Relationships - Jason

Because we are learning the language, I think we have learned in a greater way how much we as people want to be known by others. There is a something in us that makes us desire to connect. With a language barrier - that desire is huge. At first, we were very "flat" - we could only say "Hi, how are you?" "I'm fine, and you?" Now, as great as that is, saying that over and over and over again can make a person want to scream - "there is more to me than this!" So as our language has grown, our relationships have begun to grow as well. Christmas speaks of the possibility for relationship and so we thought we would share with you a few of the people who are a part of our lives here in the DR.

This is Victoria, one of our Spanish teachers. When Pam really needed a friend, Victoria stepped in inviting her to all kinds of things. If we ever speak with perfect grammar - it will be because of her hard work!

Josue is our other Spanish teacher. He is recently engaged to Mari Fe. We have lots of good theology type talks with him.











This is Sammy's teacher, Miss Seeman. The kids have such great teachers at Santiago Christian School. The boys have made a very smooth adjustment partly because of them.










Jonny takes care of our apartment building and is the day guard. He is from Haiti, so we are still learning to communicate. His Spanish has a sing-song type quality and my Spanish has a start-stop-and-crash quality. He's a Christian and is always reading his Bible.








Pastor Monteja leads the church that we go to on Sunday nights and also where we teach English. He is very patient with us and has made us feel a part of their church.










Frank was the first to be extremely patient with me. He "talked" to me for a couple of hours one night when neither of us knew how to say the days of the week in the others language. He just used his Bible to communicate - moving from one chapter and verse to another.








Frank's wife Ires has had us into their home several times. We have had a lot of first's with them - all kinds of new foods, especially fruits.











Yanet is a member of the church in the country and also an English student. She has a sense of humor and loves to sing the classic hymns of the faith.










The boys are making lots of friends no matter where they go. They speak a universal language.












Just this week, we went down to the San Pedro area to begin scouting out some villages. We hope that the Lord will use us to develop life changing relationships with people who will come to know Christ as life.