We serve an all-knowing, sovereign, loving God

At the last few churches, I specifically asked for prayer for wisdom about a situation.  There is a deaf woman named Miguelina who has been coming to church in the batey.  Miguelina has “no language:” she neither knows how to speak or to sign.   I have a desire to reach her, but I'm not sure what that looks like...I mean, how do you reach someone with no language?  There were so many questions unanswered in my mind.

• Do I begin learning American Sign Language (ASL)? 
• Is ASL used in the Dominican?
• If I can learn sign language, how do I go about teaching someone who knows no language?

God, however, reminded me that He is never surprised by anything that I encounter.  Over the last few months, He has brought 2 different people into my life who have experience sign language in the Dominican Republic…turns out it’s about 70% ASL (apparently that’s pretty common).  That’s great news!  Now I have a starting point: learn ASL so I can teach it to Miguelina.  But that still leaves a problem.  How on earth do I teach it to her???

Just this past Sunday, a sweet woman from Calvary Baptist Church in Byesville, OH shared with me her experiences in sign-language interpreting and teaching sign language to those with “no language.”  She pointed me to a resource called Silent Word Ministries, which not only has some valuable tools to share the Gospel but also contains a few articles on how to teach sign language to someone with “no language.” 

I guess God had all these things figured out before I did…but then, that’s no surprise, is it? J

God is good all the time. All the time, God is good.

The end is in sight!  This week my support level reached 90%!!

Just $170 more monthly support needed before applying for a visa & looking for plane tickets!

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Praise God with me for His amazing and gracious provision!

Pray for the last 10% to come in that I might be able to return to the DR by January.

The end is in sight!  This week my support level reached 90%!!

Just $170 of monthly support needed before I apply for a visa & start looking for plane tickets!

Praise God with me for His amazing and gracious provision!

Pray that the rest of the support will come in in time for me to return to the DR by January.

My monthly support level has just reached 81% this past week.

Praise God with me for His amazing and gracious provision!

Pray that the rest of the support will come in in time for me to return to the DR by January.

Ministry Update

This week, Mike and Annie (along with missionary Gary Byrd and Pastor Felix Mota and his wife Mari) are running a junior camp for 35 kids from batey Concho Primo, la iglesia bautista de Ramon Santana, and Josiah’s house.

You can get involved by praying!

Please pray:

·         that hearts will be tender and ready to hear God's Word

·         that the activities planned will run smoothly and there will be no injuries or accidents

·         that Mike, Annie, Felix, Mari, and Gary will have strength and energy for each day and that they will be sensitive to   the work that God is doing in each camper’s life

·         that God will be glorified in all that is done

Many people have asked me, "Where are you going this week?" and I realized that I didn't have a schedule posted, so here it is...

Upcoming Summer Schedule

July 9-11

Number One Volleyball Camp (Gainesville, GA)

July 12-16

VBS @ First Baptist Church (Brunswick, OH)

July 19 

am - Grace Baptist Church (Westlake, OH)

pm - Faith Baptist Church (Amherst, OH)

July 20-24

Clearwater Christian College Volleyball Camp 

(Clearwater, FL)

August 5-8

VBS @ Journey Church (Dublin, OH)

August 30

Perry Baptist Church (Canton, OH)

God is in the “big” things too…

As you may have seen, last weekend my monthly support level reached 54% which was a huge answer to prayer!

This past week, 2 more supporters decided to partner with me, bringing my current monthly support level to 67%!

Thank you for the part that each one of you has played in the ministry, whether through praying (for the ministry & for my support) or through giving sacrificially - or both. You mean so much to me, and I'm honored to partner with you.

Please continue to pray that God will bring in the final 1/3 of the support ($545/month) in His way and in His time.  I’m anxious to return to the DR and resume ministry, but I also know that God is in control of all things (including timing). He has been so good in using this time to grow me and to allow me to minister to many people here in the States (as well as giving me the unexpected blessing of time with my family).  So this is my prayer...that I won't try to jump ahead of Him or lag behind Him but will walk right with Him in this process and will be able to return in His time.

God is in the “little” things…

(This post is a little delayed, but it’s never too late to tell what God has done, right?  Right.)

So, I took my car in to get checked at the end of April because it had been doing weird things like shaking a lot when I was braking.  I was afraid something might have been loose.  I expected to just take the car in and wait a couple hour and, hopefully, they could tell me what was wrong with it.  Well, it turns out the driver’s side airbag was recalled so I was given a rental vehicle for about a week while they waited for the airbag to come in.  I didn’t complain.  I’d been putting a lot of miles on my vehicle traveling on the weekends, so who would mind putting miles on someone else’s vehicle?

Long story short, I ended up having the rental vehicle for almost 3 weeks.  When I finally went back to get my car, I got the bad news: there was a whole list of things wrong (brake pads, struts, and a whole lot of stuff I don’t remember).  Basically the car has so many miles that it’s not worth putting the money into.

At first I was depressed.  I still need the car for a lot more road trips to churches and volleyball camps.

I haven’t yet decided what I’m going to do about the car, but I realized that God had given me an incredible blessing: the weekends that I had my rental car where the weekends of my two furthest trips (a 2 ½ hour trip to Elyria, OH and a 3 hour trip to Whiteland, IN).  I guess I had been kinda hoping for a miraculous report on my car when I got it back.  God didn’t do that.  But He did provide for my needs.  I had a reliable car for those two trips and I didn’t have to put the miles and stress on my own vehicle. 

God doesn’t always provide how we expect, but He does always provide just what He knows we need.

Goal!

