Some pix to enjoy

 

The Makarios School Christmas Program never disappoints.  Cute kids, singing, dancing and the Gospel.  Thank you, Jesus, for humbling Yourself to come to Earth as a Baby.  

                                              Sarah's class sang and dance as burros.  :) 

                                                          Levi is my little Christmas elf.

                The boys' first time rollar skating!  It was fairly success with only minor bruises.  :)

 Levi's class was tasked with honoring the Mirabal Sisters, important ladies in Dominican history,  on                                                                       25 November.

              Sarah and Robin, my goddaughter, in Chichigua being read to by one of our moms, Dido.

                   Can you find two monkeys in tree?  Sam and Levi love climbing this tree at church!

 Samuel was selected to help raise the flag.  Every morning at Colegio Makarios we sing the Dominican national anthem and raise the Dominican flag.  The only flag with an open Bible on it.

                                         Levi was Noah in his class' chapel presentation.

 Sarah's kindergarten class shared about the coming of the Spaniards to the Dominican Republic.                                       Sarah was a Spaniard.  Such a pretty Spaniard...if you ask me! 

                                             Levi was also a Spaniard.  How cute is he?

 Sam had his good friend, Juan Carlos, over to  the house to play with Legos.  This Lego set is from                                                                    Juan Carlos' sponsor. 

I'll end this picture section with Sarah, the fashionista.  Orange pumpkin shirt, pink skirt and                                                           Spiderman boots...yeah, that's about right! :)

Six months in one post. Taaa daaa

Happiest of holidays to you!

What a joy to be able to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. What humility was demonstrated as He got demoted to BABY!! Why? So that He could find the lost, know us, sacrifice Himself for us and demonstrate His unfailing love. May this Christmas be awe-filled at what the Lord has done for us!

Speaking of being awe-filled by what the Lord has done........let me TRY to catch you up with Makarios and our family.

Let me start with July which took me back to the States to help my Mom as she tended to my Dad who was battling cancer. It has been a bewildering road for my Mom and she's been nothing short of a champ. The treatment was very rough on my Dad, but the report back has been excellent. He is cancer-free and we are praising our Awesome God for such healing.

In August our family celebrated our fourth year anniversary serving with Makarios. I NEVER excepted to ever say those words. As we think about our commitment through Summer 2019 we are prayerfully considering what the Lord may have next for us. Some of you may be skeptical of our leaving date, but this just may be real this time. (But, we'll see! :) ) In August also my replacement arrived with his family. Ryan is in language training now and is progressing nicely.

In August the Makarios School started its first school year of having the recognition by the Dominican Ministry of Education to have our students at our school registered in our official name. This is a huge step and was no small task.

In August Sam started 3^rd grade; Levi started 2^nd grade; and Sarah started Kindergarten. All three kids very much enjoy school, their teachers and their friends. Joe teaches the kids Bible—they have verse-by-verse gone through much of the Old Testament. Joe has taught the boys to read in English and is working with Sarah. He leads a Bible Study on Saturdays through our church. I am still doing my best to run the Makarios School which is so close to my heart.

September marked the 10^th anniversary of giving class at the school's location—as opposed to in the individual communities. This is such a great milestone. Sharla Megilligan, the founder, was present for the celebration which was planned, moved, planned, and moved due to two hurricanes the DR faced this hurricane season. Makarios had much to celebrate this September—minimal damage in our area from those hurricanes and 10 years of class!

September also marked the start of construction that, once completed, will be the rooms needed to complete our whole school-- preschool through graduating seniors. This is big and super exciting. This is an amazing endeavor and God's carried us through the plans, the purchasing of land, the first phase of the drainage and wall. It makes for a noisy classroom environment, but once it is completed it will be truly incredible.

October and November were filled with teacher trainings, the medical team that comes every year, making a promotional video for Makarios, visits from the Austin office and just all the 'normal' (HA HA) days of class at the Mak School, The school where I taught for 9 years comes at Thanksgiving and throws the American staff an amazing spread of all the smells and tastes of Thanksgiving, It is an amazing labor of love.

The blur of this fall has transitioned to winter which brought a trip to Santo Domingo so Joe could take Sarah to Disney on Ice. Sarah, obviously, LOVED it. The boys and I stayed back at the hotel and swam in the pool, which we LOVED as well. All the craziness of December has quieted now. The exams are completed, turned in, graded, put into extremely detailed grade books. The Christmas presentation has been presented, all the classroom parties are completed and now we are on Christmas break. Ahhhhhh.

Christmas break for the Majcher Family will consist of traveling to Indiana where we will spend time with family while freezing our hindquarters off. :) It really will be a wonderful time. The kids and Joe haven't left the Dominican Republic in almost three years. Sarah turned two the last time she was there! I anticipate a lot of questions from the kids. I've tried to prep them on the fact that everyone speaks English so everyone will understand what they are saying, so, please, don't say anything weird!! :)

God's sweetness and goodness are ever present. They've been most apparent in this past year. As I hear my boys speak so conversationally about the Bible it brings me such joy they have such deep knowledge of the Word. They are memorizing The Romans Road so they can share the Gospel with Scripture easily. Such richness in those Scriptures about God's amazing gift to us in His Son. I am memorizing Psalm 40 with good friend, Robin Inks. I'm so thankful for His listening, lifting us up from where we are and the fact that His blessings to us are without number. What an amazing God we serve.

Grace and much peace this holiday season,

Joe, Laurie, Sam, Levi and Sarah

PS  If you are interested in supporting Makarios by supporting our family, please visit https://www.aplos.com/aws/give/Makarios/missionaries.  We would love to have you join our team!  :)