Not Yet

home sweet "home"

2010-01-25T23:40:00.000-08:00

No, Scott is not home in Seattle, but he and the team have left Jimani and are back in Barahona. As you know this is where we lived while we were in the DR and also where our COTN offices and clinic are located.

Scott was excited he finally got a shower after going without for almost 3 days as there was no running water at the clinic in Jimani. He is exhausted and is looking forward to a little more sleep tonight and maybe even a siesta tomorrow.

I didn't get to talk to him for long, so beside knowing he is in Barahona I am not sure what he or the medical teams will do now. When I hear more information I will let you know.

As for myself, I want to say thanks to all of you for calling and emailing to check up on me. The baby and I are doing well and eating too much :) Unfortunately for Scott I have quickly gotten used to a bed all to myself, so I am not sure where he is going to sleep when he comes home.

Until tomorrow....

Kelly and baby "it"

how long?

2010-01-23T22:58:00.000-08:00

How long will they grieve the loss of those they love? How long will they search? How long will it take to find their spouse after they separated to find medical treatment? How long will they fear the aftershocks? How long will they go without food or safe water? How long will it take to heal their wounds? How long until the images of buildings crumbling and death on the streets don't haunt them?

How long.....

I ask these questions to myself not wanting a numerical answer, but rather to help myself understand and to not forget. As I hear stories of hope, my soul feels encouraged and my heart almost stops breaking for them. I forget the reality and find myself only wanting to live in the hope. I have to stop and ask myself these questions so I can remember that their journey ahead is long. I often find myself putting an "I" in the questions instead of a "they" and I am positive you have too. It brings me to my knees to pray because I am not sure how I would survive if the "they" turned into an "I". May it bring you to your knees...

Scott continues to be busy at work keeping the medical teams running. Some of his daily activities include: helping to coordinate interpreters, making sure the doctors eat, bringing them buckets of water to shower, finding blankets for patients, communicating with the international office in Silverdale, taking the night shift to be with the doctors, and eating cans of spaghetti-o's at least once a day.

They have been feeling aftershocks since yesterday. All are safe and non have been strong enough to damage anything. However, given the magnitude of the 7.0 earthquake any shake sends fear into the Haitians. Yesterday they had an aftershock and all the patients ran out of the building causing complete chaos. They ended up sleeping outside the building and spending all of today there as well not wanting to go back in. How long...

Reasons to give thanks:
Lives are being saved. Health is returning. Smiles are returning. MANY supplies are being donated. People are ready to help and give. They have access to a helicopter to transport patients.

Reasons to pray:
Sleep for the teams. Organization amongst chaos. Wisdom for the doctors. Safety as they travel into Haiti to get more patients. Their running water stopped working yesterday. Pray they can figure out the problem soon.

More reasons to pray:
How long?...

Kel

a mansion, 35 doctors, and 3 hours

2010-01-20T21:36:00.000-08:00

First and most importantly, everyone is safe in Jimani after the 6.0 aftershock this morning. They didn't feel it and operations at the clinic are still heavily underway.

Only ten minutes after they arrived at the clinic this morning they found housing for the 35 doctors who arrive in Barahona tonight. Praise God! A newly build mansion next to the clinic was sitting empty and the owners agreed to house international doctors. Our team has the master suit and while that sounds lush they will pack all 35 people plus other staff into that room with one bathroom.

I had a good laugh over Scott's job for the night. When I called at 10pm their time he told me he had been sitting in this mansion room for 3 hours holding it for our team so no one else would claim it. In fact he set up his bed near the door so if anyone came in they would have to step over him first. Don't mess with Martin. ;)

The doctors arrived to Barahona tonight and will drive to Jimani in the morning to start their rounds. The injured are still coming and helicopters are still bringing people. In fact, today they airlifted a 4 or 5 year old boy who was rescued today from under a building. The aftershock had moved the ruble enough that they could get him out. Amazing!

Prayers for today -

1) Doctors - As the doctors arrive at the clinic tomorrow pray for flexiblity and that they could find a good rhythm as at team.

2) Logistics - continued coordination of logistics as they try to stay ahead of the needs

3) Dr. Vicki Sakata- Vicki went down with Scott and has been instrumental in the work that is happening at the clinic in Jimani. She has taken on a high positoin of leadership there. Pray for wisdom as more patients and doctors arrive.

4) PRAISE - After 7 days they are still finding people alive.

More tomorrow...

Love,
Kelly

you don't happen to have a helicopeter sitting around....do you?

2010-01-19T21:53:00.000-08:00

ahhhhh....the sounds of organization amongst chaos. I use that word loosely as I am sure no one in Haiti nor anyone helping actually feels organized. However, there was the sounds of relief in their voices today as plans have started to come together.

Scott spent the day traveling around Barahona searching for medical supplies and gathering equipment from our COTN clinic in preparation for the team of doctors who will be arriving tomorrow. They drove to the clinic in Jimani to drop these supplies off and search for a place to house 35-50 doctors, anesthesiologists, nurses, interpreters, and other staff members. It is 1:30am there time and they just arrived back to Barahona to sleep for the night.

Here is what you can specifically pray for today:

1) Housing - Tomorrow they need to lock down a place for all these doctors. A church would be ideal as they could all be together!

2) Travels - The road to Jimani is long, curvy, and very dark at night. There are people going to Santo Domingo (3 hours the other direction) to pick up teams tomorrow. Pray for safety, no flat tires, and working vehicles.

3) The people needing medical attention - Check out an article written by one of our COTN staff that is down there. It is heart breaking. Little orphaned children are arriving...alone. Article

4) You thought I was joking about a helicopter. Read below just in case your helicopter is just sitting around in your back yard ;) This is from the COTN prayer update:
"we desperately need a helicopter or prop plane that can deliver staff, patients, and supplies from key locations to our sites of needs. Contact info@cotni.org for more information."

Love,
Kel

P.S. Jimani is pronounced HE-MA-KNEE

Back in the Dominican

2010-01-18T22:38:00.000-08:00

Scott never thought he would be back this soon, but his heart couldn't keep him away. After news of the earthquake in Haiti, he felt compelled to go. The mission in the Dominican is only 3 hours away from the Haitian border and although they weren't effected by the shake, their hearts were torn out from the loss and devastation.

We found out Friday morning that a team of COTN staff (stateside) were going down to survey the needs and quickly put teams together to help. By lunch Scott had a plane ticket and by Saturday night he was on a plane with Brandon our brother-in-law and 4 other amazing people.

Many of you have been calling and emailing asking for an update, so I thought I would reinstate the blog to keep you all informed.

First Scott is safe and is so glad to be down there serving in such a time of need. Today the team drove to the Haitian border to a town called Jimani to make connections with a clinic where they could send teams of doctors who are coming this week. Scott said the clinics were so full of people you could hardly walk through them. Praise God for medical personal who are giving their time to come save lives. Once they made arrangements with the clinic they headed back to Barahona to the mission house where they are staying for now to continue making preparations for the teams.

Scott asked that you pray specifically for:
1) Interpreters who speak Creole - language is a huge barrier
2) Medicine - every clinic is full, every clinic needs medicine, and there just isn't enough to go around
3) Connection - they are still searching out ways non-medical teams can help.
4) Safety as they travel

As I watch news reports and see videos, I admit that I have struggled to find a list of ways to praise our God who is supposed to be merciful. If I learned anything from Dominicans though, it is that you praise God in ALL times. Even Death. Before the DR I often wondered how to do this. Then I heard the cries of their hearts and the gratitude for a God that is present. A God that is loving. A God that is the king of kings and the lord of lords. So tonight I will try and be like my Dominican and Haitian friends.
I will praise him for who HE is and let him do the work.

Cheers,
Kelly

http://www.cotni.org/news/296-cotn-responds-to-haiti-earthquake-disaster

last days

2009-05-30T07:06:00.000-07:00

In about one hour our internet and lights are being cut off so we wanted to post one last blog before we head home to become Seattliets again.

We're making it through the awkward week but not without tears and sadness for the people we leave behind. Our staff threw us a good-bye party on Wednesday complete with our favorite foods, a little dancing, and some touching words of how God was a work while we were here. I have added some pictures below. As part of a game they made Scott dance with the shortest person at the office (shockingly it wasn't me) and they made me imitate 3 people on staff (something I like to do often). They invited some of the kids from our special education programs to come and say thank you which was really special for me.

We have spent the rest of this week hanging out with new made friends from chruch, saying good-bye to old friends, and of course packing. On Monday we leave Barahona early and head to the east coast for a short vacation before we head home. We can't wait to see you all soon and share more stories about life down here.

the awkward week

2009-05-25T04:57:00.000-07:00

We have finally arrived at our very last week living in Barahona. I have decided to call this week "the awkward week". It is the in between stage of leaving something old and arriving at something new.

This is the week when on Monday you see someone and don't know whether to say "good-bye" or "see you soon," because Friday might sneak up, and you may or may not have seen them again. So you say an awkward "Well, I hope to see you later but if not..." You give them a hug but don't want to be too serious about it because you just might see them again in a couple days and have to go through the good-bye all over again.

This is the week when half of our stuff is packed in suitcases, half is in boxes and half is out still being used. When on Thursday we will be eating our cereal out of styrofoam bowls because everything is finally in boxes. When on Monday, we will leave our house and it will be empty and we will close the door for the last time.

It is the week of "lasts." Our last chinola juice. Our last drive to the beach. The last time our friends will stop by to play games until late in the night. Our last time to eat chicken, rice and beans (halleluja!). The last time I will get whistled at by the Macho men. Our last time to go to the villages and hug the most beautiful kids ever.

This is the week when we don't know whether to show our smiles in excitement for going home or hold back tears saying good-bye. So we do both. And some people will understand our awkwardness because they know what it means to leave. And others will wonder if we are really truly sad to leave or doubt if we really want to go home cause they have never left.

So here we go...with awkward hugs and good-byes because who really knows how to say good-bye to a people who have loved you and have taken you in.

I guess the great part of all of this is that "los que dicen adios nuca vuelven" - "those who say good-bye never return." So maybe we won't have to say good-bye after all. Just a hug and a "see you later" will do just fine.

K&M

VIP

2009-05-12T05:34:00.000-07:00

(from left to right - Candi, Kelly, Manuela)

Meet Manuela! She has become one of our best friends down here. All of you who have come down and stayed at our house know her and LOVE her cooking. She is in our home just about everyday and has become a part of our family. She and Scott have found a special bond with each other as they are constantly trying to one up each other with pranks. Manuela is hilarious. Sometimes she purposely locks us out of the house. Sometimes we find ourselves getting water poured down our backs. And sometimes at lunch instead of a fork we'd have a gigantic serving spoon as our utensil. She constantly makes us laugh and brings joys to our home. She is always singing and after several attempts finally figured out how to open iTunes and play music so loud that the neighbor can't help but sing along too. She was our friend but also like a mother figure to us constantly correcting our grammar and telling us which neighborhoods we couldn't go into at night. I remember one time I was leaving the house to catch a concho (a motorcycle taxi) and she walked the 6 blocks with me just to make sure I chose a good driver.

We love you Manuela!

homebound

2009-05-06T09:23:00.000-07:00

Álo!

Well, after a long absence, Kelly and I are entering back into blogging. We've missed you!! I wanted to post a letter today that many of you are likely receiving in the mail today - maybe tomorrow - maybe sometime after that. I expect that over the next couple of weeks we'll have much more to say, but for now, enjoy an electronic copy of the snail mail that is on the way:

---------------------------------

Saludo!

Greetings from the Dominican Republic! The weather is changing here. We can feel it. It’s not the midday heat; it’s the rooster’s sun and the evening air that signals Spring and her faithful friend Summer are arriving. And it’s the kids too. They’re restless – looking towards the freedom of vacation and yet still aware of the days of learning at hand. It’s marked by the new growth and in the change of fruit. The Platáno trees planted in March have reached out of the earth and have begun to climb towards maturity. The Mangos have started to appear sparingly in the markets – eaten while still green as we can’t wait for the impending moment when they have come fully into season. Everywhere we look, creation is moving towards a change of seasons.

It is out of the paradox of “already not yet” that Kelly and I have passed our days here in this beautiful culture – but it’s with fresh awareness of change that we write to you. The season of life that brought us to the Dominican is whispering its goodbyes and urging us onto that which is next. Even as we are trying to pace ourselves to stretch our days, time seems to be moving with hastening speed.

We were talking today, just Kelly and I, stealing a moment together alone – and she said to me, “isn’t it interesting; kids were what we knew before we came down here, but it was adults that God has used to change us – to teach us the most about ourselves. It’s as if He said, you may know kids, but do you know you, and do you know me? Watch as I use a culture and a people that you don’t know to teach you more about who I have created you to be.” We have indeed fallen in love with kids down here – Luisito, Danielito, Yilenny, Maciel, Negrito, Algenny, Franklin and the list goes on. But it has been the friends that we’ve made that have been the biggest part of our lives, and whom have had the biggest impact on us – Manuela, Renzo, ElBin, Edwin, Daisey, David, Julio and Maritza, our whole interpreter crew and our amazing neighbors, among many others.

And so we find ourselves embracing the children and our friends with greater sentiment – laughing a little louder, relaxing a little more into relationships with an easiness that time brings, discovering new joys, clinging to last moments. We have found ourselves repeating Dominican phrases that we long to have as part of our lives: “Give time to time”, “If God wills it”, “Where two can eat, three can eat”, “Con paciencia y calma, el burro se sube la palma”.

In just under two months, Kelly and I will get on a plane bound for Seattle. We will have said to our friends down here that we will see them later (because “los que dicen Adios, nunca vuelven”) and will weep for love of them, and dance with joy to be with you again. Our plan is to arrive in Seattle the first week of June, celebrate the birth of my niece and my nephew-in-friend, and settle in a bit before heading to Colorado for a weeklong debriefing at the same campus that provided us with 5 weeks of preparation before coming here. It is exciting and nerve-wracking and wonderful and sad and every other emotion too. There is a grieving and a celebrating that is happening in our home right now as we prepare for the change of seasons.

We wondered about what we will miss the most down here and made a list of things that is far from all inclusive and in no specific order:
1.    Two hours together at lunch every day.
2.    Warm weather year round.
3.    A relationally centered culture that knows how to tell a good story.
4.    The joy of simple living.
5.    The romance of adventure.
6.    Our dear companions that have loved us and protected us and brought us into their community.
7.    The beautiful children who have come to believe that there is a bigness of life that awaits them.

We are so looking forward to sharing with you in the months and years ahead, all that has happened to us. For now though, as we transition we’d like to ask you to pray about a few specific things:
1.    Pray for job opportunities. Kelly has begun looking for an elementary school teaching position and I have begun applying for various community based leadership positions (such as with the YMCA, etc.) Pray that God would already begin preparing our potential employers to receive us and that we would be sensitive to His leading.
2.    Transition and all of its details – housing, phone contracts, health insurance, living arrangements, etc. More than the details though, pray that we would be aware of our emotions and that we would turn them over to God.
3.    That God would open a door for us to specifically apply our experiences from down here to life in Seattle. That we would never forget the faces we have come to love or the lessons that we have learned.

Kelly and I could not be more thankful for the financial support that you have given that has allowed us to have this unique and wonderful experience. Each month we have this soul encouraging moment when we receive the statement of donations – it isn’t the dollars (though those are encouraging) – it’s seeing your names. You can’t imagine what an amazing group of people you are. We often find ourselves saying, “How did we get so blessed to have such Rockstars surrounding us?” Thank you for your constant support. To that end, we would like to ask you consider staying onboard with us through our transition. COTN has approved our transition plan and is in support of us staying on support for a couple of months after returning to Seattle. If you’re able and willing, we would like to ask you to continue your financial support through the end of September to help us make the transition back to the states and into full-time jobs. As we do, we will keep you updated on our progress and let you know if our situation changes.

When we left Seattle, we left feeling blessed, excited and pretty nervous. As we begin to leave Barahona, we again find ourselves feeling blessed, excited and pretty nervous. But we have a God who is much bigger than our circumstances and we look forward with great anticipation to see how He will lead. Stay tuned on our blog (www.skhampton.blogspot.com) for updates on our transition and we’ll see you soon!

Blessed and Grateful,
M&K

for 2 days straight

2009-02-27T10:31:00.000-08:00

Untitled from Scott Hampton on Vimeo.

Someone give these guys a massage! For 2 days straight they tossed shovelful after shovelful of dirt onto the roof of this house. I'm no genius but I could think of other ways they could get all that dirt up there with little supplies needed. You should see them mix all the cememt by hand to put the cement blocks together. I feel sorry for their backs. I applaud the construction men in this country because out of any profession they work the hardest.

Glad I'm in Education,
K(&M)

blessings abound

2009-02-19T06:00:00.000-08:00

Hi All,

I'm on my way out the door to another beautiful Carribean day that awaits me with uncounted adventures likely springing from all moments and corners, but I wanted to post a quick update to say THANK YOU to all of you who prayed for and committed to helping with the needs that we had posted a couple of weeks ago. As many of you know we put up a post about a need for a heavy duty drill and an LCD projector - to be used separately! :) Today we are rejoicing that BOTH of those things have been committed to and will likely arrive in the next month!

The drill will go to great use early and often in our construction efforts (of which we have many on the docket for the Spring.) And, the projector will be used consistently in our English classes at the Vocational Center (we are teaching one 9 month class right now that meets every weekday for 3 hours per session!) Thank you all for your prayers and financial support for this ministry! In moments like these of tangible blessings it is somtimes easier to see the multitudes of intangible blessings that you all provide through your encouragement. Thank you. Thank you for being on this journey, not just with Kel and I but with the entire ministry down here.

Rejoicing today,
M&K

he's back!!

2009-02-19T04:00:00.000-08:00

I'd like to take a small departure from our normal blogging to say that The Kid is back!! It's the stuff dreams are made of. It's the victory parade - the glory lap. Ken Griffey Jr. is coming back to Seattle for one more season!

I just wish that we'd be there for opening day!

Cheers,
M&K

"the look"….bad words…and a swift kick in the….

2009-02-14T17:40:00.000-08:00

Prince Charming! Prince Eric! Prince Philip! Beast! Where are you?!

Confession – the American dream of being swept off my feet is deeply ingrained in me.

Definition – “Swept off my feet” – Chivalry. It all starts with a romantic first date where the man opens doors, pays for a nice/simple dinner, maybe out to ice cream and shows me the utmost respect the entire night. Every American girl has some version of the dream.

Observation – “Machismo” runs deep in the blood of 99% of all Dominican men. Every Macho man gives “the look”.

Confession – I will NEVER get used to Machismo.

Definition – “The Look” - Whenever I am out no matter whether I am alone or with someone, I get "the look". This look consists of a Dominican man staring at me and looking me up and down like he is undressing me with his eyes. This is usually followed by a “sly” comment such as, “I Love you baby”, “I want to have your baby”, “Come here my lovely”. Then they make some kissing noises at me like that is reeeeally going to draw me in. To be fair this look is given to all women but especially the white women. You could be the ugliest white woman alive and you would still get “the look”.

Observation – Today I went running around my neighborhood. I was alone so to be safe I stayed within at least 4 blocks of the house and ran on busy streets. EVERY single man I passed gave me “the look”, a few words, and of course, the kissy noise which is oh so sexy. Unfortunately today I ran passed a group of construction men twice. It was the worst run I have ever had.

Confession – I wish I had a button to deflate my boobs. I wish I had a pair of ugly fake teeth that I could wear when I go out….you know the kind kids wear on Halloween with missing teeth and brown gums. Every time I walk past these men, all the bad words I was ever taught come to mind and I create at least two sentences I might say to them. I have to hold down my hand as to not give them an unkind gesture. Best of all sometimes I wish after I get the look I could give them all a swift kick in the…. You know what I mean?!

Definition – “A nice person” – Someone who holds back bad thoughts and gives joy to other people.

Observation – I am so glad to have already found my Prince Charming.

Happy Valentine's Day! Feliz Dia de Amistad!

