I
had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in
the land of the living.
Wait
on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart;
wait,
I say, on the LORD.
Psalm
27:13-14
This is our
WOW,-It-Has-Been-A-Crazy-Year Update!
First, Merry Christmas! It is our hope that this
past year found you waiting on the LORD as He brought you courage.
This year has been very full of ups and downs. I (Laurie) will try to
condense them here for y'all.
A year exactly today, we paid our
first Jarabacoa rent. We have completely enjoyed our community
of neighbors—most of them are missionaries also. We have gotten
familiar with how Jarabacoa and Doulos work. It is really quite a
different community than what we have been used to on the north coast
of the DR. The Lord has certainly brought us joy, even in
difficulties of transition, in many different areas of our new life
with Doulos Ministries.
This August brought a new challenge
for Joe. He is now working part time at Doulos. This has been an
adjustment, but a good change. We are now all spending most of our
waking hours at Doulos Discovery School. :)
This November brought the passing of
Joe's father and while that was a strained relationship with many
years of silence, his passing has had a big impact on Joe. Never
underestimate the important role fathers have in their kids' lives.
Please keep Joe and his family in your prayers and they pass through
their first Christmas without Big Joe.
A few days after returning back to the
DR from Joe's dad's funeral, my mom informed me that the pain in
her back--which she had checked because they were planning to
come visit us at Christmas--turned out to be cancer. She is
in the process of getting treatment for lymphoma. We are wildly
thankful for the a treatable diagnosis, but our family would sure
appreciate your prayers for my mom as she passes through this
challenging time and as my dad takes his turn as nurse. I am
extremely thankful for the opportunity to go back to Indiana after Christmas to
help out as she faces treatment that leaves her feeling very, very,
very worn out.
Sam is in 5th grade
and goes by Joseph at school here in Jarabacoa. He is doing well in
school and has adjusted well. He's growing like a weed and played
soccer this year. He enjoys learning, being creative and loves doing
things as a family. This sweet pea leaves me notes of encouragement
when I am overwhelmed. It is no wonder how he won the Servant Leader
Award at school this month. Sam is on the far left in the picture below. You may recognize the kid on the far right. :)
Levi is in 4th grade
and loves school. Levi enjoys learning. He chose to take French
class instead of soccer or art in the After School Program. He also
won the Servant Leader Award at school and we couldn't be more proud
of our servant leaders. Levi also loves to snuggle with his Mama
(wow, won't he hate this blog in a few years?) and loves being up
trees, panning or gold in the river, playing endless board games and
just running around with the neighbor boys (pictured below) whose family is serving
with Kids Alive.
Sarah is in 2nd grade
and also loves school. She loves her teachers, her friends and to
sing. She and her friend had a duet in the Christmas program
this year. Sarah is a girl of decision and recently decided that she
would like her ears pierced. She's doing a great job of cleaning her
new bling. Sarah loves to play with the neighbor girl--pictured above-- (sister to the
neighbor boys mentioned in Levi's summary) and so there is constant
activity between the apartments as they are across the hall.
Joe who, as mentioned before,
is now working in Intervention at Doulos is learning the ropes of
working at a school--a very different situation than working at Dell!
He is passionate about the Gospel and making sure the kids know how
to have eternal life. He continues to lead our family (pictured below) in Bible
lessons that have included an all-family Greek learning through
reading Scripture in Greek. It is very basic, but the boys are
picking it up.
Laurie is teaching art to middle
school, high school and third grade. It has been a looooong time
since she has taught art, but she is LOVING it. The students are so
wonderfully creative and just need a forum to release their
creativity. She has two more classes to complete her Master's degree
(C'mon, 1 May!!!!) and, wow, she will be thrilled to be done. She
usually threatens to quit at least once a class and there are usually
tears involved, but she has prevailed by the literal grace of God.
She has even managed to maintain a very good GPA!
The Lord has been so faithful to our
little family. He has seen us through an extremely difficult time of
transitioning from one ministry to Doulos. He has brought us friends
and family here in the chilly mountains. Doulos took in our hurt
family and made us feel most welcomed. Most importantly, He has
brought us joy as we have waited on Him. We are blessed and
thankful for all He has done—especially sending His Son as a baby
to create a path for us to have eternal life in Him.
If you are interested in financially
partnering with us in this ministry that strives to bring about
change in the DR through the education of students equipped to face
real problems and solutions within the Dominican community while providing a
Christian education, please do so here:
https://give.doulosministries.us/?donateTo=79032&donateWith=Check&amount&to
. If you would like to contact Laurie to know more about what we
do, please write me at lauriemajcher@gmail.com.
We'd LOVE to hear from you. If you would love to come down and
serve on a missions team, serve as a teacher or be a sponsor for Sam,
Levi or Sarah, please email me and I can put you in contact with
the right people.
Many, many, many thanks for your
prayers and faithfulness to our family. We are honored that you have
read this blog on our crazy, but joyful year.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Grace and peace, Joe, Laurie, Sam, Levi
and Sarah
