Not Gonna Lie

At the risk of sounding a bit pitiful, I'm not gonna lie - 2019 has been a bit rough for us so far.
This coming after March's "Choosing Gratitude" post, may seem a bit contradictory, but that's not my intent, as you'll hopefully see!

Being vulnerable is scary. You set yourself up to the judgement and critique of others. We see that even more serving as missionaries because our stories go back to people who financially support us and believe that we are capable of carrying out the work God has called us to. Because of this, it's easier to report the positive progress and wait to talk about the problems until after they're resolved.
The main factor that has made this year a bit bumpy is rooted in a common problem that many in ministry (local and overseas) face - money. In fact, I think most people, no matter where they are in life, face problems in this area! Our problem becomes a bit more compact because we feel the responsibility of putting other people's money to work and feeling the need to justify everything it goes towards.

If you've been keeping up since late last year, you will remember we were able to finish the house in Boca Chica Miguel had started above his mom's house before we met. On December 1st, the day we were praying to be able to finish and have renters in the house, a very responsible woman signed the rental agreement and moved in that week with her two children. Originally, the plan was to use the extra income to help with Mireya's knee surgery she needs. However, she found out that insurance doesn't cover as large a part as originally thought, so that has been postponed. In the meantime, the rent goes toward payments of a small loan we took out to finish the house and what's left over is for Mireya. She has needed improvements on her house for a long time and even though the amount isn't large each month, she has put it to good use to secure her living conditions. Her stress levels have gone down and she has a much more positive outlook on life as she sees changes around her physically. She was even able to come visit us over Easter since she now has people living above her who can keep an eye on the place while she's gone. 
All that to say - even with the small loan (which we could pay off immediately with savings if that ever becomes necessary), we still had to use up the cushion that had accumulated over a year and we finished out 2018 with barely $2 in our bank account. I thought we'd be in the red for the first time in my life and I remember telling Miguel, "At least we broke even!"

Raising financial support while living here (not having the ability to meet people face to face) has not been easy - not having one concentrated home base to go back to (every trip Stateside so far has been to a different place since our support team is so scattered across the country) and until this summer, not having more than a week to ten days per trip have all played a part in reaching this point as well. When I moved down here, I had more than enough financial support coming in for a single person, which is why we even have a small savings/emergency fund. But when we got married and I put my involvement with human trafficking on hold and ministry for me personally took on a whole new face, understandably, we lost some of that support. Due to the above factors, it's taken us until this year to build back up to that same place and we have still have a ways to go in reaching our support goal financially.

This brings about the very reasonable questions:
what about Miguel's salary, can you cut back on living costs, what about "paying" job opportunities, etc?
In reply:
Miguel's monthly salary is about half of what a teacher makes here and most of it goes back into the ministry work since FCA DR has no operations budget. He has finished university and is officially graduating next weekend with a degree to teach English. Yes, he could easily pick up a teaching job and increase our income substantially, but it would mean completely putting on hold everything he's doing with discipling coaches and athletes - a decision we have not had peace about so far since we clearly believe that he is doing what God has called him to right now. 
Living costs are about half or two-thirds of what they were where I used to live while serving with Destiny Rescue. But we are two people instead of just one so that brings us back up to basically the same line regarding living costs. There have been several times that we've sat down to go over our monthly budgeting and it always boils down to cutting back literally meaning eating less ;) With recent vehicle repairs (I wrote more about this in our newsletter this month) and prenatal bills, we've had more than just the monthly living costs we had last year. But! There are a few people who generously helped us with the extra bills and just last week, we received a needs reimbursement check from the healthcare sharing plan we're a part of. These small but significant details have helped us to break even each month and we always see God more than taking care of us.
A paying job opportunity came in the form of a part-time position with Vida Plena, a ministry dedicated to providing dignified employment, artisan trade skills, and micro-financing to women who otherwise are mostly untrained, thus have difficulty being able to provide for their families. They needed help with their admin and accounting and the phone call came right in the middle of all our vehicle stories! With my flexible schedule, I was able to commit to 3 months, 2 days a week, and it has been such an amazing opportunity. Finances aside, I forgot how much I missed the hands-on aspect of going into an office/workspace and interacting with the people who are being served. Overseeing admin for FCA DR from home has it's definite advantages. Assisting ATB mostly from home and only attending periodic meetings, less than once a month, has had those same advantages. But I have missed the daily, messy beauty of direct involvement. To continue answering this question, once getting back from furlough/maternity leave, this opportunity would still be available and they've even offered to help with fundraising so that the salary would be at a full-time income level. The drawback is that the workshop is 45 minutes from where we live and with a baby, we simply have no idea yet how life will look by then.

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Ok, deep breath.

