outpaced

Well, we've been utterly outpaced by our incredible roommates in this blog-o-sphere.  I think that most of you know that my sister and her husband Brandon have been living with us since late June.  They're here to lead and mentor this year's summer interns, of which there were 9.  They'll be here until August and they have faithfully updated their blog while Kelly and I have succumbed to the culture of mañana.  I've so often thought about writing but have been experiencing a severe case of writer's block (more on that later).  But, without further explanation or apology, here is a brief recap and list of prayer requests.

Since mid June, we've been a part of many exciting happenings, not least of which is the launch of the Challenge Kids Grant program that Kelly is helping with.  Through the blessing of a grant awarded to Children of the Nations International, each country received a sum of money to hire an in-country grant coordinator and to begin working on developing a special needs education program in our schools.  Kelly was asked to help consult for and work with the grant coordinator here in the DR and this past month, they were able to clear all of the red tape and begin aggressively working on the development of this much needed program.  After a few weeks of meetings for vision casting, program ideas and strategies, information sharing and gathering, and laying out some general timelines, Kelly, Daysi (Grant Coordinator) and Maritza (our Education Director) gave an incredible training for all of the teachers and principals from our villages.  Nearly 80% of our teachers and administrators were able to attend!  In the training, Kelly, Maritza and Daysi (henceforth known as "The Big Three") used a very hands on approach to illustrate many common learning disabilities and other handicaps that affect a child's learning, as well as strategies for diagnosing within the classroom, and effective teaching strategies/classroom management technique to improve the overall learning environment.  It was a fantastic starting point to this new program that left teachers energized and motivated, and highlighted the mountain of work in front of all involved!  From here they have a few more in-depth trainings and meetings with specialists who may be interested in partnering to help diagnose our kids (such as eye doctors, physical therapists, etc) before the school year starts.  Once the year is underway, they will be working to identify the various needs within our schools in order to create a plan for addressing as many individual educational needs as possible.  The task is huge but God has assembled a team of utmost talent that is already laying a great foundation.

I've been working with David (the in-country director of Venture Teams) to receive 4 teams since the third week of June.  It has been BUSY!  Each team had a different project that they were working on, a different focus that they brought down here.  One came to work construction and play sports with our kids.  Another came just to learn as much as they could about the work down here so that they could bring it back to their church to hopefully inspire future trips.  One came to love on and play with the I Love Baseball program down here which is working to raise up young boys to be full of integrity, grounded in God and educated while they pursue their dream of becoming professional baseball players.  Finally, we had a team that came down and led discussions and classes for teenagers about the importance of God designed sexual purity as well as leading devotionals for the moms of our villages.  Each team was a direct blessing from God and a huge blessing to the life and ministry down here.

We've also had a bit of fun, sneaking off to the beach, enjoying the occasional night out at a restaurant, game night at home, movie night with the interns, dancing in our kitchen, read-alouds at night, M&M's, nachos (thanks La Dues, Ben and Brian!) and daydreaming about God's next steps for us.

I mentioned above that I would write more about the writer's block that I've been experiencing, so as I head into our prayer requests, I'd love to explain that more.  I think it is safe to say that despite all that Kelly and I bear witness to of God's work down here and in our lives, life has been tough for me lately.  I'm in a dangerous moment of wanting to employ the sin of comparison as an evaluation tool for deciphering the meaning of the challenges that we face down here.  Confused?  I am too.  What I think I mean though is that, as I've increasingly faced challenges to the work that I'm asked to do, I've desired to say "this isn't appropriate" or "I think God is speaking to us through this situation" and then evaluate those statements by comparing them to what life would be back home.  Or by comparing it to what I think life should be down here.  Problematically though, I don't really know what life would be back home, nor do I know for sure what God thinks life should be down here.  And then compounding that problem, is that my comparison almost always inevitably favors the alternative to the moment.  So while comparison can be useful to highlight the uniqueness (or sameness) of concrete experiences, comparison as it relates to conjecture (and my current use of it) often shifts it to a tool of escapism.  If I do this [escape situation], then that [my happiness] will happen.  Dangerous no?  Anyway, all of the moments that have been spurring on this line of thinking, has caused me a lot of discouragement, and a strong desire to walk away from it.  And, a difficulty in finding the right words (hence the writer's block.)  So pray that:

1. Lack of happiness would never be confused with lack of joy and that my joy would come from an ever deepening connection with the one who knit me together and sings over me at all times.
2. We would be in tune with the way that God chooses to speak, for though we know God does not remain silent, it is discouraging when it feels as if He is.
3. That the staff in this country would be of one mind and that they would choose kindness as their first and best resource for problem solving.
4. That I would be encouraged in lasting ways.  That I might "go from strength to strength".
   
5. That the momentum that Kelly helped generate for the new program would not dissipate.  That they would find specialists to help, teachers willing to risk changing their methods, success for the students, and above all, that God would be blessed by their work.
6. That David and I would continue to work together with the international office to refine the Venture Teams' process and experience in order to remain faithful to God's call and honoring to the commitment of the team members.

We love you and it's in these harder moments that we miss you with a profound ache.  Know that we think of you constantly and pray for you often.

Love,
M&K