Con Amor,
K&M

a projector and a drill

2009-02-05T09:34:00.001-08:00

Hi All,

Kelly and I wanted to throw out to you 2 needs of this ministry. Obviously, in a tight financial time, there are many needs and I hope to write to you about some of those in the coming weeks. However, for right now, there are two that Kelly and I have heard about since arriving back that we felt would serve a great purpose and decided we'd present to you in hopes that you might join in financially and prayerfully. In both cases, I don't know a whole lot about the products or what makes one version better than another but if you have questions about specific features that we may or may not need, feel free to email me and I can try to find out. Maybe these are needs that your small group bible study or neighborhood or Sunday School class would like to take on. Or maybe you'd like to give this as your Valentine's day gift for your spouse or loved one. Maybe your company has a expense account that needs to be spent or your Game Night group wants to add some friendly wagers that would go towards the purchase of these items. Who knows how the Lord will lead?! Now without further ado:

1. An LCD projector and protective case - Children of the Nations has a Vocational Center where we offer job training in English, Sewing, Baking, Crafts, and Computer Technology. It is open to folks from the community for a fee and we bus in kids from our villages to take classes which are free for them. It is an amazing place of learning. The teachers are fabulous, the team that runs it is a spectacular team, and the opportunities that it provides would often be unavailable to the population it serves if it wasn't there. I've taught one English class up there already and will be team teaching another one with a Dominican teacher starting next week. However, they are in need of an LCD projector for use in their classes - primarily for the English classes that are taught. Additionally, for the longevity of the projector, a padded protective case is essential. If you are interested in helping to meet this need, I'd love to encourage you to pray about it and then shoot me an email.

2. A power drill - One thing we do a lot of down here is construction and maintenence. However, recently one of our power drills went MIA. Unfortunately it was one that is used a lot! It was one of those dual handled, rotary hammer types that is used for some heavy duty drilling. This is again outside of my expertise but if you are interested in meeting this need, pray about it and then email me and if you need more specifics, I can chase them down.

Kelly and I are so thankful for all that you do to support us, financially, prayerfully, through friendship and in thought. We are so deeply encouraged by all of you and were so glad to have seen many of your on our recent trip back to the states. We know that this is a difficult time economically for many people and have praised God often for His provision in our lives through you and have asked that he continues to provide for you as well.

Cheers,
M&K

the secret to my beauty

2009-02-04T16:08:00.001-08:00

Beauty is relative...

For all you women who feel a little chubby especially after the holidays and pasty white from the cloudy winter, cheer up! A short vacation down here will make you feel like a model ready for the cover of Sports Illustrated Swim Suit Addition. Well at least the DR version.

Unbeknownst to me I left the DR in December looking just "alright" but came back ready for the runway! This week I have been greeted with smiles and excitement and this comment over and over and over again..
"OH WOW...she is so much more beautiful! You are so pretty! Look how fat and white you are! WOW!"

I try and smile and be glad for the "compliment." BUT COME ON! Fat and white are not exactly the physical qualities I was striving for. However, after a great vacation with delicious food, amazing ice cream, rich creamy pasta, and desserts every night, I don't think I could ask for a better compliment than beautiful! As women we are always striving to look as sexy and gorgeous as we can, so I decided to reveal my secret to success.

4 EASY steps to becoming more beautiful...
1) Consume at least one milkshake and a bowl of ice cream at least once a day.
2) Invite yourself over to a different friend's house for dinner everyday of the
week. When the dessert arrives be sure to have two helpings!
3) Every morning walk briskly from the shower to the bedroom tightening your
stomach and flexing your butt cheeks with each step.
4) Live in a place where the sun never comes out.

It's as easy as that! Don't you feel liberated!

~To all my ladies
K

drinks?

2009-02-03T15:09:00.000-08:00

Background: Our friend has 2 very imaginative creative kids ages 3 and 4. Everyday I get to hear stories of the funniest thing they said that day. Here is the latest..

The dad was drinking a Martini in a fancy glass one night.
(In Spanish)
Daughter (age 3): Dad, what are you drinking?
Dad: A Martini
Daughter: Oh! Can kids drink it?
Dad: No honey, this is an adult drink.
Daughter: Ahh.

That was the end of the conversation.

Later that night the dad asks the daughter out of curiosity...

Dad: Honey do you remember what the drink was called that I had tonight?
Daughter: ummmm....(thinks for a little bit)...AH El Americano!
Dad (laughs): what? El Americano?
Daughter: yeah, El Americano!
Dad and mom look at each other puzzled.

Suddenly it dawns on the mom and she starts laughing. She explains it to the dad.

Mom: She is relating the name with Kelly's husband Martin. Get it...Martini...Martin (pronounced in the DR as Marteen).

Kids....they crack me up!!

Love
K&M

more signs that I'm back home in the DR

2009-02-03T06:17:00.001-08:00

1. Just cooking enough dinner for the number of people that you expect to be there isn't really the way to do it...always cook enough for about 3 extra because you just never know.

2. The showers are cold cold cold.

3. Carpooling means 4 people minimum for motorcycles and 10 for cars.

4. I'm still sweating.

Love,
M&K

signs I know I'm back home in the DR

2009-02-02T14:09:00.001-08:00

1. I watched one motorcycle driver take a drink from a bottle of Presidente, pass it to the passenger on another motorcycle who took a drink, passed it to his driver who took a drink before passing it back to the original driver, all while going about 25 mph.

2. At least 10 people have "complimented" Kelly and I for looking "mas gordo".

3. The toilet paper is back in the garbage can (though admittedly I had a hard time remembering to flush it back in the states.)

4. I'm sweating.

We had the most magnificent time with you all. Thank you for being such blessings in our lives.

Love,
M&K

the Cruzin Christmas

2009-01-07T21:26:00.000-08:00

Mom and dad in the crazy DR
For 2 ½ weeks they came from afar
We played in the capital for 3 whole days
All the new sights put them in a daze

Juices, colors, cars way to close
After just 1 hour they felt like a roast
Picture perfect water, more blues than you can dream
When dad got in the warm Caribbean he stared to beam

A boat ride out to the perfect diving spot
Dad finally got to be in water that was almost hot.
It was a dream trip for this scuba dude
He could have stayed down there forever if there was enough food

A 3 hour trip to Barahona we made
To the place we call home is where we stayed
They saw our villages, and toured the city
At 3am they heard a LOUD Christmas ditty

Passion Fruit, orange, and their favorite lime
For another yummy juice, there is always a little time
Beaches, waterfalls, a motorcycle ride
100 visitors and nowhere to hide

Christmas this year was way better than the last
Bumper remote control cars…oh what a blast
Family and Christmas should always go together
Especially when you are in the warm Caribbean weather

But the best part for was of course the sight
Of our mom and dad when they stepped off their flight
Phone calls and Skype just don’t compare
To the hugs of a parent and the life that we share

Thanks mom and dad for taking the time to see
The life that is changing us into the people we want to be

soup...friends...movie

2009-01-03T12:57:00.000-08:00

Two words: Slumdog Millionaire.
Three more words: Nana's Soup House
Four penultimate words: Harvard Exit Movie Theater
Most importantly: Thank you dear friends for the fun night. We miss you!

Love,
M&K

new and wonderful culture shock

2009-01-02T09:42:00.000-08:00

Generalizations that we've made/seen here in Seattle since Wednesday morning:
1. Everything is HUGE! The buildings, roads, houses, stores, restuarants, everything. This is a city and a life that is done on a grandiose scale that is kind of hard to imagine.
2. The roads are spectacular and non-threatening.
3. Fresh produce is beautiful but crazy expensive.
4. Relational conversation is not highly valued outside of those that you are in relationship with. (Eg. extra chatter with a waitress, cashier, person you pass on the sidewalk, someone trying to get through the too small aisle in a store, etc.)
5. Everybody lives in large and sturdy houses. (Disclaimer: we definitely know that the condo/apartment life here is alive and well but have you seen how many houses line the streets around here? And how big they all are? And how much they look like houses?!)
6. There isn't a gomero or colmado, located in every 8th home that you pass, able to fix your tire or sell you the last minute item you need to make today's lunch.
7. Life happens very fast.
8. If you're in line, nobody tries to cut in front of you, even if you aren't white-knuckling the counter and oochied up all the way into the junk of the person in front of you.
9. While all things are expensive, the numbers on the reciept are very very small. I mean, our lunch at the airport only cost us $15 US not $280 RD or something like that.
10. It is so incredibly quiet here.

Things we've done already that we hadn't done in a long time:
1. Drank out of a drinking fountain.
2. Ate an apple without washing it for 15 min. in bleach.
3. Purchased chicken, produce, and pancake syrup all in one store.
4. Left a half empty can of coke on the counter overnight and didn't wake up to a new colony of ants.
5. Ate Thai food.
6. Spent time with some very dear friends.
7. Passed 3 days without putting bug spray on or getting a single bite.
8. Put on lotion and chapstick because of dry skin and chapped lips.
9. Shivered contantly instead of sweating profusely.
10. Pushed a cross-walk sign to cross the street.

Things we've either done or had the urge to do that are completely unnecessary:
1. Put our toilet paper in the garabage can instead of in the toilet.
2. Grab a concho to the resturant.
3. Barter over the price of things.
4. Speak Spanish.
5. Look for our drinking cup and drinking water to brush our teeth with.
6. Wondered if I knew how to say what I wanted, before remembering that we're all speaking English here.

Life here is so wonderful, and at the heart of all things, we're finding that people's ambitions and loves, resonate with the same things around the world - but wow, the living out of all of that sure is different than what we've expereinced over the last 14 months! We are definitely experiencing a stretching by the paradoxical feelings and paradigm shifts that we are feeling but are appreciating the time to process it with good friends.

Here in the (206)
M&K

among the things I've forgotten to tell you

2008-12-28T10:07:00.000-08:00

We are coming home!! In exactly 2 days we will be stepping out of Sea-Tac airport, into the car of Kelly's brother, and freezing our tails off. We cannot wait! We've spent most of today packing and wrapping up last minute loose ends - why is it so hard to get ready to relax?! We will be in Seattle until Jan 21 when we will head over to Chicago to visit Katie and my folks. We are so excited to get a dose of American culture, of friends and family, flavorful foods, Husky basketball, movie theaters, and so much more. We are also really looking forward to sharing with many of you face to face about what God has been doing in and through the mission and our lives over the past year, so stay tuned for information on an open house.

We have been trying to sympathize with all you in the snow and prepare ourselves for weather that is 60 degrees colder than we are used to....

Then we realized what an impossible thing that is here in the sunny Caribbean.

Please pray for safe travel from here to Santo Domingo, and then through the rest of our trip - as well as a sense of peace that everything that could be prepped for our leaving is prepped. Leaving is sometimes a bit stressful, and I am anticipating a bit of stress from culture shock coming back. Thanks!!

Homeward bound (if only for a month)
M&K

from all of us down here...

2008-12-24T19:35:00.000-08:00

the gift of not seeing

2008-12-12T08:37:00.000-08:00

The honest truth: There is a constant struggle that lives within us. It started before we arrived and in fact it is part of what made us consider missions. Possessions. How much is enough? I have seen with my own eyes starving kids. I have walked in the homes of people who sweep dirt not because their house is dirty but because that is what their floor is made of. I have looked into a mother’s eyes and seen the sadness of not having enough money to buy dinner for her family. Yet I struggle.

In the two years we are here, you, our supporters give us enough money to live comfortably. Everyday we run into kids begging money for food, moms asking for clothes, dads asking for shoes…for some it is a fight to live day to day. Thanks to all of you we do give in appropriate ways, and you should see the smiles on some of their faces. Yet I struggle.

Do you struggle? How much is enough for you? When do you put back on the shelf the extra “treat” you don’t really need, but for some reason want to buy because it makes you feel more joy for having it? I don’t know where the line is, which is why I write this post. I struggle.

Of course the issue of possessions is complicated. Our economy revolves around purchases and people desiring more, new, and better. I don’t think having possessions is bad and in fact possessions is what we are helping the people in our villages to attain. We are helping them develop their God given talents so they can work to sell something. So they can start their own store selling their produced goods. So they can have money to buy a house with a cement floor and maybe even lay some tile on top. Yet I struggle.

This Christmas season has helped enlighten my struggle and I realized I have been blessed with the gift of not seeing. I don’t see advertisements. I don’t have access to Target, Nordstrom, or Crate and Barrel. I have not seen the latest and most beautiful kitchen accessories I so love to shop for. As I paused to think about my struggle this week I realized that here I have been blessed to not see. Maybe I am just happy to not be faced with the struggle and constant question of “Do I really need this?” in this season of shopping mania. But there is more. I am content and at peace. I am happy with what I have. I am glad to not see what is happening back home because I don’t really need any of it. There are people who have needs. And then there are us who have desires. Yet I still struggle.

In one year we will return and I will be dazzled and awed by the beauty that lies on perfectly organized store shelves. I will want this for my house and that for my yard. I will be summoned into restaurants by the smell of garlic in the air and into bakeries by my weakness for sweets. Will I remember the faces I saw here? The homes that leak in rain storms? The sick child who can’t go to the clinic because there is no money? Will I be strong enough to know when enough is enough and to remember my fellow brothers who can’t afford a piece of bread? This is my struggle.

And my biggest fear of all is the moment I stop struggling.

K&M

the paperweight

2008-12-09T12:49:00.000-08:00

The most pointless gift ever...the paperweight. I mean seriously paper can't fly. It doesn't have legs to get up and walk away. Is our paper so untamed that we need something to hold it down with?

In every gift shop around America, the paper weight is common place. There is the executive model angled and covered in brass. The tourist model which is 3 pieces of a crocodile made to look like it is submerged in the water which is your desk. And of course the one no mother can forget or for that matter get rid of "the camp model." The rock painted and covered in lanyard. For my entire life I have wondered why in the world people would waste their money on such a stupid gift.

That is until I moved to fan country. Literally there is a fan in every workspace, in every room in my home, every store I walk into and wouldn't you know it, near every counter top I want to put paper on. It's like magic. I put some paper down turn around to grab something out of my purse and BAM!...no more paper. The worst is when I have 7 pieces of paper on my desk and someone walks in my office and says "WOW it is hot in here!" then turns on the fan. What a show...paper everywhere.

Contrary to my previous belief, I would like to reward the person who invented the paperweight. But sorry paperweight man, I will never be fooled or tempted to buy one, for I always have the "missionary model" with me - any object around me that is heavier than paper...it doesn't take a genius.

K&M

Disclaimer: we will not be accepting any donations of paperweights :) Thanks.

books and our lfp family

2008-12-06T12:45:00.000-08:00

Whenever friends and family schedule a trip to come down here, it feels like their arrival date will never come. As if our excitement slows down time and makes the months grow longer. Thankfully though, time keeps going and they all eventually arrive. This is how it was with the Fosters. We have known about them coming for so long we felt like their trip was so far off. But last week they finally arrived and we got to spend 5 days with some of our most favorite people!

The main reason they came here was for Keri’s senior project. She raised a little over $2000 to buy books for 3 of our schools. We delivered them while they were here and she was able to see and get a better picture of all the kids and teachers who would be using her gift. As our schools down here grow, having a library is a big dream. Keri’s project will help give kids a better education and hopefully a greater love for reading. One of the schools wrote Keri a book to thank her for the books. One boy wrote that “a person who doesn’t know how to read is like a tree that has no water”. Powerful! Thank you Keri for investing your time and choosing these kids for your project. What a gift you have given them.

It was a wonderful week of laughter, catching up on life, having fun, eating at delicious restaurants, and exploring new places. It was so good to see all of them…a much needed time with our LFP family.

new favorite

2008-11-26T17:32:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd post my new favorite photo, shot by a friend of mine on our camera. Beautiful and full of hope...

Cheers,
M&K

Anasazi Dominican style

2008-11-22T17:55:00.000-08:00

Ok, well they're not exactly Anasazi stories because they don't actually contain Anasazi. But, I've recently been told 1 Dominican folklore story and 1 Dominican saying that I thought were clever and interesting. Below is the translation of them. Enjoy.

The Bee and the Wasp:

One day, God created the wasp, and told the bee that he needed to teach the wasp how to do his tasks in life. So, the bee and the wasp began their lessons.

On day one, the bee told the wasp that he was going to show him how to fly around. He began flying and the wasp quickly caught on and flew right alongside him. But, when the bee started to show him how to fly in loops and to float up and down to flowers, and the other tricky ways to fly that bees have, the wasp cut him off and said "oh yea, yea, I already know how to do that." When the bee tried to make sure, the wasp said "I know how ok?!" And flew away.

The next day, the bee's lesson for the wasp was how to build a hive. So, he started with the general construction techniques and the wasp quickly caught on and soon was building his home as well. However, when the bee tried to show him how to make sure that there was always honey being produced and held in the home, the wasp cut him off and said "oh yea, yea, I already know how to do that." When the bee tried to make sure, the wasp said "I know how ok?!" And flew off for the day.

On the third day, feeling unneeded and unwanted, the bee decided to end his lessons with the wasp. Because of the wasp's distaste for being taught, he never learned how to do all of the wonderful things that the bee can do like fly with grace and make honey in his home.

The Patience of the Donkey:

With patience and calm, the donkey climbed the palm tree.

My prayer today is that God would remove any spirit of the wasp that may reside in me and that I would increase in patience like the donkey.

Cheers,
M&K

funny little bird

2008-11-22T17:34:00.000-08:00

A little hillarious thing happened with Kelly and I the other day. We meet each week with a wonderful, God inspired, upright woman for a short Bible study. Just the three of us for an hour or so. Well, last week, Kelly asked if we could meet outside in the rocking chairs in the shade instead of inside on the couch. There was a nice breeze and good shade and the rocking chairs are really comfortable. So, out we went and had a great time together, getting caught up and beginning a short discussion on our new topic. So, after about an hour, we were wrapping up and our study leader, in her expression filled way, exclaimed "Where is that funny little bird making all that funny noise?!" [The noise had been going on for the entire hour]. Unsure of just how to respond, I carefully said "Ummm, I think its your chair."

For an hour, her rocking chair had been squeeking and, for an hour, she had thought that the squeek was the song of a new bird on the property.

Cheers,
M&K

mess

2008-11-16T15:14:00.000-08:00

Clumsy hands...or was it a conspiracy. Yesterday Scott went to get the container of flour down out of the cupboard for me and well you can see what happened. Someone (who will remain anonymous) didn't really screw the cap on well. So, as he palmed it, the bottom of course fell out of his hand, and flour went EVERYWHERE taking our grilled cheese dinner with it to the floor. I thought it was so hilarious I ran and got the camera. Reluctantly he stood there while I laughed and photographed what might have been my mistake.

Then today I was putting away some eggs that a friend brought over. Unbeknownst to me the bag the eggs were in had a hole on top and in the bottom. WHO puts eggs in a bag with 2 holes in it? Anyway, as I opened the bag they of course ALL fell out. I was so frustrated...but it was payback for me. Scott started laughing and ran and got the camera.

Sometimes it is the little things in life that are so funny.

K&M

a year in pictures

2008-11-10T05:44:00.001-08:00

a bit late as usual

2008-11-08T06:22:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

We are so excited to write to you in celebration of our first full year in the Dominican Republic! At times the days seemed to be creeping by, begging for careful observation from us, clamoring for attention. And at other times, we’d wake up in the morning and realize that it was already time to turn the calendar over to the next month, wondering where the time went and trusting in faith that we hadn’t been distracted by the speed of it all. Time has come to feel like that mixture of cornstarch and water that we used to make in 1st grade science. The one that, when held loosely, was a slime that slipped quickly from our hands, oozing between our fingers. But, when gripped by a fist, became a dry hunk, only moving when we chose to release our grasp on it. And while we desire the Creator of time to show us the measure of our days, it is ours only to live and love and worship the One that calls our attention beyond the march of days.

We have been so deeply blessed this past year. To be sure it was a year of great challenge and dark nights, but it is the journey that is often the true meaning of the gift. We recently posted about the different feelings of purpose that we feel for being down here, each one competing for the spotlight. And we came to the conclusion (which was also the premise upon which we started out) that God’s purpose for us is that we would know Him more intimately. While that is in fact his lifelong call upon each of us, it is through your encouragement, and with your support, that we have been able to move towards that purpose in such a unique setting and moment in life.

We have grown and changed much in this last year. We have grown in our faith and in our understanding of God’s constant presence in our lives. We have become more self-aware (sometimes in painful ways but always in growth spurring ways). We have grown accustomed to having plenty of time to read books, play board games, go on walks, hit the beach, and get our work done. We know how to use the unusual public transportation down here. We have learned some of the non-verbal gestures that Dominicans use to speak. Our Spanish has moved from survival to conversational. We are no longer distressed if our faucets and shower don’t have running water coming out of them for any length of time. We’ve grown in our appreciation for candlelight instead of overhead lights. We have grown in our concern for others and have had long conversations over questions of our innate American cultural values. We’ve learned about local politics, sports teams, fashion, faith, and the power of money. We are less and less shocked to see 300-pound pigs or 5 member families all on 1 motorcycle. We’ve learned to drive slower and much more defensively. We’ve grown in our appreciation for patience and order. We’ve learned to appreciate the amazing art of being a good neighbor. And we’ve learned to dream big dreams for it is in the dreaming, that reality can begin to take root.

