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.