More Post Flood Pictures. You will recognize some families.

DISASTER UPDATE:  Monte Llano Flood

Just wanted to touch base with everyone about what is going on in Monte Llano.  Some of you already may know this but there was a flood in Monte Llano last Saturday Nov 10^th.  Our DR friends are saying it may be the worst flood of their lifetimes.  In some cases the water was 4.5 feet high inside their homes.  Yes you read it right-that would be above the beds, above the couches, above the level of damage for your fridge and stove and also high enough to damage any electronics if you were lucky enough to own any of those things.  At least 6 houses were actually swept away by the rushing water in the river.  

As this Christmas season is upon us and we are ramping up to spend hundreds on luxury items that frankly, we like but don’t need, I can’t help but feel that God is calling us to something more.  He has put these people in our lives, we love them and call them friends.  What greater way to worship the Lord Jesus Christ than to fulfill His plan for us regarding these friends of ours than to care for them at this time.  You may say that there are a million disasters around the world and that some of those people are even worse off than this.  I know that, but God did not give those people to me.  He gave me our friends in Monte Llano.  Those are the ones who I am responsible for and they are in turn responsible for me in the way that God would require them to be. 

I know that some people might be thinking like; every time I turn around its something else-another financial commitment - more and more is required of us and its true, the bible says to those who are given much, much is required, and it can seem overwhelming but are you really all that surprised?  I mean, our Lord was a radical guy.  Some might even say that he was rather given to extremes.   

So is it really surprising that we would be required to make some radical choices, extreme sacrifices as his followers?  I mean do we just want to LIKE HIM, or do we want to BE LIKE HIM?

You know, I have been telling just about anyone who will listen to me, that I believe that God is poised to do a miracle in this church.  But he needs us to BE the church that He requires.  Maybe He’s calling us out this Christmas.  Maybe he wants to see just how far we are willing to go.  Will we live Isaiah 58?  Will we lay some things down for our friends?  Will we be radical extremists for love-like he was?

Each of us has to decide what it is that God is calling us to do.  But friends, Let us not grow weary of doing good, and in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.  Gal 6:9

If you are moved to give to this disaster relief, please cal Compassion Canada at 1800-563-5437 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            1800-563-5437      end_of_the_skype_highlighting and tell them you would like to give a gift to the center DR346

Maribel's Bathroom-Michele

Hey guys, this update has been a long time coming but that is because I know that most of you have already seen these photos on Facebook. Bernabe has them posted on his wall. Anyway, for those of you who have not seen them, here they are. They are not in order-if anything they are backwards but I couldn't figure out how to move them around :) !  The bathroom has been complete and functioning for a few weeks now and Maribel is reported to be thrilled, delighted and in deep gratitude to her Lord for bringing her this blessing, praise God! Some of you may have met Ventura-he is drinking the glass of water in the fourth photo. It was his renno company that completed the work. He is a church member of ITB. If you have any questions, LMK, peace, M

Still praying- by Michele

Hey everyone!  I know its been a couple of weeks since I blogged but I have really been searching for what to say.  I have been praying like mad and using a book Donna has given me called Spiritual Disciplines to guide my prayer.  The chapter on Discernment is very helpful.  I have to say though, as I’ve been walking through this I’ve felt like I have been exploring a few different directions as in, 'well maybe God means this'…pray- 'well maybe God means that'…pray some more etc, you know how it goes.  I know Donna has been praying as well but we haven’t seen each other since our meeting with Barry so I am really curious to see how close we are in our sensing of God’s lead.  One thing I learned from that wise woman was that one of the ways you know that God is leading you in a certain direction is that he will bring others along with you, and the right people to help make it happen.   I am still walking it out.  I have to say though that every time I think about the property my heart rises into my throat with excitement.  I have been asking God that if that passion is not born of Him to please just take it away and replace it with desire within his will.  It’s still there. 

So I will now share what the ‘original’ vision for this house is.  I mean why own a house to house 2 teams a year?  That is the question.  To directly answer that, I am hoping that eventually Sequoia will grow enough that more that 2 teams a year will go down.  But for now, besides housing teams there are many other ideas.  Keep in mind that these are ideas not written in stone.  We need to meet with our Brothers in DR to solidify ideas and what would be most helpful to them as a church and community but here is the rough pilot;

