One Week Down

We survived our first week in the Dominican Republic. I knew we would be fine in the end, but I figured there would be several road bumps along the way. And, of course, there were (still are).

Kurt & I are not in our apartment yet. We do have most of our things inside, but there is no electricity or water. So... we wait :) As a side note, you will see that everything requires a lot of waiting here. We are done with appliances & most of our furniture, which is a blessing. The dryer made it Monday, but we are still waiting on the gas hose to set up our stove that was supposed to be done yesterday.

Along with setting up the house, Jason and Josh have been helping Katie and I to find a vehicle to further our independence.  We have narrowed it down to 3 vehicles but have been having a hard time finding something within our price range that will also be able to make it out to the bateys and not fall apart within the first mile off the lot.  We will probably end up spending more and go for a higher resale value.  If all things work out, we will loose about the same amount of money each way and have less maintenance with the nicer car.

Welp, Its 9:30 and Jason and I are off to the electric company to see what's going on with our power.  We miss you all and thank you all for your prayers.

Kurt and Katie

We're Here!

It is hard to believe, but we are officially living in the Dominican Republic. Our flight arrived last night in Santo Domingo at 9:00pm. We were a little worried, but all of our bags made it. I haven't had a chance to take everything out & make sure nothings is broken yet, but I hope to soon. Right now, we're staying with the Hilgemans, & I didn't want to unload all of our luggage in their living room :)

Today was a busy day... like most days will be this week. We spent the morning shopping for appliances, & we came away with a washer, dryer, fridge, & stove. The afternoon consisted of washing down our apartment floors... we had lots of amazing helpers: the Hilgeman kids, the Simos kids, Jason, & Josh. All the helpers were great because we had to pour water over the entire thing, squeegee, pour sanitizer down next, squeegee, and then pour one more layer of clean water over that. It took 2 hours to complete the entire apartment & in the process we found that one of the drains doesn't work. Also, I don't think I have sweat so much in my life! Later this evening, we enjoyed a home-cooked meal by Toni. Then, around 5:30pm the apartment owner's daughter showed up with our contract & keys to our apartment! (Yes, we did start cleaning before it was officially ours.) We ended up in the same apartment complex at the Higleman's & Simos' on the fourth floor. It was great to get the important things accomplished today. Nothing was too hard, but there is always tomorrow! Anyway... the evening ended with a fun game of bid euchre :)

Tomorrow looks like more shopping. It's fun, but if you know Kurt & I... we don't like spending a lot of money. So, this can be overwhelming. The plan is to head to the capital to the bigger stores so we can find our furniture. Please pray that we find the things we need at decent prices because even though we're in the DR, products can still be expensive since most things are imported.

To end, I want to say a quick "Thank you!" to everyone who prayed for our trip yesterday. It was as smooth as can be & like I said all of our bags are here & so are we. Love you all, & we'll be keeping you updated. Hopefully, we can get some pictures soon!

Katie

One More Week!

It has been such an exciting journey over the last 3 months. God has provided in ways we could hardly imagine. The most amazing being that we reached 100% this past Sunday! If we weren't confident in our decision to move to the Dominican & join Freedom International Ministries, we definitely are now :)

For those of you who didn't receive our member letter, we are now in sunny South Carolina with my parents. We loaded all of our belongings into Ken & Connie's attic & set up our bedroom :) Our plans for today are to visit downtown Spartanburg & enjoy the great weather. My parents will be here with us until Monday when they drive back to Ohio.

The following week will be filled with packing & determining what we can fit in our suitcases! We'll be taking 2 checked luggages a piece, 1 carry-on, & 1 addition bag (like a backpack or briefcase). I keep praying the process goes smoothly & my patience is in full supply... so far so good :)

Thanks again to everyone who helped us move & for all of our financial supporters! I can't say enough how much we appreciate our friends & family. We have been truly blessed.

Love, Katie

 

72% with one month left

Hey everyone

Things are still moving along here in Celina with the fundraising.  We do have a few things in the works yet and are still hoping and praying that God will provide by May 13th so that we would be able to arrive in the DR by June 14th.

