pitiful specimens, tho the rooster was quite handsome.  The ducks were filthy.  I
encouraged Ian immediately back from the window.
   The mother, age 25, Yenifer, was very quiet and sweet.  Carlos, the father did not speak much either. Abuelo and Abuela [we never got their real names] were the greater communicators and even knew just a bit of English. The children were quite shy — Damari, the oldest, a girl, age 7, and Natanael.  The youngest was sooo winsome with his quick smile — Samuel.  Many other children surfaced in the quarters throughout our 2 1/2 – 3 hour visit.  Some were cousins, others “amigos.”  Carmen was wonderful as our translator, but had difficulty being in several places at once, as there were also two aunts who were there and a child of one of them.  Once a mother from nearby came to check
on her son.  We were told later she has AIDS and she and her family are receiving help from the World Vision International [Vision Mundial] projects. 

   Natanael warmed up with Ian.  Ian and he threw the baseball and Natanael was obviously enjoying it and learning from Ian to throw overhand. Once he handed the glove to Ian, it seemed to learn from him how he uses it. 
  When we were ready to go, we wanted to pray and learned that Abuelo and Carlos
had gone to get us coconuts.  They returned with three and Abuelo proceeded to
use a machete in an outdoor “kitchen” area that they must use to make the
coconut candies that he also makes to sell as “a small business.”   That seems
to be the only way they have of generating income.  Afterwards, we prayed the
aunt who first wrote to us in response for Natanael wanted to read Ps. 128. 
Carmen translated it.  We then had a meaningful prayer time. 
   [The three coconuts each went home with Carmen, Lusmarie [the local onsite
project contact who directed to Natanael's dwelling], and Miguel, our WV driver.
  Then we went to a local shopping department/food store with a Food Court and
each of them had lunch (4pm by then) on us. We only ate the snacks we had
brought. 

  I had spent about an hour writing on this with much more detail when I hit a key that made it all disappear again. Probably spent 15 minutes trying to retrieve it to no avail. The enemy is fighting my publishing the information about the Vision Mundial’s work here with over 40,000 children in the Dominican Republic.  We were told that they are all chosen as the “poorest of the poor!” The Dominican population is about 7 million!

More to come ….

OK … Will try to get this published when I finish … somehow I messed up last nite after editting what I’d written and I lost it all …

Arrived Santo Domingo airport [SDQ, airport code] about 11:30pm.  Had a long delay at Miami International airport [MIA].  By the time we cleared Immigration and then Customs with our bags and found our driver and got to the hotel, it was nearly 1:30am.  We started the day at 3:30am from Dayton [DAY], then to Nashville [BNA], then to MIA, then finally SDQ.  So after nearly 24 hours, we were able to lay our weary bodies down.  A good sleep!!  Ian was a trooper throughout — his first word after clearing the clouds out of DAY was “AWESOME!!!!!!”  He got a good dose of take-offs and landings, both of which he really liked.  Very little turbulence — just about for an hour out of BNA.

Then after a wonderful breakfast on Friday morning, my tummy decided it didn’t like something and ejected it all!!  YUCK!!  Don’t know if it was the bug I seemed to be working on the week before travelling or the long day of travel or the anit-malarial med we’re all taking or probably it was “(e) all of the above.”  Anyway, we’d planned on a day of rest on Friday, just hanging at the hotel and enjoying the pool.  So, I rested, as did Bruce and Ian after an enjoyable time at the pool.  Bruce met some men from New York, investors and one is a real estate developer here in the DR.  He enjoyed the guy talk — politics (our Presidential campaigns, etc.) and finances.

Ian is loving having 100% attention from his Nana and “Papa,” as he now calls Poppy.  He has a Nintendo in the room, so is competing with himself on Mario every chance he gets.  And he is practicing with his new snorkling gear in the pool … really quite good at using the fins and the snorkle.  He will be amazed when he gets to see the underwater world at the beach — Boca Chico!!!

Friday was a national holiday in the DR for their Presidential elections.  We got an alert from the US Government about travelling here just before we left.  We registered with the State Dept. that we were coming here, so they had our personal email to contact us.  However, because we’d planned to “lay low” anyway, we were completely safe int he hotel.  There were seven candidates.  The incumbent Leonel Fernandez was elected for a third term with 53% of the vote.  Yesterday there were cars with purple flags round and about.  Some whooping it up, too.  The flags, we were told by a lady we met at MIA who works at the US Embassy here, are the colors of his candidacy.

Saturday we had planned to go to the beach. We went to the hotel desk to cash AM EX travellers checks into Dominican pesos (RD$) and they wouldn’t do it,  The clerk said Bruce’s signature did not match his passport!!  After attempts to negotiate the issue, we went back to the room to re-group.  We then tried to use the ATM at the hotel with two different credit cards, to no avail.

