Pictures from this month's trip

You can find pictures from our trip at
http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=smegilligan&P=8BB1&AID=2153833&T=1

I'm Here!

Will Haizlett

After squeaking out of Pittsburgh during a lull in the blizzard on Saturday morning, I arrived in Santiago at 2 in the morning the next day. The delay was mostly due to the pilots of the fligt do Santiago being held up in the snow in Washington, D.C. Well, the people don't drive too safely down here. They are also really hard to understand. Brian's Suzuki is starting to get old. And for my family... it's good.

las aguilas

Posted by Sharla

Last night Will and I went with a group of friends to see Game 1 of the Dominican baseball finals. Let me tell you, this is a good cultural experience. Dominicans LOVE baseball and cheer for a single at about the same level as people in the U.S. cheer for a World Series winning homerun. The league here allows former players to come back and play whenever they want, so there were at least five major league players on our team (las aguilas - the eagles) last night. We had Miguel Tejada, Bartolo Colon, Jose Lima, Tony Batista, and Luis Polonia. After scoring 12 runs in the 7th inning, we went on to win 14-4. It was a blast! Ask Will about it some time.

Incidentally, Luis Polonia lives in the neighborhood where we're staying this week in Santiago, and he has a lion, a LION! in his back yard and we hear it roaring periodically throughout the day. Will and I have discussed what we would do if we came upon the lion in the street, should she get loose, and we've decided the only thing we could do is make nice with her. It's all in the tone of voice, right?

Baseball and lions aside, I feel like I have all kinds of things to report, but I'm still processing it all! I plan to send out an email update soon, so you'll get the scoop there. God has blessed Makarios in so many ways on this trip. We have some incredible opportunities in front of us.

To name a few, we will begin providing food for the kids in our program in the next few weeks. Many of our kids are malnourished and we hope to help alleviate this problem. We also have the opportunity to help provide jobs through several programs that involve selling items both here and in the U.S. I just received the first shipment of coffee that we will be exporting and it is fabulous! It has already helped provide jobs in an impoverished mountain village and Lord willing, it will not only create more jobs, but provide a source of income for our educational programs. We are also working with two artists - one that makes metal art and one that makes coconut art. Wondering what those look like? I'll post some pictures soon.

Please keep us in our prayers! Will just arrived and is getting acclimated. Brian and Bethany are adjusting to married life and new responsibilities with Makarios. JoAnn is taking care of all the finances back in Austin (three cheers for JoAnn!), I leave on Saturday (2am!) and have lots to do before then.

Which would you rather have - electricity or water?

Posted by Sharla

Water. The answer is always water. I can live without electricity for a long time, but no running water gets old. The transformer in our neighborhood blew this week and we went three days without power or water. The apartment complex has a generator, but not everyone payed their fee that covers the fuel for the generator, so we didn't get much of that either. When the power finally came back on, Brian, Bethany and I immediately sprung into action. There were dished to be washed, laundry, floors to mop, showers to take, buckets to be filled (because we will inevitable lose water again!), etc, etc. Never a dull moment down here!

I have lots to tell, but we're off to breakfast at the German bakery here at the beach. If you've every been there, you know you should be jealous. More later...

back home

well much has happened since i have last blogged. My wife, bethany, and i are adjusting to life back in the D.R. We arrived on december 28 with sharla and the board. after a few days of board meeting we were starting to asjust to life together in the D.R. however it has rained everyday since we arrived, and rain stops many things in the areas we are working in because the roads are only dirt. in the d.r. this month we have had landslides similiar to the one that happened in california. in one area 12 houses were lost and in another 9 fell of the side of a hill. there have been no reported injuries but many more places are evacuating because of the rains.
Bethany and i have been trying to get into the villiages and schools and continue working. however with the rain most schools have not had class because the students have to walk and the teachers usually arrive in public transportation or motor cycles. we are looking forward to continuing working with Makarios. Please pray for the Dominican Republic and Haiti as well as Bethany and I adjusting to life together here.

Aguacate

Posted by Sharla
I'm not kidding you when I say that I recently purchased an avocado the size of my head. It cost me about 50 cents (15 pesos for those dominicans out there) and it was super. It made enough guacamole for about 12 people. I'm not saying that 12 people have consumed the guac, but that's how much it made. I really wish I would have taken a picture of it. Now when you go to the grocery store and you see a sign for "large Haas avocados" (which are only 4 inches tall), I just want you to laugh and think of all the great avacados you consumed down here. If you haven't been down here, what are you waiting for? The guacamole is ready!

Our programs started up this week and I'll spend next week in the villages with Brian and Bethany. This week I'm in Santiago working on a few things I have up my sleeve. Lots of cool things are in the works, but you'll have to wait until they're finalized to read about them. God is opening some exciting doors and I can't wait to see how it all comes together! Cliff hanger...

Setting up house in the DR

Posted by Bethany
Brian and I have been officially married for 3 weeks and 4 days. We returned to the DR on December 28 where we have been busy setting up our apartment. Things have been going well despite the huge amounts of rain we receive everyday. It is wet everywhere. We've spent the first week meeting with the board which went very well. After this we've spent the last week running around and picking up things we need for our home. The kids started up school again yesterday so we were set to start our programs then-but however due to the bad weather no kids went to school. We've also been experiencing some car problems with the jeep. Please continue to pray for us as we try and get the jeep fixed and start the programs in the villages.

lo mejor cafe

Those of you who've tried it know that Dominican coffee is the best stuff in the world. I take it back to the states and give it to friends and family, who almost always become addicted. It is not uncommon for me to take 50 pounds of coffee with me when I return from a trip to the DR. This trip will be no different, except for the type of coffee that I'll bring. Fear not, Monte Real fans, I'll still be bringing bags of that smooth, chocolately joe, but I'll also be bringing beans from some local farmers.

For years I've wanted to use coffee as a fundraiser for missions work in the DR. We've done it on a small scale, but now we may have the opportunity to do it on a larger scale. I'll provide more details when the deal is sealed. Please pray for us as we make decisions about how to move on this. It looks like a great idea, but we want to make sure that this is God's plan for us.

On a different note, I'm reading a book called Messy Spirituality, by Michael Yaconelli. In it he quotes Nelson Mandela, and I want to share that quote with you:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you."

God has not called us to live a life of fear. Fear prevents us from living the abundant life God offers. Since the founding of Makarios, people have have asked if I'm ever overwhelmed with my responsibilities, with the weight of what we do, with financial concerns, etc. The answer is yes! Most of the time I am completely confident that we are doing what God has called us to do. But I don't want to put out some facade that says, "everything is under control." We do not have anything under control, but we trust what we do to God's control and our confidence, my confidence, is in Him. While I struggle at times with fear of man, fear of circumstances, fear of failure, when I place my confidence in Him, there is nothing to fear. And you know what? God shows up in big ways when we rest in Him and let Him take control.

smelling roses in my favorite country

The Longhorns won the Rose Bowl and I was actually able to watch it down here in the DR - and at the house of a Michigan fan, no less.

It's been nice and warm, but has rained almost every day for the last week. Fortunately, there's sun each day as well. But I don't want you to be too jealous thinking that we're just sitting around in the sun drinking frozen lemonades.

We had a very productive board meeting last week. It was such a blessing to have all of our board members and spouses here. They were able to see our projects first hand and participate in one as well. It was so good to have them here!

We have lots of work ahead of us - please keep praying!

Hook 'em horns!!!