Weekend... I prefer the weekend.

Hola lovelies. Monday morning. Most of the staff and students are at flag raising. I’m not. I’m skipping. I skip because there are only about three people who realize I’m not there each Monday morning, well two at least. I wallow in obscurity, which is a beautiful thing every now and then. I’m here at the computer in these precious pre-student morning moments because I have some things to tell you.

First, those of you who have been lovingly praying over us, thank you. I believe there was good fruit of it this weekend. Jesse and I normally have pretty relaxing weekends. This weekend was even better though. So far, in our time here I have mostly enjoyed being connected to my husband and simply enjoyed my surroundings. This weekend the Lord gave my heart more affection and connection towards this country and its people. If your interested I posted our weekend below because many have asked "what do you do with your time there?"

Second… there is a lot of crap going on here at school. Evil things. The school is doing very well this year. We have good teachers who are qualified and professional. We have strong leadership. There have been very few relational difficulties and only a few ruffled feathers (Mr. Boyd did not get to have a theater arts class this semester due to scheduling conflicts). All in all I’ve been very impressed and thankful. However, below is a list of people and situations that need some desperate prayer. I remain fully confident that there is a freedom and a breakthrough of the Spirit on the horizon for this campus... and perhaps a lovely move forward in the Spirit is under attack? any thoughts?

Terry Roberts, the director, has been in the hospital and away from school for two weeks. There is something significantly wrong in his upper back and shoulder. The Roberts have been given several different diagnoses from several different doctors.. but it seems to be something about his spinal cord pinching a nerve. It is very painful and this has been a very difficult time for him and his family. They are trying to find out exactly what is going on with him, trying to keep the doctors from over medicating him because of the pain and trying to prayerfully decide if surgery is needed or not. Surgery on your spinal cord in a third world country can be a bit intimidating. Something however must be done, as his pain is unbearably severe.

Mark DeJong, the high school principle, was diagnosed with having 60% blockage in one of his arteries. He is only 28. One doctor told him to immediately go to the states for surgery, one has recommended medication and one has recommended that he see a different doctor in the capital. His wife kate is very pregnant with their first child and she is planning on having the baby here in January. They are also trying to figure out what to do and need prayer and support.

Dinelsa, high school spanish teacher (and my Spanish teacher) was told last week that she needs to have her gallbladder removed. She was very sick all of last week. Her family needs 30,000 pesos for the surgery, which is about 1,000 US$. This is a very hefty sum for a dominican family.

Minerva, who is assistant to the director (who played mother to me and took me to the doctor and to all my lab work when I was sick) is a single mother of 2 and works three jobs. She has been very stressed and overworked lately. Her sister was shot Friday night during a robbery in the capital. She was taken in for surgery yesterday and is ‘stable.’

Also two dominican teachers, Bianka and Maria, had there cars stolen a few weeks ago. There husbands had the cars. Bianka and her husband had there car recovered, though damaged last week. praise be. These family have only one car and insurance coverage here is a nightmare!

There is simply a great need in the SCS community at the moment for prayer and encouragement. Please do not read that we are in anyway discouraged or overwhelmed. There are many wonderful things happening too. I simply ask for your prayers over the above circumstances (and any words you may hear from the Lord) and a covering over Jesse and I... both for our continued protection and for discernment in knowing how to minister to these needs.

We love you. Thank you for sharing these things with us.



Our weekend. Friday. School ends. Early bus home. discussion of the UNKLE video that Jesse loves and when I watch it I can't wait for it to end. Take a nap. sit in our window chairs and listen to the entire jimmy eat world album followed by smashing pumpkins. Dress quickly. Take a cab to Centro Leon for jazz night. Position ourselves at a table on the outside patio. Watch a DVD of Dave Matthews Band Listener Supported projected like a movie with surround sound on a patio with about 100 dominicans who are all laughing and discussing or drum beating loudly. not what we were expecting, though thoroughly enjoyable. we leave about midnight. taxi home. Saturday. midmorning coffee. get up get dressed leave. Taxi to the rotunda. ask around for the right guagua (bus). the dominican lady next to me gets a kick outta of me nudging on jesse to hold my hand. that really cracked her up. an hour later the bus let’s us off at the side of the road. walk about 5 minutes to the river. hire a guide named Morneo, rent a helmet and life jacket. spend three hours climbing up and jumping off waterfalls. i get really scared on the last one. i beg jesse not to dive head first on some. some of thsoe things are really high! eat our little sack lunches while watching groups of speedos germans in water shoes and life jackets. dominicans are laughing loudly. hike out of the canyon and back up to main road. sit at roadside stand and have a presidente. flag down a bus. fall asleep on ride home. get dropped off downtown. cram into a concho towards home. take nap. talk to esue. make bacon, jalapenos, cheese hamburgers and garlic-mashed potatoes. electricity goes out. eat yummy food by candlelight in the living room. go up and spent a couple of hours on the roof, nice moon. jesse smokes a cigar. come back down and play trivia pursuit on into the night. I win. sunday early afternoon coffee and reading. start laundry. I lay out and read on the roof and Jesse listens to U2. we like being tan. Jesse comments on his appreciation of Bono and often sings along. I read Thanksgiving recipes in Real Simple. Ben calls. Marcos has baseball tickets. Marcos picks us up at three thirty. We go to his house. We go pick up college kids at PUCMM. We go to the Aguilas game. We sit third row 3rd base line. We have a great time dodging foul balls and listening to all the dominican laugh adn teasing each other around us. the Agulias lose 8-3.We drop off college kids and Marcos comes over. Back up to the roof for a few beers and another stogie for the boys. Marcos stays and couple of hours. he goes. and we go to bed. monday morning comes early.