Sante Fe, N.M. Orientation

During the month of January we spent two weeks with family in Missouri and Florida. This was an important time to drop off belongings for storage and renew the bonds of love that bind us together with family. It was an emotional time of saying a number of good-byes as we embarked on our new mission assignment. We had already said farewell to our beloved church family at Antioch in December.

On January 17 we arrived at an ecumenical orientation for missionaries sponsored by several denominations at Plaza Resolana Conference Center in Sante Fe, N.M. Our main presenter was Dr. Tony Gibbins, a theological anthropologist from Catholic Theological Seminary who did an excellent job of helping us prepare to enter a totally new environment as Christian people. Along with 40 other participants headed to all parts of the globe, we were immersed in two weeks of learning, preparation, renewal and transition. Childcare was offered for preschool children which Christy (4) enjoyed. Stephen (9) and Jacob (7) participated in classwork daily with a local teacher. We all benefitted from this orientation experience.

The Welcome

On Jan. 31 we left Orlando early in the morning and, following a layover in Miami, we arrived in Santo Domingo by mid-afternoon. We had carefully packed every square inch of box and suitcase space to the allowable limit in order to bring along our computer. The customs inspector did open our huge boxes but we passed on through without delay.

Outside in the warm Caribbean sun we were greeted by the friendly faces of Miguel Ogando, President of the Conference of Churches, Guillermo Encarnacion, a Lancaster, Pa., pastor and Dominican native, working with disaster response, Aramis Reyes, Executive Director of COTEDO (Committee for Dominican Ecumenical Work) and another disaster volunteer from Ohio, Eric Hunter. They loaded us into a pickup and a car and took us to Hotel Cervantes where we spent two nights.

On Monday morning we headed to Carol Morgan School where Stephen and Jacob are attending. We had already agreed that the first day would be a time to get oriented and they would not attend classes. On Tuesday, Jacob was sick with a high fever and sore throat and missed most of the first week. Stephen went on to school and has adapted quickly to his new Spanish-speaking world. Though the class sessions are in English, 85 percent of the students are Dominican natives whose primary language is Spanish. Even in the lunchroom, most of the staff speak only Spanish. The first week, Becky sent ice cream money with Stephen who discovered he had to order in Spanish. The next week we wrote the phrase "Yo quiero helados, por favor" (I want ice cream, please) on a piece of paper and he's been doing great ever since. While both boys miss their old school and friends, they are adapting more each week to their new surroundings.

We moved out to the home we are renting in the suburb of Los Rios two days after our arrival and within an hour the neighbors brought in chairs, pots, pans and even a bed for Christy. Their generosity in saying "Mi casa es su casa" (my house is your house) was a humbling experience for us and made us reflect on how we have welcomed strangers into our neighborhood in the past. We used a cooler for our refrigerator, cooked on the neighbor's gas stove and slept on thin mats on the floor for five weeks until our shipment was released from customs on March 3. We are still in the process of unpacking our office. Becky had to get some curtains up first as things like a computer and fax machine in full view through the windows are real targets for crime. We have bars on every window and lock everything up to try and divert would-be robbers as many of our neighbors have experienced vandalism.

Culture Shock

It is difficult to describe the feelings one has as one moves into a new home where everything--the climate, the food, the language, the color of everyone else's hair and skin, the time for church on Sunday--is different from what one is accustomed to. Each of us has handled the shock of moving to a new culture in our own way. We've journaled, laughed, cried, walked the dog, read books, drawn pictures, written letters home, gone on family outings and talked about how to handle being stared at or teased because we are different.

One of the ways we are working through our culture shock is to lift up the positives of living in this country. We are enjoying its beautiful landscape including the mountains and beaches. We are thankful for many hospitable, helpful people. We are tasting new fruits and vegetables we have never seen before. We like the smells of the freshly ground spices. We are glad not to be shoveling snow or wearing coats. There are many new experiences we thank God for in this wonderful place.

Eighth Annual Assembly of the Conference of Churches

On February 19-20, the 8th Annual Assembly of the Conference of Churches was held at a Mennonite Campground near San Juan. Jerry attended several meetings in preparation for the Assembly. We offered support of the church leaders by doing the printed program, name tags for delegates and nondelegates and hosting American visitors including Moderator Lowell Flory, Wayne Zunkel from Elizabethtown Church, Earl Ziegler from Lampeter Church and a group of 15 construction workers who arrived at 12:30 a.m. on the 19th. Becky served as tour guide for the construction workers (after practicing her Spanish for two weeks) as they visited the Guaricanos church which some of the group had helped build and an open-air market, ordered lunch at the local version of Kentucky-fried Chicken and survived the 4-hour trip to San Juan which included two vans with flat tires and one van overheating.