Throughout this year, we have seen firsthand the effects of God’s community rallying around each other as one body, with one Spirit and one mind. We have facilitated short-term teams of doctors and teachers and construction workers and prayer warriors and servants, who have come down and poured themselves out as an offering to the Lord. We have engaged with them as they’ve sought to process all that they were seeing and prayed with them as they’ve questioned what the implications were for their lives as they moved closer to Christ and back to their old lives with new perspectives. We’ve participated with national staff as they’ve met their communities with tangible needs; food, school supplies, floors and roofs, clothing and home supplies and healthcare. We’ve prayed with them and joined in as they sought to meet people’s intangible needs as well; giving advice, spiritual direction, counseling and education and motivation in life. And, more recently, we’ve kneeled with them in prayer over the global crisis of falling economies and soaring costs of staple foods, and placed our hope and trust alongside theirs at the throne of God.

More specifically, this year has seen a slight evolution of our job descriptions. Scott has spent the year partnering with the short-term teams department, looking for ways to speak into and help improve the process from the Dominican side. While it can at times feel overwhelming and a bit lonely to be the primary person trying to constantly move between cultures as a liaison, ultimately God is in control and he is learning bit by bit how to handle the role and the pressures that he faces. You can pray that Scott constantly goes to God before reacting and that he finds a way to shift the focus from the stresses to the joys of the job.

Kelly has been hard at work developing a special education program to offer learning opportunities that meet the unique needs of these specific kids. They launched the program at the beginning of this school year to much fanfare – while new and fledgling, it has already been embraced by prominent local leaders and advocates and is proving to be a possible model for the larger school district of the area. It is exciting and extremely challenging. You can pray that she and her team are always looking to God for His guidance for this program and that she would be able to consistently articulate herself in both languages.

We’ve also had the opportunity to lend a hand in the sponsorship department on their many projects, accompany the spiritual ministries department on various community wide outreach events, construct shelving in the warehouse and organize the donations stored there, find a church home and develop a few relationships that will forever be dear to our hearts.

An exciting aspect of our ministry is having the opportunity to direct a portion of our monthly support into various ministries and needs down here. What amounts to nearly a quarter of our budget has been used to purchase: a portable generator, globes and maps for our classrooms, a large (4’Dx15’Wx7’H) shelving unit for the warehouse, supplies to keep the ministry organized, a large (wedding style) cake for a Quinciñera celebration for all of the new 15 year olds in our villages, games and materials for our schools, textbooks for Math, Science and Spanish, and transportation to and from the capitol for supplies. These have come directly from your support and have had a huge impact on the ministry down here. Thank you!

You know, I was flipping through one of my all time favorite books the other day and came across a paragraph that made me think about the time that we have left here in the Dominican…

“So soon you will be in that part of the book where you are holding the bulk of the pages in your left hand, and only a thin wisp of the story in your right. You will know by the page count, not by the narrative, that the Author is wrapping things up. You begin to mourn its ending, and want to pace yourself slowly toward its closure, knowing the last lines will speak of something beautiful, of the end of something long and earned, and you hope the thing closes out like last breaths, like whispers about how much and who the characters have come to love, and how authentic the sentiments feel when they have earned a hundred pages of qualification.” – Donald Miller, Through Painted Deserts, pg. xii.

While we look forward to days ahead, back in Seattle, evenings spent with you, Saturday walks through the fall leaves on the UW campus and the spring wildflowers on the slopes of Mt. Rainer, we first look forward to being present in the time that we have left down here. Please pray for us in the year to come that:

•    We would stay sensitive to the shaping and changing and movements that God is bringing to our lives.
•    That we would continue to treasure and invest in the lives of our community down here.
•    That God would pour out a special blessing upon COTN and the Dominican Republic, sustaining them in this time of financial crisis.
•    That we would find time to continue to care for our marriage.

We are so thankful for each one of you and pray often for you by name, even as you continue to lift us up to the God of all love and grace. May this holiday season be one of great blessing and joy in your homes!

Love,
Scott and Kelly Hampton

Ministry Corner

2008-10-18T13:20:00.000-07:00

Meet Willie! He is a wonderful student in our community of Don Bosco. Recently he was referred to P.E.E. (Programa Educacion Especial) by his teacher because his skills in writing did not match those of his peers. Upon arrival into the program our coordinator, Dasyi, immediately recognized how we could help him. Until now Willie gripped his pencil by the eraser instead of near the point. As you can imagine this made his letter formations a little off and his writing speed incredibly slow. Thanks to your giving we were able to purchase some rubber pencil grips and Willie is now on his way! He will spend just a little while longer meeting a few hours each week with our special ed teacher to help teach him proper letter formation, but soon enough he should be up to par with his peers. Sometimes it is the easy fixes that give us all a little push!

hobbies?

2008-10-15T16:25:00.000-07:00

I found this video on our computer today and thought I'd share it with you. Unfortunately we don't have more clips of what became Brandon and I's favorite summer pastime. Enjoy!

Cheers
M&K (&B)

language mistake #7,562

2008-10-05T12:37:00.000-07:00

In language school they told us we were going to make a million mistakes so we might as well just talk it up, make mistakes, and learn to laugh at them. Well besides the common mis-conjugation, plurality agreement problems, and feminine or masculine object agreement mistakes, I haven't made a big laughable mistake in a while (at least not to my knowledge..it is highly likely that they are all laughing behind my back). But this week I had a good one, so I thought I would share! It went like this...

Recently we had a little mouse in our house. Turns out he must of had the wrong address because he definitely wasn't wanted in this house. So my brave husband set out a trap, caught it, killed it and disposed of it. Then I came in with gloves and Clorox to clean up it's mess. Today as I was cleaning, Scott's ride came to pick him up. I answered the door with my cleaning gloves on and my conversation went like this...

Staff member - So you are cleaning!
Kelly - Yes! We had a mouse in our house but Scott killed it!
Real translation - Yes! We had a mouse in our house but Scott killed himself!
SM - (smiling) WHAT? Scott killed himself?
What I thought he said - What he killed it?
Kelly - YES! He is so brave!
SM - (smiling) He killed himself?!
What I thought he said - He killed it?
Internal thought - Why is he so surprised that Scott killed a little mouse? People in this country do it all the time.
SM - So where is he? (meaning Scott)
What I thought - So where is he? (meaning the mouse)
Kelly - He is in the garbage can!
SM - LAUGHTER! LAUGHTER! LAUGHTER!
SM - He is in the garbage can?
Kelly - YES! He's gone! (said very excitedly)
Other staff member who speaks English - Kelly what you are saying is that Scott killed himself not the mouse.
Kelly - oh no no no no!
SM - HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Kelly - NOOO!!! Scott is still alive!
SM - HAHAHAHAHAH
Scott get's in the car
SM - SO Scott...I heard you killed yourself!
As car drives away - SM - HAHAHAAHAH
Kelly - left speechless

Ahhh...it's the memorable moments that really count! Right?!

Love
K&M

the feeding of the 5000...with only an apple pie

2008-10-04T08:37:00.000-07:00

When it comes to sharing our parents taught us well! In fact our parents are some of the most giving people I know who give without conditions. Living in the Dominican though has taught me a different way to share and a different way to receive a gift. Think about this...If you baked some cookies and wanted to give some to a family of 5 you would give them at least 5 cookies and maybe more..right. You wouldn't want to give this family of 5 just two cookies..that wouldn't be fair...right? That is what I thought too until I started to be on the end of receiving little gifts everywhere. Here you give a little of what little you have. So many times our neighbors have given us one cup of juice to share. One piece of pie. One small bowl of soup. One piece of candy to share. I love it! Giving here is like the story of Jesus and the feeding of the 5 thousand...no joke. One cookie is shared with 5 people and all 5 are satisfied in the end. Once I brought a couple cookies into work as a gift for a coworker and they were shared with the ENTIRE staff and some people in the lobby. They are the most humble people when it comes to sharing. It isn't about getting your fill....it is about relationships and enjoying a gift with as many people as possible. Honestly though it has taken me a while to catch on. I still want to bring over enough for every person in the family and if I don't have enough then I am tempted to just not share it. But this last week I decided to try the Dominican way of sharing with an apple pie I baked. And it really was like the story of the 5 thousand....I thought the pie was never going to run out! I shared a couple pieces with our upstairs neighbors, a few with a coworker who then shared her pieces with about 4 people, a couple with our American neighbor, and still had a couple left over for Scott and I each to eat! And they weren't small helpings....I'm not kidding. It was so fun to enjoy this delicious pie with so many people. One aspect of this culture that has always stood out is how much the Dominicans give even the ones who have so little. Once I went to someone's house and there was hardly anything in their fridge to eat, but she would not let me leave without taking her last avocado. I felt so guilty. And that is just one of the many times we have visited people and left with a little something in our hands. It is something that has taken me a while to understand. But now I get it!...Or at least I am starting to understand. There is joy in giving a little and to many. There is a connection in sharing happiness. There is a simplicity in sharing that I never knew. There is also an unwritten understanding that as you give the little you have you yourself won't be left empty handed. How did 5 loafs of bread and 2 fish feed 5 thousand and still have left overs? I wonder what joy those people left as they shared the 5 loafs? I think I know a little of how they felt. It all about the joy and the relationship not the object.

Love,
K&M

Ministry Corner

2008-09-26T17:54:00.000-07:00

September is "The Month of the Bible" here in the DR. Nationwide, activities, rallies, evangelism events, fundraisers and prayer services are held in reverence for the Scriptures and their importance in the lives of believers. More than that, the Bible is honored as an influential writing for the direction of the country. There is great pride in the fact that the DR has the only national flag that has the Bible at it's center - and that it is opened to John's verse that says "you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free."

This week, in honor of the Bible, each one of our schools took time out of their day to walk through their communities, singing worship songs, speaking verses, and proclaiming their faith to their neighbors. It was exciting to see such a public display of support for the Word of God. I also found it so interesting because it once again highlighted the differences in mainstream evangelism here versus in the US. Down here there is a very aggressive approach taken in evangelism. Nobody is ashamed, embarrassed or bashful about getting out and sharing the message of the Gospel through movies in the streets, marches in communities, rallies in public parks, tracts handed out on street corners, widely publicized church events, and so much more. While the methods do sometimes overlap with methods I'm more accustomed to, its the agressiveness of the delivery that often startles me. It isn't the soft spoken, non-offending approach that we're more comfortable with. And yet, the fruit of the Gospel is so evident and abundant. Both the method and delivery hit the mark time and again - and time and again I am reminded that I am not home and that home does not have the corner on the market for sharing the Goodnews.

pray

2008-09-26T15:08:00.000-07:00

Kelly and I would like to ask you to pray today. We recieved an update on the financial situation of Children of the Nations today and wanted to share it with you as a prayer request. Below is a short introduction to a larger article that you can find here.

"As Americans struggle to deal with the tangible side effects from our reeling economy, our children as far away as Africa and the Dominican Republic are beginning to feel the ripples. Despite efforts to stay well within budgets, the recent U.S. economic downturn has taken a direct hit on COTN's bottom line.

Estimates indicate that in addition to what has already been pledged for COTN's 2008 fiscal year, approximately $300,000 is needed to continue to fund our current in-country staffs and supporting programs such as medical and evangelical outreaches, interns, and additional feeding support. If this funding doesn't come in soon, we will be forced to cut budgets, laying off staff and cutting programs accordingly."

In faith,
M&K

5 years!

2008-09-26T14:21:00.000-07:00

I find myself wondering today, where the time has gone. 5 years ago this day, Kelly and I stood in front of many of you and pledged ourselves to one another. Through all things, in all circumstances, in faith and love we would go. It is in faith that we trust our time spent, and our time to come, has been, and will be, lived for and through the one who created all time. We prayed today and found ourselves so thankful for the mix of sunshine and dust, tears and sweat and starlight that have marked our journey together. It is the work of love that makes joy in love. It is the committment to the best in one another that perseveres even when arguments linger in short-sidedness. It is the friendship of authentic community that challenges and encourages life and love. It is the grace of Christ that sustains in both success and failure. It is love that has been worth it all.

Love,
M&K

Ministry Corner

2008-09-20T10:24:00.000-07:00

THANK YOU! Just look at what you ALL have done! Every month a quarter of our in country budget is used solely for ministry purposes. We have the honor of listening to the needs of the mission in the DR and responding with your gifts! We feel so incredibly grateful to have this money because it blesses so many people. Here is a taste of what your money goes to! Praise God that He has called you to give and you have answered! Thank you!

We Praise God for:
•    A generator for our clinic
•    Part of a side walk in our community called Don Bosco
•    Globes and maps for our classrooms
•    A large (8'Hx15'Lx4'D) shelving unit in our storage room in the office
•    Games and materials for our schools
•    Text books for Math, Science, and Spanish
•    A 3 tiered cake for the annual birthday party for girls in our villages turning 15 (a very important event in this country).
•    Transportation to get to the capital to buy materials
•    Supplies to keep our ministry organized

Cheers,
K&M

Ministry Corner

2008-09-20T10:20:00.000-07:00

P.E.E.! No we don’t all have to use the restroom. Think Spanish! Programa Educacion Especial. This is the project I was sent down here to help start and finally we have take off! I am working along side an amazing lady named Daysi who is the coordinator of this program. We also have 3 wonderful teachers in our schools and a counselor who are all apart of the P.E.E. team. This is a picture of our first Friday meeting where we gather to brainstorm ideas and learn new strategies for the classroom. I am lucky to work with such a talented group of educators.

from no gas to no gas

2008-09-08T19:29:00.001-07:00

So our good friend Andrew was in town this weekend. He was in Miami for a meeting and was able to schedule a 3 day trip down to visit us! We had a blast running around seeing the villages, getting to the beach, meeting people, whooping up on him in Sequence, and just enjoying being together. Thanks for coming bud! It was a great trip. It also ended in hilarious, Dominican quirk, fashion.

Our car runs on propane. It has a switch to be able to run it on gasoline too but it has previously had problems on gas. Our friends joke that it dances the Bachata (a traditional Dominican style of dancing) because it just surges and abates and surges and abates before finally dying. It is kind of frustratingly hilarious. Well anyway, our mechanic told us he fixed it so this shouldn't be relevant, but it is.

So last Thursday the propane stations in town stopped selling propane. They said they didn't have any and that the trucks to refill the stations hadn't arrived from Santo Domingo (or wherever). Strange since Kelly and I watched the propane tanker pull in one night. But corruption is as corruption does. So, Sunday, having still been unable to fill up our tank, we pumped in gasoline and took off early in the morning to drive Andrew back to the airport for his 1:10pm flight. However, about 15 minutes out of town, we started doing the Bachata, but just briefly and then it stopped. A bit concerned but confident in our mechanic we thought we'd push on until seconds after the decision we saw a propane tanker heading into town and thought PERFECT! We'll run back, fill up our propane and be on our way, worry free. However, when we got to the station, about 5 minutes after the tanker, they let us know that there was still no gas. The tanker truck was apparently invisible to them because when we pointed it out, they said, no, there's no gas. Strange.

So we rolled back out of town on gasoline and got about twice as far before the Bachata started again. This time a bit more persistently. Troubled we decided to give up on the car, drive back into town, catch the 9:15am bus to Santo Domingo and hopefully arrive about 1/2 hour before his flight. It was going to be close. So, painfully inconsistently we danced our way back into town, rushed out of the house to the bus station, purchased our tickets at 9:10am, looked at the time stamp and found out - whoops! The bus doesn't leave at 9:15, it leaves at 9:45. Having now resigned ourselves to the terrible fact that we couldn't get to the airport on time, our jetsetter friend called the airlines and using his platinum status was able to switch to a flight leaving at 3:30. We're back in the game! So we hung around, caught the bus and got out of town.

On the way we called our taxi friend who always drives us but weren't able to get through. "Of course" was what we were thinking at this point. So we made a few calls to other friends and got connected to a "reliable" taxi driver who indeed, was on time to pick us up. Well, in the 25 minutes from the bus station to the airport, the weather became downright nasty - to the point where it was raining so hard that I was having trouble seeing anything out the windshield other than the giant tree tops (no joke) that were blowing across the road. And, just when it became the worst, our driver started muttering to himself, and then very nearly crying, about some "BIG problem" he was having. Afraid to ask, I tried to wait him out. Turns out, we ran out of gas. For the reccord, that's more or less twice in one day that we ran out of gas. But, with amazing heroisism, our driver plunged out of the car, clutching his 1 gallon gas tank, into the driving wind and rain, bolted across 3 lanes of oncoming traffic, across the highway divider, accross 3 more lanes of traffic and tried to hitchhike back to the gas station. When nobody picked him up, he came back across all 6 lanes, and was able to catch a ride the other direction, get gas, come back, and finally, and safely, get us to the airport where Andrew was able to catch his plane out of the craziness.

Unfortunately for us, the day wasn't over. We arrived safely back to the bus station but the weather just kept getting worse. As we got on our bus we had high hopes that it would be able to plow through and get us home. But, a little over an hour outside of Santo Domingo, we came to a bridge that had been damaged by the rising river and could not pass. So, we turned around, and headed back to Santo Domingo where we thankfully were able to get a spot in a hostel we like to stay at until Monday late afternoon when we were finally able to get a ride all the way back to Barahona.

Twice out of gas, 3 times turning around, 2 flights, 4 taxis, 3 busses and 1 night in a hostel. That's what it took to get 1 dear friend to the airport and us back home. Sound enticing? Come visit!

Laughing at it all,
M&K

clothing

2008-08-31T17:25:00.000-07:00

You know, life down here can be downright hilarious at times. One of my favorite funny things is how often I see people wearing clothing that has writing on it in English, that I think they don't know what it means. So below, is the list that I've compiled over the last couple of months. Nearly every single one I've witnessed first hand. Nearly every one has caused me laughter because of the apparent cluelessness of the wearer. Also, none of these came from our villages, just Barahona proper and the beach.

Without further ado, the first installment of "What did that shirt say?!" (In no particular order):

"Ride it like you stole it" - worn by an elderly woman.
"Whoop there it is!"
"Procrastinators unite tomorrow!"
"Dip me in beer and throw me to the drunk chicks" - worn by a very wonderful Christian lady who was proud to show off her shirt that has English on it.
"Hit It" - written across the backside of the shorts a man was wearing at the beach.
A Knicks jersey - does this need any commentary?
A Boy Scout Pack 53 uniform complete with merit badges.
"Drunk Chicks Love Me!" - worn by a very elderly Concho driver.
[Front] the symbol for recycling. [Back] "I only throw away boys"
[Front] "LHS Junior" [Back] "Amber '07" - homemade and worn by a high school boy.
"Best Tail In Town - Juniper, Florida"
"No Fear" socks
"Long Island Junior Bowlers Association" - worn by a man who looked about 60 years old.
"This Is What 40 Looks Like" - worn by a 15 year old boy.
"Keatley"

If only you knew how many more there really are...

M&K

the undiscourageable God

2008-08-31T16:54:00.000-07:00

"I know somehow that only when it is dark enough can we see the stars." - Martin Luther King Jr. from the speech "I have been to the mountaintop"

Sometimes in this 2 year moment of life, I think that Kelly and I were called here to learn about servanthood. Other times I think we're here to learn about how to love one another. Still other times I think that we arrived here to realize that in life, we have not yet arrived, and so this moment is to teach us more about us. And then there are sacred moments where I can see quite clearly that we are here to learn more about the God of Jacob. I am in that sacred space right now. It's one of those moments where I can't decide if I should remove my sandals, or stand at the gate of the city proclaiming the greatness of our God.

I realized that God in His omnipotence, still moves step for step with us. He doesn't wait on the side of peace, encouraging us to have patience and to learn from the experience, removed from it all. Rather He gets down in the muck, and experiences discouragement with us, and grieves the brokenness with us. But when we give over to despair, He perseveres in hope. When we reach our end, He carries us through to the actual end.

My pastor back home often reminded us that God "stoops" to us. He doesn't bend at the waist and look down at us, he bends at the knees until he is stooping on his haunches, looking at us from our eye level. And that is what I have been experiencing. I've felt discouraged and frustrated by the brokenness that I've seen manifest in the way that people can treat each other. And the whole time I've been crying out for God to respond, to act, to get indignant. But I think my posture in prayer was to cry out to a distant God that could tolerate the now for the long view of later. And while I still believe that God holds the long view, I also believe He is indignant with us and He isn't removed from the feeling of discouragement. He isn't some distant college professor waiting for his students to figure out what he already knows. He's the kindergarten teacher who gets down on the floor with his students, participating with them as they figure out what he sees with fresh eyes every single time.

I'm not sure how to convey the reality of what I've been learning. God has the answers and still moves at our pace. God helps us move out of discouragement even while He feels it with us. He doesn't act like a know it all, always surprised that we don't already understand, and constantly waiting for us to get it. Even while He hopes for us, He experiences it all. Perhaps the difference is that He isn't given over to His emotions the way that we often are. God is with us. God is with me. God deals in the minutiae even while maintaining that which is grand.

