missionaryMAC

Greetings from St. Louis. You didn't know I was coming because neither did yesterday's birthday girl - my mama  :) Before it gets eclipsed by the Brazilian Alliance missionary orientation I'm missing the start of in Santiago, let's not let Missions Unpacked get swept under the rug. I really can't describe the 4-week online educational experience much better than this Reporter article , but here are some personal insights.  It all started with a brainstorm about how we could best translate the on-field volunteer experience to on-screen that morphed into the DR online mission education team that Courtney & I hosted AND it's global cousin, an as yet unnamed event that I and some others began planning in May 2020. The name came to me during a morning run at the garden. With components in various stages of completion, Missions Unpacked was officially christened in late October or early November. From there, it was a sprint to the mid-January finish line: working

Today's accomplishment: eight Brazilian Alliance missionary pastors and their families (18 people in all) have plane tickets to come to the Dominican at the end of the month. Who am I kidding? That's this week 's accomplishment.  Helping plan a monthlong orientation for them has been one of my many irons in the fire thus far into 2021. The eight guys are either recent seminary graduates or current pastors with a call from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil (IELB) to serve as foreign missionaries. They'll spend four weeks here, in language classes (English, French, or Spanish) in the mornings and missiology and culture sessions in the afternoons. Four will go on to serve in LAC (in the DR, Guatemala, Panama, and Uruguay), and the rest in Africa. The whole shebang is happening in Santiago because LAC has a long and successful track record of sending Alliance missionaries, whereas it's somewhat of a new foray for Africa.  This is a Big Deal. Every time I explai

The Wildauers are en route to Belize as I write this. What joy that on pandemic day 333, the Lord of the Church is sending new workers into His harvest field.  But wait. They were a part of the DR family...of the Cerro Alto family...and now they're just gone? Why did they stop by my house one afternoon last week to say goodbye ? Similar days have been some of my most difficult in 2 1/2 years on the field - tearful curbside hugs, airport runs I was utterly unprepared to make, and the like.  When I signed up to be a missionary, I signed up for one  heart wrenching farewell, as my family faded into the crowd at Lambert airport while I shuffled into the line at the American Airlines check-in counter.  Or so I thought.  Turns out, transition is part of missionary life. Sometimes, a sucky part. I did know a few things going in, like that Santiago was the seat of LAC's regional headquarters and constantly had people passing through for orientation. It's fun being one of the firs

I had last week's Taco Tuesday leftovers for dinner tonight. Not just any Taco Tuesday, though - a new recipe (shocking!) bookended by some antics with the Krey kids.  I don't know what it is about these giant letters, but they're fast becoming a thing in the DR and around the region (c.f. Samana and Lima ), and I'm as much of a sucker for them as the next guy. My neighborhood is one of the latest to get in on the action, so a photo shoot (albeit one that ended abruptly when it started sprinkling) was long overdue.  Quick detour through a recently remodeled  parquecito with landscaping rocks in the pattern of the Dominican flag.  My living room rug has lent itself to hours of fascination for missionary kids. Tuesday, it became a gym mat (pictured) and later a stage.  Triplet-ing in our pink and coral.  Until next time, blessings!