Both Becky and Jerry were able to attend the Assembly with the immense help of grandparents Merle and Jean Crouse who stayed with the children in Santo Domingo. The worship and business were inspiring as pastors reported their yearly statistics. Guillermo Encarnacion encouraged worshipers Saturday evening to be people of vision. Moderator Flory challenged worshipers Sunday morning to remember the central beliefs of the church as we seek to continue the work of Jesus, peacefully, simply, together. The weekend concluded with the baptism of 7 new members of the Luz and Verdad (Light and Truth) Church of the Brethren in the River Yacque del Sur.

Disaster Work Continues

Guillermo Encarnacion served as coordinator for disaster response work in the Dominican Republic in December, January and February. Jan and Roma Jo Thompson served as on-site coordinators of the work in January, Keith and Jan Vardaman came to coordinate the work in February and Donald Snavely has worked in this position in March. A number of U.S. volunteers have come to the San Juan area to help in the rebuilding efforts.

In January, a group from McPherson College under the leadership of Dale Minnich worked with COTEDO (Commission of Dominican Ecumenical Work) in the Sabana Grande de Boya community to build latrines and help Haitian sugar cane workers in their recovery following Hurricane Georges.

Special thanks to the Emergency Response/Service Ministries office for the grants in December, the shipment of supplies for use in rebuilding work, and overall coordination of the hurricane response. Thanks to the White Oak Church of the Brethren for their offering to help with agricultural needs following the hurricane. All the gifts of time and talent given to support the rebuilding efforts in the Dominican Republic are greatly appreciated. May God bless each one who has contributed to those in need!

Tabara Abajo Church Building Construction

A group of 16 persons worked Feb. 22-26 to construct a building for the church in Tabara Abajo. The group was organized by Earl Ziegler, pastor or Lampeter Church of the Brethren in Pennsylvania and included construction workers from California and Arizona. These persons were able to work alongside Dominican church members to build the walls out of concrete block and put up the metal trusses. Thanks to all those who contributed to this exciting church project!

Moments in Mission

In other mission work, Jerry has met with the church and community leaders in San Luis and San Jose (villages near Santo Domingo) where families are in need of assistance because of the closure of a sugar cane factory following the hurricane. The government is trying to sell the factory and workers are idle having not been paid since August, 1998.

Jerry has met twice in March with the Executive Committee and once with the Board. He has had other individual meetings with four pastors and the treasurer of the conference. At least one Church of the Brethren camp has expressed interest in a Dominican youth coming to the U.S. to work this summer. We are exploring with the Embassy what are the criteria needed for persons requesting non-immigrant visas.

Pastoral training has been on hold since August of 1998 due to the departure of General Board staff Milciades Mendez. Efforts are currently underway to secure funding and leadership to resume the pastoral education program. In late April, Alan Hansel, Director of Ministry; Ron and Harriet Finney, Co-coordinators of the Bethany Academy for Leadership and Carol Yeazell, Atlantic Southeast District Executive, will be visiting the Dominican Republic to meet with church leaders and discuss future pastoral training needs.

Becky is working to communicate regularly with all incoming mail regarding visits to the Dominican Republic by denominational leadership and groups interested in workcamps as well as letters of support from Brethren across the country. We receive between 15 and 20 e-mails daily in addition to written correspondence. Becky also is shouldering most of the responsibility for managing the household, setting up the office and is taking Spanish lessons weekly. She has homework again after 10 years!

Health Care Project Underway

There is a severe lack of basic medical and public health resources among the Haitian sugar cane worker communities in the Dominican Republic. The destruction of Hurricane Georges exacerbated the problem. In response to these needs, COTEDO (Commission of Dominican Ecumenical Work) staff have initiated a wholistic community development project in one of the bateyas (cane worker communities) at Sabana Grande de Boya. In addition to immediate responses to the crisis like the building of latrines and re-building of homes, COTEDO staff have worked with community leaders to lay out a longer term plan for community development. Employing a physician to live and work in the community is one of the key components of this plan.

Dr. Hilcias Ricardo is a newly certified physician who is also an active member of the new church development project "Iglesia de los Hermanos Peniel" in Santo Domingo. She has accepted the call to serve as the physician who will work full-time in initiating this project of providing public health training and medical services to the Haitian cane worker community. A start up supply of medicine has already been donated and received from the New Windsor Service Center. The Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren has stepped forward in faith and with generosity-committing to provide funding for Dr. Ricardo's salary for the first year. The Principe de Paz congregation in San Luis is considering sending preaching teams to Sabana Grande de Boya to help address some of the spiritual needs which are going unmet in that community.