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Again, publicly putting all this out there in no way is meant to undermine and diminish all the amazing things that have taken place this year already! More than ever, we find the positive in walking through difficulties as we see God's character shine and we find a deeper intimacy with Him individually and as a couple.
We do, however, believe in being honest and as transparent as possible, which sometimes means revealing the raw and uninteresting parts.
If you've read this far, hopefully capturing what we're trying to relay, we have two burdens we ask you to share with us. 
1. Direction.
I've jokingly said we have everything planned out until this baby comes, then I have no idea what we'll come back to. Life after furlough may return to the same, but will likely look completely different - especially for me. One thing I do know, I won't be able to keep everything on my plate that's currently on there. It may mean I don't "do" anything other than care for our son and home and this is a point I'm still struggling with. It's meant relearning everything about 'being' more than 'doing', not feeling the need to justify who I am by what I do, and capturing the truth of family being our first ministry.
2. Financial provision.
More than just being able to make ends meet. This year, each month that closed with us we thinking the next month would mean wiggle room again, something happened (usually vehicle related).


We are so grateful for people who constantly pour into us, encourage and uplift us where it's tough, and rejoice with us where there is reason to celebrate. Vulnerability aside, writing this has been difficult because there is SO MUCH good in our lives!! And I never want to bury the truth of God's grace, faithfulness, and goodness towards us. It's hard to know how to end this post - I want to make a list of all that good but somehow feel that it would deter from what I've been trying to write about.

Through all this, I've found a new understanding of 2 Timothy 4:7-8. "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing." We have no guarantee of a life of ease, yet difficulty doesn't somehow make us more worthy of heaven. The point is whether or not I am one of the "all who have loved his appearing."

Choosing Gratitude

2019 started off a little quietly, which is why the blog has been quiet. The past month, however, has been packed full of so many things that I keep on delaying writing an update because of wanting to wait until "this next thing" is done so I can include that as well! Meaning, this is probably going to be a bit long-winded so buckle in ;) 

When we got married, we picked the "alternative year method" when it comes to where we celebrate Christmas and New Year. I've talked about this before - spending a Christmas season in the States one year and the following one in the DR. Since this past year was DR year, the season was more relaxed with no traveling other than locally. It didn't seem as full of all the adrenaline as I'm used being associated with Christmas and New Year, so by the time January rolled around, we were nicely rested up and very ready to dig back in to work and ministry.
I sent out a brief newsletter that month basically just recapping the vision trip we were able to host for FCA DR (four guys from TX came to see the ministry and we took them to four of the cities FCA is active in) and then adding our summer schedule at the end. It wasn't enough to really blog about, so I decided to just wait to hop back on here until things pick up a little.

February was similar to January with Miguel settling into a daily ministry and work routine, as well as finally getting his thesis assignment that he'd been waiting on from his university. He and a group of two more graduates have been working on that project part-time; he's also back in Santo Domingo every Saturday for evaluation classes as part of his graduate work.
We had someone come for a quick 24 hour trip to arrange some details for a basketball camp that will be taking place in Boca Chica this summer, but that was the only traveling or hosting we did that entire month.

This brings us to March, which has been a jam-packed month so far. It's been one of those months where so much has happened that I can hardly believe it's not even over yet!
February 28th, after our mid-week local church service, we packed up our car with 2 week's worth of clothes and headed to Boca Chica. At 4 AM (after only a few hours of sleep) we met up with four other FCA leaders to catch an early morning flight to the beautiful land of Guatemala!! I especially had been greatly anticipating this trip since last year when we found out that FCA's International Capacity Conference would be held there. It had been three years since I'd been able to visit the country that will always hold a special place in my heart, and I was overjoyed that Miguel could finally go as well to see and experience all the things I talk about so much! What made the trip even more memorable was being able to take some of our team members along, two of which had never left the DR before.
We landed before noon and had plenty of time to get situated and some food into our stomachs before the evening opening session. Those first three days were spent with 40+ other Latin America leaders for FCA's first ever Latin American Ministry Conference.
LAMC was one of the brighter highlights of the entire Guatemala trip since everyone spoke Spanish and the cultural divide was less noticeable (I say brighter highlight because the entire trip was fantastic!). Our Dominican team was so encouraged to be able to see, face to face, and get to know personally other men (and a few women) who are also sharing the Gospel and making disciples through the avenue of sports. The days were packed so full of sessions and workshops that we weren't sure whether or not we'd have enough brain capacity for ICC the following five days! And even though Latinos are known to run late (later than most of the rest of the world), we also know how to make the time count and quickly become like family. All in all, it was a great success for the first time.

Waiting to board our first flight at 6 in the morning after little to no sleep required having a backpack full of snacks on hand :). 

