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.