We solicit your prayerful support for the Church, for Dr. Ricardo and for the community of Sabana Grande de Boya -- that the living presence of Jesus Christ will bring new hope and healing among us!

Worship With Dominicans

During these first few weeks our family has worshiped with the new church project in Santo Domingo, Peniel Church of the Brethren, pastored by Eduardo Montero. The worship service begins at 4 p.m. on Sunday in the pastor's home and regularly includes lay leadership in singing and prayer. Jerry preached March 7 using Genesis 32:22-30 as his text. Our children do not understand the language but know that these brothers and sisters in Christ care about them.

On March 21 we made our first in a number of visits to the 19 churches in the conference. We attended the Sunday school and worship at Fuente de Vida (Fountain of Life) Church of the Brethren in Guaricanos, a suburb of Santo Domingo. We were impressed by the ministry to children by three capable teachers and several helpers who had 90 children from preschool through age 12 for two hours of class. We enjoyed the adult and youth classes as well as an evangelistic service in a community home which preceded the church worship at 7 p.m. We were graciously welcomed by the pastor and all the church members throughout the day. Their faith and commitment to Christ and the church shines through in their community. We look forward to more of these visits and listening and learning more about the needs, hopes and dreams of each local church.

"No Problema"

One of the phrases we have learned quickly is "no problema." Whenever you ask a Dominican person if some task can be accomplished, the answer is almost always "no problema."

On the first day we had borrowed a car to drive, we hit a huge pothole and had two flat tires on the left side, "No problema." When a power surge destroyed one of the 32K memory boards in our computer (despite a UPS backup and surge protector) and we were without a computer to use for our work, "No problema." When the neighbor spent 3 hours helping me to buy cooking gas and and blow water out of the gas line so our stove would work, "No problema." For you see, there are no problems here, only challenges yet to be solved.

Whenever you hear this phrase, remember Jesus' words about handling life's problems..."Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?' or ‘What will we drink?' or ‘What will we wear?' For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. "So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today." -- Matthew 6:31-34

Churches and Pastors

Currently there are 19 churches, fellowships and preaching points under the leadership of 16 pastors. What follows is a listing of the churches (some with project status), locations and pastors.

CHURCH		LOCATION		PASTOR
Agua Viva		Arroyo Salado		Sebastian Reyes
Camino de Esperanza		Asua		Luis Cespedes Rivera
Cristo Verdadero		San Jose		Manuel Miguel
Dios Fuente de Amor		Viajama		Rafael Ledesma
El Buen Doldado		Fondo Negro		Jose Juan Mendez
en Marcha		Villa Nizao		Tomas Rubio Guevara
Fuente de Vida		Guaricanos		Angelica Maria Beriguette
Hermanos en Armania		Paraiso		Dario Rubio Guevara
la Vida Verdader		Tabara Abajo		Manuel Cuevas
Luz y Verdad		San Juan		Luis Mariano Ogando
Montes de los Olivos		Magueyal		Angel danilo Jimenez
Nuevo Renacer		Los Toros		David Reyes
Pena de Horeb		Bastida		Jesus Ledesma
Principe de Paz		San Luis		Isaias Santos Tena
Proyecto Biriato Feliz		Paraiso		Dario Rubio Guevara
Proyecto Ebenezer		Bonao		Wilson Nova Beriguette
Proyecto Peniel		Santo Domingo		Eduardo Montero
Proyecto de San Juan		Chalona		Luis Mariano Ogando
Proyecto de San Luis		Sabana Torsa		Isaias Santos Tena

How Can You Get Involved?

1) We encourage you to put us on your prayer list. Specifically pray that the Lord God will fill the church daily with the Sprit's love and power employing us to proclaim the Good News!

2) Learn more about the Dominican Republic, it's history and people. A novel that poignantly tells much of the struggle during the 30-year dictatorship of Trujillo is entitled In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez.

3) Participate in a workcamp, or support others who can make the trip, to work alongside the Dominican church members in hurricane relief, church building or other projects.

4) Give to support of Mission work in the Dominican Republic through the Church of the Brethren General Board program which supports our placement, pastoral work and education and ministry training.

Financial support for this ministry can be sent payable to ``Church of the Brethren General Board'‘ at 1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120, tel. 1-800-323-8039. You may designate your gift for ``DR Mission Coordinator'‘ if you wish.

Let's Stay in Touch

Please do not hesitate to contact us with your questions or ideas. We can be reached through the following communication avenues: Gerald & Rebecca Baile Crouse, c/o Lynx Air SD-DR, P.O. Box 407052, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33340, telephone: 809-560-6142, email: gerald.crouse@codetel.net.do.