1. To have a preschool/daycare program at a very low cost so that single moms have a safe place to leave their kids while they earn some income.  Alongside that, there would be skills training programs for the moms to help them learn skills for the job market.  We would also offer a women’s Bible study to these moms to show them their worth in God’s eyes. 
2. Youth group/homework club.  Vision for that is not cast but basically a place for them to hang out, and get help with homework etc
3. Please read Ben’s comments from my last blog called for the love of Compassion.  He talks about a water program for the community.  I don’t know all of the details but when we were there in Feb he told me that some of the Compassion projects are running these water programs.  They are able to provide safe water and make some money for the project and the program is totally self-sustainable.  He also clearly has some good ideas for the house and I am really excited to talk further with him about it.
4. Community prayer center.  There are many ministries/churches in Montellano and I think it would be amazing if on a regular basis people across denominations and across organizations could get together and brainstorm/share strategy and pray for the community.
5. Job creation-property and business manager-eventually self sustaining

Well these are just some ideas that will be subject to God’s leading and will.  I am still waiting for a couple of very important questions from our friend Perla regarding the viability of the property for these uses.  Depending on the answers she gives, we will find out if we can get a Deslinda {something like a legal title} and whether zoning is an issue.  This is a residence and essentially we want to use it for some small business projects.  Please pray about these issues.  Please pray for wisdom and discernment.  Please pray about the timing of this as it is alongside our own property purchase.   Mostly just pray that God’s will be done and that human agenda does not take over or interfere.  My greatest desire {and I think I can speak for the team} is that we fully surrender ourselves as we serve Him in His agenda and in His plan.  Love you guys, thanks for following.  Please comment so I know I’m not out here alone!!!  Peace and Love, M

For the Love of Compassion-Michele

Hey guys, this week has been an exciting week.  Last week I had an appeal at the Vietnamese church and it went really well!  9 Compassion kids were sponsored which brings the number up to 39 in total sponsored. The V church is just full of love and the spirit.  It was so fun to be there and be welcomed so graciously by them!   I have another appeal at Vineyard church in Carleton Place next Sunday so pray for me and for the remaining 21kids!
Ryan Donna and I also had the immense pleasure of meeting with Barry Slauenwhite {Compassion CEO} and Stephanie my Compassion Rep on Friday.  Barry is such an amazing man to be around.  He really filled up the room.  He is full of wisdom and ideas where missions is concerned and gave us lots of great advice.  In fact the advice he gave was such food for thought that I really feel like I need to pray for a bit to see where what we were thinking and how this new info kind of fit together.  All I know is that my love and passion for the ministry of Compassion is renewed and taken to new heights.  I really just can't say enough about the work of Compassion and its so exciting to hear about how the Child Survival Program is doing so well.  This program is a program for pregnant mothers and then their babies from 0-3yrs old.  At 3yrs they are then eligible for sponsorship.  Anyway, I am going to hold off sharing the vision for what we might do in that mission house until I have some time to pray and incorporate some of the Godly wisdom that Barry shared with us!  Thanks so much everyone for coming along on this ride and for praying.  This is just such a huge possibility with very high stakes and as I said previously, we need to walk very slowly and wait on God's leading and the more prayer this is soaked in, the better.  We have to make sure that any investment we make is going to be able to make real differences in peoples lives.  That's the whole point-to effect positive sustainable changes and to do this through the love of Jesus Christ.  Anything less than that is just spitting in the wind.  Have a blessed week!  M.

The property-Michele

Hey guys, hope you all had a blessed week.  I had lots of positive response and encouragement for last week’s blog.  Thanks everyone for that and keep praying!!

I also had a few questions about the house and how we plan to use it.  So first of all, about the house:

 The house as it stands now will need modification in order to outfit teams.  Presently, it is a bungalow with three bedrooms two bathrooms a good sized living space and a fairly small kitchen.  We would need to build a second floor on with more rooms and expand the kitchen.  What makes this property so special is that it is kind of like a compound.  It has about an acre of land around it and 16 foot cement walls running all around it {very safe}.  It is right on the edge of the shanty town El Seman.  We have visions of building a small ‘school house’ at the back that could be used for many things.  One of the biggest prayer requests for this property is that the zoning of it will allow for it to be used in the way that we want to use it since it is a residential home at present.  I have someone investigating this.  Please pray for this.  The team has roughly estimated that it will cost somewhere in the range of 100,000 dollars to purchase this property and outfit it for missions.  That seems like a big number but for God it is easy- IF- this is what he plans for this partnership.  We will just keep walking in faith to see where God takes this.

Stay tuned next week for the Partnership’s ministry vision. 

Here are some prayer requests for this week;

1. For Ben:  Please pray for Ben as he goes to Santiago this week to have some radiography assessments done in preparation for the re-setting of his jaw.  His classes also wrap up this week but he continues to work on finishing off his internment requirements for the Compassion LDP program.
2. Compassion:  Please pray for Bernabe, the staff and new teachers as the new kids are now entering the program.  Many are already attending classes.  Please pray for the families of these kids as for some, this will be the first time they have been part of something outside their small communities.
3. Please continue to pray for the church and their renovation projects.  Also that they will continue to impact their community for Christ in a mighty way.
4. Please continue to pray for the Sunday school and for the youth-that many of them will be lead to the    Lord.  Thanks guys, here are a few more pictures

 Peace and Love in Jesus name, M

right side of house taken from driveway

living space taken from front door

back right

back left-mango tree!

