January Newsletter

Dear Prayer Partners,

In the month of January, I returned to the DR from Christmas break. I love that each time I arrive in the DR, I am immediately reunited with dear friends and feel at home. I had about a week when I got back to the country to rest and get settled before returning to school.

My roommate and I had some difficult times in January with our meter catching on fire again leaving us without power for a few days in our apartment, a large piece of the cement molding falling in our living room, and struggles with behavior management in our classrooms. I also had some health issues that made it difficult for me to teach and have the energy I needed to complete all my responsibilities after school. There were moments when I felt so defeated. I was reminded in all these little battles of the blessing of Christian community. I had people pray with me, make phone calls for me in Spanish, bring me a smoothie, listen to me, cry with me, and check in on me. I believe God allowed some of these hardships to remind me that I'm not alone in serving here and I'm grateful for that.

Updates

• On January 19th we had a group visiting from the States that had multiple teachers and administrators that have worked in education for years. They hosted a workshop for us at the school. They reminded us of the impact we have on our students and gave us encouragement and helpful tips for lesson planning. They were a blessing to our staff.

• Now that I've taught for a year and a half, I have finally gotten to the point where I can work 8 hours each day and leave school at 3 o'clock without taking work home. This is a huge praise! It allows me to be fully committed to my work during the school day without getting as burnt out and allows me more time and energy to invest in my after-school commitments such as discipleship, small group, and praise team practice. It has also allowed me to do things I enjoy such as cooking, painting, playing guitar, and spending time with friends. I am continuing to pray for wisdom about how to spend my time wisely and how to know when to work and when to rest, but I am thankful for the growth God has allowed me to make in this area. Day-to-day life has felt more doable, and I feel I am able to be a better steward of my time with these routines in place.

Prayer Requests

• I now have all the new documents I was told I needed for residency. I have plans to go to the immigration office in the capital again this Wednesday. Please pray that they will accept my documents this time and I can get residency.

• As we enter the second half of the school year, I am looking for more ways to make connections with the families of my students. One way I hope to do this is through home visits. I am hoping to be able to visit students and their families in their home and get to know them better. When I go, I would also like to provide some sort of Spanish devotional resource they can use with their child at home. I am hoping to be able to do these visits without a translator. I am praying about what resources to use and the best way to go about scheduling these home visits, finding transportation, and communicating during these home visits. Please pray that I will be able to use these visits to impact the lives of my students and their families and that I would have guidance and boldness to speak truth with love as I visit each family.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

Blessings,

Natasha