David, one of our leaders, was asked to share in a ministry forum for LAMC along with four other FCA leaders from four other countries.

I was given the task of sharing on strategies and models for hosting effective international team/mission trips during one of the many workshops.

Miguel, the human selfie stick, took a picture of a bunch of the Latino craziness and camaraderie on Sunday before we headed over to ICC to join with the rest of the international leaders from all over the world.

Miguel found his twin ;) Jairo was randomly assigned to our table at LAMC and then also at ICC the following 5 days - they just couldn't get rid of eachother! For reference sake, he's shorter than I am.

ICC 2019 was held in the beautiful city of Antigua, Guatemala. The hotel we stayed at had a beautiful view of the 3 volcanoes outside of the city (one of which is still active). Miguel to the amusement of the Guatemalans, says he loved Guate but disliked the volcanoes! This picture was taken right outside our room on a clear day.

Miguel and Alvis (one of the other DR teammates) were invited to play soccer with the other Latinos who play soccer as much as Dominicans play baseball. I went along to watch one night and was slightly surprised and duly impressed by his scoring abilities. :D

ICC had several hours of downtime scheduled each day (thankfully!) so on Tuesday we walked/hiked up to the cross that overlooks the city along with my friend Rachel who lives in Antigua. That's Miguel and me in the forefront under the cross's base.

Wednesday afternoon was outing day. The 5 guys went zip-lining with about half the group while I went to tour a coffee plantation with the other half. I had to miss out on the obviously more fun one because, pregnancy. But the plantation experience was educational with delicious samples at the end, so not a waste! 

Miguel finally found a chair that allows his feet to dangle.

FCA DR and FCA Africa
Meeting leaders from all over the world who have the same focus of discipleship ministry through the avenue of sports was beyond encouraging. It was also positively challenging and inspiring to learn from one another and connect as one body in Christ.

FCA World.
110 leaders from 42 countries attended ICC this year. The theme was the Leader's Journey containing sessions on self leadership, leading others, leading teams, and organizational leadership. Plus, more sessions on core values, ministry expansion, and general ministry equipping and encouragement. 


Miguel and I were able to extend our trip to stay the weekend once FCA conferences were done. Friday morning we packed up the other four DR teammates and sent them, with their hearts overflowing, with the rest of the large group to the airport to catch their flights back home. One of the team members from the vision trip in January, that I mentioned above, who came down through FCA in TX, personally donated 200 copies of the Purple Book, one of the main resources we use here when beginning one-on-one discipleship! Others from TX donated around 60 more copies (with more coming) of another FCA resource we have been in need of for this year. So each of the six of us had to strategically pack our bags to be able to take back all this literature; we each ended up with 50 lbs. in our check bags (including clothes and other personal items)!

After we bade our good-byes, Miguel and I headed over to my friend Rachel's house to spend the rest of Friday and all day Saturday with her. We had been roommates for almost a year in Chichicastenango when I served with Pray America/Manos de Jesus. The year after I moved to the DR, she moved to Antigua to go on staff with a new church plant and has been there since. Needless to say, it was wonderful catching up with her again! Miguel thought he had caught a cold, which actually turned out to be allergies, so he spent some of that time getting caught up on rest, fluids, and vitamins after the late nights/early mornings of the conferences. It didn't deter him from making dinner for us on Saturday night, though!

 

I kept leaving my phone at home, so I didn't grab pictures of the cute place we went to get donuts on Friday night or the ruins and museum we toured on Saturday (Miguel has those on his phone but he's at university right now).

Sunday morning, we grabbed a shuttle from Antigua to travel the 3 hours up into the mountains to Chichicastenango and spend a meager 24 hours at Monte Flor - my home for almost a year and a half and place that I always truly love to go back to. We arrived just in time to crash the morning missionary church gathering where I used to lead worship. The many hugs and familiar faces warmed my heart so much! Everyone loved meeting Miguel, who they had their eyes on from a distance via social media for the past 3 years.
Some of my missionary friends, Erv and Sally York, run a prenatal care clinic (along with other things) 20 minutes further up into the mountains in one of the communities I used to go to with Henry and Gloria to visit sponsor families. She offered to do an anatomy scan for us, so after lunch and chatting with the sweet kitchen ladies who I used to teach new recipes/cooking tips to, we spent a few hours at the York's mountain home, catching up on missionary life and answering Miguel's many questions (he always loves asking questions!).
Their daughter, Sarah, and one of the Manos de Jesus staff, Keri, sweetly offered to do a gender reveal for us based on Sally's scan results. Miguel has insisted from day one that it's a boy and he was proven right!

