Damos Gracias (Fall Newsletter 2011)

Happy Thanksgiving! As we write, our hearts and stomachs are stuffed full of thankfulness and pie after a wonderful celebration. It was incredible to look around at our mix of guests and really feel that, though there were many faces we missed, we felt we were among family. Out of the many blessings this last year, our wonderful community of friends here was the most unexpected and overwhelming.

Kristen, Nicole and Jennifer (Margo's Daughter)

Dan's parents were in town to celebrate with us and make the most AMAZING turkey, stuffing and pies! 

Also on our list of unexpected blessings are: community baseball nights, fresh Chinola juice on a hot day, watching our groups show God’s love and serve our community,  and the growing familiarity of places, people, smells and sounds of San Juan. This year has changed so many things about who we are, including what it means to us to truly give thanks... 

Coming up with a list of blessings at Thanksgiving time would usually feel like a mixture of cherished tradition and grade-school cliche. But somewhere during this last year, the act of giving thanks took on a whole new meaning as we found ourselves clinging to it to guard against pride, doubt, weariness and worry.

As you can imagine, our first year on the mission field has been an exhilarating and exhausting ride. Dan has fought with a brain that aches day after day from being stretched and pulled as he wraps his head around the Spanish language. I (Kari) have struggled with frustration in trying to balance my time between all the people and needs. We both at times (maybe more often than not) have felt terribly inadequate for the job before us. And you know what? It made us moody! When things were going well, we were up; God loved us and we were ready to serve. But when things were tough we were confused, hurt and threw our hands in the air.  It took some great friends to point out how much we were relying on ourselves to pull this off and not trusting the character and promises of God. 

Choosing to cling to thankfulness has begun to change our hearts and the way that we view the circumstances around us. It is the quiet reminder to the soul that, whether the day brings productive, meaningful work or the construction materials never arrive, it doesn’t change the fact that God is good. He is present. He is in control. He is owed thanks! Especially in the moments when nothing seems to make sense and we can’t find the words to pray, it is SO good to go back to that simple phrase and thank Him who is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine!

We love our life here and have so many reasons to be grateful- and the more we give ourselves time to stop and count them, the more we find! Even as we continue to find ourselves challenged and stretched, we are so thankful for it! We know that we are being changed and renewed and maybe little by little becoming more like Jesus. 

Things We Are Thankful For:

Supporters

We cannot begin to say thank you enough to all of the friends, family and strangers who have stood beside us, prayed for us, encouraged us and financially supported us this last year. We can say for certain that your love has changed and humbled us greatly! We absolutely cannot do this alone, so we deeply thank those of you who have chosen to journey with us. 

San Juan de la Maguana

We still haven't gotten over the stunning scenery, the bustling life, vibrant colors, earthy smells and beautiful people here. We remain convinced that we live in the most beautiful place on earth. We are so thankful to be a part of this community and only hope to be able to give back a small part of all the joy, hospitality an drove that they've given to us. 

Child Nutrition

This sweet face is one of the 200+ babies that we have in our Child Nutrition Program. Like many of the children, when we first met her she was severely malnourished, weighing only 11 lbs at 14 months old. Thankfully, because of the milk and nutritional education provided for her, she has gained 2 lbs in the last month! Laura Demastus, new the the Solid Rock staff, will be living with us for the next year to help us discover even more effective ways of helping these little ones and expanding this program. 

Will You Join With Us?

Over 10 months ago, we set off with the impossible dream of following God into the specific work that He is doing here in San Juan and somehow becoming a part of it. But, of course, when we arrived in the DR, we were still the same messy people, desperately in need of a savior and a lot of help! Situations here demand and call us to become something more than what we are alone. There are problems that run too deep for any person to fill and prayers that sometimes we are too tired or confused to pray. 

More than anything, we desire to know that we are not alone. We want to be part of a community that goes far beyond San Juan, Minneapolis, or Bristol, CT. A community of people who love God, love people and who long to see His Kingdom come in the world. This wonderful place happens to be the corner He brought us to, and we would love to invite you to share it with us. 

We ask you to consider becoming a part of our community by choosing to support us. Whether it is a one time gift or monthly support, an e-mail or a morning prayer, we long for the encouragement and joy that your partnership would bring as well as the chance to become a part of your story and the community in which God has placed you!

For more information about Solid Rock, our ministry here or to provide financial support, you can visit the Solid Rock website: www.solidrockmission.org and click the "donations" tab. 

We'll leave you with a few more pictures of the friends and experiences we are so thankful for!