"How did I get here?"

I have good news and bad news...

Good news:  the Lord has delivered me into the most beautiful, peaceful, awe-inspiring, glorious refuge and home a girl could ever hope or even dream of asking for...

Bad news: this blog isn't about that (sorry, you'll have to wait a little longer for that one)

However, the Lord is SO AMAZING! His faithfulness never ends and the best part is I get to spend eternity with Him!

God is doing so much in my life and all around me. I find myself just stopping to ask, "How did I get here?"

One of those moments occurred Monday night.

My friend, Erika, from Playa Laguna invited me over for dinner.  I had shared with her the previous week, while our mission team was serving at her home, that I tutor Mondays and Tuesdays  very close to her home.  I told her that on my way back out to the main street to catch a ride that I could maybe stop by and say "hola" some time.

Erika was all over it! She loves cooking for others and now that she has a brand new kitchen, she insisted that I come over for dinner, just me and her.

It was a date!

Well, my tutoring session was canceled, but I didn't let that prevent me from keeping my date.  Erika and Victor live a good ways off the main road;  knowing that carritos and guaguas only drive on the main road, I had to face my fear and take a motoconcho.

This might not seem like a big deal to you, but riding on the back of a motocycle, with a driver you don't know, in the rain, and with no helmet isn't my idea of safety.  So, before I left my house, my friend Shayna came over to pray and we asked the Lord to give me a moto driver with whom I could trust and that the Lord would bless my time with Erika.

I made my way down the hill and stood at the side of the road in the rain ,waiting for a moto to show up... However, with the rain, none were out driving around.  So after some time, two men asked me if I wanted to wait under the covering with them.  Though I declined, I told them I needed a moto.  Sure enough, one of them, whose name is Gregario, was a moto driver!

I jumped on, prayed for the blood of Jesus to cover us, and I was delivered safely to Erika's.  I asked Gregario to return at 6:30pm so I could get a ride back out, so he gave me his number and said he'd be back.

Whew... I made it!  It was comforting to see Erika, her husband Victor, Alexander, Rocio, and Fa at the door to greet me.

Mind you, I'm still brushing up on my Spanish and that's all Erika and her family speak.  I brought my pocket Spanish-English dictionary as back-up, but trusted that God would provide us both with the words and understanding for each other.

We had SUCH a beautiful time together! We shared about our families and our hearts for God's children.  She has a passion for children and cooking... I'll let you connect the dots.  Brand new kitchen, brand new ministry center next door, and tons of kids in Playa Laguna.  I'm exicted!

I also spent time getting to know her son, Alexander, who is around 9 years old.  He is the sweetest and most gentle boy I've met.  He was blowing bubble gum and I told him some day soon we need to have a contest to see who could blow the biggest bubble.  Oh, it's on!

Before dinner was served, Gregario returned and I admit, I panicked.  But God is so good.  Turns out  Victor knows him.  And through more discussion, we found out that Gregario knows of  Rocio and Fa's mother (if you want more on this story, click HERE).

For dinner, Erika prepared yellow rice and a cabbage salad, and to drink, "agua de Dios" (fresh rain water).  She set a special place for me to sit at the table and then set a place for Gregario, Alexander, and herself.  Rocio sat on the floor.  I was asked to say the blessing and it pretty much went like this...

 "Gracias Padre para este comida.  Tu eres gran y marveloso.  Gracias por Erika y para todo."

 I was nervous to say the blessing in Spanish, but God saw my heart.

There we were, rain clamoring down on the tin roof, no light but the small flickers of 3 candles.  It was at that moment that I found myself asking, "How did I get here?"

By far, one of the best nights of my life.

With the rain coming down like it was, it wasn't safe for us to leave, so we stayed a little longer.  Erika even offered for me to stay the night with her.  Alexander made a special trip out to the local colmado (general store) to get... you guessed it... bubble gum! I tell you, I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time. Chewing gum as fast as we could to get the biggest bubble was so much fun! Alexander would get embarrassed, so I turned away and said I wouldn't look.   Although it was a close call, he won that "torneo"...  Better luck next time!

Around 8:30pm, the rain had died down a bit, so I decided it was time to head home.  I said my goodbyes and little Rocio just stood by the door with a frown on her face as if to say, "Don't go."  Just breaks your heart.