This wonderful lady from the Embassy had given me her cell and work fone numbers and I had planned to call her to get the name and number of a driver.  When I called her, she just “happened” to be about five minutes away from the hotel and offered to take us to a Money Exchange the clerk had told us about.  She doubted it was open because of the holiday weekend and she was right.  She then took us to Western Union, giving us an impromtu “tour” on the way.  WU couldn’t help us either.  So she brought us back to the hotel, showing us the Consulate and the Embassy, as well, which are only a block from the hotel!!! We also had gone by the coastline on our was to WU, our first glimpse of the ocean, as it was dark when we came across it from Miami.

So, to continue our money woes … we re-grouped again, calling the States and our Citibank card to determine why it wouldn’t work in the ATM and what we could do about it. [Have no idea how much THAT call cost!!!!]  Finally, we tho’t to call AM EX, supposed to be able to do it COLLECT, but not!!  They were great, tho, telling us that the hotel clerk could call them and AM EX would give them an approval code so they would be assured that the Central Banco in the DR would pay on the checks!!! We got a much more compassionate clerk this time and FINALLY were able to get our RD$!!!!!!  We then walked two blocks to the supermercado, the supermarket, and were able to buy water and a few snacks with our credit card.

We are holding onto the cash.  It will cost $45USD or RD$1530 each way to Boca Chico today.  With tip, that comes to RD$3100.  It is fun, yet challenging to make sure we are calculating the currency accurately and not being taken advantage of.  Ian, of course, is fascinated with the difference in the currency — appearance and our conversation about “how much in pesos!”

Ian is learning a little Spanish, too — “Piscina” is pool.  “Gracias” and “Por favor” are other phrases he’s working on.  He and Papa went on a lizard hunt after breakfast this morning.  Bruce had seen one yesterday and I saw a chamelion last nite.   They found the one Bruce had seen, probably a gecko. It is about 9″ long and is black and red and yellow, Ian said.  They’ve just come down from Mario upstairs while I wrote this lengthy epistle!!  They are ready to go to “la playa!”  While they wait for me to finish (“finito”), Ian said, “Let’s go on another lizard hunt!!”

Tomorrow we meet Natanael!!! Praise the Lord.  That is why we are here.  The LORD gave me Ps. 102:17 “He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer,” as the focus for our trip.  It touches my heart deeply to think that we may be a part of God’s answer to their “desperate” prayers.  We are in the best part of town, the lady from the Embassy told us, and you would have trouble believing the poverty even in this part.

More of our adventures to come!! 

 

Love to all and thanking you over and over for your prayers!!

Just wrote a few paragraphs about our arrival and first and second day, but must now have saved, so it’s not here. I will have to update tomorrow as I am too tired and hungry to re-do.

  Thanks for keeping us in your prayers!!

Hello, Everybody,

  We are in Dayton at the Fairfield Inn, as we have to be at the airport at 4:30am and knew it would be too stressful to load the car, park and be there on time with a full day (14 hours) of travel ahead of us.  So, here we are.  And glad we are that all the packing is done.  We are loaded with fun goodies for the Natanael and his brother, 2, and his sister, 7, who are yet to have names for us .. but soon!

We will try to add to this site as the days go by, assuming that we can access a computer at the hotel, Marriott Courtyard in Santo Domingo in the DR.

   We love all of you who are reading this.  And thanks.       

Many of you know by now that we have been sponsoring a little boy – Natanael – in the Dominican Republic for three years. He is 5 years old.  Well, Bruce and I decided about two months ago that we wanted to go to the Dominican to meet him and his family and visit his community.  Soooo … with much red tape now behind us, we are leaving on Thursday and taking Ian, age 6, Amy & John’s eldest, with us.  What an adventure this will no doubt be!!  World Vision, the ministry organization, will send a driver and interpreter (They speak Spanish.) on Monday morning to drive us to the ADP (not sure what that means yet), where he lives.  We don’t fly home until Wednesday so we’re hoping there may be reason to return for a second day on Tuesday.  We are taking all kinds of gifts — clothes, school supplies, toys — to Natanael and his younger brother, age 2, and his older sister, age 7, and his parents.

Please keep us in your prayers, as this is something we have never done before, and we are not going with a group, so we will have to troubleshoot any situations on our own that may occur .  The contact at World Vision, Carmen de Leon, seemed very nice, tho, and has given us her personal mobile phone number.  We have taken shots and are taking an oral anti-malarial medication.  Quite honestly, it has already been an adventure. 

Ian is so excited to be flying in an airplane, as his lament has been that he doesn’t remember flying “because I was only two years old.”  But once the plans were in place, he began to get nervous, asking whether it was cold up in the airplane and telling us he was “just a little bit scared.”  This will be something he will never forget, we are sure.  Please pray that it will be a formative spiritual experience in his young life. 

And pray that Natanael and his family will be deeply impacted that God sees and cares enough about each one of them, that He would send His blessings to them through us.  What a privilege and honor it is to be His vessels on this mission.

Thank you!!

 

This is the first time I have ever been here on this blog page. I am excited to be able to communicate with my family and friends in this format. I will be adding to this on a regular basis so you will know what is happening in our world.  We ALL have a lot of love to share and this will be a great way to do so.  Keep smiling, Everybody!!