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News: December 2000 | |
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Mitch & Debbie Martinez have been hosting short-term missions for more than 10 years. Besides living and ministering in the host country of the Dominican Republic during this period, they are also both bilingual and serve as translators for the teams. They have worked with the following missions: Your Missionary Outreach, Worldteam, The Missionary Church Intl., and Assemblies of God World Missions. They both have their Master of Arts from Columbia International University (Bible and Education majors), and BAs in Missions from Southeastern College, Lakeland, FL. |
The Deadline is met! | ||
| Dear family and friends, We are in our new building! Praise the Lord! We have just finished our third month of classes at La Vega Christian School. We will try to bring you up to date on the school project. Enrollment is up to 270 children for this fall (100 more than last year.) We moved into the new building on September the 1st as our contract expired on the old building. Classes started the 11th of September. The building is not finished yet but we have great faith that in the next few months it will be. As of the writing of this letter we are still trying to get the exterior stucco work done. The upstairs bathrooms are not ready, but thankfully the downstairs bathrooms are meeting our needs. All sixteen classrooms were almost ready for opening day. There were windows out on some of the upstairs classrooms, and it was two weeks before every class had a door that could be locked. Electrical work is almost finished. Classes run from pre-kinder to 7th grade in Spanish, and from 1st to High School in the English program. |
We are using the School of Tomorrow curriculum out of Texas for the English program. It has been a blessing to see children from poor homes find sponsors. This year 33 children have at least half scholarships to attend our school. Currently full scholarships cost $35 U.S. a month (this figure does not include the cost for their uniforms.) We want to thank those of you who have helped in this way. It would also be in order to thank the many that have contributed financially to the construction of this school. For three years we have been receiving donations for this project. It is surely amazing what the Lord is doing through the faithfulness of His people. Many actually came in person to help. One day, three Dominican engineers pulled into the school parking lot and just gazed in awe at the thirty or more young people from the U.S. (guys and girls) who were mixing and pouring concrete for the 2nd story. They asked Mitch how much he was paying them. They could not believe it when he replied that these workers were volunteers. |
Many spent all year raising the funds to bring them to the Dominican Republic. Over two hundred young people and adults came this summer to help on this project. It has been our busiest summer yet! Finally, we thank the many who have spent time in prayer on behalf of this project. Back in June we were shy 12 thousand dollars from being able to pour a critical concrete slab. The lack of these finances would have made it impossible to have the second story ready by September. Without mentioning this need to anyone (except the Lord), an anonymous donation came in for 7 thousand dollars, and within a week a dear couple donated the other five. We are convinced that it was in answer to the prayers of God's people that these finances came in. God listens to the prayers of his people. We know that God's people are praying for us and for this much needed project. Thank you for being a part of this ministry. Our victories are your victories. God bless you dear ones! |
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A special thanks to all of you who donated sacrificially and/or came to work this summer. Some of those special folks are:
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Only God could do this! Only the Lord could put us in touch with these people and send them all the way to La Vega (not a tourist destination) to mix cement, move block, laugh and sweat, teach, pray and play with the children. Besides building the school, they taught VBS, held medical clinics, ministered in street meetings and local churches with preaching, testimonies, drama, puppets and songs, and saw many children, youth and adults come to the Lord. It has been an awesome experience for all of us. Please continue to pray for us. We need the wisdom of the Lord to run La Vega Christian School as a truly Christian school. We also have many debts to pay off. We stand on Psalm 25:1 "To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me." Again, thank you for you offerings, for coming to help, for praying for us, for caring about the children of the Dominican Republic. Please e-mail us some encouragement at dominicanmissions@hotmail.com Our home phone is 809-573-1533, and the school's new phone is 809-277-3033. Let us know how we can pray for or help you. We love and appreciate you. Keep following Jesus. Debbie and Mitch, Paul, John (Sarah is in college in Lakeland, FL; Josh is studying in Titusville, FL) |
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