Monday morning, I kept introducing Miguel to the many staff/my former coworkers - I don't think he'll keep any of the names straight without pictures, but now he has people that match the names I talk about so often! We even had an hour or so to sit down with the Koetsiers (currently the main missionaries with Manos de Jesus) and discuss ministry updates and answer more of Miguel's questions. Even though the conferences and Antigua were beyond amazing, these 24 hours were my personal Guate trip highlight. I keep saying if God tells us to move back and Miguel is convinced, I'd pack my bags tomorrow.
Over the past 3 years of living the Dominican life, this island has become home. The culture has become familiar, I absolutely love our life here, the church family we have, and community we are a part of. But the mountains of Chichi and the country of Guatemala will always be home to me, even if I never live there again. And I was so grateful to be able to be there for just a tiny little bit. It brought my heart joy!

This should be the end of this blog post. Should be ;) But, remember when I said this past month has been jam-packed? Oh, I wasn't only referring to the first two weeks in Guatemala. Keep reading to understand the title of this blog post!

We left Guatemala late Monday afternoon, March 11th, and after a layover in Panama, landed in Boca Chica at 1 AM on Tuesday, March 12th.
Our friends the Heberts had visited us last year in June and would love to make an annual trip here, much to our delight. This year, open dates just so happened to land on a week in March - arriving March 12th to be exact. They knew ahead of time that we would be coming home from a two-week trip that morning and the first few days would likely be low-key, especially for me. But we were ok with it as long as they were. We caught a few hours of sleep at Miguel's mom's house before heading back home around 6:30 that morning; we both preferred to sleep a few more hours in our own bed before heading to the Punta Cana airport to pick up the Heberts.
Wednesday and Thursday were unpacking and grocery shopping days while the guys went out to the baseball fields. Friday morning I was supposed to have my monthly prenatal check-up, as well as get an official second trimester anatomy scan done (since Sally was unable to print off the results of her scan). Thursday evening, after church, the Heberts filled us in on an inflammation flare-up he was dealing with that day, so we decided to take him with us to the clinic the next morning to get it checked out. She was originally going to go with me to the appointment while Miguel had planned to take Friday off as his first rest-day since being back and to prepare for Saturday's classes, but to make sure that I didn't miss my turn at the Dr. and the Heberts weren't left without a translator, the four of us headed out shortly before 6:30 Friday morning.
We didn't have cash on hand for my appointment so we stopped in at an ATM - which happened to be out of cash. So, we headed to a second ATM about halfway to the clinic (only 10 minutes, give or take, from our house) - which also happened to be out of cash. When Miguel got out of the car at the second ATM, I noticed that the engine seemed to have turned off, but assumed he had turned the key out of habit. When he got back in, no money in hand, ready to head to a third ATM even closer to the clinic, the car refused to start. He hadn't turned the key when he got out, instead the engine turned off itself and refused to start again. In February we had something similar happen a few times in a week, but the car usually started again within 5 minutes. A mechanic had looked at it and said it was just a loose connector that could be fixed by a zip-tie to keep the two pieces tightly connected, which seemed to work.
We don't know if this problem started last month already, but the car was acting the same way. No other symptoms, just randomly turning off and this time, not starting up again no matter how long we waited or what we fiddled with under the hood. By this time, it was around 7 o'clock so Miguel called our friend who had helped us find a good mechanic last time. He had to drop his daughters at school and daycare then would be able to swing by around 8. In the meantime, we called our pastor to see if he could give us a ride to the clinic. I was sure I'd be arriving too late to make my appointment without a full day's wait (here, you show up early and take a number, then once the Dr. comes in, you take your turn in line) but we could at least make sure the Heberts were taken care of and maybe even get my sonogram done.
When we arrived at the clinic, the ER was quiet and they could examine him right away, thankfully, but the doctor who did the initial exam ended up saying he'd have to get his superior to fully confirm what the infection was and what antibiotics to use. So, while we waited for 8 o'clock to come around and the "big" doctor to arrive, I headed upstairs to see if there was still a chance to grab a number at my Dr's office - only to find she was on vacation until close to the end of the month! Determined to not make it a wasted trip (there are clinics closer to our house that we could have gone to for urgent care) I took a number for the sonogram room.
Less than an hour later, the Heberts were squared away with a few medications for him that were supposed to help for the rest of their stay and the phone number of the "big" doctor in case we needed anything else. More friends of ours from church were able to give the Heberts a ride back to our house while I waited another hour or two for my sonogram.
Miguel hadn't charged his phone overnight, so while I was at the clinic, his phone died and I didn't know what the diagnosis was on the car other than needing to be towed to the shop. The sonogram went well, thankfully, and Mini T looked as healthy as ever. While I waited on our friends to come back and pick me up, Miguel swung by to grab his ATM card I had taken and said it looked like a $100 repair job with some fuses that would hopefully be resolved by noon.
At the end of the day, Miguel spent a full 12 hours with the car, some of it on the side of the road and most of it at the mechanic's shop. After the fuses were fixed and the car started up again, the voltage was running too high indicating an alternator problem, which they could fix. The mechanic bill wasn't outrageous or unreasonable, and in US terms even comparatively cheap, but it was high enough that we would have to take a bit out of our meager savings account to cover it and still make the rest of our monthly bills.
This was where it hit me. We had intentionally not touched that savings account since we were married, even though the past few months have been tight after using our cushion funds to finish the rental house in Boca Chica. We had offhandedly nicknamed it our baby fund, knowing that we would likely need to use it down the road and not wanting to touch it before then.
Saturday morning came around and I needed to drop the guys off at the bus station since Miguel had university classes in Santo Domingo. As soon as I started the car, I knew something was majorly wrong. When it had turned off the day (and a few weeks) before, there weren't any symptoms of a problem, but this time it gave every indication that there was something wrong with the alternator and I was sure we'd end up needing to change the entire thing. On the way to and back from the bus station (15-20 min. round trip) the car shut off 3 times - thankfully always starting right back up again.
We ladies ditched our beach plans for the day. Our friend came out with the mechanics who worked on it in front of our house for a few hours. A wire in the alternator had shorted out and because of that the battery ended up boiling, so while the mechanics were free (guarantee on their work from the day before) we now had to buy a new battery before it was road worthy - which cost as much as the mechanic's bill from the day before.

