May 30, 2008

As always we want to express our gratitude for the generous gifts and offerings that your congregation gives to Eastern Dominican Christian Mission each month. “God is good, all the time.” We are so grateful that God has led you to partner with us in planting churches in the eastern Dominican Republic.
On the first Sunday in May, the Christian Church in La Romana held worship services in the homes of families who are connected with the church, but not yet members. We had our normal Sunday morning worship and then spent the afternoon in people’s homes and visiting the sick. Carmen, the mother of two of the young men who are already members of the church, made her confession of faith that day. Carmen has been super involved in politics for years. Just recently she felt a strong impulse to quit putting her faith in elected officials and to put her faith where it really counts. Her testimony is very moving and speaks volumes about the positive example of her two sons and the influence of the church in their lives. We also had a wonderful worship service in the home of a lady who had surgery in March when the medical team from Northeast Christian Church was here. It was a great day!
May 16th is Election Day in the D.R. It is always on the 16th no matter what day of the week it is and just about everyone has the day off in order to go vote. The current president, Leonel Fernandez, was reelected which means there will be less upheaval and fewer changes made in the coming months. As in the U.S. the cost of the campaign and the actual election is astronomical, so most of the country are glad that it is over and we can get back to normal. Prices continue to go up on basic items, so the next few years are not going to be easy for the average Dominican.
We have been working on fixing up the apartments on the church property in Punta Cana. A work team from Generations Christian Church in Tarpon Springs, FL will be here on June 8th to continue work on the parsonage. They will be able to stay on the property in the renovated apartments which is a huge blessing. In the meantime the ladies of the La Romana church and the ladies of Punta Cana church held a day long retreat at the property on May 22nd. We first did evangelizing in the neighborhood around the property and several ladies that we invited were able to attend part or all of the activities. Ilonka Francisco, the minister’s wife in Punta Cana, did a presentation on “true beauty”, Ivelisse Santana, wife of one of the elders in La Romana talked about heroines in the Bible. We had a Bible Bowl type competition over the book of Daniel that we studied recently and then Yudermy Cabrera, the La Romana minister’s wife, had a hand craft project for all of us to do. Of course we ate and had the added pleasure of going to the pool that is at Ilonka’s apartment complex. It was so much fun the ladies are already talking about what to do next year.
The elders of the La Romana congregation held a clean up/fix up work day while the ladies were at their retreat. The men and the youth of the church did a lot of work that is not possible for the regular cleaning people to do. On Saturday evening, May 24th, the men’s group of the church hosted a special Mother’s Day worship service with prizes and special honors for mothers. It was standing room only as the church was filled to overflowing with the families of the children and adults who take ESL classes during the week at the church. These are people from the area around the church and the same families that the elders are visiting and shepherding. We celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary on May 25th as well. All in all it has been a wonderful month. Praise the Lord!

In Christ,

Rick and Suzanne York
Missionaries with Eastern Dominican Christian Mission