Happy Fall…Ahh the smell of burning…what is that??

Greetings from the DR.  We hope this finds you well and are enjoying all of the normal fall festivities.  This is Darren's favorite time of year so he misses the cool weather, the smell of burning leaves, pumpkins, football, sweatshirts, candy corn and peanuts…Mmmmm.  Here, it's just hot.  No leaves changing colors.  There is burning stuff, but that happens year round.  Usually it's sugar cane or some other unknown substance which isn't the same smell as burning fall leaves.  Anyway, enjoy the fall-ness for Darren.  We Just wanted to give you an update as to what's been going on with us and with Makarios the past few months.

We had a very busy summer between groups coming down and summer school.  Teams from the states come at least every other week if not more frequently all summer.  They do all sorts of things at the school and at the Mak house.  It's great to see people coming to serve and experience Makarios first hand.  Having groups does increases Darren's patient load with many different illnesses and injuries.  Fortunately nothing too major this summer.  Gracias a Dios!  We also had 5 interns here this summer as well.  Darren had one intern with him.  She hopes to do medical missions someday so it was great that they got to spend a lot of time together.  And who knows maybe sometime in the future she will be back at Makarios. During our down time we got to spend some time with the Makarios staff.  It's always fun to hang out with the people you work with and do community with.  They truly are a blessing to our family.

It has been great to see Makarios growing as well.  We started this new school year with 141 kids!  We now go from PreK-3 through the 6th grade (Jenna's class).  The teachers are all doing a great job of dealing with some of the newer kids (especially the pre-k 3s!).  Most of these kids don't have a lot of structure in their homes so to be in a class, sitting down, not moving can be very difficult for them. It is great to see the positive impact of Makarios on the kids and the community as well.  Not just their physical health but their spiritual health too. The kids are receiving a Christ-centered education and some of them are coming to know Him in a personal relationship.  I've even seen this in my office.  A community kid coming to know Christ because of our presence and meeting his physical needs first.  The spiritual needs are the most important though and we strive to meet those needs as often as we can.
Our girls are doing well.  As I mentioned Jenna is in 6th grade now and Audrey passed PreK-3 in spanish so she is in PreK-4 now (way to go Audrey!).  When they aren't in school they like spending time with their friends and family.

Becky is busy as the sponsorship coordinator, since we have a lot of new students that needed sponsored.  As of now only a few more need to be sponsored.  Each full sponsorship for one child is $100 per month and that provides their education, uniforms, 2 meals a day, medical care, and various other costs at the school.  It is challenging to try and reach sponsors in the US from the DR so you probably have seen many Facebook posts or emails.  Warning:  Sponsorship plug:)  If you'd like information on this please contact Becky:)

Darren has been busy in the clinic with a lot of the normal illness and injury.  On top of that we have had an outbreak of Chikungunya (not a specialty dish at your local Mexican restaurant).  This is a viral mosquito-borne illness similar to Dengue Fever but it is not quite as bad.  People with Chikungunya have a high fever, bad headache, and severe joint pain and swelling.  Some get a rash with it as well.  There's no specific vaccine or treatment only symptomatic care (fluids, acetaminophen, Ibuprofen, rest).  Darren has seen ALOT of kids and adults with this over the past few months.  I'm glad we don't have any Ebola here.

Darren has also been doing some preaching in a couple of the local churches including our local church, Templo Biblico.  He has also had a chance to lead men's Bible study a few times.  He is doing a lot of teaching about finances and the Bible which is another passion of his.  Part of his mission in life is to bring others to financial health so it's been great to see God open doors in this area.

We can't believe that it's been almost 2 years since we arrived here in the DR.  Which means that our 2 year commitment is almost up.  However, we have decided to extend our time here at least through the end of the school year (June 2015) and then see what God has for us.  We didn't want to leave in the middle of the school year and without a replacement for Darren.  If you have been supporting us either financially or prayerfully…Thank you SO much!  You have been a true blessing and have made a difference in the lives of these kids here at Makarios.  We would love for you to continue supporting us through our time here.  Again, thank you so very much.  We are grateful for this opportunity that our family has here in the DR.  We truly are living on the Edge of the DReam.  Until next time.  Hasta luego.  Dios te bendiga.

A "Normal" Day

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."  Colosians 3:17

Hello to all!  We are so thankful by those of you who are supporting us in words and deeds!  We give thanks to God for each one of you!  We are consistently humbled by the ways you have blessed us.

After serving here in the Dominican Republic for a year and a half (yes, we have been here that long!), our normal day here looks much different than our normal day in the US looked like.  Here is a glimpse of what a "normal" day might look like for Darren.

 Darren in his office.

Get up at 6:20am to exercise and get ready for work.  Head to work at 7:30 on his motorcycle (which is an adventure in defensive driving every day!).  Staff devotions at 7:45 and school starts at 8am.  During the school day, Darren will see and treat students, staff and people from the local community.  The patients' complaints vary with anything from head aches and stomach aches to broken bones, abscesses, cuts needing sutures, removal of foreign bodies, high blood pressure, high blood sugars and much more.  Although the majority of his patients are students from the school, he sees patients ranging from newborn to 90 years old.  His daily patient load can be anywhere from 10 patients to 30 patients .  He has many over-the-counter medications that have been donated to the clinic on hand that he can give as needed.  Any medication that he needs but does not have in the clinic, he can go to the local pharmacy and buy (such as antibiotics).  He can also send his patients to the local hospital/clinic to get lab tests or xrays done.  Any time one of our students or staff is in the hospital, Darren will visit them at the hospital and help in anyway he can to facilitate their medical care.  He is also still involved with other ministries in the area that provide medical care here in the DR as well as in Haiti.  He also oversees several of our students that have chronic medical conditions and will coordinate doctors visits and medications as needed.  The students are done with school at 1:15, but that is not when Darren is done.  He is also responsible for training and educating the staff on medical care and emergency preparedness.  In addition he has been doing financial training for the staff.  Around 3pm, he leaves the school and heads to Spanish class (again on his motorcycle).  He has 2 hours of Spanish class 3 days a week.  He arrives home around 6pm for dinner and time with the family.  His evening hours vary from more Spanish classes, bible study with other local missionaries, family time, and time to rest.

