September Newsletter

Dear Prayer Partners,

September brought the start of the school year and getting back into routines with serving and living here in the DR. The truth is, the beginning of the school year has been very difficult. Living and teaching here is draining and challenging and sometimes it feels like I just face one obstacle after another. But in each of those struggles and moments of emptiness I dive a little deeper into God's endless grace and love. Truly, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Starting a New School Year Our first day of school was on September 4th. After all the hours of preparing the classroom and planning it was exciting to welcome the students back to school. I enjoyed meeting my new students and also getting all the hugs from my former students. The start of the school year is always chaotic but I felt a lot more confident going into this year with a year of experience. I also found that my Spanish has improved a lot since the start of last school year. I was able to greet and have basic conversations with parents as well as translate directions and expectations to my students which made a huge difference. We try not to speak Spanish much to the students but at the beginning of the school year it is very helpful to be able to use both languages.

I have had some difficulty this school year with starting over at the beginning with everything from English speaking abilities to classroom routines to academic abilities. By the end of last school year, most of my students could understand enough English to participate in lessons and have conversations with me. However, at the start of the year many students don't understand even basic words and phrases in English which leads to a lot of blank stares and some behaviors acting out since many students don't understand what you are saying when you teach. I have been praying for patience with this.

I also found second year teaching can be strange because you feel like you have a strong connection with your former students but barely know the names of the students who are in your class now. About two weeks into school it clicked for me where I felt like these new students are my kids now and I looked forward to seeing them and having a chance to teach and pour into them this school year. This makes all the difference for me as the school days can be long and draining but the relationships I build with the students and the ways I see God grow them throughout the year gives me encouragement. We are now almost a full month into the school year. The students and I are beginning to get into our routine. I am continuing to pray for love, energy, strength, and wisdom each day.

Relationships and Service Since being back I have been reminded of the blessing God has given me in Christian fellowship here. I am living with the same roommate again this year and her friendship is a blessing to me daily. We have just begun doing a Bible study together which we discuss on Sunday nights. We also use this time to pray over each other and worship together before we enter a new week. I am so glad God gave me a roommate who can encourage me to continue to pursue Christ and that we get to walk side by side in ministry here. I am also in a church small group that meets weekly where we share what God is teaching us individually and how God is working in our ministries. This group feels like family to me and I am so thankful to have their accountability and encouragement. Whether I'm serving on praise team at church, taking trips to the beach on the weekend, or having lunch after church I'm surrounded with other servants of Christ who have become good friends. God has been so good to me.

Residency On September 27th I had my residency appointment. I took public transportation to the immigration building in the capital but when I arrived they told me there was one document I had the copy of in my file but not the original. I had apparently left the original at home. They told me to come back again with the original document and to get another document legalized. I returned a few days later with the document I had been missing and they told me that my background check is expired so they would not accept my paperwork. I began to get discouraged with this process because it seems that there is always a new issue to resolve. But I trust that the Lord will work it out in His timing and I'm praying that God would give me diligence to do what is in my control well and then trust the rest in His hands. I believe the next step is to get a new background check and then go back to the capital to try to submit the paperwork again. I will be continuing to work on this in the coming weeks.

Baptisms

Last Sunday we had baptisms at our church. Four new believers were baptized. Two girls who are students at Las Palmas were baptized as well as two women who are part of the Mercy Workshop ministry. It was encouraging to see each of these individuals follow the Lord in obedience as they continue to learn about and grow in Christ.

Prayer Requests

• I have been asked if I would be interested in disciplining one of my former students. Her parents are not Christians but her brother has been meeting with another missionary for discipleship and her parents were interested in her being discipled as well. We are still working on the details of this but I am praying about this opportunity. The student is in third grade and I'm not sure where she is personally in her understanding of the Gospel. Please pray with me about this opportunity.

• I will be flying back to the States for a few days in October to be in my cousin's wedding. Please pray that my travels go smoothly and that my substitute is able to teach my class well while I'm gone.

• Our school is going through an important process of re-accreditation with ACSI the last week of October. This is putting the school leadership under quite a bit of stress to have everything ready for the ACSI evaluation. Please pray for the school leadership and teachers that we would be prepared for this visit and be able to do everything with excellence not only for ACSI but also as unto the Lord.

• We are asked to do 4 home visits for our students each quarter. It is a good opportunity to get to know the students' home life and family outside of school but it can be difficult to arrange with transportation and translators for each visit. Please pray as I choose students and make arrangements for these visits this quarter. Pray that God would use these visits to help me build relationships with my students and show Christ's love to them and their families

Thank you for your continued support and prayers.

Blessings, Natasha