I made it home safe and sound... though quite wet.  I'm praying for discernment on this one, but I might have found a reliable moto driver.  Gregario asked questions over dinner about what I'm doing here and how I know Erika, as he took in the stories both she and Victor shared concerning God's work in Playa Laguna.  I can't help but hope that the Lord is doing something in Gregario's life, too.

Who knows... but I tell you, it's not every day a stranger off the street happens to know the people you're dining with and then stays for dinner.  Just saying.

I wish I had more pictures to share, but I'll be sure to take more during future visits! I was invited to join Erika and the kids at the beach soon.  I can't wait!

The Promised Land

We have such a faithful and loving Father.  Scripture is full of His promises to prove it.

The past couple of weeks have been trying.  Ok, trying doesn't quite cut it... We've been persecuted in our own home, I've been told I'm stupid for "brainwashing" the girls into believing a "little book" called the Bible, and to top it off, the only safe place I had to lock myself in has become infested with rats.  Dare I say anything to our landlord who is kicking us out? No, it would only cause more heartache and drama (I've set out traps... praying the critters go away).

It hasn't been my week.

But that doesn't matter, because it's God's.  Every week, every day, every hour, every minute, every second is His.

Before I moved down here, the Lord had been speaking to my heart about how both the Suchers and myself have been traveling in the wilderness.   Right before I came, He gave me Song of Solomon 8:5, "Who is that coming up from the wilderness leaning on her beloved?"  so I knew God had great things in store for this year in the DR.

In my daily readings for the past months, I've been working through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and now Deuteronomy... common theme? Wandering through the wilderness to be delivered at last into the Promised Land.  I could not have even planned these readings better for such a time as this... God has been speaking so lovingly, yet with conviction, of my own wandering and disobedience in this "wilderness" here, preparing me to enter into His Promised Land.

The Lord has been gently refining my soul like gold.  It burns at times, but the Lord only disciplines those whom He loves.  God has been revealing to me how I must let go of what I thought life and school would be like on the field, and just breathe in His Presence and be the person He created me to be.  Life as a missionary is demanding, chaotic, and tiring, and just when you think you're getting a routine down, something will come in and disrupt it... but it all depends on how you react to each situation.

Well, a BIG interruption in our lives has come in the form of having our security of a home being taken from us.  The famous words from Pearl the Landlord come to mind... "You'll be evic-vic!" (In other words... we've been evicted).

I always felt in my heart and spirit that God had incredible plans for this building we're in.  I felt an urgency before I moved here to pray for this home, that God have His way, that He brings the nations in, and that people seek refuge, restoration, and joy of the Lord in this home.  I've been praying for the salvation of our landlord, Jay, who would be referred to as "stiff-necked" in the Bible.  He can be so stubborn and downright mean in instigating problems.

Even upon hearing that he was kicking us out, I was holding on so strongly to what I thought the Lord had for us here.  I was adamant that the Lord was giving us this building for the mission.  Nothing is set in stone, of course, but it appears that we're completely cutting ties with this place.  The view of the mountains, the classroom overlooking the ocean, the many rooms where potential mission teams could eventually stay with us... and my beloved prayer spot on the roof.

God has been speaking so loudly to me in this time, it's crazy.  Through the psalms I've read...

"For behold, your enemies make an uproar... fill their faces with shame that they may seek your name, O Lord... that they may know that you alone whose name is the Lord are the Most High over all the earth"  Psalm 83:3, 16, 18

 and

 "O God, insolent men have risen up against me, a band of ruthless men seek my life, and they do not set you before them.  But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.  Turn to me and be gracious to me, give Your Strength to Your servant, and save the son of your maidservant.  Show me a sign of Your favor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame, because You, Lord, have helped me and comforted me." Psalm 85:14-17

Then I read Acts 5:41 after the apostles had just been beaten for Jesus' namesake... "Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name." 


Rejoicing.  Yes, rejoicing.  Oh how the Lord continues to renew my mind and spirit everyday.

This past week we've experienced our own little "House Hunters International" as we set out looking for a place to call home.  The Suchers have set their sight on a quaint little home that's big enough for their family and I'm so excited for them to be able to have a place of their own, full of God's peace and joy.

I'm still looking for my own place within a reasonable traveling distance to the Suchers.  I know the Lord will provide.  He's been so good to me and has given me His protection and assurance in so many ways.  And I just read Deuteronomy 7 of which I'm clinging to His promises...