I asked you to pray that I would reach 50% by May 17…

Well, today is May 17 and my monthly support level is now at 54%!  

Thanks for praying!  Stay posted to see how God continues to provide… J

God is good all the time,                                           

all the time God is good. 

The last couple of weeks have been busy, but exciting!  Here’s a quick update:

Church Meetings

I had the privilege of visiting Calvary Bible Church just across town on April 12 and Fellowship Baptist Church in Wadsworth, OH on April 19. 

For those of you who don’t know, Calvary is the home church of my high school, Northside Christian School.  It was such a blessing and privilege to speak there!  Besides a quick visit earlier this year, I hadn’t been to Calvary in probably 10 years, so it was an added blessing to see what amazing things God has done in and through the church in that time!  We serve a God who is at work!  One of the “funnest” parts of pre-field ministry for me has been the opportunity to see God working in so many ways and in so many churches!  Thank you, Calvary, for the wonderful visit: I left both encouraged and challenged by your love for God and for the Gospel!

The meeting with Fellowship Baptist Church also went well!  We ate lunch together after the morning service and then had a Q/A time.  I really enjoyed getting to meet many members of the congregation on a more personal level during lunch and seeing their hearts for the Lord and His work.  It never ceases to amaze me how God knits together the hearts of His people: though we may be “total strangers” at first, we have an instant bond because of our Savior!

Work

In the last month, I havev started substitute teaching at a local charter school and teaching ESL online classes.  Between the two, I have been kept pretty busy; but I am thankful for the work!

Support

Generous love offerings & gifts from individuals have given sacrificially, moving my Outfit-and-Passage level to 77%!

A new church took me on for support this week, bringing my current monthly support level up to 43%!

*Be sure to check out the newly updated pie charts on the “Get Involved” page.*

God is good!

Since January, I have had the opportunity to share the ministry in 8 different churches (all within the state of Ohio)! 

To be honest, I had no idea what to expect when I came home to begin “pre-field ministry” in December.  I didn’t know if I would be able to get into churches quickly or if it would take long to raise support to return to the DR full-time.     While there are still a lot of unknowns, there is one “known:”

God is good all the time,                                           

all the time God is good. 

He is good whether things take longer than I'd hoped or whether I'm back to the field quicker than I could've dreamed.  Over the last couple months, He has demonstrated His goodness to me in two exciting ways:

1. He has opened up many opportunities for me to speak.  In addition to the meetings that have passed, I have 5 more coming up in the next 6 weeks and a few others in the more distant future! (see schedule below) Several of the meetings scheduled were last minute openings which allowed me to visit sooner than I would have normally been able.  God is good!
   
2. In March, another church and another individual decided to partner with me, bringing my monthly support level up to 38% now! 

“Jesus, Jesus how I trust Him, how I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er. .  .Oh for grace to trust Him more.”  

He has been so good and I have so many reasons to trust Him, but I ask that you pray with me for continued grace to trust Him in this endeavor - trust that He will not only bring more ministry contacts and more meetings, but will provide the needed support in HIS time. 

Thank you for your support and your prayers!

Here is my schedule for the next few weeks:

April 12

Calvary Bible Church (Columbus, OH)

April 19

Youngs Corner Fellowship Baptist Church (Wadsworth, OH)

April 26-27

Abbe Road Baptist Church (Elyria, OH)

May 2

Victory Baptist Church (Whiteland, IN)

May 17

Berean Baptist Church (Pickerington, OH)

It's hard to believe that I've been back in the States for 5 weeks!  January has been filled lots of "pre-field" activities: creating prayer cards and brochures, calling pastors, setting up meetings, visiting churches, etc.  While I am excited about heading back to the DR as a full-time missionary, there is a lot that must be done before I can return! Over the last couple weeks I have had the privilege of visiting two great churches: 

Johnstown Independent Baptist Church (Johnstown, OH) 
Baptist Bible Church (Ravenna, OH)

I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about heading out on deputation and going into churches that, in some cases, I won't know anyone.  But visiting these two churches was such a great experience!  I love meeting new people and these last two weeks I had the privilege to meet some wonderful people - some incredibly faithful servants of God.  Of course, Johnstown is my Uncle Dan's church, so I wasn't going into a completely new environment there. It was so nice to share the ministry with people that I love and also to see him and his family in ministry.  The next week, I had a very encouraging visit with Pastor McLaughlin and his wife and the people of Baptist Bible Church.  It never gets old talking with those more experienced in ministry and learning from them!

I will be staying around home for the next few weeks before heading to another church. Here is my upcoming schedule of churches that I will be visiting:

February 15 (pm) Faith Baptist Church (Commercial Point, OH)

February 22 (am) Youngs Corner Fellowship Baptist Church (Wadsworth, OH)

March 8 (am) Calvary Baptist Church (Xenia, OH)

March 15 (am)   Midview Baptist Church (Grafton, OH)

   (pm)   Camden Baptist Church (Wellington, OH)

March 22 (pm) Grace Baptist Church (Minford, OH)

Please pray for me as I visit these churches. 

Pray that I will present the ministry clearly and show what God is doing in the batey.  

Pray that I will be an encouragement to the pastors and church families.  

Pray that I will be able to schedule more meetings for April and May.  

Pray that God will bring along just the team of churches and individuals that He wants to support me.

Pray that I will continue to trust Him to get me back to the DR in His time.

If you or your church is interested in having me come and present the ministry in the DR this spring, please contact me at declaringhisworks@gmail.com. I currently have 33% of the monthly support I will need to return to the DR full time.