Trying to feel what I might have already known,
M&K

riding it out in [the] quality

2008-08-15T17:13:00.000-07:00

Hey friends,

We miss you like crazy and we need to tell you all about this busy, hot, summer. But for now, I just wanted to let you know that we are riding out the Tropical Storm Fay here at the wonderful Quality Inn in Santo Domingo. Today we began our 4 day vacation with Shannon and Brandon, right about the time that they upgraded an off-shore weather system to a Tropical Storm. It has definitely made landfall - the wind is blowing hard and it's raining like crazy. They've actually covered a lot of the windows here with metal shutters. But, we just had an outrageously good meal, and now will be relaxing in front of cable television with our dear family! God was good too because we didn't realize how soon the weather was supposed to hit and Kelly and I almost got caught in it on our drive here from Barahona. Just as we entered Santo Domingo, it started raining hard and if we had been about 20 minutes later, there would have been places on the road that our car couldn't have passed because of the standing water. But, we got in just in time and will likely be staying here rather than heading up north like we planned. We love you and and can't wait to tell you more.

Surfin' in the pool at the Quality,
M&K

dengue butt

2008-07-30T19:09:00.000-07:00

Often times we wonder when our skin is going to melt off from all the bug spray we apply to ourselves daily. This is what our deet life looks like...wake up, get bit, wish we had more bug spray on, take a shower, apply a layer of plastic melting deet to our legs, arms and especially ankles where they find their best feast. We repeat this process usually at lunch, and then again before we go to bed or any of the other times we shower during the day. We have learned a lot about deet in our 9 months here. One, it actually does work to deter those pesky flying creatures. Two, if you run out of nail polish remover check your cupboards for any bug spay...works like a charm. Three, it tastes absolutely disgusting. Never Consume Deet!

We have one problem in our house that we like to call Dengue Butt. You see mosquitoes love to hang out in the bathroom. And for those of us who pull down our pants to use the baño, we vulnerably expose our tender bottoms to the wrath of the blood suckers. Of course any sane person does not think to lather their buttocks in deet, thus making the chances of getting bit even greater. Using the restroom here is like a game of hide and seek. Picture this (using yourself as an example)... you enter the restroom, do a short scan to see if there are any enemies you can kill prior to reliving yourself, quickly pull down your pants, then extend your arms to your side and quickly start waving back and forth trying to call out the flying pests that are hiding under the toilet. (At some point during the waving you start your "business"). Once they start to fly out it is your goal to kill them before they attack and bite your oh so exposed tush. Of course this whole process ends up looking like a circus act and if anyone actually saw us on the toilet they might think we were crazy. If you come out of the bathroom without a bite and you killed at least one, you can pat yourself on the back and consider it a victory. If however, you lose, you have to come out of the bathroom yelling, "AHHH, I have Dengue Butt!" Luckily for us this game starts over after every 2-3 cups of water.

Educational Fact #1: For those of you who don't actually know what Dengue is let me share. It is a virus you can get from a mosquito bite and is actually called Dengue Fever. There is no treatment so you just have to wait out the symptoms and pay close attention that you are hydrated. Thankfully, Praise God, we haven't heard of any cases yet in Barahona this year, but it is a real possibility of contracting. Each day we wake up and pray that the one or two bites we will undoubtly get will not give us this virus.

Educational Fact #2: The strategy listed above for the prevention of Dengue Butt also works great on camping trips, lake vacations, or anywhere you might find yourself tenderly exposed to a swarm of mosquitoes. Try It!! See if you can win!

~K&M

outpaced

2008-07-26T13:13:00.000-07:00

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:

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.
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.
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.
That I would be encouraged in lasting ways. That I might "go from strength to strength".
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.
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

water

2008-06-30T04:56:00.000-07:00

"...I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink..." - Matt 25:35

Kelly and I have been following this ongoing "series" in the Seattle Times lately and felt compelled to share two articles with you. The first is today's. The second ran a few weeks ago (there have been a number of articles in between as well). While it isn't our ministry down here, we can easily see the difference clean water makes in our villages.

One of the things that we realized we take for granted back home in Seattle is our access to abundant, clean, deliciously thirst quenching water. Even when there is "drought" we still can drink until our bellies are full out of almost any tap or faucet in the whole city. Even those public school drinking fountains that have gotten so much press, for the most part, have water that I can drink with out too much worry.

However, down here, we can't drink directly from any tap. Anywhere. Ever. In fact, we are urged to not even brush our teeth with tap water. And the beautiful families that we are engaged with through our ministry that cannot afford the US $0.90 per 5 gallons of purified water - that then consequently do drink the tap water (or worse sometimes) are laden with parasites and amoeba creating distended bellies and unhealthy families. Here at least though, there is widespread access to clean purchasable water (even while some families are getting priced out of water, many are able to budget for it). But in many parts of the 2/3 world, there isn't even access to it. Children and families are dying for lack of water or lack of clean water.

The below articles are not profound. They simply tell a few parts of the story that is unfolding right now as bottled and "flavored" water becomes the glamor symbol and the safe haven for people misled by stories about the unhealthiness of America's taps.

Kelly and I want to challenge you if you're up for it. There is a very cool organization (one of MANY) attempting to bring clean water to people in need of it, called Blood:Water Mission. They have what they call the "2 week challenge" where they ask people to make water their only beverage for 2 weeks while putting all of the money they would have spent on other drinks into a jar. At the end of it, the money is donated to Blood:Water Mission. Kelly and I want to challenge you to do the same thing only none of the water you drink may come from purchased bottled water. At the end of your time, research and locate an organization bringing clean water to those without and donate your money to them. It's a small sacrifice. Try it. No cheating. Water only for 2 weeks and none of it store bought.

"...I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink..." - Matt 25:35

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008024882_water30.html - The growing trend and marketing push of bottled water. Should we be concerned?

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004398137_webwater07m.html - Seattle Mayor's illustration about bottled water.

a couple of pics

2008-06-29T16:28:00.000-07:00

Here's just a couple of pics of Brandon and I. Some from the beach on a day when the waves were cresting about 15 feet high about 20 feet offshore. And a couple from tonight when we had a nice cool rainstorm move through. Enjoy!

Feliz Cumpleaños a Scott!

2008-06-12T16:46:00.000-07:00

Last week was Scott's birthday and for that matter the first birthday either one of us has celebrated in our new country. What a fun day! I bought a cake from our upstairs neighbor who makes baked goods for a living. The fun began there when trying to tell her what I wanted and learning that here they sell cakes by the pound. "How many pounds do you want?" she asked. How many pounds of what I thought? How many pounds would I like to gain from eating your cake? None please! I had no idea how to order a cake in pounds, so I told her that. Then she told me that I needed a 3 pound cake, which if you were wondering can feed an army, or a small wedding.

We celebrated at lunch with our new friend Kathy and our cook Manuela. They surprised us by decorating the house with streamers and balloons before we came home. We laughed over how big the cake was then indulged as much as we could until we had gained about 3 pounds each.

We brought the rest of the cake (which was basically all of it) to our office where suddenly everyone appeared out of no where and before we knew it they were singing happy birthday and the army size cake was gone. Lucky for us though, the office also had a cake so just as we were about to run out of ours they started singing all over again and brought out the second cake. No worries though this one was only a 1 or 2 pounder. We ended up with half of it at the end of the day. It was a great party at the office and I think Scott left feeling loved to say the least!

When we got home after going out to pizza, I saw my neighbor sitting outside her house in her white plastic chair, so I decided that I needed to be a good neighbor and bring her some left over cake too. The funny awkward thing about this neighbor is that she always offers us juice when we go sit outside with her. You might not think that is awkward but even when we say, "No thanks I am fine" because we don't want to make her go out of the way, she always replies with, "Ok, I will go make some for you". It is some of the best in the country though so I never complain. As I was about to go bring her the cake I noticed she had gone back inside her house. Jokingly I said to Scott, she probably knows we are coming over and is going inside to make us juice. Once I saw her back outside I went and brought her over the cake. Of course she responds with "Oh Thank you! Would you like some juice?" I told her no thank you, I just wanted to share our cake with her. She said she was going to go put it on a plate of her own and bring me back my plate. Wouldn't you guess...when she returned with our plate she also had a glass of juice. It was delicious...what can I say!

Save the best for last! Our guy friends stopped by that night to wish Scott a Happy Birthday and according to Dominican tradition, they cracked eggs on his head and poured water over him. Unfortunately he didn't get the last topping which most Dominicans get...Flour. They turn YOU into the cake! Lucky Scott!

Happy 27th Scott!

Maravillosa

2008-06-08T16:38:00.000-07:00

What can we say. It was amazing. My folks came down and we played, introduced them to our friends, explored some of the country, laughed, loved, prayed, spent time together, refreshed our souls. It was encouraging and hillarious and poignant. We swam through waterfalls, toured a tobacco company, had dinners with families who have cared for us, went to the beach, hung out at the house, ate delicious foods, played cards and won contests at hotels. We scuba'd, had bus adventures (dad nearly drove!) and we all became a bit braver. We love you guys. Thanks for everything.

Love,
M&K

update

2008-05-23T15:32:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

Well, this update is coming real late and is going to be too short. But, I wanted to let you know how wonderful life is! Kelly's back! I'm not sure if you know how outrageously beautiful and witty and charismatic and hilarious Kelly is but wow, she's incredible! And she's back! And I survived!

My parents are here too. It is fantastic! They actually arrived the day before Kelly (her flight had been delayed). We've been showing them glimpses of our lives and they've been giving us the gift of vacation! It is so good to have such a wonderful family.

I'll write more later but wanted to let you know that Kelly is here, safe and sound (she arrived on Monday). Thanks to all of you who made her trip so encouraging and fun!

Complete again,
M (&K)

My Time Back In Seattle

2008-05-17T19:46:00.000-07:00

How fun it was to be back in Seattle with such wonderful friends and family! My trip home was so last minute and very unplanned, but I tell you God really took this time and used it to its full potential. There were many unexpected events and situations that only He could have choreographed. Here is a brief snap shot of my month back home. Thanks to all the friends and family who rearranged their schedules to hang out with me. Sorry to those people who I really wanted to see but never got the opportunity to do so. I miss you all already and can't wait until we get to see one another again.

Medical - As you all know the reason I came home was to see a doctor and have a minor surgery. I have to say I love doctors! They make me broke, but the gift they are able to give people is priceless. After living in the DR, I have seen many cases of people who cannot afford to go see a doctor. When medical missions come to our clinic and serve our people, they are literally giving sight to the blind and legs to people who cannot walk. Here in America we have the privilege of being treated for our symptoms before our sickness or injury becomes to extreme. In the DR, many don't have that opportunity. After seeing the miracle the teams of doctors give to our people, I just love doctors!
The doctor I saw here was amazing and gave me a gift of healing! Doctor if you ever read this page, know that I am truly grateful for all you do! Hope to see you in the DR some day or at church when we get back home!

Family - This trip for me turned out to be more about family then anything else! The week I got home I took an unexpected trip to Arizona to visit my extended family. My mom was already going on a business trip and had extended her time for a short family vacation. The doctor gave his approval for me to go, so 2 days after my surgery I flew down! We got to visit my grandpa and stay a couple nights with him. He took us around his town and through the Gila National Forest. We went out to delicious places to eat, including a wonderful restaurant called Adobe Springs. If you are ever in Silver City NM, be sure to stop by! I got to listen to he and mom reminisce about old family relatives and learn who was ornery, who married who, what happened to so and so's farm, and who famous I might be related to. Darn...I wish I had a tape recorder. Thanks Grandpa for such a wonderful visit. I am so grateful I got to see you! I can't wait to Skype! Love you and miss you tons!

After visiting grandpa, we went to my uncle's house where we had a big family dinner and I got to see cousins I haven't seen in a couple of years. Of course it was non-stop laughter, teasing, goofing around, and reminiscing about the past. My uncle just bought a bug (shown in the pics), which is my dream car, so taking a ride in his bug was definitely a highlight. My uncle also has all of Great Gramma Houses' recipes so we took a lot of time going through them and picking out ones we wanted to copy right away and remembering family gatherings where gramma cooked "THE BEST" pies, donuts, cakes, etc. No one cooks quite like Gramma! Thanks family for such a wonderful visit! I love you all!

As many of you also know, my gramma Cruze died the last week I was in town. While this was a sad event, it is comforting to know that she is now resting in God's hands. This time also brought up opportunities for me that I wouldn’t have had. My dad had to drive to Portland for a work meeting the day Gramma died. I decided to drive down with him to give him some company and it turned out to be a really special time for me. I got to hear dad talk about his mom and what she was like as he grew up. I felt lucky to hear stories I never heard before and to learn more about who Gramma was in her younger days, who she was as a mom, and who she was as an elderly lady. Thanks dad for sharing your stories with me. It really meant a lot to me!

Friends - I LOVE OUR FRIENDS!! Where would we be without you guys?!! So many days and night I spent with our good friends catching up and eating well missed food or drinking another dose of coffee. It was so good for my heart to be with all of you hearing about life and processing mine with you. Thank you for investing in our lives and continuing to support us on our mission. We wouldn't be down there if it weren't for you!

Food - I love choices! I love all the food option in America. Wow..we sure waste a lot though.....

Weather - Where the heck is summer in Seattle? I have to admit that while I feel sorry for all of you as you ache for the sun, I selfishly loved the cold weather. Scott and I have so missed cuddling up in blankets, sitting by a fire, and the closeness that cold weather brings. While I complained with you (out of moral support) secretly I loved it! Thanks mom for always letting me turn up the heater and for the 4 blankets I slept with every night. It was just what the doctor ordered.

Home - While I loved every minute I was back in Seattle, I missed home in the DR horribly. Mainly because Scott was back there and it killed me not to see him everyday and be able to tell him I love him. It was odd to be home without him and to be having this experience without him. Boy did I ever miss him! Being back was also good because it helped me take a break from all the overwhelming cultural experiences and reflect back on our life there so far and be able to process it in a not as stimulating environment. I was going through quite a bit of cultural adjustment in terms of figuring out who I am as a woman and a wife down there. Gender roles are different and it has been somewhat hard for me to adjust. I began to feel somewhat lost in who I was while trying to figure out what I needed to change in order to fit the culture and what characteristics or behaviors I needed to keep in order to be myself. I know who I am in my culture in America, and being back home helped me get a more clear picture of who I need to be down there in order to survive.

The time back in Seattle also revived my energy and motivation to be down there. I have more vision for what I want to do. I have more desire to share my voice. I have more motivation to keep learning and growing. And most of all I have more of a desire then ever to depend on my God for all I need, cause living cross culturally is a hard process and "taking it all to God in prayer" really matters in a time and place such a this.

So I have to go back! Like Scott wrote on the blog a couple weeks ago, we both feel like God is not done with us yet. There is still more to learn, more ways He wants to shape and change who we are, more people to be influenced by and to influence, and who knows what else. I also need to go back because I am getting way to attached to friends, family, and white chocolate mochas. If I stay any longer I might stay forever.

Thanks everyone for everything! I love you!

Kel

1 More Day

2008-05-16T23:32:00.000-07:00

One more day until I am home with my husband!

This song is for you Scott!

I love you!

~K

election day

2008-05-16T08:00:00.001-07:00

Pray for our country today as all Dominicans head to the polls to vote for our next President. The trend over the last few elections is that voting (and its aftermath) has been increasingly more calm and civil. The expectation is that this election will be very orderly and controlled but as all Dominicans have said "one never knows." So here are a couple of specific requests for the country:

1. Pray that the whomever is elected will operate with transparency and effectiveness.
2. Pray that the cabinet of the next President will be intelligent, strong, well informed and out to protect the people of this nation.
3. Pray that in the face of the global food and fuel crisis, the Dominican Republic will have leadership over the next four years that will continue to stimulate economic growth and that will promote more development of infrastructure.
4. Pray that today, tomorrow and Sunday pass smoothly.

Sequestered in my house for today,
M

If you want to read more about these elections, check out this article by CNN. It is very well written and informed.

You can also check out www.dr1.com. The articles on there today are solely about the elections and are quick hitting, fairly interesting and heavily statistical. Unfortunately, without a subscription, you can only read that day's news.

A Life Lived

2008-05-13T12:29:00.000-07:00

Ecclesiastes 3
A Time for Everything..

Today my Gramma Cruze passed away. My family took a trip to visit her a few weeks ago so I thought I would share a couple photos from their trip. My gramma was a wonderful lady who had a great sense of humor and lived a full life. For a while now, gramma was living with my Uncle Wayne and Aunt Regina in Oklahoma. She hung out around their farm or went out with the local church ladies. Thank you Wayne and Regina for taking such great care of gramma! We will miss her here on earth but know we will see her later.

Mom and Dad are going to be with Dad's family for the service. Please pray for our family as we grieve and for all the logistics that need to be taken care of in the next few days.

Gramma I just have one last question for you. When I see you in heaven do I still have to go play outside? :)

I love you Gramma!

Kelly

"it's just a day in the life"

2008-05-04T16:46:00.000-07:00

Hey All,

Well, I thought I'd give you a brief (but slightly detailed) look at a normal day for me. In reality, Kelly and I have days that look quite different from each other, but I thought I'd wax personal here and share mine with you. First, a look at a day without a team. Then a look at a day when a team is in town.

7:40 - usually get out of bed (by now the alarm has been "snoozed" about 3 times.)
7:45 - check email, blog comments, seattletimes.com, cnn.com, usually also either nytimes.com or msnbc.com or latimes.com or the chicago tribune.
8:00 - breakfast, with the Bible, which for me includes a yogurt, a bowl of Fitness (basically Wheaties) and a glass of milk with a protien powder added.
8:10 - shave and cold cold cold shower
8:30 - bug spray and dressed
8:50 - head to the office to check in
9-11:30 - if no errands to do for work, typically I work via email and phones at work to continue to coordinate details for upcoming teams and to help plan for various other events.
12 - lunch at home with Kelly and Manuela (our cook) - usually some form of rice, beans, meat, vegetable salad and fruit.
1:00 - nap or read and a shower
2:00 - back to the office or out to a village
5:00 - head on home
5:30 - shower
6:30 - light dinner (eggs or pasta or something)

From about 7pm on, our evenings are filled with debriefing with each other, friends stopping by to visit and play cards, reading, SKYPE'ing, emailing, laughing as much as possible, etc.

**The irregularities to the schedule is that every Wednesday morning is filled with all staff worship and prayer (usually about 2 hours). Thursday morning is set aside for meeting with Malou (spiritual director of the mission). As well, I was previously teaching an English class that took the whole of the afternoon on Mondays and Wednesdays (but my kids graduated last week!)

Now, the schedule when a team is here:

7:15 - get up
7:20 - check email, blog comments, seattletimes.com, cnn.com, usually also either nytimes.com or msnbc.com or latimes.com or the chicago tribune.
7:40 - breakfast, with the Bible, which for me includes a yogurt, a bowl of Fitness (basically Wheaties) and a glass of milk with a protien powder added.
7:45 - shave and cold cold cold shower
8:00 - bug spray and dressed
8:15 - out the door for whatever it is that the team is doing. Usually I accompany them out to help attend to and facillitate their trip. I only don't go if I have more pressing items at the office.
12:30 - lunch at the Mission House with the team, translators and drivers.
2:00 - Back out with the team or to the office.
Evening - get home as soon as possible which is usually sometime between 7 and 9.
Aftewards - debrief with Kel, play cards, read, laugh as much as possible, etc.

**In truth, when teams are here, I run at a much higher pace and much higher stress (something that you can pray for and that Kel and I working diligently on for developing strategies with this). It's fun because I end up with a lot more interaction with the people in our villages which is a tremendous blessing and I get to see the great work that teams do. It feels sometimes like I'm in warp speed but it's good to work hard you know?

Now, weekends.

Saturdays:
-shop for staples (read: junk food and prepared foods!)
-putz around the house
-read/rest
-straighten up a bit
-laugh as much as possible

Sundays:
-Church (2 weeks/month we go to a local church and 2 weeks/month we listen to the UPC podcast)
-Go get ice cream (Ice Cream Sunday's you know!)
-Go to the beach (every week. It is ESSENTIAL to our lives down here. There is a sort of transcendental peace that refreshes and prepares us for the week.)
-Rest in the evening.

In truth it is difficult to convey our schedule exactly. So, come down and experience it. The invitation is open to all of you! Come see us! Come see what God is doing!!

Cheers,
M

2 confessions from an analytical romantic and my new choice

2008-04-29T18:19:00.000-07:00

Let me start with the confessions:

1. I think that "Once" is my new favorite movie. Absolutely loved it. In a future post I will be outlining precisely why, but not now. For now just know, I love that movie and have watched it once a day for the last three days. Love it.

