Summer Newsletter

Dear Prayer Partners,

As I write this newsletter I am both reflecting on this summer that I got to spend in the States and preparing to start a new school year here in the DR tomorrow morning. My heart is filled with gratitude when I think of all the answered prayers I'm living in right now. This summer the Lord's faithfulness and provision were so evident, and during in-service at school these last two weeks my heart has been so encouraged by the ways He has already moved.

Support Raising

As many of you know, I was working on raising additional support this summer. I was blessed to be able to present my ministry at five different churches during my time in Ohio. The first church I visited sang "The Lord Will Provide" in their worship set and that song became an anchor for me throughout the summer. It is easy for me to look at my finances and get anxious, but the Lord reminded me time and time again that He sees every need and will always be faithful to provide. I made multiple new connections this summer with individuals, small groups, and churches that have already been such a blessing to me. There were multiple encounters that I know God orchestrated to fill specific needs and give me a better community of support as I serve overseas. There were times I left meetings in tears praising God for the way he sees, hears, and answers prayers.

At the start of the summer, I had a goal to raise my support level to cover some more long-term needs such as retirement savings, car repairs, emergency savings, and health care costs. I also had some bigger expenses come up this summer as I needed to buy a new laptop and I had many out-of-pocket health expenses. The Lord blessed me greatly beyond all I could have asked for or imagined. He provided through many generous one-time gifts that covered each expense. He provided the funds to purchase everything I needed off my classroom wish list to have new supplies for my students and I this year. And while I am still waiting on confirmation from a few individuals and churches, I believe my monthly support level increased from around 57% to 80% this summer. I am humbled by His goodness and so encouraged by the generosity of each individual, group, and church that followed His lead to give towards my ministry. It is such a beautiful picture to me of the body of Christ coming together to complete His work. Thank you so much to each of you that met with me, encouraged me, prayed with me, and supported me this summer. I could not do what I do here in the DR without all your kindness and support.

Back to School

The last two weeks we have had in-service at school to prepare for the new year. We always start with a whole staff meeting where we worship together, pray over the new year, and meet the new staff members. There is a different attitude among the leadership and staff this year that is really special. Leadership has gone out of their way to help the staff feel heard, seen, and supported going into this school year and when the staff gathers together there is a renewed sense of unity that has been so encouraging. On one in-service day my roommate and I got to help lead worship and the staff watched a video about the history of our school. If you haven't heard the story of Las Palmas, it's a powerful one. As the video told the events of doors seeming to close in every direction and then God providing in a miraculous way so we could purchase the property for our school, almost every staff member began tearing up. There is simply no denying the goodness of our God when we recount the countless times He has made a way when there seemed to be no way. Our director asked if we could lead an impromptu version of "La Bondad de Dios" (The Goodness of God) and the room filled with praise from all the Dominicans and Americans that I am blessed to serve alongside at Las Palmas. We finished out the week of in-service with a prayer walk around the school. We prayed over each classroom, office, and play area on our campus. Prayed that God would move in big ways. Prayed that each teacher would have the energy, strength, and wisdom needed to walk into their classroom and impact their students for Christ each day. Prayed that each of us would be able to have a small part in building His kingdom this school year. I can't wait to see how God will answer those prayers this year.

I wrote in previous newsletters about some courses I was taking online to learn more about TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) and restorative classroom management. I was able to work on the classroom management course this summer and use the information I learned through both courses to prepare a few workshops to share with the staff during in-service. I was able to lead one workshop on TEFL techniques for all of the English teachers at the school and another workshop on restorative classroom management for all of the elementary teachers during in-service. I was grateful for the opportunity to share what I learned with the other staff members, and I am hopeful that we will be able to further develop these areas in our school this year. I previously wrote about the new behavior management system that I implemented in the last quarter of the school year last year. We are planning to implement this system throughout all of the first through third grade classrooms this school year. I am praying that the Lord will use this to help us really use discipline as a form of discipleship at our school and help the teachers be able to better minister to the students in their classrooms.

Prayer Requests

• School starts tomorrow, September 1st! Please pray for me as I meet my new students and pray for our school as a whole as we seek to do everything as unto the Lord this school year.

• Pray for our school as we are still looking to fill a few positions. Our director is stepping into the classroom to fill an open position for now but we are still praying for God to send the right teachers at the right time to meet these needs.

• Please continue praying for my health. I was able to get a diagnosis this summer and start a new treatment. The doctor that I went to has been very understanding and helpful (another answered prayer!) I am hoping to do some more testing in December to get to the root of some of the issues I've been having but please pray that the treatment works in the meantime.

• Pray for the process of renewing my residency. I have uploaded all the required documents. Please pray that this process goes smoothly and I am able to renew my residency quickly.

Thank you again for taking the time to read these updates and join me in praying for all the Lord is doing here in the DR. It is a blessing to me to have your support.

Blessings,

Natasha