March Newsletter

Dear Prayer Partners,

March was a month of a lot of growth, but with growth there were some growing pains. There were moments I felt like there was so much on my plate I couldn't hold one more thing. There were days I had to repeat to myself that I was created on purpose for a purpose. But there were also days when I felt on top of the world feeling like I'm growing more and more into who God made me to be. Moments where all I could do was thank God for having me serving right here right now. It was a bittersweet month of both begging God to show up and getting to celebrate when He came through in big ways.

Updates 

• On March 9th, IBEM had a ministry fair after church. This is an opportunity for the various ministries that are associated with the church to share about their ministry and how others can get involved. IBEM always encourages the members to serve in some capacity and this is always a great chance for new connections to be made and for people to see how they can use their talents to serve the church body.

• In the evening on March 9th we had another block party in the neighborhood where we have our INVI chapel. Many of the kids from the neighborhood came to play Wiffle ball and hang out with our team. After some time to play we had all the kids gather around for a time of worship and a Bible story. My roommate and I led worship and a visiting group from the States helped with the Bible lesson. We found that many of the kids there knew of Pastor Doug and were familiar with our chapel. It is encouraging to hear that there are more people in the community making connections with this ministry. We are praying that events like this will help draw more people to the chapel and result in Gospel conversation that grow the Kingdom.

  
  
  

  

  
  
  

• On March 25th I got the privilege of welcoming my dad and a team of 6 people from Faith Baptist church to the DR! This is the first mission team I have had the opportunity to host, and it was such a blessing to have them visit and serve with us for a week. They had a packed schedule that included visiting Las Palmas to lead activities in some of the classrooms and P.E. classes, serving alongside Daystar missionaries in Guayacanes to hand out flyers for their ministry and share the Gospel in a public high school, learning about the Dominican culture through cultural immersion, visiting the capital and the beach, preaching at our INVI chapel, visiting Lifehouse girls home and helping with the coconut project, and visiting Mercy workshop to learn about the ministry and meet the women working there.

  One of my favorite memories from their trip here was the bonfire night they helped put on for the missionaries who live and serve here. We got to go out to Visionland together and have a cookout followed by a time of worship around the fire. It was fun to have time to relax and fellowship with other missionaries and it was especially sweet for me to get to worship around the fire with my dad. Many people on this trip had never been on a mission trip before and I loved getting to see their eyes be opened to what missions work looks like in the day to day and the way God is working in each of the ministries here. I pray that this trip will have a lasting impact on the way they view, pray for, and support foreign missions. 

  

  

  

  

  

  
  
  

• March 30th was a special night at the INVI chapel. I got to help lead worship and then my dad preached a message. At the end of the night Pastor Doug introduced a man from the community who had just accepted Christ as his personal Savior the night before. He shared about how he was able to sit down with this man and share the Gospel and how we now have a new brother in Christ! Doug shared that this is his heart for our chapel- that one by one more individuals would hear the Gospel and experience the life change that only our Savior can bring.

  
  
  

  

  
  
  

• March was a challenging month in my personal ministry at the school. I have had a lot of struggles throughout the last 3 years with knowing how to navigate difficult behaviors in the classroom. I got discouraged seeing that the systems I was using didn't seem to ever reach the heart of the students and change their behaviors. I have also talked to other coworkers that feel similarly. We love to teach, but the daily demand of classroom management and engagement can be so draining. I had some meetings with a few members of school leadership to brainstorm ideas that may help teachers in these areas. We are working together to try to make some changes to the school discipline system. I personally began doing research on alternative approaches to discipline and restorative discipline. I implemented a new classroom management program in my classroom and saw huge improvement in the way my students communicated with me and each other and the way they participated in class. My teaching partner and I were so encouraged to see actual change in some of the behaviors that have been difficult all year. We were also able to have some good meetings with some of the parents that were very supportive of this new system and hopeful about how it may help their student be successful.

  This new system is still in a trial phase. We have only used it for two weeks, but I love the way it has transformed my classroom so far. However, I am also anxious to see if it lasts long term. My coordinator said we could try it in my class this year and if it works well, we may be able to implement it in more grades in the elementary school. I have many other teachers who are interested and have asked me about the system I'm using. I ask that you join me in praying about this. My prayer is that my coworkers and I can get to a place where we love teaching in the day to day and, even more so, are able to truly model to our students the love, peace, and patience of Christ in the way we lead our classrooms. Please pray that I have wisdom to make the changes necessary in my classroom and that leadership has wisdom in how to help guide the teachers and school in these areas.

  
  
  

  

  
  
  

Prayer requests

• Pray for decisions at the school about the new discipline system.

• Pray for the man who accepted Christ at the chapel as he begins discipleship. 

• Pray for the INVI chapel to continue to reach new people in the community and grow.

• Pray for our IBEM praise team as we prepare for our Easter program. We had to cancel the drama we had planned and cancel some of the practices for various reasons. Pray that the Lord allows us to prepare everything in time and that He uses our service to reach the hearts of those who attend. 

• After completing my TEFL certification I was asked if I could help in developing a more systematic English curriculum for the elementary school. There are not very many people at our school that are certified in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. I learned a lot in my TEFL classes and learned that there is a lot more to teaching English than I realized. I think it would be extremely beneficial for our school to grow in this area and I'm excited to see how I can help. However, this will take a lot of work to make changes to our curriculum and train teachers in these areas. Please pray for me and for our school as we make an effort in the next few months to improve our bilingual education program in this way.

• Pray for me as I continue to make plans for this summer. I am still working on trying to make new connections with pastors and churches that would allow me to share about my ministry. The main thing I am praying for this summer is additional monthly supporters. If you have any connections to a church that my be interested in partnering with me please let me know. Pray that the Lord opens doors for new partnerships so I can continue serving in the DR.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement!

Blessings,

Natasha

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