2. I bought Bethany Dillon's cd "Imagination" today. I didn't just buy it, I have it on repeat. It's a gem.

Now my new choice:
I choose joy. I choose to exercise command over my emotions. I choose to remain vulnerable but steadfast; invested but not stressed; aware of conflict but seeking peace; emotional but without situational carry over; eyes open but mouth more closed; engaged in paradox but antithetical to hypocrisy; thoughtful but lighthearted; professing Christ and claiming Him for myself. Yes, I choose joy. I am "Not Yet" mature in my emotions and discretion, but I'm coming. I am "Not Yet" full of joy but I'm on my way.

"Hallelujah, Hallelujah. Whatever's in front of me I'll choose to sing Hallelujah" - Bethany Dillon

Joyful,
M

Meg and Cam's Trip

2008-04-23T18:32:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago our good friends Megan and Cameron came to visit us for a few days! Here are some pics from their trip. We spent the first few days at our house and took them to all the villages we work in. Then we took a vacation and went to the Capital to do some historical site seeing. We soaked in every moment with them and wept when they left. How great it felt to finally have conversations with good friends and to laugh and reminisce. How we miss them already! Having them here gave us a boost in life! We love you guys!

It was time

2008-04-23T08:17:00.001-07:00

It was time. I needed to change the name of this blog. I didn´t know I needed to until the moment that I did. Once I realized it, the thought became irrepressible. It´s a small change that is likely insignificant to most, but to me, it is an important shift.

We (Kelly and I) have each heard this message of ¨not yet¨ in the last three days. God wants our attention. He is trying to tell us something specific. He has made plain to us that we are ¨not yet¨. We are not yet in thought. We are not yet in character formation. We are not yet in marriage. We are not yet in faith. And importantly, and relevantly, we are not yet in our work here in the DR.

If you´ve ever gone over to Bellevue and driven from the Crossroads mall area, towards downtown using Main, NE 4th or NE 8th then I believe you have a tangible example of what our life here is like in that the roll of those hills feels like the roll of our life. I have this distinct memory as a kid of coming back to Bellevue on vacation, and driving along on NE 4th and literally holding onto the side of the van at one moment because I had become so unaccustomed to steep hills, that as we descended, I truly had the sensation that we might immediately begin careening out of control. Yet of course, we made it safely to the bottom, and then began the steep acent up the very next hill. In truth our speed probably varied only slightly from the downhill to the uphill but there is a cognizant awareness that it should not be so. That we should be moving much faster on the fun downhills and much slower on the laborious uphills.

What is the point of all of this? Well, I think that life here is like that. We have these moments of feeling as if we are careening out of control in a fun and adventerous way, and these moments of laboring intensely under frustrating and stressful conditions. And there are moments when the uphill has lasted long enough that we´ve given thought to the fact that we could likely find downhills (so to speak) if we weren´t here, weren´t doing this work, weren´t so far from home.

¨Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see.¨ Not only that, but ¨we have a hope that does not dissapoint.¨ Further, God has promised that he isn´t finished with us. Not yet. And that is the message that Kel and I have each heard this week. She heard it in His voice in her head when she walked into UPC on Sunday. I heard it in my father´s voice as we talked on the phone yesterday morning. We are already and not yet. We will forever be that way on this earth. There isn´t a blasted thing we can do about it. (Un)Fortunately, even if there is no downhill on the other side of the up, we are still called.

I don´t mean to say that Kel and I were on the brink of moving home. Not even close. Not even close. We just are increasingly aware of a restlessness in life that exists simply because we know that we will forever be already not yet and there exists a fantasy that if we could just be already for a moment, peace would come. However, I think that to be already, without not yet, here on this earth, would be devestating. For if we are already, then we have edged out God. But if we are not yet, His space to speak is infinite. Which is to say that in the moments that here feels more not yet than there, I am probably where I most need to be.

The implications for this are huge of course. It frees me up to know that whatever this moment holds, is not the last word. This in turn frees me up towards joy. For if God is not done, then I am improving. And on it goes. Just think how much easier it is to be hopeful in joy than in sorrow. Just think how much more exciting faith is when hope and joy are alive. Just think how much more you notice Christ at work when faith hope and joy are in unison spurring you on. Think how much easier it is to love when you see Christ at work and feel uplifted through faith, assured in hope and full of joy. I mean, come on! Let´s be Not Yet. And let´s be it eyes open, expectant and joyful, faithful and full of hope!

I´d like to leave you with a portion of an email my buddy Kelly in Latvia sent me recently:

...Jonah really didn't like Nineveh and he decided not to go. Things didn't work out really swell for him. It is really nice to believe that God will make the object of His call our hearts desire, trouble is, it doesn't really check out biblically. Abraham didn't even know where God was calling him, Moses wasn't thrilled about a bazillion cry babies in some god forsaken desert, and yet they obeyed. I have learned though that attitude is mostly choice...

Not Yet,
M

In Other News

2008-04-22T07:01:00.000-07:00

I just read an article on the website www.philly.com (a seemingly reputable and professional news source) which included the following paragraph:

¨The Philadelphia District Attorney's office also will be enforcing election laws. Any shenanigans at the Philadelphia polls may be reported to their office at 215-686-9641.¨

I laughed out loud. Who uses shenanigans in a news article. Strike that. Who uses the word shenanigans?

Good Morning Philly!
M

Expected Cultural Experience

2008-04-19T17:08:00.000-07:00

So today, I had one of my first major recognizable cultural experiences. It sounds strange to say such a thing being as we´ve been here for nearly 6 months. And, in truth we´ve had many cultural experiences - some of which we´ve failed to recognize, others that we only saw in retrospect, and still others that seemed like small things. Today however, I saw it unfolding and saw the significance of it almost at once. Perhaps it is because there is so much literature about this particular type of incidence, who knows, all I know is I saw it happening and could only hold on for the ride.

My cook, and friend, invited me over to her house to have lunch with her family today. They are an incredible family and we are so lucky to have her as our cook. But, without Kel here, I was a bit aprehensive about going over. You see, by nature, and often by practice, I am an introvert. Social risk taking is one of the most intimidating and exhausting things in my life. Nearly always, I find myself joyed and thankful for the experiences, but the dread I feel leading up to them constantly reminds me that I am an introvert through and through. So, Kelly is my gift - my buffer if you will. I´m digressing a bit, but I definitely had some trepidation about going for a 3 hour lunch by myself to a family that knows zero English.

So I find myself at their house, having a ball. Important to the story though is that they do not have much money. They live in a neighborhood that I cannot go to after about 5pm, even with a Dominican, and while they are extremely hospitable and generous with what they have, they truly have very little. I don´t believe that specifics are necessary here, suffice it to say that it was a sacrifice to have me over for the most important (and largest) meal of the day.

We had a great time chatting and fumbling through conversation for about an hour. Then it was time to eat. We had been sitting in the backyard when she called me, specifically me, in to eat. As I went in, I saw that on the table there was a veritable feast set out, and only one place setting. Yikes! She asked me to sit down and I asked who else was going to eat. She said everyone so I sat down. Then I stood back up and followed her into the kitchen, prolonging conversation and stalling for the moment I could see coming. She again asked me to sit and told me to begin eating. I asked again, who else was going to eat. She said everyone so I sat. This time she waited until I began dishing up my food. Then she left the room. For a few minutes I was alone with a beautiful spread of rice and beans, fruit, salad, meat with salsa, and a glass of juice all on an incredibly beautiful tablecloth that would have seemed out of place without the beautiful food on it. Then her youngest daughter came in the room and sat down on a chair away from the table with a portion of rice and beans, and nothing else. I invited her to the table and she came, a bit uncomfortably (I think I overstepped on that one) and ate with me. Then mom came and sat too with her portion of rice and beans (nothing else) while the other two kids exited the house. Uncomfortable.

I knew from the outset that the food set out was for me. All of it. And the hope was that I would eat it and enjoy it. The culture appears to say that I should eat all of it to show gratitude to my hosts. Thankfully I have learned that this appearance is an illusion, in matter of fact, I needed to eat enough to show thanks, and leave as much as possible for the rest of the family who had yet to eat. So I attempted to find this balance. It was tough. Mostly because every bite was a guilty one. And then I felt guilty for feeling guilty. Thankfully, I think I satisfied expectations for how much I would eat, and I watched as the rest of the family got portions of what I had not eaten. And some of the neighbors too. May God´s grace cover our meal that we shared today for I know that they cannot normally afford what we ate today.

There is a tradtion among Dominicans of eating ¨concon¨. Concon is the rice at the bottom of the pan that has turned brown and is crispy to the point of being hard. In the US we´d say it is burned. But here, you´re not eating rice if you don´t have concon to go with it. However, to get it, you really have to scrape it loudly off the bottom of your metal rice pan with a strong spoon. I learned later that in her neighborhood, many people don´t cook and eat until late at night because they only have money for 1 meal a day, if that. So, those that cook in the middle of the day, those that can afford it, very slowly scrape the concon out of the pan, to minimize the noise, so that their family can eat first, before neighbors just ¨drop in¨ and the hosts are obligated to share whatever they have with the unexpected guests. For here in the DR, it is always a ¨good time¨ for visitors to come by, which simply means, ¨yes, come in an eat for we long to share with you.¨

My prayer tonight is that we never lose sight of what we´ve been given.

Thoughtfully,
M

Irony Strikes

2008-04-18T16:08:00.000-07:00

So, I haven´t left the internet cafe. I can´t seem to go home to the empty house. I just posted a post that left me crying for the ache in my heart. And then irony strikes.

Here I am tear streaked and some high school girl at the computer booth next to me, tries to strike up a conversation with me by telling me how much she likes my eyes. First of all, until I turned adress the comment by showing her my wedding ring and giving a thanks without a smile, she had not seen my eyes. I mean, why not ask me what my sign is while you´re at it? And second, do I look like a high schooler?

Yikes. Maybe I´m being too harsh. Sorry girlie if I am.

-M

Journaling and it´s (non) Cohesion

2008-04-18T15:07:00.000-07:00

I wanted to try to describe for you how I felt today and think that the best way to do it is through the lens of a previous journal entry. (Forgive me if I´ve quoted from this before...in truth I rarely journal so it wouldn´t be surprising if I´ve already used this.)

10/28/2008 - the day we left Seattle
¨The city and hillsides are draped in fog. It is as if the landscape was attempting a relection of my heart and mind. The streets and mountains, so often sharp and stunning in clarity, have now cloaked themselves in nature´s confusion. And that is my soul too - the vision and passion that had been so clear feels shrouded - it feels like my dream is trying to be recollected but daylight won´t allow it. As we drive away from the city that I love - its coffee shops and technology and casualness and gray days and green trees; its proud position between grand snowy mountains next to the great ocean´s harbor, its ineffecient freeways and the most beautiful collegiate stadium in the nation; its market and Troll and Freemont and Ballard; its beautiful people that have embraced us, called us friends, laughed, cried, played and loved with us; its young skyline and urban suburbs and upstart mentality - I feel a deep heaviness about leaving this place. There is a Siren´s song trying to seduce me to stay. And as we drive I find myself thinking about these things and longing for a reason to stay or at least a specific date to come back. Yet God´s will compels me to still those thoughts and to instead contemplate Him. And as I do I notice the conversation swirling around from this topic to that and I feel as if I cannot engage them. It´s as if the center of the Creator and the center of the creation and the center of me are trying to align themselves. There is a deepness though about this moment that cannot be fully experienced by my frailty and instead the rocks and trees and water and sunrise join with their Creator in a cry of praise and a cry for me.

So soon we are in the airport and I feel like I am underwater. Or rather, I am in slow motion, lethargic in thought, and everything around me is in warp speed. Almost before I know it we have said our goodbyes and they are gone and we are so very alone as we bump and move our way through the crowd and onto the plane. And as the plane takes off I catch one more glimpse of downtown and Husky stadium and proud Mt. Baker and majestic Rainier and the Sound and the I-5 corridor and I imagine the cozy homes of our friends and I can´t help but weep for love of it all. I wonder if anyone has ever been as blessed as us.¨

To say it was an emotional day would dramatically understate how we felt. The sheer power of paradoxical feelings was incredible. Yet I wanted to share this journal entry with you to help illuminate how I felt today. In comparison, I´d put today at nearly twice as emotional for me as that day. I felt like my heart was beating through sludge, my brain churning on less than half cylinders, to say nothing of my limbs or mouth.

Kelly left today to go back to Seattle for nearly a month. She needs to see a doctor and have a minor surgery done. It has nothing to do with anything we might one day catch down here. It could have happened no matter where she was living. And it is minor. No big deal. But I had to wave goodbye to her in a foreign airport, knowing that I wouldn´t see her again until mid May, get back in my ridiculous little car with a friend acting as chouffer, and drive back to this place. Even right now as I write this, I´m crying again. Some may scoff and say ¨oh, newlyweds.¨ But I´m telling you, 60 years from now I´ll feel no different. The sun in my life rises on her smile and the moon at the lilt of her voice. When she isn´t with me, it´s not that ¨my better half is missing¨ it´s that who I understand myself to be is confused by the lack of defining companionship. It´s not co-dependence, its God´s design for marriage. I no longer understand myself fully, apart from her. I am my own man in Christ for sure, and He has uniquely created and gifted me and calls me by name - but He has also given us over to be one flesh and to abide together. She is my lady, my love.

It has been a hard day. I am so glad she is back, receiving stress free treatment, visiting dearly missed friends and family, and enjoying a variety of food flavors for the first time in 6 months. But pray for me because I miss her so badly I can hardly stand it. She keeps me centered, she is the first to greet me and last to say goodnight each day, she sets the alarm, holds my hand, teaches me about grace, and stregthens me with evidence of God´s love. Oh how I miss her...

Things to pray for:
1. Traveling mercies for Kel as even now she is likely running through a Dallas airport trying to catch a tight connecting flight to Seattle.

2. Complete healing and fast restoration to her body.

3. Comfort for each of us.

4. Safety for me. And not just safety, but a true sense of peace that will let me sleep at night. Lately I´ve had a hard time sleeping anyway, and now, without her...

5. Details for teams. I stayed behind because we have a number of teams coming that I felt I needed to be here for. Pray for the details and process for these teams.

We love you all. Thanks for your prayers.

Love,
M&K

Short Vacation

2008-04-06T04:45:00.000-07:00

Our dear dear friends Cameron and Megan are here! They came at a busy time so we took them to work with us last week. However, things have slowed down a little bit now so we are off to Santo Domingo for 2 nights today! This marks the first time that Kel and I have taken some time off since arriving and it is much needed! Admittedly it has been stressful lately what with 4 teams coming into town over the course of 2.5 weeks and me needing to spend some time in the clinic. But God is on the move and we are excited by what he is doing.

Wanted to update you on a couple of things that you can be praying for:
1. Communication continues to be difficult at times - not just language but learning to communicate effectively through culture and with the office back home. Pray that God is always seasoning conversations with grace and clarity.

2. Our computer died 3 days ago. As if there wasn't enough stress, we now are without a computer for awhile. I am currently on Cam's computer and he will be taking mine back to the Apple store in U-village to be serviced. Truly it will be difficult while it's gone as much of my work is on email. Pray that they are able to resolve it quickly and that it returns back down here soon!!

3. Pray for our staff down here. It has been a busy few weeks and they have worked hard! Pray for refreshment. Also pray for safety as 2 staff members travel to Silverdale for meetings and one goes to Puerto Rico to take a class.

We love you all and will try to update you periodically but it may be tough without our computer.

Love,
M&K

El Bastardo

2008-03-29T11:09:00.000-07:00

If you're thinking "does that say what I think it says?" then the answer is "Yes. That is the name of my roommate in the Clinic."

Maybe I should start at the beginning though. I wasn't sick. I mean, I was, but not the way I should have been. I had absolutely no stomach problems. No pain. No irregular evacuations. No big loss of appetite. No significant loss of energy. The only real problem I had was a fever. Kind of high. For 4 days. Which is extremely abnormal for me. I never run fevers. Ever. When I do, I stay home because they cripple me. But I never stay home because I never run fevers. So I was a bit confused. For 4 days I had run a fever of about 101 degrees and I couldn't take it anymore. So we set in motion a series of events that included going down to the local aerobics gym to get my doctor out of her class so that she could call the blood technician from the private clinic to get out of bed to come meet us at the clinic to do a blood test. Down here, a blood test is one of the first responses to a fever. So we did a blood draw and my whites, reds and platelets were all low. They were within range but at the very bottom of where they should be. Oh, and I was negative for Dengue. So, I was told to hydrate and come back in the morning to retest and see what happened. In the morning I was tested for Malaria which also came back negative. So I took another blood test (everything lower this time, and now slightly out of range but still no Dengue) and urine/stool samples (which showed I had parasites and amoeba). So, because everything had lowered but no clear diagnosis was in sight, they decided to admit me overnight for monitoring, hydration and to treat the party in my stomach. That first night in the clinic was interesting.

We found out that the night nurses do not check on you. We found out that you have to have someone stay overnight with you to advocate for you. A couple of times my IV drip was nearly dry and Kel had to literally search for a nurse and get them to come switch it. Each time they switched it, air bubbles entered my lines, at which point Kel had to convince them to come take the air out. We found out that there are apparently no legs for IV bags so when you need to use the restroom, someone has to come in with you to hold the bag up.

And I ran a fever again.

In the morning they drew blood again. My tests came back significantly lower, but still not to a level that they were overly concerned about. But it was confusing. I never had amoeba/parasite symptoms. I had a fever and lowered platelets but no Dengue. I was fighting something but it was difficult to tell what. So we continued to treat the friends who had taken up residence in my stomach but nothing else because nothing else had been identified.

And then, in the late morning, I met El Bastardo. At least that's what everyone on the street calls him. He's a Tigre which is the general term for gang-type people. He was admitted for some problem with his arm. Strangely they admitted him to my room. He was going to stay overnight. But we never got that far. Not long after he settled into the other bed at the far side of my room, all of my visitors left. And I fell asleep. Sometime later, I awoke to see him going through my jeans that were on the chair beside me at which point commenced a dialog in Spanish:

Me - Greetings?
Him - Oh, give me 10 pesos. I'm really hungry.
Me - What?!
Him - Give me 10 pesos!! I'm starving.
Me - I don't have any money.
Him - I'm STARVING!!
Me - I can't give you any money because I don't have any. So I'm not going to give you any money.
Him - Fine, give me your juice.
Me - I can't give you my juice. I need it.
Him - Give me your juice, I'm starving!
Me - NO. I need that juice. It's all for me.
Him - Fine, give me your cell phone. I need to call my friend.
Me - NO. I don't have any minutes so I'm not going to give you my phone.
Him - Give me your phone. I have to call my friend.
Me - NO! I have no minutes so I cannot give you my phone. Or my juice. Or any money.

Freaky. Here he is, yelling at me, IV bag in one hand, the other pointing at me, now that it no longer held my jeans. So, I stayed awake. And when my Dominican co-workers came back a bit later, I told them. And they told the Doctors and Nurses. And pretty soon I think everyone in Barahona knew. But he didn't know that they knew. So then, I thought they were going to move my room or kick him out. Nope. Turns out, they decided on a different route. On the way out, my boss confronted him on it, he got ticked, denied it, demanded to have the IV removed from his arm, and stormed out, never to be seen again. I guess his brother is a drug runner around here. Crazy.

So ok, back on point. I stayed the second night which was a lot smoother because we now knew the routine. I also got to watch some March Madness which was awesome considering it was the first basketball I'd seen this season. Kel stayed again. And in the morning my blood test showed everything back up into range so they let me go. I was so thankful!!

I mean, overall it was a fine experience. We learned a lot about the health care system here in Barahona. We learned that things seemed hygienic and sterile. I learned that it doesn't hurt too bad to get an IV. I saw some basketball and found out that there is free Wi-Fi at the hospital. Not too bad.

Thank you for your prayers. They were so desperately needed for although things went well, I could easily imagine a worse experience. Thank you for covering me in love and hope and prayer.

More later about normal life...

Love,
M&K

Home Sweet Home!

2008-03-28T07:29:00.000-07:00

Scott's blood tests just came back and his counts were higher so he gets to go home! Praise God! He is so excited to get the IV out of his arm and be able to have a good nights rest tonight.

Thanks for all your prayers! They were much needed.

Stay tuned for stories of the hospital by Scott in the next week.

Love you all!

K&M

Hospital Adventures

2008-03-28T05:48:00.000-07:00

Some of you already know that Scott was admitted to the hospital early Wednesday afternoon following two blood tests that showed his white blood cells and his platelets lowering. For the past 5 night he had a high fever, but ironically no other symptoms and felt fine during the days. So far the blood tests have shown no Dengay Fever and no Malaria. Based on another test they are treating him for parasites and a amoeba while he is staying here. The expectation was that he would be able to go home yesterday, but a new blood test showed the platelets and white cells lower still. So they kept him to keep him on an IV. They just drew blood again this morning to see if he can go home today. If his count is higher than we can finally bring him home so he can shower and shave. He is growing quite the beard.

