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If you think you are on our list, but have not received anything in a while, drop us a note here. Sometimes things fall through the cracks and we overlook e-mail changes. We’d be happy to make sure that doesn’t happen to you!
We were recently blessed by the visit of videographer Tim Frakes, who prepared an excellent look into our ministry in Punta Cana. Enjoy!
After months of hard work and dedication, we will be celebrating the inauguration of ALIANZA today, Saturday, April 2nd! We are so excited for this next step in our ministry here in Punta Cana. At 6:00 this evening, ALIANZA will open its doors to the community for the very first time. We are hosting an inaugural event to which we have invited people from the neighborhood and surrounding area.
Our desire is to see God draw people to the inauguration, who will then become interested in returning for future activities. Ultimately, we want to see our friends and neighbors growing in an authentic relationship with Christ. The inauguration we will celebrate tonight is an important step toward seeing this dream become a reality.
Please pray with us that God would be glorified in this community and throughout Punta Cana! Pray that He would draw our friends and neighbors to come check us out this evening, and that they would be drawn to keep coming back! Also pray that many would attend our first Sunday celebration service to be held tomorrow (Sunday, April 3rd) at 10:00 a.m.
We are so excited to share our good news with you. Today we received approval from our field leaders to move forward with securing a location for our church plant. We have settled on the rental price with the landlord, and now are ready to begin negotiating the terms of the lease. Please pray for wisdom throughout this process.
We are looking forward to the day we can offer counseling to families, hold seminars, and offer training events of interest to the community. We are looking to establish a visible presence which will help families in Punta Cana see our commitment to them and to the community at large. We will also use this ministry facility to hold church services, classes for children, and any other activity we can dream up that will help introduce people to Christ!
We covet your prayers as we seek to formalize the contract, raise the needed funds to install flooring, ceilings, lighting, and air conditioning, and work to contract laborers to complete the necessary tasks. Please pray for wisdom in the many decisions we have to make in the coming weeks, and for God’s strength for the task.
If you want to consider a year-end, tax-deductible contribution to help make this ministry center a reality, click here to learn more.
We were recently informed by our C&MA National Office that we have reached the limit of what we are allowed to raise for our Outfit Fund over a five-year period. Wow!! Thank you so much for your incredible support for our family! We are amazed by your generosity.
This also means that for the remainder of the calendar year, we will not be able to raise funds for our Outfit Fund. If you would like to support us financially in other areas, we ask that you please direct your gifts toward the Punta Church Plant Project or our Work Fund.
Jeff just returned from meeting with the owner of the building where we hope to establish our ministry center for the Alianza church plant in Punta Cana. Praise the Lord with us that all of the negotiations went well, and the landlord has agreed to the rental price we requested. We will now await field approval before proceeding any further. Please pray for God to guide our steps as there is still much to be done to secure this locale.
Jeff and colleague Zac Stutler meet tomorrow morning (Wednesday, October 27) at 10:00 a.m. with the owner of a building that we consider to be a really good option for our ministry center. Please pray that the Lord would give us grace in the eyes of this gentleman and that we might clearly know what the Lord’s will is in relation to a locale in this building. Check out our page, Using Your $Change$ to Bring Change, to learn more about this opportunity and view pictures of the space we would like to rent.
We have shared recently about our desire to establish a ministry center to help meet the needs of families in Punta Cana. Some of you may be wondering if there is a way you can help offset the initial startup costs of this new venture. An Approved Special for the Punta Cana Church Plant Project has been set up through The Alliance, allowing us to raise $45,000 for this need. To learn more about some ways these funds will be used or how you can help, click here.
Much of our activities these days are concentrated on laying the foundation. What does this mean? We continue to work toward getting our home settled. This is a critical way to lay the foundation, not only for our future ministry, but also for our family’s mental health and well-being. We want our home to serve as a refuge and a place of respite, a place to be mentally, physically, and spiritually restored. Staying healthy in these areas will help us to minister more effectively to the families around us. Please pray that we would “lay a good foundation” here at home, and in our hearts, so that Jesus would truly be King of our hearts and our home.
These days, we are also focused on laying the foundation for our future ministry here in Punta Cana. We meet regularly with colleagues Zac & Julie Stutler to pray, dream, and plan for the future of our new church plant. Our mission? To motivate and equip the families of Punta Cana to live in an authentic relationship with Christ and reflect His love toward others. Please pray with us as we seek God’s face and try to understand the vision He has placed in our hearts for this ministry.
As we work to develop our mission and understand the task God has set before us, we are making definite strides toward setting up a ministry center and beginning church services. We surveyed various families in the Punta Cana community to determine their opinions regarding a name for this ministry, and the name Alianza surfaced as the clear winner. Simply put, Alianza means “alliance.” According to Merriam-Webster, an alliance is “a bond or connection between families, states, parties or individuals.” To the people of Punta Cana, it’s a name that communicates union and strength. We want to help the families of Punta Cana to form strong bonds, not only with each other, but also with Jesus Christ, and thus form an alliance of individuals who are passionate about knowing Christ and seeing their lives transformed in Him.
We are so happy to be in our new home in Punta Cana. We moved in on Wednesday, August 4th. All our beds were delivered that day, but we had to wait another day to receive our container, which included our new refrigerator and stove. Everything is now here . . . but it’s up to us to unpack it all!!
Please pray for us in these busy days as we begin working with colleagues Zac and Julie Stutler. We are meeting weekly as a team to pray and seek God as we start to lay plans for a new church in the Punta Cana region. Please pray for us as we seek to determine the mission God has for us, and how best to implement it.
Just under two weeks after we moved in, our son AJ started Kindergarten. He is doing remarkably well, although he continues to adjust to the school environment. While the majority of his school day is in English, he has Spanish for about an hour and a half each day. Please pray that he would quickly feel comfortable relating to others in Spanish, particularly after having been out of the country for the past year.
