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2020 greetings in the name of Jesus!
Today, January 24, 2020, officially marks THREE years since my arrival to the Dominican Republic. These past THREE years have been filled with learning, service, struggles, successes, joys, sorrows, and so much more.
I am thankful for each of you who read my updates and pray for me on a regular basis. Your prayers are heard by our faithful and loving Father as you pray for safety, health, and the spreading of the Gospel through the work of His missionaries and His Holy Spirit.
The verses above from the close of 1 Thessalonians are a final plea to the people to come together in one another’s joys, prayers, and thanksgivings as the body of Christ, because it is the will of our Father. This first month of January has been a testament to that plea, in leadership meetings, disaster response, and also in my personal life. I have seen the body of Christ come together in rejoicing, in prayer, and in thanksgiving to our God, according to His will, in many and varied circumstances.
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The month began with our biannual regional leadership meetings. This year was different because our meetings took place in BELIZE! Our missionaries, Rev. Herb and Markie Burch who serve in Belize hosted us, served us, and made us feel at home at a camp near their own property. This camp is in the process of being donated to the LCMS and we can’t wait to see how God uses it for His glory.
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I presented at the meetings regarding the care and plans of care of our LCMS and Alliance missionaries and their families. I am looking forward to continuing my work with this regional team in conjunction with our newest missionary and my partner in care, Nurse Tirzah Krey. Please pray for Tirzah; she is just waiting for her visa application to be processed before she moves to the Dominican to work alongside me.
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The meetings were interrupted by calls and updates from our Puerto Rican missionaries regarding the earthquakes happening near Puerto Rico. Some of our regional leaders left Belize right away after the first large quake on the 7th of January in a first wave of support for our missionaries on the ground. They met with Pastor Ross Johnson there, who directs LCMS Disaster Response, to assess the situation and begin to form a plan! I followed one week later on a second support team with Blake Warren, our Regional Business Manager, Pastor Sergio Fritzler, and Erin Mackenzie.
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We worked together to support our local missionaries in logistics, family care, disaster response, and spiritual care as they continue to adapt to the ongoing situation. On a daily basis, plans change, so as a regional support team we are doing our best to work to care for our missionaries and their families in the middle of the unknown. I am so thankful that our God is so great that we can hold fast to Him and His promises even as the earth around us shakes. Our team on the ground is sharing that good news every day.
Quakes continue. Anxiety continues. Service continues.
And in the middle of it all, the preaching of the Gospel continues.
Missionary Erin Mackenzie’s blog has several posts regarding our time in Puerto Rico, check them out! Here are a few excerpts:
"Their new normal includes the earth rumbling periodically, swapping stories with others who may or may not have sensed the most recent vibrations, and the dreaded ping of QuakeFeed. All of it adds up to heightened anxiety levels, structural damage, and the intense work load of post-disaster church planting. And, in reality, it’s too soon to say "post-disaster." If you read between the lines above, you may have ascertained that there have been seven quakes already today. They don’t seem to be diminishing in magnitude or frequency, and if the history of earthquake swarms is any indication, they may continue for several months to a year."
"…one member of the third wave overlapped with us for a day; another, a church planting missionary pastor in Spain, arrives tonight. It shouldn’t be overlooked that the level of regional support we’ve been able to deploy, and quickly, is a testament to the value of sending and equipping missionaries, which couldn’t happen without your prayerful and financial investment. THANK YOU for your part in holding up the prophets’ hands."
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I’m getting married!
Just three days ago, my boyfriend-turned-fiancé, Rafael Flores, proposed to me and I said YES!
I met Rafael in August 2018, when he arrived to the Dominican to study at our Seminary. We began dating that November, and are very excited to walk together toward a Christ-centered marriage.
(Don’t worry, we got the ring re-sized, and it fits now!)
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Coming up…. Plans are flying into place for our first CHE (Community Health Evangelism) MMT (Mercy Medical team)! This is a short term team heading to Lima, Peru with the task of providing health education alongside our church-planting pastors and vicar in Lima! I am THRILLED to be along for the ride, as I assist with coordination, lesson planning, and teaching in Lima! Please pray for the members of the team as they make preparations to head down to our region!
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I’ll be traveling to Lima on February 13th, prayer warriors! Please pray for safety and open hearts and minds to the bible lessons and health lessons!
(Pictured above: our 8-way evening team phone call this week, my neighbors decided to play music really loud, so I was muting and unmuting myself pretty frequently during the conversations!)
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Please pray for:
- Missionaries at work around the world Spreading the Gospel, Planting Lutheran Churches, and Showing Mercy.
- Our supervisors, directors, and church presidents for wisdom in decisions and faithful leadership
- Puerto Rico in continued earthquakes
- Jamielynn and Rafael as they begin preparations for their marriage
- Jamielynn’s trip to Peru in February
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Get the latest updates about projects, missionaries, and your church’s work in the world here!
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Tinkey_Dominican-Republic_Jan2020.pdf