The good news is that last night was his first night without a fever. So we are praying hard his count will go back up today. Also his levels are not in any dangerous range as of now so there is no cause for alarm. The doctors are just being cautious.

The hospital experience in general has been filled with adventures good and bad. We have faced many cultural barriers and have learned more lessons of cross cultural exchange that we never even knew existed. There are many stories to write about, but I will leave it to the author of our family for when he gets out of the hospital.

Thanks for your prayers!
K&M

THANK YOU

2008-03-19T20:04:00.000-07:00

A quick post to say thank you to the many people who sent cards, snacks, supplies, books and love to us. Brandon arrived today with a portion of the team that he is on and came bearing the gifts from you. We almost wept. I find myself saying that alot. It's always true when I do. Thank you for the encouragement. I have to say I think my favorite parts were the cards from you and the shoes from my sister. I'm positive that Kelly's favorite parts were all of it. Especially the school supplies. Here mind is reeling thinking of how many kids will be blessed through those supplies. Thank you!!

More later...when it's not so late.

Love,
M&K

This Week

2008-03-09T16:49:00.000-07:00

So here we are, about to embark on another week. It's Sunday night afterall and Monday's a comin' no matter what we do. And still you know nothing about what we've done this week. So here's goes a brief update I'd like to call "Can I Just Say":

...Cars seem to have an understated but highly frustrating intelligence. Our car, all last week had a problem. Quite often, as we were driving, indeed, once we were well on our way, the car would suddenly shudder and die. For no apparent reason. With very little lead up. Each time we would call our mechanic (the mission has a mechanic on call), he would come out, drive it around with no problems and send us on our way. Unbelievable. On one occasion, the car had died on us 3 times in less that 2 miles but when he got there and drove it for 20 minutes, there was no problem. Eventually though, the car could not hide from the hands of the mechanic, died on him, and is now fixed. Only took a week.

...Our previously mentioned mechanic is not only an incredibly gifted guy (self-taught by taking apart an engine and large generator before rebuilding both to perfection - discovered and invited to teach at the vocational school, which further funded his obtaining a degree in mechanics, and he is now our guy at the mission.) He also is the Dominican half of Kid N Play as he can often be seen sporting the overalls with one side unclipped and work boots.

...I'm not sure how it happened, but last Sunday night, Kel and I walked outside to see our friend home, and realized that the burning smell that had been wafting into our house for the past half hour was OUR garbage can, its contents ablaze in smoky, toxic, obnoxious flame. I think it may have something to do with the guys who were hanging out smoking on our corner, but, I hate to point fingers.

...There is a need for a good landscape gardening vocational school here. Every time a tree gets "trimmed" it ends up looking like a tornado spun through, left the tree in the ground but cracked all the branches off 8 inches from the trunk. I'm not kidding you. I can't count how many trees Kelly and I have observed get "trimmed" in our time in Barahona, leaving trunks in the ground with not a single branch still left on it and each scar looking like a giant twisted the branches off instead of using the saw that he had been given for the task.

...Doctors and Nurses are incredible people. This week we had a team of highly talented docs and nurses come down and do surgery on everyone that they could possibly squeeze into a week. I watched people go from light recognition to sight good enough for reading by our ophthalmologist. I saw our orthopedic correct a man's foot that was bent permanently outward at a 45 degree angle at the ankle from a previous accident. His leg is now straight. I heard from our ENT's of tonsils they pulled out that looked like egg yolk because they had been so permanently damaged by repetitive infection. I watched joy return to people's lives. I watched families who had no hope of surgery because of the economic hardship, receive desperately needed care for free. I saw God acting as the Great Physician through the hands of this team. Incredible. Phenomenal. Emotional.

...Working here is tough but so rewarding. I am convinced beyond any shadow of doubt that the Hampton's will leave more blessed that we were a blessing no matter what we do. Everyday we have to struggle through the language barrier, set our American mindset aside and find ways to help without taking over. The focus of our jobs seems to shift daily and we often feel lost in the flotsam of those shifts. Yet God persistently reminds us to open our eyes and each time we are graced with beauty so abundant and so extravagant that we can't help but be enamored by it all - the people, the work of the Body of Christ, the landscape, the time we have to think about what we really want from life and from our marriage, the fantastic gift of questions that are liable to keep us up at night and never be answered. Dios es grande!

...There should be a rule that everyone has to find a place that makes them feel relaxed, and go to it every week. We go to the beach every week. On Sunday afternoons. Sometimes on Saturdays too. We bring a book and stay for a couple of hours. Not too long because life beckons but we are able to see that the time at the beach is part of life and is beckoning too. It slows us down enough to see that life is not about pace but about posture and prospective because from those things, your pace is set and so are your priorities which drive your ambitions.

...Our neighborhood is becoming comfortable with us. This is especially evidenced in the young girls that fill our house in the evenings now. They come to see Kelly. They laugh and talk to her. They teach her Spanish, clean (seriously, they do dishes and sweep our floors), and read the Spanish children's books that Kelly has been collecting. It is hilarious and so endearing in my eyes that I find myself more in love with her because they are so drawn to her.

...There's so much more. I really should be better at writing. We passed the week caught up in the frenzy of the Doctors and Kelly observing the new special education teachers in the villages, teaching English, reading, me meeting about the spiritual ministry to teenagers and trying to get a little bit of sleep. I do want to say thank you though because something happened this week that was a gift from you and you need to know about it. We hired an amazing woman to do our cooking and housecleaning. No kidding, I'm not sure how we got lucky enough to get her. She should have clients winding around the corner. She also works for the mission cooking and cleaning so will be helping us in her free time. We have arrived at a moment where we are feeling very busy and this will be a huge help to us. Laundry takes us over 4 hours to do. She'll do it now. Shopping takes us about an hour a few times a week. She'll handle that. Cooking can be a lengthy process and we often don't balance our meals well. She'll now keep us on track with balanced meals. Cleaning our house doesn't take long, but also isn't something that we want to do at the end of our days. She will twice a week. Thank you. Thank you.

Ok, I need to sign off. We love you. Write to us. Email us pictures. Tell us about your week. Comment on the blog. Pray for us and know that you are being prayed for.

Love,
M&K

Longing

2008-03-09T15:55:00.000-07:00

I have a little bit more...

I've thought a lot about full disclosure. I want you to know that. I mean, it's a dangerous thing sometimes because, well, we are changing people. I am no exception to that. I change and most often, only a short while after my mouth has made a declaration. Change is a dangerous thing when combined with a mouth that likes to figure its brain out while in motion. And I don't mean to give change a bad name. Quite honestly I have come to a point in life where I look for change because stagnancy makes me feel slow of thought and signals that something is missing. It's not that I feel the need to disrupt life to safe-guard against staleness, its just that when change is happening, I feel like God is offering me this blessing. Like He's saying "See, I haven't left you where you are. I am dynamic and a master developer and you will not be subject to wallowing in sameness. I love you way too much for that." I think I'm digressing a bit, but I want you to know that I do know the danger in full disclosure because when I wake up tomorrow I might want to say something different instead. But I can't help it. I love the idea of conversation. I love the thought that you are part of my change. Part of my self-discovery. Part of the conversation that moves me from here to there. Part of the love spent extravagantly on me by my Creator. So here goes a bit of out loud thinking that has raged and whispered in my head.

I miss home. I mean, terribly sometimes. This weekend I really missed home. I re-read comments on the blog and emails from you. They were a beautiful confluence of nostalgia and encouragement. I drank them in. I could hear your voices when I read them. I mean really, I could. It quickened my heart and both affirmed my call to be here, and reminded me that someday I would not be here anymore. I read a friend's blog who's in Thailand and he talked about a similar thing. He said that he was homesick and sorrowed by how much he missed his friends and family. And yet, he went on to say that he was cheered by the knowledge that God has assured us that not one of us is home yet but that our homecoming will indeed be a celebration. I listened to MLK saying "...I just want to do God's will..." and thought, me too. But still I was sad. I read wonderful books (finished one and started another) and thought, "but really Lord, do you need me here?"

I think what started it all was this wonderful, incredible, selfless group of doctors and nurses that we had here all this week. They worked from sunup to sundown literally giving sight to the blind, healing the sick, and caring for those who so desperately needed it. I could have wept at the wonderfulness of their gift and at obvious awareness they had that it was not them but God working through them that brought health and wholeness to their patients. They were from South Dakota. They felt like home. Then, they went home. And I wondered if I could fit in their suitcases and if they would notice. The big trigger though, wasn't that they were Americans, it was that I put together a slideshow of facts about the Dominican Republic and Barahona for them. I didn't know any of the facts I put in it until I researched them and wrote them down. The whole time I kept thinking, I know all of this stuff about Seattle. I pictured roads, neighborhoods, people, places, smells, landmarks, days passed with you and days passed without you. I felt nostalgic to my core.

It isn't empty phrasing to say that I love it here though. I know that I am playing the part of unformed clay in the hands of the Potter. I have a longtime friend and fishing mentor that would often ask my sister, when we were fishing with him, "Are you where you want to be?" He of course was referring to the place on the lake, but I can't help but answer Jim now, "Yes, I am where I want to be. God has called me and I have responded and so I am where I want to be."

Our House

2008-03-01T13:18:00.001-08:00

Here is a look into our house in the DR. Now you know where you will stay when you come to visit us!

More Pics

2008-02-24T14:34:00.001-08:00

We'll update with some words soon too but here's some pics that Kel took the other day. Enjoy!

-M&K

Slideshow

2008-02-19T08:32:00.001-08:00

This is a short slideshow of some pictures from when we delivered just a few of the mattresses. Enjoy! (It may take a bit to load.)

-M&K

Some Changes

2008-02-17T17:59:00.000-08:00

Our Blog is going through some changes...hang in there...it could be a rough couple of days but hopefully by next weekend, we'll be back in great shape! Despite the construction, there will probably be some updates on life down here so check back from time to time.

Cheers,
M&K

And On Feb 12th...

2008-02-12T19:13:00.000-08:00

...Christmas came. Not really because Christmas is about the Son of God becoming fully human for us while remaining fully divine! But, yesterday we received packages and letters from home via MFI - all of them had been sent before Christmas and nearly all of them were Christmas cards or presents. It was so wonderful. I wept. Seriously I did. Not out of sadness but out of gratitude - it meant so much to Kel and I. Water bottles, bug spray, games, photo cards, a treasured Nativity set and so much more.

But you know, Christmas presents arrived yesterday for other people in the Dominican Republic as well. During Tropical Storm Noel, many many people lost everything that they owned, but slowly, order is being restored and needs are being met. The trick is that we who have busy lives sometimes forget things that aren't right in front of us. I know I do. Living down here though provides us with a constant reminder of the needs that exist, and indeed existed long before the storm.

However, following Noel, COTN received funding to purchase a large number of beds for families who lost theirs in the storm. And yesterday, and all last week in fact, we have been distributing those beds. While many more people still need one, there are families who tonight will not be sleeping on the floor. And there are families tonight who will not have 8 people in one queen sized bed because now they have 2 beds in their homes. It is a beautiful thing. And it got me thinking...and asking questions...and here is what I found out:

Roughly $150 US buys a new bed with a frame (or legs).

Roughly $300 US covers the cost of installing a concrete floor in a home, which dramatically improves the health of the family and helps protect the home and belongings in storms. We know of nearly 300 families in our villages that currently have dirt floors.

Roughly $350 US puts a sturdy new metal roof on a home. Many of the homes in our villages have terribly inadequate roofs that do little to protect from the elements. We again know of nearly 300 families in our villages that need a new roof.

It's surprising isn't it? For $650 US a family can receive a new roof and a concrete floor which would significantly improve the living and health conditions of the family. Do you know how quickly the average American blows through $650? It's wild. I have had the opportunity to visit homes and meet families that call themselves blessed and yet have none of the blessings that we often refer to back home. The commodities that they trade in are love and family unity and community support, not iPods and big yards and clothes from Nordstrom. And so I'm left to wrestle with the joy that I receive from the things that I have knowing that there are those who don't dream of having even half of what I do. Don't get me wrong, I have not landed in a place of shunning money and possession. I'm just wrestling with reconciling how much we have with the extreme needs of the people I'm meeting. Wealth is an extremely important asset that when used for good, produces powerful results. For example, without your support, Kelly and I would not be able to be down here, participating in this work and asking these questions - COTN would not exist and would not be able to help the people that they are helping without the redistribution of wealth.

Kel and I read a book recently off of a recommendation from some friends, called "The Irresistible Revolution". It's about a group of folks in inner-city Philly that are living and working with the homeless, and about their thoughts on Biblical mandates of wealth. It's great and terrible all at once because it is so energizing to think of people doing that and at the same time, creates a discomfort in our potential complacency when it comes to considering those who have less than us. I hope you read it.

I also watched a short film before I left by Rob Bell on wealth. My dad showed it to me. It's about 12 minutes long and is incredibly poignant and direct. I learned that over 92% of the world doesn't own a car. I learned that to provide water, basic health and nutrition to everyone in the world would only cost around $20 billion dollars which is how much Americans spend on ice cream each year. He talks about our God who tells us not to put our hope in money but to delight and hope in the Lord who blesses us abundantly with all that we need. It's a fantastic movie. He reminds us of the danger of thinking that "our world" is "the World". I hope you check it out.

But my thoughts don't stop with the surprising facts and anecdotes of inequality. I am reminded of people the world over who are doing whatever they can to share what they have - The Gates Foundation, Paul Farmer, World Vision, Agros, the folks working in the Guatemalan land fill, COTN, Josiah Venture, Brethren In Christ Church, Homes Without Borders, the guy in Laos who is helping create sustainable agriculture for a people group totally rejected by their government, the 60 people we were at MTI with, and on and on and on. Kelly and have had tons of conversations regarding dozens and dozens of organizations, groups, individuals and grass roots efforts out there using their money for the glory of God. And we feel it too as your money supports us.

Yet, still I feel like Jacob wrestling the angel. At the end of the night, I am no closer to peace than when the sun set. How do we as a large community become agents of change. How do we truly transform our concept of what we need to live? How do we live out the call to the church in Acts to live communally, sharing all resources with those in need? How do we support a global economy if we are all just only living on exactly what we need?

And we want to invite you to wrestle with it too. Of course your money is important but it's the discussion that we want...and if you really start to grapple with it, we want to invite you to come down here and spend some time with us. Maybe you'll come alone, or maybe you'll put a team together. Who knows. But come. See the ministry that you've endeavored to support through Kel and I. See the people whose lives you're helping to change. See the dilemma that we're facing about the inequitable distribution of wealth in our world. Come and be changed. May the Lord of all good things keep us from the sin of comparison and grow in us a spirit of generosity.

With Gratitude,
M&K

"If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him." - Matt 7:11

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" - Matt 6:25-27

"All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." - Acts 2:44-47

Here's What I'm Thinking About...

2008-02-12T07:55:00.000-08:00

Random strings of thoughts are floating in my head...while all together they are most likely unworthy of a blog entry, individually they are most assuredly so. However, I'm rolling the dice because 1) it's Tuesday 2) I'm in a holding pattern here at work for the next 30 minutes or so.

1) We went to a store yesterday to have some photocopies made. The first observation I had was that the guy running the machine was strikingly similar in personality and size as a buddy of mine named Clapton back home who used to work with copy machines. Unfortunately, the Dominican Clapton took his break right when it was our turn and we ended up being helped by another clerk. This is when my second observation kicked in. We've noticed down here that it sometimes feels like we are no longer in 2008 but rather, we've stepped back in time to somewhere around 1991 where life is a bit simpler, technology is a bit slower and people are looking eagerly towards systems improvement. This was especially true at the copy machine yesterday when he copied all of our 40 or so sheets by placing them one by one on the glass, rather than using the automatic feeder tray. Somewhere around page 17, as the line began to wrap around the endcap of the aisle and become restless, we realized that he was going to make them double sided, not by setting the machine to that setting, but by taking out the first copies, flipping them over, and adding them back into the paper drawer and starting over with the opposite sides. It was flat out awesome and an hour later we left with our copies.

2) We saw a floor aerobics/step class in a gym downtown. For some reason it struck me as strange to see that down here...

3) I only get bug bites on my feet and ankles. Seriously, only maybe 1 in 10 bites isn't on my ankles or feet. I can't explain it. In fact, my ankles and feet are the only place that I regularly put bug spray on and still, that's where I get bit. Last night, the inexblicability of this came to a head when I got 2 bites on my left foot while sleeping IN MY BUG NET WITH BUG SPRAY (read: Jungle Juice 100% deet) ON! There must be a joke or a parable in here somewhere.

4) The Gringos came out on top - problematically, we would have rather not. Here's the thing, (nearly) everywhere we go, we get an American price - consistently 15-60% higher. So, we try to be careful about going to places that seem to be more fair to us and we try our hand at negotiating from time to time. However, we found out yesterday that we've been taking advantage of the "conchos" without even knowing it. We thought it cost 10 pesos each person per ride so that's what we've been paying. More than once I've remarked to Kel that I was receiving funny looks from the drivers when I pay, but they never said anything. Yesterday, we got into a discussion about it with our staff who told us that it is 20 pesos per person per ride. How is it that the Americanos who always get the higher price, accidentally got a half price deal for the last 2 months?

5) Finally, and you can pray about this one from time to time. I am currently having mental arguments with myself about safety. Twice in the last 2 weeks I haven't been able to accompany the movie ministry that I am involved with, out to the movie sites, because it is too dangerous for me as a white American to go. The trouble of course is that I feel brave enough to go and end up feeling silly that I'm not allowed to. However, I know that it isn't a judgment against my valor, it's a fact about the color of my skin and the composition of the neighborhoods. On top of it, my presence would likely be dangerous not just for me, but for the Dominicans that I am accompanying. It's not frustrating so much as it is dissapointing you know? I want to go. That's my team out there. I'm not afraid. Yet, the fact remains, it isn't appropriate or safe for me to go, so later, I'll be at home while they're out doing ministry. It feels like a bummer...

Ok, more later because we have much to tell...

Separated from you by a couple of miles,
M&K

Journal Exerpt

2008-02-10T15:04:00.001-08:00

...The beauty of these hillsides adorned in silver moonlight staggers the mind. As I look at it my heart begins to tremble at the sheer glory of the sight. I find myself aware that beauty such as this must have spilled directly from the hand of God and therefore is worthy of my tears. And as I weep, I wonder if the rocks have indeed begun to cry out for the presence of the Lord.

Meanwhile, we sit and admire the marvelous sunsets - we sit on our porches in the evenings to feel the soothing breeze - we hike and explore, taking photos, making movies, desiring new words to describe old majesty. All the while, that which we are admiring, is lifting all praise to the one commanding our worship. Have we missed the creator for the created?...

-M

**Afterthought. I posted this and then Kel read it and remarked (correctly it turns out) that she thought this sounded similar to a portion of Don Miller's intro to "Through Painted Deserts". Turns out my journal entry must have been influenced by one of my favorite selections of writing. Who knew?! For the record, it isn't plagiarized or paraphrased, just similar in thought and rhythm.**

Quick Thought

2008-02-09T19:13:00.000-08:00

For those of you enjoying (read: hating) this strangely snowy and cold winter in Seattle, check this. Tonight Kel and I were having dinner at the home of one of our staff members and she told us that occasionally the temperature here drops into the 60's, and when it does, most kids don't go to school because it's too cold!

It's a whole different world...

M&K

Please Pray

2008-02-06T14:07:00.001-08:00

Hi All,

Kelly and I received an email today from a woman that we were at Missionary Training with in Colorado prior to coming here. She has a friend who is at the exact same training right now that sent out an urgent prayer request that we are hoping you will also pray for. The email follows below:

I'm writing this email to ask for an urgent prayer request. Today, six of us who are attending MTI were on the way to a church where Philip Yancey was speaking and got in a fatal car accident. Two died on the scene and the other four are in very critical condition. Two who died are single women (Karin and Jessica) and the four are a couple with a 18 month old boy (Scott and Andrea and baby Isaac) and a single young woman (Emily). They all went through extensive surgeries and still remaining in critical condition and the baby has no brain activity at the moment but kept on the life support.

Unfortunately the news didn't get better and below follows the update email that we received:

Thank you for all your prayers. It's been hard all through last night and all day today. We prayed throughout the night, but we heard this morning that the 18 month old baby, Isaac, passed away early this morning.