"When the Lord your God brings you into the Land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you... you  shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them... but thus shall you deal with them; you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire.  For you are a people holy to the Lord your God.  The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His treasured possession, out of all the people who are on the face of the earth.  It was not because you were more in number than any other people the the Lord set His love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that He swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty Hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.  Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments, to a thousand generations, and repays to their face those who hate Him, by destroying them.  He will not be slack with one who hates Him.  He will repay him to his face.  You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statues and the rules that I command you today.  And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that He swore to your fathers.  He will love you, bless you, and multiply you.  He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, you grain, and your wine and your oil... And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you knew, will He inflict on you, but He will lay them on all who hate you.  And you shall consume all the peoples that the Lord your God will give over to you.  Your eye shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you."

God knows everything we're going through here.  I know, without a doubt, He is delivering us from this present unrest to a land flowing with milk and honey.  I may not know yet what that will look like, but I have a faithful Lord, who is for me, not against me, who will provide.

One last note.  WE may be leaving this building on the hill... but God is staying.  I know His Presence dwells here richly, especially on the roof. So one of the reasons Jay wanted us out immediately was because he came back to find a few tiles broken in the driveway.  Well, he didn't have any of the same tiles so he had to pull out some new ones... check out this design...

Jay has no idea, and we're not about to tell him.  We'll leave that to the Lord.  There's also a tree right across the way that always reminds me of Jesus on the cross.  It directly faces this building.  Can you see it?

I'll miss the view and the prayer place I found with the Lord, but the Lord is my refuge and all I need is Him.  I have faith He is already preparing our future meeting place... He is so good to me.  I may be leaving, but I wont stop praying for Jay.  He needs the Lord so badly and all I can think of is Saul's conversion in Acts.  Nothing is impossible for God.  If you can, lift him up in prayer, as well as for God's provision in houses for us.  Your prayers are the greatest gift we could ever receive!

Catching Up

So much has happened since my last post nearly a MONTH ago.

Let's see... where to begin?

We had a team from Calvary Chapel Worship Center in New Port Richey serve with us for a week.  Boy, did this team come prepared and filled with the Holy Spirit! They went door to door evangelizing, praying with people in the communities and villages for deep healing and restoration...  God revealed His outstretched arm in so many ways, you wouldn't even believe it!

This team was amazing.  They visited and shared the gospel with people day after day, worked on the new ministry center in Playa Laguna (where Erika and Rosio live), and held two women's conferences in the Dominican churches.  I'm just scratching the surface on all the Lord did through them while they were here... God truly blessed us by their service, and the blessings are still coming long after they've gone!

After this team, we had a family from Tampa come alongside us to serve.  It was such a joy to have the Tanella family in the Sucher home... they may never realize just how they ministered to us! The family joined us in Redemption Village, Playa Laguna, and Villa Paraiso as we spent time loving on the children with games, face painting, bubbles, and a skit of the good Samaritan.

And oh, did I mention that there's a new addition to the Sucher family? Her name is Marie Flor.  I first introduced you to her in my entry titled A Visit to Redemption. She is the little baby Barb visited and prayed for time after time.  The Lord continually put this baby on her heart.  Marie Flor joined us over a month ago quite unexpectedly.  One doctor's visit turned into a week which has turned into months.    Her grandparents were unable to provide for her and told Barb that she's ours now.  Tests have discovered that she has some variation of Sickle Cell Anemia and she was malnourished when she came to live with us.  We're just praying for God's healing and discernment.

God has already filled us all with great love for this precious baby.  She turned 1 year old last week, although she is at the physical maturity of a 6 month old.  There is something so sweet about having the presence of a baby in the home.  While my ears are still adjusting to the screaming, I so enjoy her smile, laughter, and simply rocking her to sleep.

And when God is doing a mighty work around you, you know the enemy is right behind Him attempting to kill, steal, and destroy.  Upon our landlord's return from the states last week, we were told he wanted us out... ASAP.  If there is anyone who needs the love of God, it is this man.  I have never tasted true persecution until I met him.  He blasphemes the Lord daily and taunts us.  God has been speaking to me so powerfully in my time alone in His Word and has filled me with an incredible peace that only comes from above. I will have to write more later about this ordeal, but until then... will you commit to praying for us?


Please pray that God heals Marie Flor... that Jay, our landlord, has a real encounter with the Living God where his only response is to repent and turn to the Lord... that God directs our path to a home He has for the Suchers and for myself... that God's Presence and Peace abide in us and surrounds us.