Steppingstone Journey

Thursday, October 9, 2014

May We Have Another Helping of Relationships, Please?





Which cultures make a big deal about "relationships over tasks?" You can be sure that Latin American cultures do!  Our days in the Dominican Republic here have ended, but our memories will last forever.  Whether traveling together, eating together, or worshiping together, we have learned to slow it down.  
Actually, we feel like our life experiences have prepared us to invite others into our lives in order to get to know them better.   We are products of the South and Midwest where people intentionally invest in the lives of others.    The table was always big enough for another chair, and the bowl big enough for more pasta.   
Our assignment here is completed.   We have worked with missionaries, for missionaries, and beside missionaries. 
   And, during this assignment, we have learned many new strategies about church planting and discipleship.   

We felt grateful to be invited into the homes of many pastors and their families and to share fellowship around the table.  There are  some fine cooks in this country!  



We are home now and we have packed with us a better and clearer understanding of how very important church life is for both the individual and the family.  We have been blessed beyond the beyond.  Our lives have interconnected with fellow believers whom we will never forget.   Despite the occasional dog fight during the night, the oppressive heat and humidity and
unidentifiable environmental sounds, God poured out His blessings on us.    We discovered some interesting things about ourselves, too.  (Next blog!).

Keep Looking Up and thank you for following our blog!
    J:m & L:nda








Thursday, October 2, 2014

Exploration and Discovery

Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain in 1492 in search of a New World, and he found it.
His willingness to bravely explore the unknown produced some very gratifying results for generations of people  and cultures.  One of the places he discovered was Hispaniola. We know it today as the Dominican Republic.  Recently, we visited The Columbus Lighthouse Museum where the bones of Columbus are said to be in 
Bones of Columbus
  
in this black box.  Although, Spain claims to have his remains, too.   Columbus was a fascinating person who delivered to Europe fresh information about the New World he had discovered.   For this, he is remembered.  He believed that God had called him to make these voyages and actually considered his greatest accomplishment that of spreading the gospel.
His sails carried the mark of the cross.

Exploration and discovery will always be with us; albeit, in different ways.


Just last week, we met this group of young  volunteer missionaries-in-training who have committed their futures to church planting.   This group will plant new starts in the urban areas of the largest cities in Central America and on the Caribbean islands.   They have set their sails and are carrying the cross, too. "We have loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well..."  (I Thessalonians 2:8)
Our days and nights busy here.   We love the interaction with the community of both believers and non-believers.   Every assignment is different, and here, we have the opportunity to attend workshops that introduce new materials to us about church planting and all the blessings that result.
Most nights, we have fun with our languages classes.  We find ourselves slipping  from Spanish to English and reversing more often than planned.   We have practically created a "middle" language.  But then, seriously, conclude our classes with a solid focus on grammar, vocabulary, and writing.At the end of our days, after shopping, cooking, cleaning, and attending workshops, playing games and language learning, we are ready to Thank God for another good day!  
             Keep  Looking Up...and thank you for following our blog!
                                                                J:m & L:nda