That day, I went into my room and cried. And in the exact moment that the tears started, I started thanking God. Now, I don't always do this, even though I should, but somehow in the middle of the tears, the phrase from the movie "Facing the Giants" kept playing over and over in my head, "If we win, we praise Him. If we lose, we praise Him." Surprisingly it wasn't hard to start making a list of all the things we have to be so extremely grateful for - church family and friends who drop things and rearrange their busy day to help us when we need it; a savings account, however small it may be, to cover unplanned emergencies; the Heberts who took us on an outing on Monday to go whale-watching (something I've been wanting to do for the past 3 years and would have missed again this year had we waited another week); family back home who knew what was going on and praying for us; not having to replace the alternator!; a healthy, active, growing little son who has already brought us so much joy in the past 20 weeks while we wait to meet him face to face; food on the table; a roof over our house; so many, many things.

20 weeks! We're halfway there already :D

Gratitude. It's something I have found I need to choose. And when I do, I find one of the keys to joy.

Wrapping Up 2018

This update has been a while in the making, but we've unfortunately had "sick week" in the Terrero household. I (Rose) came down with a bad cold on Friday, and spent several days mostly in bed. Miguel caught it just as I was getting over it and is finally on the mend now. The good part is that it happened the same week that FCA's Christmas break started! So, sickness aside, we've enjoyed being able to be home and mend without any worries that things were falling to the side as a result (except this post, of course ;).

2018 has been a tremendous year for us, with a lot of -traveling, -ministry advancement, and -church involvement.

- We've made a total of 4 trips stateside since this time last year!

Our first trip was to MI for Christmas and Miguel's first taste of all things America, including snow and everything related to a northern winter! Early on, we decided to spend the Christmas/New Year's season Stateside every other year and spend the alternate year here in the DR, barring any special circumstances, of course. Since Miguel had just gotten his residency approval paperwork, it worked out well to spend a little over a month for our first trip together.Because of the length of our stay, we got to spend a few days in GA as well, visiting wonderful friends and meeting new ones! Most of our GA family have been people who've been here on trips throughout the past 7 years and have gotten to know Miguel through ministry connections.

Our second trip was barely a month later as we headed to Orlando, FL to attend FCA's annual International Capacity Conference and once-every-three-years Realtime gathering with all of FCA staff and spouses. It was a full week of lots of learning, gaining ministry strategies, and connecting with fellow missionaries and people with a heart for youth and sports ministry. 

Our third trip was the beginning of summer and right before our mission team season started. We were able to head to ND for 10 days to share with one of our main supporting churches, Northland Harvest Church, and give Miguel a taste of long summer days in northern USA.

Our fourth and most recent trip was barely a month ago, right over Thanksgiving. We absolutely loved catching up with friends and being with family in TX and making new connections and potential partnership opportunities in MD with Bay Area Community Church, as well as catching up with TCP, who is starting to make annual trips down here. I wrote a recap of the trip over on our Facebook page. 