Scott, Isaac's father has severe contusion in his lungs and while he is stable, the lungs are being filled with fluid and blood. The major concern for him is blood clots. Please pray that there won't be any blood clots leading to pulmonary embolism which can be fatal.

Andrea, Scott's wife, has many internal wounds including broken back (C7 vertebrae). Pray for her injuries to heal without complications. She is heavily sedated to keep her stable while the doctors do more testing and scanning and she does not know Isaac passed away.

Emily also has broken back (C2 & C3 vertebrae). Thankfully, the surgery went well last night and she was able to breathe on her own for 10 minutes today, but the major arteries around the broken vertebrae are damaged although not completely torn. Please pray that the arteries would heal on it own without clotting and other complications.

Please continue to pray for the family of those who are hurt and who had died due to the acciden and us traninee and MTI faculty and staff who are mourning our loss. Thank you so much for your prayers.

Please pray for the victims, families and for the other missionaries still training in Colorado. While we were at training, our group grew quite close to each other and I imagine that the relationships are similar with this group. I can only guess that compounding the grief felt by the trainees is the question of how could this happen to people who are simply trying to do God's will and answer his call. While that is obviously a dangerous and difficult questions, I'm sure it's being asked. Please pray for peace and healing.

In Solidarity,
M&K

Today, God Was The Color Green

2008-02-05T19:36:00.000-08:00

Actually, today God was the color Neon Green...and He was in the form of a rope in the back of our sweet new, boss (thanks JJ for bringing it back) ride. For those of you that haven't heard, we bought a 1999 Diahatsu Minivan Hi-Jet. Basically, it is a sweet machine that we love. It also happens to be the same car that all of the ice-cream men down here drive, but, I digress. So today, Kelly and I ran to the hardware store to pick up the wood that I needed to build our desk - of course though, there was no power at the store so we were unable to have the guy cut the wood to size for us. No matter because I happen to have a skill saw at my house right now so I thought, I'll just buy the whole thing and cut it myself. What that meant however, was that we had two, 12(?) foot long 2x4's that we needed to slip slide into our propane powered micro-machine. Turns out, that was not going to be possible. But, God showed up. When we opened the back door to the car to give it a go, we found a long, strong, Neon Green rope that neither Kelly nor I had ever seen before despite both of us having gotten into the back for various reasons over the last couple of days. I still can't explain it but it got the wood home and I'm happy to say that the desk is built.

I hope that the above illustration doesn't make me sound too cavalier about the presence of God. It's just that down here, we are constantly amazed at the different ways that God shows up in our day. The rope is silly but truly, He has proven His faithfulness to Kel and I every single day and we pray that you would experience the His provision, protection and care as well.

Below follows an email that I sent to the International Office of COTN that I thought you might enjoy reading (though some of you already have because I stole parts of it from emails that I have sent to you...shhhh). Go Huskies (and Obama too on this all important Tuesday).

Even as I write this update, Kelly and I are falling more in love with the Dominican Republic. Each day as we wake up, we know that a new adventure awaits us and while sometimes we stop to wonder what it will be, most days, we just go straight to reading God's word with a bowl of cereal before venturing out. And, almost as if receiving an unearned reward, we find ourselves constantly amused and enamored with the life that swirls around us - it comes at a measured pace that is always oriented towards relationship first, all other priorities second.

At work we are becoming acquainted with the ways that we will be participating in ministry down here. Kelly is busily working with an incredible team to develop a plan for identifying and educating children with special needs in our villages. I have begun teaching English to a class of extremely motivated students while also learning the ropes for the Venture Team process. The Dominican Staff has filled the role of teacher, cultural mentor, tour guide, language instructor and friend. They are incredible and we thank God each day for them.

We feel so incredibly blessed to be a part of this work...obviously (sometimes even daily,) we have our ups and downs and our fair share of frustrations, but the downs and the frustrations are always tempered and outnumbered by the joy and the blessings. We have a cute newly constructed two bedroom, one bathroom apartment with high ceilings and lots of light, on a quiet street that is filled with the best neighbors we have ever had. We have been embraced and loved and cared for by our coworkers and community and even recently acquired a car that while being hilarious looking, manages to get us everywhere we need to go. Daily, we are learning to trust more, we are learning patience and we are falling deeper in love with the God who calls each star by name and moves us "from strength to strength."

Cheers,
M&K

Up, Running, And Ready For You!

2008-02-01T03:37:00.000-08:00

It's here, it's here! Two days ago we got our modem, and late yesterday (after the mandatory but hard to explain 24 hour waiting period after receiving a modem) our internet started working! It took a mere 8 trips to Codetel (our phone/internet company) to get set up - each time some action was taken before finally completing the loop yesterday! We only have to cruise down there one more time to get our long distance plan turned on and then, aside from paying our bill each month, no more Codetel visits!! Praise God!

From Cyberspace,
M&K

Hillarities (at least to us)

2008-01-25T14:53:00.000-08:00

First, let me say thank you for the prayers re: getting a phone line and internet at our house. We are half-way there...today our phone line was installed so here´s hoping that tomorrow we will be able to find out what our number is and get our internet up and running!! Hooray! Keep the prayers coming!

Second, a couple of quick observations:

1. Down here, when you want kids to smile, they don´t say ¨queso¨. Nope, they say güisky (not sure about that spelling) - which when translated means...yep, you guessed it, whiskey. So today, as we took pictures of the preschoolers at the village Altagracia, we said over and over, with a smile and rising voice inflection ¨güiski¨. Fantastic.

2. Everything down here comes in a plastic bag. If you buy ANYTHING and it can possibly fit in a plastic bag, it goes in one, and often, each item gets a bag and then those bags collectively go into a larger bag. It´s wild. And, when we say we don´t need one, we often get a look like ¨are you serious? Why not?¨ Well today, we saw the bagged item to end all bagged items. A puppy, probably 5 weeks old, in a bag...I should say it was quite safe, the upper half was not in the bag and everyone was petting and holding it, but in the bag of course. Awesome.

That´s all for tonight. Hopefully tomorrow we´ll greet you from our house!!

Love,
M&K

Feels like home...

2008-01-22T12:43:00.000-08:00

So last night, while Kelly and I were doing the dishes (in our sweet outdoor extra sink on the patio) we started talking about how this amazing country that we are so privillaged to be in, is starting to feel like home. Not home like it´s permanent, but not temporary either. It´s just home. It´s our beautiful, ordinary life in extrodinary circumstances. Ísn´t our God so good?

While looking at our blog today, I realized that we haven´t updated you in a while. Strange because I thought that I had but it turns out that we don´t have the FMTCWOT (From Mind To Computer Without Typing) technology down here...maybe one day.

Speaking of technology, we are on track to get internet at our house in the next 5 business days...probably that means in the next 2 weeks but we´ll see. I´m hopeful that perhaps it will be this week!! If you don´t already have it, Skype is a free progam on the internet for calling us. It works pretty slick...you just need a microphone (and if you have a camera for your computer, it works with that too). With it, you can call us and we can call you, computer to computer, for free. Our Skype name is kshampton so look for us in the next few weeks.

We´ve had all kinds of adventures lately. Last week I went to the capitol with a collegue from the mission with the intention of purchasing a car. I´m not sure I would have chosen it stateside but I bought it on his recommendation for driving down here and what would be helpful for the mission. Later I´ll post pictures but for now, you can google image for Diahtsu Minivan Hi-Jet and come up with various versions of our new car. It´s how we roll. We are so excited to get it!! We will return to the capitol on the 29th to pick it up (they needed to clean it up and convert it from gasoline to a propane system - down here, most people convert their cars to propane because it is WAY cheaper than gasoline. Not sure about the safety factor but I haven´t seen any explosions yet!)

We´ve also begun to dive into our jobs. Kelly is hard at work collaborating with the school counselors and special ed teachers to strategize how to create a plan for helping kids who are either behind or have a special need (emotional, behaviroal, physical or mental). Pray for wisdom as they plan. I´ve begun learning about the process for preparing to recieve short-term teams, helping with the film ministry, and today, I taught my first English class. We are feeling so energized and excited to be finding places to contribute to the amazing work that our staff is doing down here!

Every day continues to be an adventure. We couldn´t get straight answers on taking conchos (the motorcycle taxis) so we started taking them on our own. Our driver taught us how to ride it comfortably...and that is the last thing that we have understood from him. We keep choosing his concho, and he keeps talking to us, but alas, we can´t understand a lick of what he says. Hopefully, one day we will! We needed more counterspace/eating space in the kitchen so I built a bar which forced us to adventure into the hardware store and the wood store and fumble through getting what we needed. We managed and one of our friends down here commented (in English) ¨I thought it was going to be a sleeping table but it´s not!¨ When I asked what that was, he demonstrated by slouching against the wall, using the wall to support his weight. We´ve adventure many times to the phone company to try to get it installed, sometimes alone, sometimes with spanish speakers, sometimes (like today) with an interpreter. And finally, I think we´re on track! Over and over again, we adventure out of our bed, into the world and everyday we think, what will happen. The cool thing is that the only thing that happens everyday is we realize how present God is with us and how blessed we are because of his presence.

We have so much to tell you and so many pictures to show but I´m out of time. We´ll update more when we have internet at home. Pray early and often for us. We love you all!

Cheers,
M&K

PS: This is unedited so excuse the mistakes!

The last move for at least 6 months!!!

2008-01-09T12:31:00.001-08:00

Hooray! We´ve moved!

Last night Kelly and I were able to move into our new apartment. It was a wild ride right up until 5 minutes ago when the power was turned on in our house (unfortunately, as things go, the power is out in the neighborhood for one of the daily outages, but they assured us that there is power coming to our house when the street turns back on!!) As many of you know, we have been living with a host family since we arrived in Barahona, and have been looking for an apartment of our own. About 2 weeks ago we decided on one but needed to wait for the old tenants to move out which we thought would be on Jan. 13th. Well praise be to God because we got a call last Friday saying that they would be out by Saturday morning. This set in motion all of the steps needed to secure a house, including us getting a lawyer to draw up the contract, negotiating the payment for the house, purchasing everything necessary for the house, moving in, changing the locks and establishing a new contract with the electric company. We are so so so fortunate to have the cute place that we do. It is very clean and in great shape on a quiet street with great neighbors, our own water tank and garage, 2 spacious bedrooms, a nice bathroom, a great kitchen and outdoor wash area, a cute well lit living room and a cozy porch to sit on in the evenings. We are so thankful and excited to be there. When we moved in yesterday we laughed that nearly all of our possessions could fit inside one of the closests so it really didn´t take us any time at all to unpack. Tomorrow we will be going to the phone company to find out how quickly we can get a phone line and internet hook up at the house. When we do, we´ll be able to post pictures of our new place and maybe a little video tour.

We do also want to make you aware of a need that we have regarding our new house. Before we left, we thought that we would be living in the fully furnished house that COTN owns. However, upon arrival here, we quickly realized that it would actually be quite a bit better for us to find a seperate place to live. Additionally, for us to move in, we had to pay 6 months of rent upfront (it apparently is customary to pay 2 or 3 months at a time but, likely because we are Americans, we had to pay 6 months - he wanted a whole year!!) Those two things have created an unexpected financial need though as we did not budget for purchasing furniture, a refridgerator and stove, bed, etc. etc. In total, we need approximately $3500 to cover those expenses. At this point, we have purchsed a limited amount of kitchen supplies (still need dishes and a few other misc small items), a refridgerator, stove, washing machine and a bed. We were able to get all of those things for $2000 and are estimating that to purchase a couch, dining set, propane tank (for the stove), dishes, a couple of end tables and a small desk we will need an additional $1500 (hence the total of $3500). If you´d like to make an additional donation towards this, you can do so by sending a check to COTN (without our names or anything in the memo line) or go online and make a one-time donation. Please also pray for God´s provision in this situation. As well, we´d ask that you pray for safety in our new home, that it would never be broken into, and that it would be not only a place of retreat for Kelly and I but also a place of hospitality for whomever visits us.

It has been a whirlwind but we are in and already we feel a huge weight off of our shoulders because we are no longer living out of suitcases. It has been over 6 months since we have fully unpacked - over the last half year we have lived with the Fosters, at MTI in Colorado, stayed with the Mitchells, the Wests, the Keatleys, the Chicago Hamptons, 7 hotels in Europe, the Oregon Beelers, the California Hamptons, the Vegas Jacksons, a retirement home in Denver, the Cuevas´ in San Pedro, the Bautistas in Santo Domingo, the the Mission House in Barahona, the Bautistas in Barahona, and now, finally, our own home in Barahona. What a ride. We are so thankful for the many people who have opened their hearts and/or homes to us - we treasure all of you.

The Adventure Continues...
M&K

Merry Christmas From A Land Where Palm Trees Sway

2007-12-25T16:41:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

What a different year this was! We really missed being at home! It isn’t that we don’t want to be here, it’s just that no matter how wonderful a place is, it is the people that signify home. We were once again reminded that we are pilgrims on a journey, a people without a home. Jesus said that we are in the world but not of it and we are very aware that we are living that out in microcosm; we are in a country but not of the country. We are loved here and are honored to have received God’s call to be here but we dearly miss you!

The biggest event day here in the Dominican is Christmas Eve, not Christmas. So, yesterday began (for Kelly) at 7am as she left with a couple of the ladies from the house to go to the public market to buy meat and vegetables for the feast. Then, everyone in the house cooked and cleaned and decorated the entire day. Finally, at 9pm, we sat down to dinner (the 14 of us that live here plus the 8 or so guests). It was beautiful and delicious and over in about 30 minutes! ☺ After dinner, some folks lingered in the living room, some visited friends’ houses, some sat on chairs in the street and talked the night away. We felt so thankful that God replaced our grieving and homesickness with joy and friends yesterday.

Today was a regular day all in all. Everyone did their own thing which was nice for us because we needed some time to decompress from all of the activity from the day before. Kelly and I passed the day by reading the birth narrative to each other, calling family (we love you!) and working going on a long walk. Later tonight (soon in fact) we are going to watch Elf (thank you Fosters!!)

Friday was a VERY encouraging day! Some friends of ours from Seattle, the Boyetts, are in the DR for vacation and came to Barahona to see the mission and we got to spend the day with them. We took off early in the morning for an absolutely stunning beach called Baya de las Aguilas. It is about 4 hours drive plus a 20 minute boat ride from here and, about halfway into the trip, we were definitely wondering if it was going to be worth it because the road was fast, curvy and hilly and most of us were feeling pretty motion sick. But, when we got there, the queasiness went away when we caught a glimpse of the beautiful Caribbean water. When the boat dropped us off, we were 6 of about 14 people on the entire beach and we spent the day snorkeling in the clear blue water seeing various colorful fish, interesting crabs and sea slugs, and tons of beautiful conch shells. Amazing. Once we were sunned and swimmed out, we headed back to their hotel in Barahona and had a wonderful dinner by the pool, AND A HOT SHOWER! It was the first hot running water we have encountered here in the DR. Though, I do have to confess that I took a cold shower anyway because I’ve learned that the cold shower buys me about 30 minutes of not sweating when I get out and that is more valuable than a warm shower. So, I felt the warm water right in the beginning, then, turned it off and showered like normal. It was a wonderful day because not only did we go swimming in the sea for the first time here, we were so deeply encouraged to see friends from home to share our lives with, to laugh with, to decompress with. It was a “soul care” day for us that was deeply needed especially as today we are grieving not being home with family and friends for this blessed day.

I do have to switch gears for a second though to tell you about one of the funnier things that has happened so far. First, you should know that we’ve noticed that many products in the stores are labeled with English, not Spanish labels. Well, on Saturday we helped out with a dinner for all of the teachers, security guards, cleaners, cooks and chauffeurs for the mission. It was a great day of celebrating all that they do. The only bummer was that the mosquitoes were the worst that I’ve seen them so far. They were absolutely terrible. In fact, they were so bad that they were even biting the Dominicans (which does not happen very often!) Thankfully, someone was prepared with bug spray and went around and sprayed everyone’s arms and necks with it to provide some relief. When she was done, I asked if I could use it and as the bottle was handed to me, I glanced at the label and realized that it was not in fact bug repellent but rather, sun block. At that moment I turned around to face the banquet and had a hard time focusing because there was so much movement; people slapping their necks, standing up wiggling their arms and legs, waving towels around their exposed skin, anything that would keep the mosquitoes from landing on them. It was one big rhythmic dance to avoid what had become a full-scale plague of mosquitoes. So I turned to the supplier of sun block and said in Spanish, to her shock and horror, “this isn’t bug repellent, it is sun repellent” which was difficult for her to have known, because the label was in English and if you looked at it with Spanish eyes, you could mistake one for the other. Well, the small circle of us that knew what had happened, busted up into nearly uncontrollable laughter and then hurried the rest of the program along so that people could get home and out of the swarm that had descended upon us. I really wish you could have seen it because I just cannot possibly describe to you how funny it was in that moment.

We love you all so much. If you think of it, send us pictures of your holidays and general life happenings. We would LOVE to see you!!

Love,
M&K

Fiestas De Navidad

2007-12-17T12:07:00.000-08:00

Hello,

Just a quick update to let you know that we are doing great and living Barahona. With Christmas around the corner and the end of the year right on the heels of Navidad, a lot of projects are winding down around here. This has been great because it has given us a chance to ease into things, check out different villages and projects, meet many people and begin to get a feel for where we are. Our Spanish is slowly improving and we are acclimating to the weather (but not the cold cold cold showers!) Currently we are living with a wonderful host family and looking for an apartment and a car. Most likely we will secure those in January but there isn't an official timeline just yet. In case you haven't seen, we did post a slideshow of pictures (in the margin to the right). They begin with us saying goodbye to family and friends, move into pics of our time in San Pedro and then Santo Domingo and then Barahona. We hope to take more soon but haven't had much opportunity. Hopefully we'll get up some pics or a short video of where we're living and what the office, etc, looks like.

Pray for us to continue to settle in. Without a home, language and all of you, we are feeling like we are experiencing a small loss of identity. Perhaps not a loss, more just a misplacement. :) Fortunately everyone is incredibly welcoming and patient with us...we're just longing to speak more gooder Spanish. Anyway, pray for us to continue to settle in.

We love you all very much and cherish emails and comments on the blog. Send them whenever you can!

Love,
M&K

Address

2007-12-14T10:52:00.000-08:00

**Update! I know how much surprises can be fun sometimes, but, it is probably best if you let us know that you have sent something so that we can be on the lookout for it. MFI will always pursue us to make sure we know that something has arrived, but just to be sure, if you let us know, we can be watching for it.**

Many of you have asked if there is an adress that you can use to mail things to us. Well, the answer is kind of. So far we don´t really know what our home adress is because we don´t yet have a permanent home. However, we do have a way of getting mail through service called Missionary Flights International. Essentially, they deliver mail to missionaries in the Carribean. Whenever they have 700+ lbs for a location, they make a trip. It sounds like for our area there are usually flights every 4-6 weeks. We will (for now) recieve mail through the adress of one of our collegues here at the mission. So, here are the details...

In the ¨To¨ area writë:

Malou Faublas/MFI
Unit 4014/CTNBH
3170 Airmans DR
Ft. Pierce, FL 34946

In the ¨From¨ area write:
SCOTT AND KELLY HAMPTON
YOUR address
(Your own address goes here. However, make sure that our names are above your adress because that is how they know who to deliver to.)

*A couple of things. Basically you are mailing it to Florida and Florida knows to get it to us based upon our names above your address, and Malou´s Unit number/id number. It´s an interesting system but it apparently works great. Remember that you will pay to ship it to Florida but we will pay on delivery $1.50/lbs. They do request a packing slip identifing the contents of the box to be on the outside. If it isn´t there, they will open the box to check the contents. It apparently has something to do with customs. I would just tape a sealed envelope on the outside of the box stating ¨packing slip¨ that they can then open when it arrives in Florida. It also does sound like there is a good chance that they will make another delivery in December (possibly) because of Christmas but there are no garuntees.

We love you all. A brief update is that we are currently in Barahona, living with a wonderful host family in a beautiful house about 10 minutes walk from the office. So far we have seen 2 out of the 5 villages, attended a Christmas party at 1 school, taken photos for sponsorship, organized donations and met many many people. It is a wonderful place for us to be. God is blessing us richly and in our next updates, we´ll let you know more about all of that. Things that you can pray specifically for is our language because life happens so fast and we feel a loss of identity in that we can´t relate to people or be ourselves completely without language. Also pray for our learning curve at the mission and in this city.

