"the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore."
Psalm 121:8
Saluda de la Republica Dominicana! We are happy to say that we have safely arrived back home to Santiago. Our Dominican and Haitian brothers and sisters welcomed us with a big hug and bright smiles as they do to everyone that comes to see them (the gift of hospitality). We made it to our apartment around 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday night and immediately unpacked so we could wake up the next morning and join the wonderful sounds of roosters, motorcycles and kids playing at the school next door. It's amazing how quiet our parents' homes are compared to here......even during the holidays. A little peace and quiet was nice, but these noises have become a part of our life.
This is our apartment in Santiago (the pink one up top)
Our last couple of weeks in the States were outstanding as we continued to visit with friends and family. The last Sunday that we were in town we had the opportunity to present G.O. Ministries to our church in Louisville (St. John United Methodist). The president of the ministry, Brook Brotzman, came and delivered a message that prepared us to return to work here on the island of Hispaniola. Brook truly is an instrument of God and allows Him to use him in a powerful way. A big thank you to Pastor Kelly McClendon and the St. John crew for giving us that Sunday to share our hearts and allow people to learn more about the ministry. We are excited about the church coming down here to work in March.
Our other home church in Dalton, GA, (Dalton First Church of the Nazarene) is defining the phrase "team-building" as they prepare for their trip in June. Thank you to all that have taken the leap to join us for a week in serving the Dominicans and Haitians. We are so excited to have the opportunity to share future experiences together.
To those of you we got to see over the holidays, we enjoyed our time together. For those of you we didn't have the opportunity to sit down with, we pray that that time will come soon whether it be in the States or here in the Dominican Republic. To all of you, thank you so much for allowing us to work in 2006. God has used all of you in a mighty way to teach us what it means to give of yourself....fully. Many of you are making sacrifices by setting aside time to pray for us, giving financially or sending encouraging words; we love you all and we hope that God will use us in return to provide something for you as well.
As we've prayed about where God is leading us for this new year, we ran across something in a book called "Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell:
"Missions is less about the transportation of God from one place to another and more about the identification of a God who is already there. It is almost as if being a good missionary means having really good eyesight. Or maybe it means teaching people to use their eyes to see things that have always been there; they just didn't realize it. You see God where others don't. And then you point Him out."
Please pray that God will allow us to see where He is in everyone and help bring Him to the surface. We will be praying the same for you. HE is all around us and always has been. Let him shine!
Con el amor de Cristo,
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Will and Audrey
Will and Audrey