It's difficult to compare the trips since they were to different parts of the country, during different times of the year, and for different purposes and each was unique and special in its own way. The one common factor we took away from each trip was overwhelming gratefulness for the family and friends we have spread all over the US. AND on the flip-side, coming back home to a place where we belong right now and to people who pray for and miss us while we're gone. It's the best of both worlds, even if it does mean we're always missing someone.
An added blessing has been the generosity of churches and ministry partners who have made the trips possible through funding. At this point in our ongoing monthly funds, we would not be able to pay for all these trips on our own and we are so blessed by others' generosity and love for us, above and beyond what we have needed! Also, a big shout out to friends and family who have allowed us to invade their homes and spaces during our trips! You know who you are - thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!

- Miguel and I were talking about ministry the other day and reflecting on the incredible change that has taken place over the past two years since Miguel first started coming to Higuey in preparation to move up here once we were married. He first came knowing a grand total of 3 coaches. Two short years later and now he meets with 10-15 coaches weekly, 5 of whom are in his bi-monthly small group gaining tools to disciple their own teams, families, and influence other coaches. He visits an average of 3 fields every day, four days a week, to run devotional times (huddles) with the athletes and equip the coaches on-the-go, teaching life principles, Biblical understanding, and supporting them in any way necessary.

Every coach in Higuey, and many in the outlying small towns, know Miguel; he has visited their homes, knows their families, and shared in the their difficulty and joy. In turn, it is a weekly, sometimes daily, occurrence to have a coach show up at our home to see Miguel about personal, professional, and spiritual matters.

He has been invited to participate as a mediator in a group who is aiming to better formalize baseball in Higuey with the MLB since they know he doesn't bring his own agenda and is trustworthy.
We recently had another 3Dimensional Coaching workshop where 34 coaches participated in learning the fundamentals of coaching on a physical, mental, and heart level. These workshops are run by another of FCA DR's regional directors and have been amazing tools in helping coaches understand the impact they can have on an entire generation of their communities. Our prayer and aim is that the coaches learn to use this impact for good and to share the true hope of a future that comes in Jesus Christ.

On top of all this, we've helped host 8 teams for FCA DR and are already up to 10 teams for next year! I'll give a few more details on that below.

 

Then, of course, we have ATB and what that has added to our personal ministry. Recently, ATB staff was called in to assist in helping relocate more than 20 foreign women who had been trafficked. Without going into too much detail, this isn't the first time that a situation like this has come up and the government and assisting parties don't have any place to put the rescued women. This is precisely why we have created our Assessment Center model - but, we are still waiting for the paperwork to go through on the building the government is willing to donate to us. Involved in this recent case was an official who has access to the person with the authority to sign and release the papers on the building. Please be praying with us for this situation to be resolved and the paperwork to be cleared! Anyone who has done any ministry, business, or personal legal processes in the DR knows how long the paperwork process can drag out (sometimes for years). We will need discernment to know how long to wait until we should simply look for another option.
On another note, when we came back from our Thanksgiving trip, we were able to bring 2/3 of the donated Human Kindness Kits some of you gave towards. We are excited to have these on hand and look forward to being able to give them out in future cases!

- Something we've touched on several times, though not in great detail, and has been one of the most important factors in our married lives, is our local church. We strongly believe that the local church is God's design and the goal of any ministry should be to actively, beneficially participate in it's growth (in depth and width). The church we are a part of has been, in essence, a re-plant, and is still in it's beginning stages. It has been incredible to be able to see and participate in, from the beginning, how a healthy church lays its foundations, what biblical doctrinal guidelines are, and what is truly important - people.
We always encourage athletes to attend church with their coaches if they do not have one to attend and they're too far away from ours. However, we always invite them to come with us, when possible, and three of Miguel's youth have started attending regularly. One has gotten baptized and another one is considering taking that step as well!
Dinners with church friends are a regular occurrence around here. This dynamic group of people are the individuals who challenge us in our walk, encourage and uplift us in difficulty, and share in the joy of Jesus with us. Come visit us, and we'll take you to Thurs. night or Sun. meetings and you'll get to share in the warmth as well! The kind of friends who insist we share New Year's with them and call us family always welcome our visitors and groups with open arms.

As we wrap up 2018 and head into 2019, our hearts of full of praise and we love celebrating the reason for it all, Jesus Christ!