Nos Vemos,
M&K

La Semana Pasada

2007-12-06T17:41:00.000-08:00

Buckle in because this is a long one! It seems like it’s been a long time since we’ve given you an update. First, language school has been going great but man, the more we know the further behind we feel. It’s amazing how what started as a simple concept like conjugating a verb to express a tense becomes extremely complicated because it turns out that there are 14 different tenses! Crazy. Language is truly like an onion. I’m confident that we have learned a lot but the learning has helped expose our many gaps. And, it’s tempting to allow those deficiencies to claim dominance over what we do know when in reality, what we know must have control otherwise, we’ll never fill in the gaps. Maybe there’s a parable hidden in there…

We had a chance to run out to Barahona quickly last weekend (for about 20 hours). It was fantastic! The area is beautiful. It’s so near to the water but backed by the sleeping dragon of a mountain range. And man is it green! Sounds like the sun is quite a bit more intense but that the humidity tends to be a bit less because it rains far less often. While we were there, we went to a basketball game with our Dominican family (the brothers and sisters that we live with) and I was once again reminded of how passionate the people here are about their sports. To get into the arena, heavily armed security guards who were part of the detachment that was patrolling the stands patted us down. In addition to the guards, the entire court was fenced in by cyclone fencing to prevent people from the stands coming down onto the court (which turned out to be only partially effective.) The game was intense (and really great basketball) but the refs blatantly cheated. It’s a long story but in the end, they canceled the game with 10 seconds remaining, which caused the tension in the stadium to boil over. A small bit of fighting erupted but it was quickly quelled and we managed to avoid all of it. Pretty exciting though!

The rest of our time in Barahona involved going to a wonderful church and enjoying a great meal with our family. Then, our time was up because we had to get back for class the next day so we loaded up onto the bus and headed back to Santo Domingo. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see much of the city but the tease of it all really whetted our excitement to get there for good.

We’ve started to take some pictures (though admittedly they are not very good) and hopefully in the next week we will post a slideshow of some of the things that we’ve captured with the camera.

You know, everything we do is an adventure. We can’t seem to do anything without taking a deep breath and plunging in. The great thing is that we have a tangible example of that every morning when we take a shower. There’s really only one method for getting in – 1. Take a deep breath (if you don’t you’re in trouble because it’s tough to breathe once the water hits your back!) 2. Duck in and under the water. Essentially, we do the same thing every time we attempt anything – catching a car, going to the supermarket, asking what time it is, ordering food, walking down the street, changing money, asking directions, etc – 1. Take a deep breath. 2. Head into situation. We’re really good when what we calculate actually happens. The trouble starts when we expect a fastball and get a curve instead. Turns out though, nothing ever goes the way we calculate. So, we smile a lot, and often finish a situation knowing that we didn’t access everything we could have and leave hoping that we didn’t offend anyone in the process. It’s a bit overwhelming sometimes but we have learned to reinterpret the Psalmist to say, “The stress may go on all day, but joy comes with the morning.”

We had a hilarious experience today in the public car that we take home from school. Basically, it’s a taxi that functions as a bus because it only runs along a specific route but will let you out anywhere along the route. Here in Santo Domingo, the cars seem to be the most popular form of public transportation. They really are great because there are seemingly thousands of them and you can pick them up anywhere and be dropped off anywhere so long as you are on the route. Anyway, they’re all small 5 seater cars but they aren’t full until there’s 3 across the front and 4 across the back. When we got in today we made numbers 3 and 4 in the back. So, the deal is that everyone always scoots over to accommodate the extra passengers and one of the 2 middle people sits forward on the edge of the seat to allow enough room for everyone to get in. Are you with me on what this looks like? Four people on the seat but 3 are sitting back with their hips at the back of the seat and one of the middlers with their hips on the front edge. Well today, the two women who were already in the car did nothing to accommodate Kel and I and they ended up lounging – seriously lounging, legs apart, arm across the back of the seat, space between the woman and her door. Lounging. So Kel ended up being the one sitting forward on the front edge but there wasn’t actually an edge for her forcing her to do a wall sit for most of the ride while my body folded into a space about half the size of what should be physically possible. And, as we’re driving, Kel starts laughing about how ridiculous the whole thing is (and because of how compact I was able to make myself) and then couldn’t stop laughing. It was one of those moments where the more you try to stop, the harder you laugh. Like the Seinfeld episode when Jerry puts the Pez dispenser on Elaine’s leg. Anyway, the extremely comfortable lounging women actually asked each other if Kelly was crazy rather than scooting over. Upon getting out of the car, I nearly fell down because my leg was so sound asleep. I’m not sure if you’ve ever seen the Mr. Bean episode where he goes to the dentist and ends up with Novocain in his leg, but that is exactly what I felt like. Anyway, I wish you all could have been there because it was so funny. And, we learned something new because as soon as we got home, we asked our family how to say, “Could you please scoot over to make room for me?”

We went shopping the other day to try to buy some clothes for work and were very unsuccessful, but had some good laughs along the way because it was like being in U-Village or Alderwood or something. Many of the stores were Dominican stores but they all had American clothes – Abercrombie, Aeropostale, American Eagle, Hollisters, Levi’s – mixed in with the rest of the clothes. It was hilarious. The funniest part of it though was that the cheapest shirt we found for Kelly was authentic Patagonia (true Patagucci). We didn’t buy it but it sure cracked us up.

The sights, sounds and smells here are so different. Santo Domingo has the typical big city smell combined with lots of exhaust and the occasional stench of roadside garbage that has succumbed to the heat and humidity. I noticed too that Barahona had a different smell. It was a smoky, slightly sweet and slightly sickly – not at all offensive, just different than the smell that I’m accustomed to. And it is loud all the time. Construction doesn’t stop for day or night. Whenever people can work, they work. Plus, the cars are loud with their horns and brakes. And there are so many people. All of the collective noise of conversation and life from 3 million people certainly adds up!

Ok, it’s time for me to get to my homework. Kelly and I did want to let you know though that we have been praying for all of you, often by name, each night. We love and miss you dearly and are so thankful to have you in our lives and on our team. To paraphrase Paul, “we always remember all of you in all of our prayers…”

Love,
M&K

Take A Minute

2007-12-03T20:02:00.001-08:00

**I think I fixed the link for the article.**

Hello!

Kelly and I want to ask you to take a minute right now to read an update on Barahona and the villages that we support through COTN, following the Tropical Storm nearly a month ago. The needs are massive and we want you to know what they are so that you know how to pray and how you can help. The article is here.

In Christ,
M&K

Chivalry at Supermarkets

2007-11-27T17:14:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we went to the Supermarket with our housemates to buy food for our house for the week. It was hilarious to have all of us there trying to make decisions on what to buy. It was also hilarious to have our bill come out to RD $2800! But, the funniest part came at the end of the trip. We had walked from our house to the Super Pola, which was maybe 10-15 blocks away but when we finished shopping, we had a lot of bags! So, the man who bagged our groceries and helped us out of the store with them, loaded us and the groceries into his car and drove us home. Apparently, that is really common. Just imagine how nice that would be back home!

Anyway, we thought you might want to know what our days look like so far, so here is our typical daily schedule:

6:45am – wake up and take a cold cold cold shower.
7:30am – leave the house to walk to school (about a 45 minute brisk walk – we could take a care but the mornings are so nice…and so is the exercise.)
9:00am – school starts
12:30pm – school ends and we either grab a quick lunch at a PicaPollo restaurant before exploring the city or we head home for lunch with our housemates.
4:00pm – short nap before hanging out with our housemates and doing some studying.
8:00pm – dinner…once dinner’s over we hang out, study, maybe go down the block to play pool.
11:00pm – head to bed.

On Thursday and Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings we head to church with our housemates. We’ve also come to expect rain every afternoon for at least a couple of minutes (though right now it is just a downpour!) I guess it’s the rainy season but I’ve heard this cooler weather and rain doesn’t stick around more than a few months and apparently the climate in Barahona can be quite different than here in Santo Domingo.

Well that’s all for now - keep the comments and emails coming because we LOVE hearing from home!

Love,
M&K

Journal Excerpt

2007-11-25T18:00:00.000-08:00

...There’s something about this place. I mean, the sunsets for one are always spectacular – so orange and red, as if cans of paint had literally been spilled across the sky. But it’s not just the color, the clouds too, at night, seem so incredibly three-dimensional – enormous and like they were actually made out of cotton that had been pulled and shaped by preschoolers in Sunday School. It’s stirring you know, to think that the God who controls that intense beauty longs to have conversation with us. I was thinking the other day, what it would be like to hang out with God, just chatting about life, maybe the Huskies, maybe something more profound, and as we’re talking, He’s busily creating another glorious sunset. I mean, imagine what that would be like. Then it hit me, that’s what God longs for. He longs for us to be in conversation with Him about our normal life while He goes about His business of dazzling us. And it’s not that He isn’t paying attention to our conversation, it’s more that He keeps working while we talk so as to invite us into what He’s doing. I was imagining God asking me to hand Him this or that, not because He can’t already reach it, but because He is the master at inclusion...

Basketball, Spanish and Power Outages

2007-11-21T14:44:00.000-08:00

Hello,

Well, the day is coming when this entire post will be in Spanish but we´re not there yet! We are coming to the end of our second week of classes and our brains feel like they are on overload. Verb conjugations, vocabulary, slang, proper phrases, speed or not, and on and on and on. It is a beautiful language if you ask me though. I love it and I am so excited that we are learning though I wouldn´t mind having God touch my tounge and just allow me to begin speaking fluently! One of the coolest language experiences we´ve had so far actually is attending worship and participating in prayer in Spanish. It sounds so worshipful, so alive, so authentic. We´ve now been to the same church on 3 different days of the week and each service ended up being starkly different from one another. The first felt like a louder UPC, the second felt like more of a youth group or YoungLife format, and the third lasted 4 hours and was a bit more active than what we´ve grown accustomed to. Each one was beautiful and each one welcomed us with hugs, shared Bibles, and warm handshakes.

Today I got my first taste of Dominican basketball. It felt like I was playing with all of the dudes down at Greenlake. They played great ball. I think I was a dissapointment to the guys and the crowd though because the assumption was that as an American, I´d just tear it up. In truth, I think they loved that I played with them but I was definitely the subject of plenty of trash talk, jokes and conversation. Thankfully, I couldn´t understand much of it. Unfortunately, I also couldn´t understand much of what happened each time play stopped which was quite often. But, it was a blast and I felt glad to see more than just baseball!

A couple of new things we´ve learned:
1. Shade makes a huge difference and it´s worth walking farther if it means staying in the shade longer.
2. The power truly does go out at least once per day and it tends to be sometime between noon and 6pm.
3. Accents and pronounciation can make a major difference in the meaning of a word!

One other thing that we wanted to let you all know. Many of you knew that my sister Shannon and her husband Brandon were going to be moving down here in the Spring. But, we serve a God who often surprises us, and about a month ago, he laid it on their hearts that His plan was to have them work for COTN from the States. Essentially, Shannon will continue teaching at Inglewood and Brandon will work full-time for COTN, recruiting and training their summer interns. While we are sad that they won´t be here, we are excited with them that they are discovering God´s call upon their lives. We´d love for you to join with us in prayer for this new direction and change of plans. The full story can be found on their blog which is linked in the right-hand column.

I am sure that there is much to say but for now, be cheered that we are doing well and blessed beyond our needs.

Love,
S&K

¡Buenas!

2007-11-14T12:47:00.000-08:00

Greetings from Santo Domingo!

Well, it feels like forever since we´ve updated you but I guess really it´s only been about a week! We have some great pictures but likely won´t be able to post them until we arrive in Barahona and are able to get our own computer online.

As expected it is hot hot hot here during the day but mornings and evenings are very nice. One thing we loved about San Pedro was how everyone sat outside in the evenings chatting, playing dominos and relaxing- that community feel is way cool (and so is the night air which probably partially explains the lawn chair gatherings!) Here in Santo Domingo, at least where we are currently, there seems to be a bit less of that community focus, but it is a way bigger city here and you really do feel that difference.

So far we´ve done a bit of exploring, gone to a baseball game, the beach at Boca Chica, some underground caves that were way cool, visited the Zona Colonial (we´d like to go back there), attended spanish classes (though a lot of our learning is happening outside of those classes), eaten at various pica pollo resturants, played pool at a small pool hall, had the most wonderful time with all of our hosts, and changed my name to Martin because Scott is way too hard to say. Here in Santo Domingo (our home for the next 3 weeks) we are staying with 4 college students named Emanuel, Edwin, Thelma and Yoly. They are fabulous and speak just enough english to force us into spanish but help us in english when we get stuck. They are teaching us as much and as fast as they can. Tonight we´re off to Edwin´s basketball game (he plays for his college).

Interesting facts:
1. The city university here in Santo Domingo apprarently has over 240,000 students (not a typo!)

2. You can fit 17 people inside (not counting the 3 that can hang on outside) of an old 7 passenger Toyota van! You can also fit 7 grown adults inside the old mini Toyota Trecels!

3. Taking life at a slower pace doesn´t actually kill you but driving at a slow pace might!

4. To be a teacher is to have chosen a highly respected and well cared for position in Dominican Society.

So life is good. We have all that we need so far and we feel so honored to be able to be here at this moment with these people and pray that we stay sensitive to God´s beautiful grace and voice in our movements each day. We love you!

¡Adios!
M&K

We're Here!

2007-11-07T17:37:00.000-08:00

Hello All,

Well, we're borrowing Internet (we're staying with a couple named Beckie and Rayner) so I can't type too much but know that we did make it safe. Our flight was a bit delayed but we got to SD around 5pm and Beckie and Rayner were there to pick us up and take us to their very cute apartment. So far, we've been out to the local food/restaurant thing where we picked up fried chicken and fried plantains for lunch. After dinner, Rayner and I took the guagua (bus) to his sister's boyfriend's apt to grab an air mattress. Then we walked over to his sister's apt to say hello before catching the guagua back home. I'm pretty sure I started sweating when I picked our first bag off of baggage claim and have yet to stop completely. It's definitely going to take me awhile to adjust to the heat. We also learned how to cross the street (just slowly make your way across, one lane at a time until you've finally crossed the entire street) and how to get on a concho (motorbike taxi) though I think I need a refresher because I can't remember if it's from the right or the left side (some student I am huh?!) The initial anxiety has passed as we've arrived safely but there is still quite a bit of anxiousness lurking behind because the Spanish is so fast and not at all what we learned in school which suddenly feels VERY formal. But God is good and with your prayers we will settle in (some day!) I am longing to have a place to call home though feel extremely privileged to have even made it this far! What an honor that God would bestow upon two silly folks like Kelly and I to be able to come to this BEAUTIFUL country to serve His people whom He loves so much more than I can fathom and to learn what it is to experience solidarity in the Kingdom cross-culturally. We could not feel more blessed. Uphold us in prayer though because the emotion of it all is dying to manifest in all kinds of unhealthy ways - pray that we would be on our guard against arguments, giving into sadness, allowing fear to compromise our decision making, allowing sheepishness to impede our learning or social risk taking, and above all that we would cling ever so tightly to Him. The paradoxical life has never been so real as it is today.

Love,
S&K

We're Off!

2007-11-06T19:17:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone!

First. I want to apologize to you if you've sent us an email or left us a message in the last couple of days. Rest assured, we've gotten them and will reply (via email) as soon as we can. It's been a bit hectic (to say the least) as we've prepared to leave. But the time is here and it's beautifully hard to go and I'm positive that we've probably missed a couple of details but the hope is that none of the forgotten ones are too big! Tonight we had a fantastic "last night in America" with my mom and my sister Katie. We all wore red, white and blue, at great last meals like Chipotle and Red Robin (where we took a brief tour of the Statue of Liberty before being treated to all kinds of extras by the Red Robin staff who somehow all believed that we were moving to England despite the fact that we told each person who made the mistake where we were actually going!)

So the evolving plan will likely change a bit as we leap headfirst into this amazing adventure. But, for now here's what we know:

1. We leave tomorrow for the DR at 6:10am. After a brief layover in Miami we'll arrive in Santo Domingo at 4:30pm.

2. For the first few days we'll stay in San Pedro with a fabulous couple before heading back to Santo Domingo to attend language school.

3. Once finishing language school we'll head over to Barahona to join the amazing staff already at work!

We are so pumped! God is amazing and there are many ways that He has proven Himself along the way and over the next few weeks we look forward to sharing those with you. For now though pray for us and know that we are praying for and thinking of you. We love you more than you know.

Cheers,
Scott

Stories of Goodbyes

2007-11-03T21:24:00.000-07:00

It has been a tradition in my (Kelly’s) family to have a big family dinner once a month. The night usually includes delicious food, funny yet interesting conversations, a celebration of anyone’s birthday or any holiday that month, and an occasional game. For our last family dinner before we left Seattle, my family went all out. We managed to celebrate 3 holidays, 1 birthday, and us leaving. My parents prepared a delicious Thanksgiving meal, put Christmas décor on the table, and played holiday music in the background. At some point during dinner we counted down New Year’s and toasted to a great next year. After dinner we sang happy birthday to my dad and watched him open his gifts. It was an event filled last dinner with all the family that included lots of laughter, some reminiscing, a time for family photos, a game of “bag of nouns” and of course some tears when saying good-bye (or rater LOT of tears for me). To my family, we want to say again we LOVE YOU! We will miss you tons and are so thankful that we have your full support behind us. We couldn't do this without you!

Tropical Storm Update

2007-10-31T16:01:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

We'd like to ask you to take a minute right now to pray for the Dominican Republic. I'm sure that most of you have heard about Tropical Storm Noel that has passed through the DR these last few days. The rain began Saturday night and did not slow down in intensity until the last 24 hours. The amount of water that was dumped down is unbelievable. Currently there are tens of thousands of people that have been displaced and numerous people have died in flash floods and mudslides. For the most current updates check out www.cotni.org and www.dr1.com. Pray for relief. Pray for mobilization of resources and workers. Pray for the government to respond. Pray for outside organizations to offer aid. Pray for the people under care through COTN. Pray that God intervenes. Pray.

We will continue to try to keep you updated.

In Christ,
S&K

We've Left Seattle

2007-10-29T08:22:00.001-07:00

Hi All,

Just a quick update to let you know that we have safely made it to Chicago (along with all of our bags!) We arrived last night and had some delicious Chicago style pizza! This morning we had our teeth cleaned and are planning on a nap before mom and dad get home from work (what a cool thing that we're about to have time for a nap!) We'll post more later but know that we are here and miss you already!

Cheers,
S&K

Sought After Information

2007-10-25T22:40:00.001-07:00

1. Have you finished you fundraising? No. We still need $207/month as our total budget was adjusted this week. We need to raise that money before we leave the country.*Note this was updated on 11/3 to reflect donations that came in following this blogpost.

2. When do you leave? We leave Seattle for Chicago on 10/28. We then leave Chicago for the Dominican on 11/7.

3. Do you know what you will be doing? Yes. Scott's job description entails him supporting the staff that handles the Venture Teams (short-term trips), working with a group to establish a spiritual development ministry in the Bateys and working as a tutor in the schools. Kelly will support the staff that is working on a grant directed at establishing programs to help children with special needs, working with a group to establish a spiritual development ministry in the Bateys and participating in a group working to improve the schools. In all that we do we will learn from and seek to support the Dominican staff as needs arise.

4. What will you wear in the DR? It definitely varies based upon the event. For sports ministry Scott will wear shorts and a tee-shirt, flat-front khakis and a button down for work in the villages, slacks and a tie for official meetings and a suit for special occasions. Kelly will wear knee length skirts or nice slacks depending on the situation and a blouse that has straps or sleeves that cover her shoulders at a minimum.

5. Will we have a phone? Yes. We will have a cell phone however it remains to be seen how many minutes we will have each month so our primary "voice" communication will be through a Voice Over Internet service called Skype. Basically, we'll call computer to computer via the Internet.

6. Will we have an Internet connection? Yes. Our house and office is equipped with high speed Internet.

7. What are we packing? We each have two 50 lbs suitcases and a carry on. So we don't have much but we've got our essentials.

8. Can friends and family come visit us? Absolutely! It is a great idea for each of you to think about taking a trip down to see us. Each time someone comes there will be a few things to consider so don't just drop around for dinner unexpectedly but do come visit!

9. Can you drink the water? No. We will always drink bottled water.

10. Will you have a car? Yes, but not right away. Once we get down there and get the lay of the land, our Dominican staff members will help us find and purchase a car.

11. What are you going to do with your Jeep? We are selling it (if you're interested, shoot us an email.)

12. What language do they speak in the DR? Spanish. Scott has taken some Spanish in school but the short story is we have a lot to learn! We will be attending a language school in country but the details have not yet been worked out.

12. Where will you live? We will live in the city of Barahona on a property that Children of the Nations owns. It is a great place that also houses Venture Teams when they come down to work. Most of our ministry will be in the Bateys surrounding Barahona though.

13. What is the time difference in the DR? Half of the year they are on EST and half the year they are 1 hour ahead of EST (because they don't have daylight savings.)