Our things in the works are:

> 54 support letters going out to friends of my parents (thanks Mom and Dad)
> First Mennonite Church of Berne
> Oasis Christian Fellowship in Wauseon
> Several individuals that are still praying about their contribution amount

There is most definitely 28% inside of these opportunities and we are praying that God opens peoples minds and hearts to the ministry.  This 28% means that we are down to needing just 16 people at an average of $50 a month (quite a change from 62 supporters just two months ago).

Just as a recap of the things your money will be investing in:

> An accredited education for kids who do not currently have the opportunity
> Church planting where there currently is no opportunity for being discipled
> Lives being changed through a relationship with Jesus Christ

100% of your money will go straight into these investments, no administration costs apply

Thank you so much to all of you who have decided to partner with us in this ministry!

Matthew 6: 19-20
¹⁹ “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

Half Way There

We are now half way through our support raising! I checked our current percentage, & right now, we are at 54% of our monthly support. :) God has provided so much for us over the last 2 months. It is amazing to see all the different people who have chose to be a part of our ministry. We are very grateful for everyone's generosity!!

On another note, I also checked my calender yesterday & figured the time frames for our departure. We would like to fly out of Charlotte, NC on June 14th. Our things will be stored in Spartanburg, SC where Kurt's parents live, & Charlotte is one of the closest airports to that location. So... we need to have our things packed here in Ohio at least a week in advance. This means loading the U-Haul the weekend of June 3rd to give ourselves time to pack for the DR & find a storage unit for our belongings before we fly out. That means we need to have finished our jobs here in the states by the week of May 29th. Consequentially, in order to give both of our companies a 2 weeks notice, we will have to know if we've raised enough support by Monday, May 16th.

I don't know if you all noticed, but I noticed that May 16th is not that far away. Some days I think it is still possible to leave in June, & other days it seems impossible to raise another 36% in one month. But, I know God will provide, & we continue to trust He knows best. The truth is He loves us whether we leave in June, July, or August. We just know that He wants us to go to the DR to join Freedom International Ministries in building relationships with the Dominicans, reaching people for Him, & bringing glory to God.

The entire process of raising support & moving to another country has taught us many things, & we are still learning. No matter the ups & downs, we feel blessed by all the encouragement from our family & friends. I can't say enough how much it touches us to have everyone's support.

You all are the BEST!!
Katie

P.S. I attached a link to be able to donate straight from this blog. If you click on the green "Click Here" under 'Invest in Our Ministry' on the right side of the page, you'll be sent to Freedom International's donate page. I hope the link is helpful, & thanks again to everyone who has come along side of us financially!!

Moving Forward

My how time flies!

We are now in the 3rd month of raising support. (and as you know, our goal is to leave June 15th.) So, we have 2 months and 22 days to reach 100%. HOWEVER... we are already at 38%!!! Only 62% more to go thanks to all of you who have committed to giving to our ministry financially. For those of you who are still considering supporting us, our biggest need for moving forward is finding monthly supporters. 

*** If 30 more people offer to give an average of $50 per month, we would be able to leave in June!***

Just some other updates...

• We are planning on living in San Pedro de Marcoris & working in several bateys (a.k.a. suger cane villages) right outside Ramon Santana. The names we have so far are La Campina & Lima. Kurt & I were actually able to see these bateys when we visited the Dominican in February. You can view those photos by clicking HERE. 
• Also, we have not told our employers yet about making the move to ministry. Our reason for holding off is that we're waiting to see if we can raise the support by June 15th. (Freedom International Ministries requires that their missionaries be at 90% before they can leave.) If we are unable to raise everything in time, we will continue our support raising & go month-to-month after that.

If anyone has any questions about the ministry or our plans for raising support, please call us or email! We really appreciate all the positive feedback we have received. But, we want to make sure that we answer your questions. We realize that the letter we sent may still leave some of you aprehensive.

I think that's all for now. :)
Katie

Our First Post

Well, I'm not exactly sure how to start... but, here it goes :)

Kurt & I have joined Freedom International Ministries as associate missionaries committing to 2 years of service in the Dominican Republic. We plan to leave for the DR on June 15 of this year. There is still a lot to do between now & then, but we believe God has a plan for it all.

Our hope for this blog is to keep all of our friends & family updated on what we're doing & how things are going. We plan to use it often as we are in the DR, but wanted to start now so that everyone would have the opportunity to be involved in the process of getting there.

Thank you to everyone who has shown us support & encouraged us. We hope you find this blog useful & not boring!

Love you all :)
  Katie