You might not be able to read the lettering, but I'm sure most of you have seen this news by now. We found out about our Mini T right after getting back from MD, and we are thrilled! Though not a complete surprise, in human terms one month later would have been "better" regarding ministry scheduling. My due date is early August, right in the middle of 3 large teams scheduled to come next year! We'll need some discernment in planning, but as of now, it looks like I'll be going Stateside in July and Miguel will be joining me as close to the baby's arrival as possible to plan for.
Because of this, one of our focuses will be having all the details in place for the team(s) Miguel will need to miss and training one more staff member the ins and outs of hosting the teams once they're on the ground. We also are not accepting any more team bookings for August!
We will also then need to spend several more months stateside as we will have at least 3 paperwork processes going after August.
The paperwork for Mini T alone will be more than usual as we want our kids to have dual citizenship.
The second paperwork process will be Miguel's residency status. Since we were married for less than 2 years when we filed, he was granted temporary status for 2 years, and come September, we'll need to begin the process of filing for the extension of full permanent status.
The third paperwork process will be to get started on my Dominican residency process. This needs to be started from the States and we've never been up there long enough, since getting Miguel's US residency done, to begin filing for mine. So far, residency hasn't been necessary, but we do need to pay an overstay fine every time I leave the DR, which adds up. And with adding a child, it will make things easier and more cost effective long-term to have my residency here.
These are the joys of international family life! When we got engaged, my bosses, who are Australian and American, told me, "Congratulations!! Welcome a lifetime of filing paperwork!" :D

Because of these processes, we'll have some costs above and beyond regular "adding a member to the family" costs and would appreciate your prayers in this area. 

An Authentic Thanksgiving and Other Fun Stuff

I was shocked, utterly shocked, when last week I realized it's been 5 years since I last celebrated Thanksgiving in the United States. That's right - 5! And, not only has it been that long since I celebrated this USA holiday outside of the USA, over the past 5 years my favorite holiday has been spent/celebrated in 3 different countries. Yep - 3 countries. 

2013 - the year I started this blog. Originally, I started blogging to keep people updated on my family's travels to Central America that year, while also wanting a place to write and share about musings, growing steps, and life in general that could be an encouragement to others. 
That year, Thanksgiving was spend in Belize! It was the first, and only, trip we took as a family to Belize. In the post Thanksgiving and Beyond I wrote about our time with the Baumgartner family. Thanksgiving is the special holiday that brings Americans living overseas together and it's been a unique experience every time. 

2014 - the year I lived in Guatemala, interning with Pray America~Manos de Jesus in the mountains of Chichicastenango, Guatemala. That year (spring 2014 - spring 2015) will always hold a special bookmark in my heart, as that was when I had stepped out for the first time on my own and started putting into action what I believed God was calling me to - that was the jumping off point to bring me to where I am today. 
I didn't write much about Thanksgiving in and of itself that year since the post The Clock is Ticking was written right before the holidays, but I do vividly recall a gigantic Thanksgiving Day spread in the common area of the Community Center on campus and celebrating with staff, volunteers, and one of our favorite teams of the year who was serving with us that week. 

2015 - the year I moved to the Dominican Republic. That year, I managed to be in 4 countries for no less than a month in each one (Guatemala-USA-Thailand-Dominican Republic) and waved at Japan while catching connecting flights. I also moved from MI to ND to work, in between the country to country moves, and to establish more of a network and support system. In more ways than one it was the year my life changed, yet in other ways it was familiar because I was finally doing what I had dreamed of for so long. 
I moved here, along with my bosses (Peter and Barbie Everett), on October 27th. We got together 2 weeks ago on our third anniversary to reminisce those first few weeks/months and reflect on what to leave behind and what to take forward with us into new ventures. That year's post The Worst Thanksgiving Day Ever was a reflection of how we were learning to depend on God's truth no matter the circumstances. It was also the only year, in these past 5 years, that I did not formally celebrate my favorite holiday. 

2016 - the year I met Miguel AND the year we got engaged! That year was a road full of learning curves, growing pains, immense joy, crushing heartache, tears of agony AND joy, and dependence on Christ like never before. The safe home was up and running, girls came and went, staff grew and changed, and we saw work come to fruition.  
I will always think of that year as one of the most colorful, most fulfilling, best, yet hardest years. That year's post I Am Thankful... was such a beautiful reminder of what God really can do. Thanksgiving Day that year was everything the previous one was not!

2017 - the year of change. It was a year of new beginnings on every front. My brother had passed away the end of 2016. We got married in the spring 👫. I stepped away from anti-trafficking for a year. We moved to Higuey. We got plugged into a growing, thriving local church and community. Miguel's residency process was started and completed. Grief, happiness, healing, changing, moving, difficulty, contentment, peace, trust, overwhelming gratitude - these are things we experienced and moved through and grew in. 
We celebrated Thanksgiving in two distinct ways - once with a small group of family/friends (inner circle) and secondly with a large group of many missionaries working in all kinds of fields (outer circle) who came together to celebrate the special American holiday we all love. That year's post Preparing for a White Christmas! was an overview of the wonderful culmination of many prayers answered, a reflection of moving forward as our roots were beginning to grow. 

