We are writing you from Santiago, Domincan Republic. I am actually sitting in our kitchen with my laptop composing this entry. The blessings of technology!! Much has happened this last month and we have much for which we are very grateful. We graduated from language school in Costa Rica in August, packed up our home there and flew to Bloomington, Illinois for a 6 day stay visiting family, church home and friends. It was such a wonderful visit!! The Sunday church service to send us off was awesome in so many ways and over 100 people came to the open house the Trunks hosted for us. And we were royally treated by our host family, the Trunks, who all four showed us servants' hearts filled with Christ's love.
We arrived in Santiago on Friday, August 24 and it has been a whirlwind of activity for the past week!! We have gotten Rachael and Rebekah enrolled and situated at Santiago Christian School. The school just started a new policy that the children of missionaries who qualify go to the school tuition free!!!! Now that was an unexpected blessing!!! The girls have been so flexible and cooperative and just open to all the "new" here!!! We can't thank them and God enough for their sweet missionary spirits!! What a life experience they are having.
Thanks to all of you who donated towards "upfront start up expenses", we have been able to purchase a beautiful, big ministry van plus rent a home and furnish it. And thanks to our new Domincan friends and fellow GO staffers here who helped clean, paint and show us where to shop. Pastor Gabriel's wife, Tata, and Marisol cooked lunch for us every day last week while we cleaned and painted. We have felt very loved and cared for by all who have sacrificed their time and resources to help support us in ministry here.
We have our first team coming next week--Marty and Traci Trunk leading a team from our home church, Eastview Christian Church. They will work construction, offer children's ministry, put on a women's conference for 150 women here, and more...We are so thrilled that the first team we will work with is from our own home church!
Please review our current prayer needs section as well as our support status (which is increasing!!) and our "word for the month" section. We hope you enjoy the new pictures too and more will follow as we wait expectantly for what God will do in our lives and the lives of others here. We feel so privileged to be doing this!!!
By God's grace and for His glory,
Dave,Cherry,Rachael and Rebekah Schwulst