Greetings From Jarabacoa!!

Hola! It's almost 6pm here in Jarabacoa. We've had a great day and are now enjoying some free time back at the ranch before dinner. I'm sitting here with a laptop (using wireless internet!!) and I'm chilling on a porch swing with palm trees and tropical flowers all around me. What a peaceful and beautiful way to spend my free time. Several of the students are showering after a hard day's work. Some of taking a nap. Some are playing "catch phrase." Some are writing in their journals. Some are playing basketball. The scent of dinner fills the air. Our fingers are crossed that it's good because we struggled a bit with breakfast this morning (yep, it was that "interesting stuff" I told you parents about during our meeting -- mangu!)

Our work projects and our time with the kids these past two days have gone really well. We have a couple of different projects we are working on....moving tile from one house to another, powerwashing and cleaning the area around the gazebo, digging and moving dirt for a septic tank, clearing a tall grassy area with machetes, pick axes & rakes and also preparing the garden and planting fruit. Everyone has been working hard....and is pretty dirty and tired when it's time to break for lunch.

Yesterday we did our children's program with the kids at "The Ark" and today we were at "Palo Blanco." It's amazing how tired the students can be one minute after working hard all morning....and yet have so much joy and energy as soon as the kids arrive! We have had so much fun playing and running and laughing with the kids! They are truly the reason why we are here and it shows as I watch them all having the time of their lives!!

Please pray for us over the next couple of days....

We are all getting more and more tired with each passing day and yet the ministry still continues. We are loving it, but we are tired. You can also continue to pray for our health. Everyone is feeling good...even in spite of dealing with irritating mosquito bites. You can also pray for the little kids that we minster to. At times, they are pretty wild and crazy (as most kids can be) but we really want them to hear the message that comes by way of our puppets and skits. Pray also for our students and the language barrier that they deal with all day long. So many of them are learning and using Spanish (and making their Spanish teacher so proud!) but it's sometimes difficult and it really stretches them. The Logos students have been great "teachers" and I'm sure this will continue each day.

Ok, well, I'm thinking that I hear a hot shower calling my name so I will close for now. Hope things are getting warmer for you all back there in Ohio. We will try to bring some Dominican sun with us (along with our Korean Sun) when we come home next week....