2018 - the year of more! You all have lived this year with us, and I think you'll understand when I say this has been one of the sweetest years.
And this is the year we get to spend Thanksgiving in the good ole' USA! Miguel is looking forward to the authenticity and spread of food; I doubt he'll be satisfied if we have less than 3 options for each food group. We're planning to be in Texas from November 17th-23rd to visit my oldest brother and his family. They weren't able to make it to our wedding last year due to his preparation for a long term deployment, so they haven't personally met Miguel yet. Saying we're all super excited to get to spend this time together is an understatement! 
From TX, we're flying to Maryland for an extended weekend to visit some of the same friends who were here in August with our last group of the summer. We're looking forward to seeing everyone again and making some new connections. I'm especially excited to get to spend a day in D.C. while we're there since I haven't been to my own country's capital yet (in all our family travels we never made it to the east coast for some reason). 

I considered splitting this post into two, but decided against it, simply because my excitement about An Authentic Thanksgiving probably wouldn't suffice as a post in itself ;) So, I'll try to keep the Other Fun Stuff part brief. 

If you've dropped in during October, you've seen our posts about a fundraiser we were doing. It's important I mention this because there is an amazing continuing story that has resulted from that event. 
Our goal for the fundraiser was to raise enough funds to purchase 200 Human Kindness Kits containing basic toiletry items to be gifted, along with other basic necessities, to women coming through ATB's trafficking assessment center next year. The fundraiser was done in the form of an online party and everyone attending was able to give direct donations for kits while also being able to shop products for themselves. My friend who hosted this receives a commission on a percentage of the products purchased, and she had originally wanted to donate her commission to Miguel and myself. However, knowing we might not reach our 200 kits goal, we decided to have her commission go toward kits, so every purchase counted, and if anything was leftover, then she would give the rest to us. 
~These details are important, I promise!~
Before going on, we want to sincerely thank each and every one of you who got involved with this fundraiser!! It has paid off more than we ever imagined.
While we were wrapping up everything, we did some brief calculations and figured we had enough in donations and commission on purchase products that would allow us to purchase 180 kits! So close and such a great number; I honestly would have been happy if we got only halfway to our goal, so we were excited. But -
Somehow, somewhere, our calculations were off and Joanne tells me a week or so later, while she was finalizing the event, that we actually would have more than we figured and had enough to get 200 kits!! I was stoked! Plus, she said, there would be some commission leftover that she could give to Miguel and myself after all. I was overwhelmed by God's goodness and people's generosity. God really does multiply in so many ways. But - 
~It doesn't stop there!~

Let me rewind a little bit and fill you in on some behind the scenes of our life right now. Miguel's mom needs double knee replacement surgery and she would be out of work for several months after this takes place. Before we even met, Miguel had begun building a house above his mom's house that we have worked on on-and-off as we've had extra funds. When we found out about his mom needing surgery, we started working more steadily on finishing the house with the goal of having it be move-in ready by December. This way, we can rent it out in December and support his mom through the rent money over the following months while she is in recovery. This month, we reached the end of our extra funds with only painting and a few electrical details left to do. The cost is large enough that we thought we'd have to postpone finishing the house until mid-December. Then - 
~This is the super crazy part!~

Joanne, my friend who was heading up the fundraiser, messaged me the day after Miguel and I had crunched numbers and decided we'd have to postpone finishing the house. She had been waiting for the month of October to close before knowing how much commission from the party fundraiser would actually be left over. When she told me the number I questioned her several times to make sure she had her figures right...The amount she told me was twice, TWICE what she had originally said would be left after purchasing 200 kits! The craziest, most God-detailed, part is that the amount she told me is only $5 shy of what we need to make all our bills and finish the house!! We are rejoicing! 

In more Other news:

~ FCA DR had our annual marriage retreat again in October. This year, everyone brought their families as well, which is something we're considering doing every 3 years, and our pastor was invited to be the keynote speaker. The theme was Embracing the Plan of God and he shared, through vivid examples, the Biblical truth and need of family being our first ministry. 

~ The calendar for next summer is filling up with teams. We have even more scheduled for 2019 than we had this year! Miguel and I have also been invited to share at an FCA specific event next year and could see more opportunities to travel and share about all sides of our ministry(s) come up as time goes on. If anyone is interested in knowing more about anything we are involved in (FCA and ATB) and possibly even have us share at your church or any event, don't hesitate to reach out to us. We are open to going where God gives opportunity.

~ In March, we are excited to be planning a trip to Guatemala! FCA's annual international Capacity Conference will be taking place in Antigua, which also happens to be where some of my former missionary coworkers are now at. 

~ ATB was in the process of getting a building, for the Assessment Center, donated from the Dominican federal department over anti-trafficking and just as things seemed to be moving forward, the head of the department was replaced. This means, the process has had to be restarted from the beginning. Peter and Fernando were able to meet with the new head and we are hopeful to see progress be made soon. 

Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we move forward in faith that God will continue to direct us to exactly where He wants us to be when He wants us to be there.