Praise and Prayer Post

As you can see we are doing alright-staying in good spirits, while occasionally loosing our minds! We are learning so much-culture, language, job expectations, ahh! Yesterday we moved into our home stay-we will be living with Minerva for the next month. We got to go to town with her to go grocery shopping to pick out foods that we like. After our grocery expedition we went back to our new home and Minerva started making dinner. She was preparing the yucca and I asked if there was anything I could do to help (in my super choppy Spanish of course), and she handed me the mini-machete she was using to peel back the yucca peel and the yucca...I took one hack at it, and figured that any more would result in me loosing a finger or whole hand. I gave her back the cutting tool and watched in awe as she had both yuccas (1 and 1/2 feet long) peeled and chopped in a matter of 2 minutes. Our dinner was awesome: boiled yucca and plantains, fresh aguacate, fried salami, and onions marinated in vinegar and salt then fried with the salami. Overall, a wonderfully welcoming first night in our new Dominican home. We are being humbled daily by our reliance on others for help, support, and transportation. It is amazing what God teaches us in the midst of putting complete trust in His plans.

We also wanted to take some time to update you with prayer requests:

• Praise: Welcoming and friendly hospitality from our new friends at Doulos and the Jarabacoa community!
• Praise: Some extra time to "get-away" to the beach for a few nights to relax and regroup.
• Praise: We have a home stay set up for the next month (at least). We will be looking for a place to rent at the beginning of September.
• Prayer for learning Spanish and communication with others. That we would continue to laugh at ourselves, and enjoy the frustrations of the learning process! :)
• Prayer for continued financial support and fulfillment of pledges.
• Prayer that we would continue to grow in our relationship with the Lord. That we would make time everyday to be in His presence and recognize His presence all around us.
• Prayer for the adjustment of living in and amongst so much poverty. 

As we are acclimating to our new life here in the DR, there are a few comforts from home that we miss. We have had a few people request ideas of things that they could send us in care packages. Please don't feel obligated to purchase anything! However, if you do, please comment on our blog about what you got, because as much as we love coffee, we don't need 3 coffee bean grinders! :) A few of our current favorites: 

• A coffee french press. We have found that electricity is not always a stable resource--however, propane is much more reliable. Heating water to pour into a french press makes our slight "coffee addiction" possible. :)
• A coffee bean grinder. The school has a coffee plantation that only comes in whole bean. We are interested in supporting the school in our fresh bean purchases!
• Crystal Light packets! YUM! (Special flavors: peach iced tea, strawberry-kiwi)
• Cliff Bars/Special K Protein Bars (Chocolate/Peanut Butter flavors are our favorite!)

Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. It has been so refreshing to catch up with you on Skype, receive your emails and Facebook posts! Please continue staying in touch-we love hearing from you all!