Getting lots of hugs from some of our students!

Here is a post from his facebook, just sharing how somedays feel crazy, but God is good…all the time!

Recap of my day yesterday: spent over 3 hours trying to buy a filing cabinet for the clinic office for charts, at our village visit we saw a previous MAK student and found out he was working from 5pm to 10pm every night at a Colmado (small local store) and he's 10 years old, a guy right behind me wrecked on his moto (I think we was ok), got rained on going to Bible Study, and 4 MAK students decided to accept Christ. Another day in the DR. Thank You Jesus.

(The 4 students that accepted Christ are friends of Jenna's in the fifth grade class.  This life changing decision is why we are here, serving with Makarios!  We praise God for these girls and pray over them as they walk in the light.)

What we are describing above, is a normal day.  But we all know that most days do not seem "normal".  Many times it takes much longer to get things accomplished and can be very frustrating.  Other days things seem to go very smoothly and not as complicated.  Darren works daily to serve people by meeting their physical needs and showing God's love by doing that.  Darren is serving in the capacity that God placed him in by doing "whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

Watching the Kentucky Derby DR style!

Blessings and hugs being sent to all of our friends and family!!  Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

New Year…New Changes

Happy New Year…Ground Hog Day….and Valentine's Day  from the sunny, WARM Dominican Republic!  We hope you have had a wonderful beginning to 2014.  We have been very busy and very blessed so far this year.  Here's a look at what has been going on in our lives so far this year.

We were blessed to be able to visit the frigid USA over the Christmas holiday.  We were so excited to see and visit with so many friends and family.  We were able to visit friends and family in 5 different states (sorry if we missed you). Thank you to all who served us in countless ways.  After being encouraged, blessed and loved on for almost three weeks we made our way back home to the DR (after a 2 day delay because of the "polar vortex"…thanks global warming:)  We went from one extreme in weather to another.  It was a 75 degree temperature change from Ohio to Puerto Plata!  Needless to say we were glad to be home so we could unthaw!  It's been great watching the winter weather in the Midwest from here in the DR:)

Less than a week after returning home, we had our first visitors of the 2014 year.  Becky's sister Heidi and her husband Chad and their three kids, Eric, Emme, and Ellen stayed with us, worked along side with us and played with us!  It was so much fun to share our daily lives with them as well as some of the "perks" of living in the DR.  We all spent several days working at the Mak house and the school, as well as Chad and Eric working very hard on our vehicles.  We also took time to enjoy the beach, the mountains, and many other fun adventures together as a family.  We were sad to see them go, but so very encouraged from their visit.

Audrey adores her big cousin Eric!!

Sister time!

Cousin time is the best!

Hello is so much easier than Goodbye!

A few days after the Kreiders left, we had our annual dental team visit to the Makarios School.  As the Director of Health for the school, Darren was responsible for the set up, organization, and scheduling of this team.  He worked along side of them, scheduling students and staff, and helping with the flow of patients.  They worked very hard and were able to see and treat so many of our students and staff.  It was great to hear Dr. Bud say that the Mak school kid's teeth look better than the kids he sees in the states!  We also enjoyed visiting with them at dinner several times during the week.  The entire team was so fun to be around and a huge blessing to our school and staff!!

After the dental team left, we thought things would start to settle down for us and we could get back into our "normal routine".  But God had other plans.  Just this past week Audrey started as a pre-K 3 student at the Makarios School.  She has been wanting to go to school like a big girl for quite some time now.  The first day she was very excited…unfortunately, that excitement did not last long.  Her desire to be with mommy and play at home has been a difficult thing to try and overcome.  The first week was a little rough, as to be expected, but each day has gotten easier for her.  It will be exciting to watch her grow, develop, and learn Spanish under our wonderful teaching staff at the school.

With Audrey in school, Becky now has time to work directly with the school.  She will be working as the Sponsorship Coordinator for the Makarios School.  All of our students are sponsored by someone in the US in order to provide food, education, uniforms, and medical care through the Godly, loving staff at the Makarios School. The transition into the is role will begin over the next few weeks.  God has blessed her with a job that allows her flexibility to work at home as well as at the school.  She will be able to continue to homeschool Jenna in the afternoons and keep up with the daily needs of running a home.  It is an exciting time for all of us!

We are looking forward to our annual staff retreat this weekend in Jarabacoa.  It is a beautiful town up in the mountains here in the DR.  Our co-workers are so much fun and we enjoy spending time away from school with them.  This will be a time of worship, bonding, and focusing on the vision of Makarios.

After we return home for Jarabacoa, Becky's parents are coming for their first visit to the DR! Hooray.

We are so very thankful for each and every one of you.  Your prayers, emotional and financial support and encouragement to us is what makes it possible for us to be serving our great God here in the Dominican Republic.  Please continue to pray that we will continue to serve Him to the best of our abilities. Pray that Audrey will continue to make a good transition during this difficult time of starting school (all in spanish).  And finally, pray that Becky will transition into this new position very well. May God continue to bless you as he has blessed us.