What to say??????

Life with God has been one adventure after another and we have discovered new meaning to the phrases “go with the flow” and “roll with the punches”!!!

I’m trying to think back to our post 2 weeks ago and it seems so far away!

We have moved into our house. Our first day living here the kitchen drain overflowed under the cupboards, the roof leaked in quite a few places, and we watched the creek behind out house begin to raise as we experienced a tropical thunder storm!  We are told all this is very common for a Dominican house! Now add to that a lot of ants everywhere, cockroaches and some really cute green lizards!

Jarabacoa

We love our little town and are still overwhelmed by the kindness and patience of the Dominican people and the Americans who are here. It is a town where everyone knows everyone and they all seem to be related in some way. Kind of like North Bend!

God has blessed us in so many ways – our landlord is wonderful and he likes us. He fixed the roof and he and Kenny re-did our outside drainage (luckily Kenny is skilled at digging ditches!) Our house is bigger then we expected but God has made it clear that we are to furnish all the bedrooms (there are 4!) and He will make sure they are used. So we have found some second hand furniture (very rare here) and still have to get 3 more mattresses – definitely not what we expected.

Kenny picked the colors in the house. 

Moving Day! All 3 suitcases! The cupboard is from our landlord.

Rising Creek from our porch

We finally got a car but the night after we bought it we were driving and the headlights went out. Then the next day it wouldn’t start. Not a good sign but we truly prayed, waited on our Lord, and did our best! So we drove home in the dark which is not a rare thing. Lots of people driving in the dark – there is a false belief here that you save gas by not using your moto headlight or the light just doesn’t get replaced when it burns out. The mechanic is here right now trying to get the lights to work.

A bit smaller than the bike we left behind. This one is a 125!

Our neighbor, Chino, came over and told us that we have to park our moto
in the house at night due to thieves.

I think I have rubbed off on Kenny. Check out these colors he picked!
Our neighbor says we have a happy house!

Everything is cement. There is no drywall and very little wood due to termites.
All the wiring and plumbing are in pipes in the wall.
If you need to fix something you break out the concrete!

There are bars everywhere.
This is our back porch but the washer is inside this cage around our door.
Check out Kenny's washer drain installation!
Apparently, even a washer is in danger of being stolen.
I'm really not sure what God would have us think in regards to all the thieves and robberies. Just reading "Les Miserables" so that might have something to do with my musings.

Other side of back porch cage.
See the gazebo which will be great for intern and semester student gatherings.

We started working with teams this week! I am so happy to be working! The plan was to shadow Josh and Vicki but unfortunately Josh has been in the hospital with leptospirosis, which ironically one of our supporters working in Guam has also recently had. Thankfully, Josh and Vicki are incredibly organized, the current team is extremely patient, and we have a God who cares and is equipping us! And Josh is now at home and doing well!

I can’t wait until we are settle and we can start writing about all the amazing miracles God is doing here with our SI staff!

In Christ’s Love,

Karen