July 2009 Prayer Calendar

We wanted to let you know that we've began our monthly prayer calendar again. Your prayers are what sustain us here. The July 2009 Prayer Calendar is available for download either by clicking the link in the right column under "Current Prayer Requests" or by clicking on this link: JULY 2009 PRAYER CALENDAR

Faithful prayer support is the single most important gift you could give us. It is what sustains us and enables us to be here.

Would you be willing to pray for us for just 30 seconds a day?


"...The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." - James 5:16b



~Ryan

You've Got Mail!!

Okay we'll we don't have mail yet, but we hope that will soon be changing :) We are excited to say that we now have an address where mail will can reach us at (We put the address is in the column to the left). We have been told by our courier service that all correspondence needs to have the address written EXACTLY as it's written in the column to the left. (Otherwise our mail could end up in Antarctica).

Also, if you do plan to send us a package, please contact us first so we can tell you about some important customs information and postage information (this is just for packages, we think small cards and letters should make it through okay).

Thanks for holding the rope for us.

Dominican Birthday Party for Soli

A few weeks ago Emily and I were invited to Soli's 3rd birthday party. Soli is the daughter of one of our neighbors and friends. During the party the men sat outside and played dominoes while the women and children danced and played together. There are lots of similarities between Dominican parties and American parties but there are lots of differences as well. For example, like American birthday parties there is cake and refreshments, but unlike American birthday parties instead of guests bringing presents for the birthday girl, she gave each of them a goodie bag of treats to take home with them.

This is a short video of the children dancing and the piñata

Week 19

Last Friday (Week 19) we had our routine check up. The Doctor says things are looking great. We were especially blessed to have Emily's parents present for the ultrasound to get their first live look at their first grandchild. (They also got to hear the heartbeat). During this week the baby is about 8.5 oz and around 6 inches from head to bottom (not including legs).



Emily and I have decided not to find out the sex of the baby (though as the months go on it may be harder and harder not to accidentally find out with the 3d technology).

We have put a survey on the right-hand column of the website where you can vote as to whether you think it will be a little Ryan or a little Emily.

You Know You're in the DR When...

... the 27 passenger bus taking you home is already holding close to 60 people and rather than wait for the next one that's coming in 3 minutes you are willing to hang out the side of the bus at 80 miles per hour for the next hour and a half.

The Tsunami in Asia versus India

"In 2004 we saw the unprecedented tragedy of 230,000 people perishing in the tsunami in Asia. That many people among unreached people groups in India alone, die every week without Christ. And every month 175,000 people die in sub-Saharan Africa as the AIDS crisis continues, entering a Christ-less eternity."

- J.R

You Know You're in the DR When...

...you can buy a baby owl (without a cage) from a street vender while you wait at a red light.

You Know You're in the DR When...

... your purchase has been rung up incorrectly and rather than refund your money they give you a bag of cotton balls to make up the difference.

Introduction to "You Know You're in the DR When..."

Life here in the D.R. is very different. It's not better nor worse, not right nor wrong, it's just different. As our prayer warriors and those that "hold the rope for us" we want to share with you what life is like here.

Throughout our day to day life, we come across many things that are new to us. One of the ways we've learned to deal with the stress of adjusting to a new culture, is to learn to laugh: laugh at ourselves, laugh at what goes on around us, and laugh at the seriousness of life. Please know that with the posts to come in the "You Know You're In the DR When..." series, we mean no disrespect to our new culture. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Working Ourselves Out of a Job

For the past 13 Saturdays they have traveled for several hours from all over the island, in uncomfortable buses, met together outside in the sweltering heat, and then returned home ready to do it again seven days later, all because they love Jesus.

Each being called individually by God, twelve started and eight graduated. Led by a Dominican (who himself travels 5 hours each way) they have laughed together, worshiped together, and learned together. They are church planters.

In an initiative thought up and carried out by Dominicans, these men and women will be incarnationally planting churches in four different parts of the unreached South (Azua, Barahona, San Juan de Managua, and San Jose de Ocoa) and, hopefully, in a few years will be teaching a new generation of church planters how to reproduce themselves, just as they themselves were taught.

Fewer things give me more joy, than to find myself as a missionary without a job. Let me explain. You see the ultimate goal of a missionary is to work himself out of a job. That is, when the nationals have caught the vision, have been equipped, and have taken the initiative to win their country for Christ.

While this work began long before we arrived and we weren't actively involved in it, we rejoice for this new group of church planters as we take one more step closer to working ourselves out of a job.

Would you take a moment to pray for them and their new works?

Eight new Church Planters

The locations of where God has called them to be his witnesses.

A short video clip of the training