Here they are with Luis and Pastor John...
Unfortunately, as we write this update, Wilkens has lost his job. One of the many examples of "one step forward, two steps backward" that we all experience in life. Dissappointing but we know this is not the end of the story--we continue to reach out to him in friendship and trust God to do what only He can do in the life of this sweet family. Pray that we all will not grow weary and we will do what we can always do--share one another's burdens with Christ's love.
GUEST HOUSE HAPPENINGS---We recently hosted Pastor Wilby and Lisa for an overnight stay in the guesthouse. With the recent earthquake in Haiti, their church has been challenged with providing for the needs of Haitian refugees here in the DR. They asked if they could come visit and spend the night in our guest house to pray, seek God’s wisdom and have time alone as a couple. We enjoyed a meal together in our outside kitchen...
Then Pastor Wilby and Lisa went up to the guesthouse...
And Rachael and Beka helped us babysit their baby and 7 year old son...
MEN'S MINISTRY---The four men's classes are all going very well and we are planning graduation ceremonies at each of the churches in June--and...there are actually eleven more groups waiting to start, including a group at the men's prison in Santiago---we will feature more next month but for now please pray for wisdom in planning future classes and for the new class leaders that are being trained.
WOMEN'S MINISTRY--This month we share with you some of the women's ministry Cherry has been involved with lately---but she will be quick to share that she feels the best way to encourage and help the quality of life of women here is to support Dave, Pastor William and other leaders in offering the Authentic Manhood classes here---as these men are empowered by God's spirit to become the kind of husbands, fathers, and community leaders that God desires, lives of women and girls here will be dramatically affected for the good!!!
Here Cherry is teaching a class on marriage and family at a new church plant of our good friend Pastor Jonas---it was a joy to co-labor with him to "kick-off" this new work of his...
The church/community center is called "El Camino" which means "The Way"...
Dave always drives Cherry to these events as they are at night and we feel so blessed to share these times together as a couple...
Cherry also came along side our church's pastor's wife and her leadership team to put on a women's overnight retreat for 50 women--the theme was "Clothed in Christ--A Picture of Grace"
Here we are preparing materials for the retreat and sharing about marriage and family life--right now we are all doing the 40 day "Love Dare"!!...
At the retreat waiting for the women to arrive--the hotel in Jarabacoa was full of this island's beauty!!...
Cherry translating for one of the speakers...
All the women participants--a multi-cultural group--all the talks and worship were completely bi-lingual!!!--the women are carrying Hearts at Home bags that were donated and very appreciated by all!!...
RACHAEL AND REBEKAH'S MINISTRY... One of the sweetest blessings for us is to watch how the Lord takes care of our children here, our daughter in Maryland and our son in Mexico!! We will share more about our older children next month--this month we will hightlight Rachael and Beka--Many of you know that they are both very musically inclined. That has continued here. Easter Sunday they participated in our church's service here which included a drama...
Rachael and Beka singing in the choir...
Our family enjoyed a beautiful Resurrection Sunday here...
Recently our girls participated in an all-school talent show at Santiago Christian School---they won first place with a song that they had written, composed the music for and sang in harmony with Rachael on the piano----look for the lyrics on the side panel of our blog, "In This Rain"--here they are with the second and third place winners--the girls are a little sun-burned as they had just played three soccer games in a school tournament BEFORE the talent show competition!!...
And...we can't talk about our children without mentioning how much they all four love animals!!! Here is Beka with our latest addition--two new puppies!!...
VISTORS--- This month we were blessed by a wonderful visit from our good friends and ministry leaders, Steve and Nancy Jeffreys---it was great to spend time with them in our environment here, share ministry and marriage challenges with them and receive their wisdom with love!! We love you Steve and Nancy!!!...
And our good friends and top-notch ministry administrator, Marty and Traci Trunk, also came to visit during the same time---a double blessing!! We love the Trunk family!!! Here we all are visiting Paul and Carol Thompson, longtime missionaries with World Team, now serving in the DR--we have all participated in their excellent study of Galatians (available in English and Spanish)--we spent lunch and an afternoon with them sharing about the study and dreaming of possibilities for the future!!! Thank you Thompsons for your hospitality and your obedience to the Lord all these years---you bless us and many others---many the seeds planted grow and grow!!...
Well, this was a long update but we hope it reflects our grateful hearts for our lives here--for such a time as this!! Please look to the side of this blog for our prayer requests, the book we are reading and some words to encourage you.
We love you---God bless and keep you!!
By His grace and for His glory,
The Dave Schwulst family