Fa La La La La
 Church Choir Begins with Christmas

This month saw the beginning of our church’s choir. Thanks to the newest member of the Daystar mission team down here, Bethany Melrose, we began practicing for the Christmas cantata. The Christmas cantata will consist of “five yuletide carols being sung by the choir”(-that has a familiar ring to it!) Also a new men’s quartet is rehearsing a song as well. Practices are held after church on Thursday night and Sunday nights. We are thankful for the work and dedication put in by our directors, Miguel Mercedes and Bethany Melrose. Hark! The Baptist church choir sings!!!

 

 Sharing the Joy
 Ladies Gather for Christmas Outreach

This past Saturday we hosted a Ladies Evangelistic outreach. The ladies in our church were given two invitations, one for them and one for an unsaved friend. Each lady brought a friend and we shared a small spread of raspberry croissants, red velvet cake, Christmas bread and Pastor Gary’s special, sparkling toast (That was a hit, by the way, though it’s really just crust-less cinnamon toast).

The special time came at the end when each lady from our church gave a testimony of what the Lord has done in their lives since their salvation. Sunday morning I heard of several conversations that the ladies had with their invited guests on the way home. We are praying for the Spirit to continue working on the soil where the seeds of the gospel fell that day! Above: Martha (first lady saved, first service in 2003) shares the moment with her invited guest.

 

 Moving on Up
 Players Advance in Verse Memorization

Well, no one has signed a contract, but we have had several players from our baseball league advance to the AAA level -in Bible verse memorization. Pastor Gary organized a verse memorization program that starts with the Rookie and goes to Major League (five levels). Each time a player advances he gets a prize, with the first one to reach the next level receiving an additional prize. We had the first award ceremony during baseball chapel at the field the other day. The prizes given out were wristbands, socks and batting gloves. After the awards ceremony, Alli was almost knocked over by more players saying their verses! The verses for Rookie league are all about salvation, the A begins verses about the Scripture, etc. Each level builds on doctrine and truths important for these kids to know and “hide” in their hearts! In order to complete all five levels, the players will have had to memorize more than 120 verses of Scripture.

Where are we getting the prizes? They are being flown in! Thanks to the tireless effort and vision of one coach, Rod Hubbard, and a team of supporters from Tri-County Baptist, nearly 5,000 lbs. of baseball equipment have been donated to our baseball program. Nearly 800 lbs. came in with the Tri- County group and at least 4,000 lbs. is due in today. The verse memorization program is one way to distribute equipment that doesn’t create a dependency, but encourages and rewards hard work. It also is a way for us to lay a Scriptural foundation in the hearts of the players. Of course, not all the equipment will be given away as it is needed to run the league and facilitate its continued development.

More than 70 players are registered and playing in our league and the league continues to gain the respect of the community, despite our limited field conditions. Please pray for our team of coaches and volunteers from the church: Pastor Gary (coach), Marco (coach), Bethany (coach), Robin (coach), Miguel (head umpire) and Allison (Scripture and league secretary). Above: Visiting coaches Augustine Hernandez (left) and Rod Hubbard (center) help in giving one-on- one instruction to one of our catchers. Photo by Randy Smith.

 

 Fill 'er Up!
 Groups Help in Fencing 46 acres

With nearly 46 acres of land needing to be enclosed, Team Dominican Republic faced a daunting task. Last month, Tri-County Baptist and Burgess Road Baptist Church took the challenge and helped us nearly complete the fencing - constructing nearly 60 concrete pillars, running several strands of barbed wire and clearing two old fence lines. This work helps us meet a government requirement to have the property enclosed and the property lines clearly marked. Above: Yonathan (boys home) helps the Tri-County group pour concrete into the pillar. Photo by Randy Smith.