Dear Friends,

     God bless each of you and your congregations as you seek to do His will in your communities.  We thank you for your generous offerings which also help His will to be done in the eastern Dominican Republic.  We continue to ask that you pray for wisdom and sensitivity to the Lord’s leading as our Dominican brothers and sisters assume more and more responsibility in the La Romana congregation.  And we ask that you include the new-born Christian Church in Punta Cana in your prayers.
      Last month the work team from the Pennsylvania/New York area held evangelistic meetings at the church property in Punta Cana and on their last night here there were seven men who came forward to recognize Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  Franklin, the minister in Punta Cana, has begun to study with them as well as several others who were already in the Network Bible Study.  He and Ilonka are now having regular meetings under the tent on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday evenings and regular Bible classes for children .  They have been very pleased with the response.   The footing for the parsonage has been poured and the rebar columns are waiting to be poured.  The area for the multi-purpose building has been laid out.  The land in most of the Punta Cana area is coral rock so the contractor is using a reverse beam footing since there is no worry about it being on a firm foundation.  This is very different from the construction projects we did in the Santiago area where the top soil goes down several yards and required a lot of digging. 
        The men’s group of the La Romana church invited the ladies of the church to celebrate Valentine’s day with an ice cream social.  On Sunday afternoon of the 17th we got together for a very enjoyable time.  The ladies group has been doing some door-to-door calling and have had a wonderful response.  We have several new people interested in studying the Bible and some others visiting the church for the first time.  The youth also went calling on the 23rd of February.
The candidates for elder in the La Romana congregation are continuing to study Alexander Strauch’s book Biblical Leadership of Elders.   The church is planning to have the elders officially take office around Easter.        
         The congregation in La Romana has a blogspot now.  You can log onto www.COCCDE.blogspot.com to see some of the activities and outreaches of the church.  It’s in Spanish of course, but there are lots of photos.
         We personally are pleased to have Brittany Orcutt from the Parkside Christian Church in Cincinnati, OH live with us for a semester.  Brittany wants to be a missionary nurse and will begin her university studies in August.  In the meantime she will be working at several clinics in La Romana and in Punta Cana, shadowing a couple of doctors and observing surgeries when given the opportunity.  It is a delight to have a “daughter” around the house again.
 
 In Christ,
 
Rick and Suzanne York                                                                     
Missionaries with Eastern Dominican Christian Mission