Feliz Cuarto de Julio!!!

What a week! Praise the Lord, everyone has recovered from the illness that seemed to plague our house early this week. We were unable to go to Cercadillo on Monday and Tuesday because of health, but all are restored! We are also experiencing a bit of a problem with some neighborhood pollos (chickens) that keep entering Ina's yard, entryway, and garage to leave us little "presents". In this picture Kasi and I rigged up a temporary wall to keep the chickens out of Ina's house. It seemed to work! On Wednesday we were treated to an afternoon at a resort, complete with a swimming pool and the first hot shower in a while! One of the women from Massachusetts was spending some extra time in the DR after serving with us in Cercadillo (one of her daughters lives here), and she was so kind as to invite us to experience a little luxury. It was much appreciated :)

Thursday we were back to teaching in Cercadillo! It was quite a crazy day as we had several new students show up for class. While this is very exciting because new families are being reached, it also created more than a little chaos as we tried to incorporate them in groups without any idea of ability. Having never attended one of Ina's classes, they also didn't know about the "rules". That's always fun! In this picture Ina and I are leading "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes". We had another group of Americans from TIME come and do a program at the end of the day. They had a variety of music selections that shared the message of the gospel, and then we headed to the baseball field for games. The kids loved it!!!

Today we taught reading classes in the morning, and those went much better! Praise the Lord! We actually felt like we accomplished something. In the afternoon we had sewing classes with the women of Cercadillo. We finished the skirts they have been working on for a few weeks. It is so much fun to see them finish a project and see the accomplishment in their eyes. They such pride in creating something beautiful! Some of the ladies are becoming quite good and beginning to help other women get started. During sewing class, an opportunity arose for Ina to share about what it means to be like Christ. She was able to talk to the women about extending grace to one another as God has extended His grace to her. It was such a powerful few moments that only God could have provided! Praise the Lord. As we were leaving Cercadillo, another opportunity arose for Ina to share why she is doing what she is doing with a resident of Cercadillo. It was so awesome to see God working in both conversations!

Thank you so much for being part of this adventure and for your prayers! I can't believe that a week from today I'll already be home. It has all gone to fast, and it will be very hard to say good-bye, especially to my little Cercadillans! God is moving in mighty ways if we are only in tune with Him enough to stop and take note. Please pray that my remaining days in the DR will be days of good health, good fellowship, and moments where I stand in awe and worship! Thank you!!!