Simos Family Ministry Update-November 2011

After 4 months in the DR... we give thanks to God for His wonderful provision. We praise Him for the relationships that we are forming. We trust in Him for what He will do. With all the thankfulness that we have, these statements flow from our heart. Change has stretched us, but ultimately, benefitted us. We're off and running... but we need your help! As mentioned before, we need to be located closer to our area of ministry in order to open a school near the bateyes. Please visit our website for all the details about this phase of our ministry as we seek to purchase land here in the Dominican Republic. DR landscape One thing that never gets old is the beautiful sky over the Dominican. Even when storms roll in, the skies just look cool! As we drive to the bateys, we are surrounded by sugarcane fields (not corn fields), blue skies above and the mountains in the distance. Power is out... again :( We have electricity most of the time, but it does go out unexpectedly about once a week for an hour or so with the occasional outage lasting 5+ hours. We are getting use to this by now, although it can still bother us since it does get dark here about 6 or 6:30pm. Above is a picture of us playing games by flashlight and candle light. Reality check, I was talking by cell phone with a friend in one of the bateyes, and I mentioned that we didn't have electricity and that I was in the dark. He replied "I'm in the dark too"... then it hit me... he never has electricity. We take so much for granted and think we can't live without the Internet, smart phones... try no electricity or running water. Car trouble... again :( Having car trouble seems to be the norm in the DR. While it can be annoying, the reality is it's not that bad. In the above picture, I was waiting to get some electrical issues fixed. It did take a few hours but once every thing was fixed, including a complete rewiring of the ignition and alarm system, it only cost me $15! Things take time, usually alot of time, but labor cost is pretty cheap. I got a flat tire patched for a $1 and my exhaust fixed including new parts, welding and labor for $40. And talk about convenience, there's literally a mechanic on every corner. Their shop is usually just under a piece of tin roof or just in the street with a handful of tools but hey, it works! In the Batey... again :) I got a haircut from Sonal, one of the young men living in batey Lima. As we spend more time with our friends in the bateyes, it's just good get to know them better and to see how each person is gifted. Yes, I have less hair to cut these days, but it's still necessary once in a while, so why not support a young man who's willing to work. The truth is we really enjoy being with our friends. It's not just that we have something to offer them, but also that we have a lot to learn from them. We're simply sharing life together and that's where ministry happens, Life on Life. We're looking forward to purchasing land and setting up our ministry closer to the bateys.

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