God gives Big Dreams- by Michele

Hey everyone, just a little DR update

As many of you know the mission team has been praying about establishing a more permanent presence in the village of Montellano.  We have had our eye on a property which we feel will be perfect for our vision.  Some of you have been there to see it with us.  Donna and I, with the support of Ryan prepared a short vision letter a couple of months ago which Ryan presented to the Trustees.  Our hope was to get their approval and advice/insight to move ahead with fund-raising for this property.  I have to be honest with you guys.  Although I have been praying fervently for 1.5 years that God would give us that property, I am also a little terrified that He might.  I mean who am I and what do I know about purchasing property internationally, foreign tax policies and Canadian law re: international ministries?  Then again what did I know about building houses… look what God did with that. 

Anyway, the Trustees have given a tentative approval.  Yikes!  We need to pray.  They had a few questions which I think have answers that will not be a stumbling block so I am reasonably sure that we will be able to go ahead and begin fund-raising in the near future. 

Guys we really need to soak this in prayer.  Please pray for wisdom and discernment and clarity for the leadership.  I don’t want to step even one toe in a direction where the Lord is not leading the way.  The stakes are too high.  It looks like the Lord has opened the door just a little bit-at least enough for us to take a few more tentative steps down this path but I don’t want to say that I KNOW this is God’s plan.  I feel like He has placed a huge desire and passion in my heart and in the hearts of the team but we have to be so careful that we don’t mistake what we want for what God wants-hence tons of prayer.

Also, re fund-raising; we will not be fund-raising inside the Sequoia membership.  The plan is to look outside Sequoia at businesses and other connections.  This is because we feel the membership has a primary responsibility to the Building Walls campaign.  We don’t want to tempt anyone not to make a commitment to or to circumvent a commitment made to the Sequoia land in order to give to this initiative.  If God wants this to happen He will do it without needing his people to make compromises like that.

So, I’m really excited and really scared!  Please pray for me and for the whole team.  I plan to update this blog regularly now as we move forward with this so that everyone knows what to pray about and can stay informed.  Next week I will be posting details about the vision of the partnership and how you can help. So check it every week or so OK?  Thanks everyone-blessings in Jesus name, M

left side of house

front of house

some of back yard

DR Alumni meeting- Michele

Hey everyone!  This post is long overdue!  I really meant to send a wrap up post the week we got back but you know how it goes!!  Anyway we had a DR alumni meeting on Thursday night to celebrate what God is doing in the DR and our opportunities to be a part of His great work.  It was a fun night and thanks to those who were all able to make it.  Reflecting on this last trip over the last month has left me with these 2 big take aways.  First of all as the leader it was my greatest blessing to see my first time team members catch the fire.  I can so clearly remember the bursting of my heart on my first trip and when I came home I vowed to God-this is what I will now live to do in your name.  I think there are a few people from this team and the last few teams that are praying similar prayers!!!  Its all so exciting.  I was also able to see some of the 2nd and 3rd timers who have been before, but not for many years, witness all that God has done.  It was so encouraging for me and the rest of the leadership to hear Wendy and Marie exclaiming how they could just feel the positive changes in the people and the relationships there.  My second huge blessing was our youth.  This was the first time I really had a chance to be part of the mentoring of youth on a trip and it truly was a blast.  Our youth were amazing with the kids and fun to be around.  Youth night was a highlight.  I had a chance to share my testimony that night to our youth and our Dominican youth partners.  I also told them that it was exciting for me to think of the upcoming years-not to far away when they would be taking over the leadership of this Ministry and Partnership.  It is amazing to think that by the time they do that, they will have know these DR youth for many years.  Youth-start your Spanish lessons NOW!!!!!!  Special thanks to Emma for her translating help!  Anyway, I just can't wait to see what God is going to do with all of us in the future!  Please be vigilant in prayer for the Staff of ITB and the Compassion DR346 staff as the new kids begin in the project.  Please pray for the youth group and the Sunday school-both kids and leaders.  Here are just a mishmash of photos from different sources and different trips  Thanks guys!

Jamie's home visit

Algos photos mas

Miguel's family

        Lunch at Jeremy's

                                            Mal and Nathan

                                                 Miguel and Toni

                                                 Miguel's family again

                                            Mal getting her nails done at Jeremy's