ALL in a day!

Last week was incredible. What a joy it was to have Mike & Linda and Danny here and to spend time with them. Watching Danny speaking and interacting with the people here was a true blessing. We are so thankful to have a pastor and church who truly are involved in the ministry here! I'm not posting pics of Danny in the churches, yet, since he hasn't even seen them.

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Sunday was a full day. It started with our church service at SCORE with Ron Bishop giving the message and Aby Prado translating. Church was full since we had a number of people 'left over' from last week's baseball clinic.

Ron, (right) preaching while Aby translates. I made the curtains behind them a couple of weeks ago, as there was such a glare due to bright sun!

It was interesting for us to see how Aby translated some things. At one point Ron said" I'm just a dumb coach..." But when Aby translated he left out the word 'dumb'. Bob & I asked him later about that. His response, "I wasn't going to make him look bad in front of these people."


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Immediately following the service, we all walked back to the SCORE pool for Carolina's baptism. Carolina is married to Giovanni, a Dominican SCORE missionary. He is very involved with the sports teams that come thru here. Because of his status as a former Dominican basketball player, he has no problem getting our teams in to places to play. But most importantly, he and Carolina, truly desire to serve the LORD with their lives.
Aby, Carolina and Ron





Carolina and Gio. In the background is Sarah. Her and her hubby, Hugo, are our newest missionaries, having arrived only 3 weeks ago with their 16 month old son, Mattias.

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Then later in the afternoon we celebrated the marriage of Manny and Olga. Any of you who have been on a SCORE trip, may have met Manny. What a joy this was to attend! Manny is now a SCORE missionary, also, and a more humble Godly man I could never imagine.
The wedding was held at SCORE in the front area. Erica Jude and Ginny Craeger, (SCORE missionaries) did an incredible job of decorating. Pastor Henry, from Quisqueya and Olga's pastor, did part of the service. Ginny, Erica and Gladys sang, Ron did the major portion of the ceremony with Aby translating. It was beautiful! (I'm writing this part in orange, since that was the color of the flowers, and the bridesmaids dresses)


Mr & Mrs Manuel Tucen!


Of course, there was the traditional wedding cake, but they didn't feed each other any cake. Guess it's not a Dominican tradition! But during clean up time Aby and Ginny decided to have some fun!

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Today is our version of Thanksgiving. The SCORE missionaries are getting together at the SCORE complex to celebrate together. It was going to be at our apartment, but there are too many people for our '6 people table'. We will have Costa Rica, Argentina, Dominican Republic, and El Savador all represented along with the United States. Should be fun!

We're taking the turkey over to Nate & Erica's at 10AM since they have the largest oven. I have the dressing in a crockpot already. Made two pumpkin and 1 cherry pie last night. Linda brought me a 3# bag of fresh cranberries, so I was able to make cranberry orange relish, too!

The rest are bringing the potatoes, veggies, rolls, and more desserts. Hopefully, someone remembers to make coffee!!!

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Hope you all have a wonderful time with family, friends, feasting, football, fellowship and fun!

love,

~anna~

Little glimpse of our past 2 weeks!

Guess I'm a tad bit slow in posting here. The past 10 days or so have been a bit crazy and busy.

I have had ear infections for over 2 weeks. First one ear, and then the other. Complete with intense feeling of motion sickness. A couple of times I felt like I had been in the back seat of a fast moving car on a very, winding road! It went from bacterial infection to a fungul infection. The antibiotic made everything taste like metal! Cuts down on snacking that's for sure. Since it's now a fungal infection, I'm off that antibiotic. (some small reason to rejoice!) One other missionary here has had the same thing, and has taken almost three weeks to recover.

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We did get our new vehicle, and that only took two trips to Santo Domingo. One trip to pick it up and another trip two days later to take it to the dealership and have the radio, spare tire mount and license plates installed.

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This is our first view of it behind the chain link fence at Customs. In 36 years of marriage, this is only the 2nd brand new vehicle we have ever purchased. The first was the month before our wedding when we bought a 1972 Datsun 1200 for $2,100 right off the lot! We thought we were in 7th Heaven back then when the dealer changed the radio from AM to AM/FM.

With this Terios we are excited to have a CD player, AC that works, seats that work, windows that work, a hatch that doesn't require a broom stick to keep it open, etc, etc.

The washers and wipers work on the front and back windows!!!!

With gas down to 130.4 pesos (34 =$1), and the increased mileage this will be a major savings for us!

It handles great, and is really comfortable to ride in! We are so thankful for all those who prayed and donated for this vehicle!

.It barely had enough gas to get it to the gas station, since we picked it up right at customs and not the dealership, It is Sonic Blue Metallic. The white you see is just protective plastic covering.

What you don't see in this picture is the fact that I am following behind Bob while driving the Explorer. He offered to let me drive the Terios, but I was nervous enough driving in Santo Domingo, let alone driving the brand new vehicle! Fortunately, here we are on the Malecon, where traffic is much lighter. And YES! I snapped this photo while driving!

