Week 2 Of Our Studies In The Dominican Republic

After we met Adalgisa, we proceeded to go up and down the hilly country side where we saw tobacco plants growing and storage huts for drying. We were then brought to a high point and saw a piscina (pool area) with a fantastic view. Check out the website for more amazing pictures. Once we finished our tour it was time to head back for dinner. We had an opportunity to join the rest of the family for a fish dinner at one of the local establishments. Fried or oven cooked we could have it our way.

During our class education this week, we were learning about conversational Spanish and talking about directions.We found ourselves at a memorial park dedicated to Christopher Columbus. Like many areas around Santiago, there was iron work. At this park there were the three ships most commonly associated with Columbus’ journey, as well as a few painted murals depicting his arrival.

Karl and I have been in contact with several of the missionaries and their families throughout our stay. Just this past week, the Office of International  Missions - LCMS (Latin American/ Caribbean Region) had their summit meeting in Palmar Arriba, about 30 minutes outside of town. On Monday, we were able to make contact with Ruth and Arthuro Maita  and spend some time with them. After that we met up with the president of the Venezuelan Lutheran Church and he once again thanked us for our support through Arepas Para Venezuela fundraiser. Please keep them in  your continued prayers.

It was at this time we had a tour of the LCMS mission office in Santiago. Here is a picture of all of the mission locations in LatinAmerica. The next picture is of all  thirty-two missionary families. Later on in the week after our Thursday class we took leave from assisting the instructors teaching and went to see the other  missionaries at the seminary. They had just finished their renovation and construction of the building.

The first floor is social services, the second floor is a chapel and next to that are professional education rooms and the third floor is the seminary for theological education. It was great to hear about all the mission opportunities in other countries as well as gain insight as to how to do outreach to the hispanic population in Southwest Florida.

Last, but not least, on April 25th, I received the call officially to serve as   pastor at Amigos en Cristo. This day was shared with my wife and family over Skype. I will be notifying everyone as to when the ordination service will be in upcoming blogs or through a special announcement.