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I finally finished a wallhanging that I have been working on for the past two years. I would work on it for a few days and then take a break of a couple of weeks or more. It is 4' x4'2" and hangs in the hallway leading to our bedroom and bathroom. But it is visible from the living room. It's not how I would decorate in the States, but I live in the tropics. In these photos I moved it out to our landing to get a better angle.

I pieced the background using different batik fabrics. The fish were cut from 'fish' fabric and then embelished with beads, sequins, or glittery fabric. The sea shells are actually from our walks on the beach. The 3-d embellishments that are meant to look like coral or plant life are from the Christmas decorations department at the stores here. Yes, they decorate differently here!

I'm quite pleased with it, and Bob loves it! Next project, probably after Christmas, is to actually paint the bathroom. Currently it is battleship grey with white and gold shower tiles, that have gold fruit baskets. Nothing I can do about the fruit basket tile, but we want to paint the bathroom blue and give it a tropical sea look. More photos to follow. I do have plenty of odds'n'ends from the big wall hanging to make 2 small ones to hang in the bathroom. These two pictures are close-ups of the two lower corners.

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Last Monday was our 36th wedding anniversary; Thursday was my 56th birthday, and Friday was Bob's 58th birthday. So, we spent three days relaxing and having fun. We went to the capital and strolled El Conde and ate there at Hard Rock Cafe. Had the best bacon cheeseburgers while laughing at some of the old music videos playing on screens mounted by the tables. "House of the Rising Sun" was our era! It's a bit pricey to eat there, but it was our anniversary!

Thursday we spent the day at the all-inclusive relaxing on the beach while reading under palm trees. Friday we went back to the capital and went to a mall (Bob's idea!). By the end of Friday, my legs and ankles were just about killing me with pain. I didn't think I had done any more walking on Friday than when we've gone shopping before, but for some reason my body rebelled. Tylenol, Advil and, eventually, a stronger pain killer, so that I could even fall asleep. Took it easy on Saturday, needless to say! Aging is hard on my body, I guess!

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Bob had a med team on Tuesday and Wednesday, so I spent some time sewing some Christmas presents. Can't say what, as perhaps David & Lyndie may be reading this too! Pictures possibly after Christmas. Sewing for me is relaxing, so to have two days in a row to work on projects was a real treat!

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This afternoon Danny and Mike arrive. Although we just discovered that their flight has been delayed in Atlanta. Not due into Las Americas now til about 5. We're going early to the airport to eat (Burger King) and watch the planes take-off and land. We each take a book and sit and relax! We're easily amused!

Til later~

~~anna~~

Short Post---Good News!

Eddy Gil (SCORE Dominican Field Director), who is handling our new vehicle purchase, just called!

We have to be at the car dealership in Santo Domingo at 10AM this morning.

Please pray.....I may have to drive the Explorer back thru Santo Domingo.

Stay tuned~~more news and pics later!

Thank you LORD!

God Bless America

If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and forgive their sin and heal their land.

II Chronicles 7:14

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We have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.

~ President Abraham Lincoln, in National Proclamation of Prayer and Repentance, 1863

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Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedience to the public summons, repaired to the present station, it would be peculiarly improper to omit, in this first official act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations and whose providential aide can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes; and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success, the functions allotted to his charge.

~ George Washington, in his first inaugural address, 1789

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My country,' tis of thee,

sweet land of liberty,

of thee I sing;

land where my fathers died,

land of the pilgrims' pride,

from every mountainside

let freedom ring!

4. Our fathers' God, to thee,

author of liberty,

to thee we sing;

long may our land be bright

with freedom's holy light;

protect us by thy might,

great God, our King.

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The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; He directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.

~ Proverbs 21:1

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My first act as President is a prayer. I ask you to bow your heads.

Heavenly Father, we bow our heads and thank You for Your love. Accept our thanks for the peace that yields this day and the shared faith that makes its continuance likely. Make us strong to do Your work, willing to heed and hear Your will...

...The Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us or forsake us; so that He may incline our hearts to Him, to walk in all His ways... that all peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other.
George H. W. Bush~--Inaugural address, January 20,1989

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To preserve our blessed land we must look to God... It is time to realize that we need God more than He needs us...

Let us, young and old, join together, as did the First Continental Congress, in the first step, in humble heartfelt prayer. Let us do so for the love of God and His great goodness, in search of His guidance and the grace of repentance, in seeking His blessings, His peace, and the resting of His kind and holy hands on ourselves, our nation, our friends in the defense of freedom, and all mankind, now and always.
The time has come to turn to God and reassert our trust in Him for the healing of America... Our country is in need of and ready for a spiritual renewal. Today, we utter no prayer more fervently than the ancient prayer for peace on Earth.
If I had a prayer for you today, among those that have all been uttered, it is that one we're so familiar with: "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace...." And God bless you all.
Ronald Reagan~A Prayer for Healing~From a speech to the American people, February 6, 1986

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Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.

I Timothy 2:1-2

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" God Bless America, Land that I love.

Stand beside her, and guide her Thru the night with a light from above.

From the mountains, to the prairies, To the oceans, white with foam

God bless America, My home sweet home. "