Joan Hirst

Joan Hirst and myself.

The last picture I took with Joan and Capt. Hirst before I left San Diego.

I just found out Joan Hirst, Captain Hirst's wife died recently. I worked for Capt Hirst and Joan for 3 years and they were like my grandparents away from home. I especially spent a lot of time with them the summer and year after I graduated from Point Loma. I am very sad for Capt Hirst and his family but I know that Joan is in heaven now. Please pray for comfort for the Hirst family as there are 8 children, many grandchildren, and 5 grant-grandchildren in the family.

BIG UPDATES!

Hello family and friends!
This week has been filled with answers to our prayers!

1. Team from Washington- The team was such a blessing this week as they worked with my English classes, gave medical care, helped with construction at Anija, gave a wonderful Awana program, had endless encouraging words and much more. I was nervous at how things would go with the group and my 5th-8th graders but God blessed us all. The team members stepped right in and connected with the kids and just about everyone was participating and speaking English! I was blessed with having several moments to stand back and watch my students speaking English and interacting with the team members. Praise the Lord!
Apart spending time with the team in my English classes, I was able to eat and hangout with the team several days as well. I shared about my experiences so far and how I decided to serve in the DR as well as hear their testimonies. I really enjoyed welcoming, working, and talking with the team. I will be interacting with future teams as my role in sponsorship grows.

2. Pasola- Last weekend I mentioned that I had the pasola looked at and had taken it for a successful ride. Well, that Sunday afternoon it wouldn't start, or on Monday, or on Tuesday. Thursday I had gotten a ride home from Anija from Vic (the field director) and I said, "Even though the pasola hasn't started the last few days I still have a little hope so I'm going to try one more time." And who would have guessed it started on the first try and I've been using it all weekend! Praise the Lord!

3. Living Situation- I'M ALL MOVED IN!!! Praise the Lord again! We received the keys on Friday and my two roommates (Jenilea and Katie) moved in on Saturday and I moved in today (Sunday). There have been a few minor problems with getting the electricity turned on, the inverter connected, and the water pump working but God is working them out one by one. As far as furniture goes (long story short), we were able to buy just about everything (couches, table and chairs, stove, inverter, fridge, dresser, etc) from Katie's old roommate at very good prices. The only thing I had to buy from a store a bed. Now we need to buy screens to put on the windows so I won't be eaten alive by mosquitoes (which you can only imagine how many bites I already have).

4. Running- This was the first week I've felt good about being able to exercise since I arrived in the DR. I received permission to miss Monday morning devotions (at ANIJA) and come in later as I don't teach any classes, only prep, on Mondays. Now I am able to run with Sally, another missionary with KAI, who I haven't been able to run much with because of schedule conflicts on Monday mornings. Also, while on a short run during the week I passed another North American runner on my way home and decided to loop around and say hi. In the end, we exchanged numbers and are hoping to run again sometime. Lastly, I met Krista, another missionary in Jarabacoa, who is training for a marathon. I met her at the perfect time as I was able to run 5 miles out of her 20 miler on Saturday. Praise the Lord for running partners!

5. Volleyball- A volleyball club started for girls on Friday afternoons at ANIJA. I am going to help the PE coach from ANIJA coach and organize games. Students from ANIJA and other schools are welcome to practice and play games as well. I think this will be a good opportunity for me to connect with the girls from ANIJA and I will have a chance to widen my vocabulary. :) Praise God for this opportunity!

As you can see, God is listening and answering to your prayers and mine. I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate your prayers, comments, and encouraging words and please know I am praying for you as well. Please continue to pray as I transition into living with 2 new roommates, living in a new house (pray for no big problems), that the pasola will continue to work, for wisdom on teaching, grace and understanding with learning Spanish, and that I will feel God's presence strongly in moments of being homesick.

Julie-Anne

*PS- I will post pictures from the team being here as soon as I receive the CD of all the pictures.

A Blessed Weekend

What a blessing this weekend has been. I have been able to spend time with the Lord, get some things done that had been put off, hang out with Jenilea, get the pasola looked at, go on a run, was invited over to Kyla's house (another missionary through Young Life) for a girl's night and to meet new friends, and had a successful pasola ride to ANIJA and my tutor's house without stalling or crashing. I was also able to spend some time with a team from Washington today. I had a lot of opportunities to talk about how I came about being a missionary here and what my experience has been like so far. We also went to a waterfall today called Upper Jimenoa. Please pray for the team that is here as they will be helping me in my 5th-8th grade English classes on Tuesday and Thursday, with construction, and with the Awana program in the afternoons.

A few things I am praying about:
-Where I should get involved at church. Right now I feel like it's at Nueva Vida. That is the church that the kids from the ARK orphanage come to, along with a lot of other missionaries from KAI, but I don't understand any of the sermon. There is another church I have been to that I like which has more people my age and they use an overhead that shows bullet points about the sermon (in Spanish) which helps me to understand what the sermon is about.
-I would like a helmet to wear when riding the pasola.
-We (Katie, Jenilea, and myself) have found a house to rent and we are hoping to move within the next week or so. The workers need to finish painting and cleaning, we need to put screens on all the windows before we move in, and I need to buy a bed.
-I've seen that there are a lot of missionaries and ministries reaching out to the Dominican Republic and to the town of Jarabacoa. How can I be encouraging to the missionaries and ministries already here in Jarabacoa?
Thanks for your prayers, support, and encouraging words! Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Walking around Jarabacoa.


Here's a house in the community.


The backside of another house in the community.


A typical kitchen.


View walking to the waterfall.


Upper Jimenoa


Upper Jimenoa with a rainbow


Upper Jimenoa with a rainbow. My head was actually in the water a little bit.


One of my students, Dary Davy. He lives in the community and spends a lot of time with the KAI missionary's families.

"...My grace is sufficent for you..."

Week four of being in the DR is about to start and I still can't believe I am actually here. Lately I've been thinking about my motive for being in the DR. I want to love and build relationships with the kids and people of the DR and encourage them to seek God and His unfailing love. Over the past 3 weeks, I've learned that there is a wonderful, loving community of believers who invest a lot of time in the children that live at the Ark and/or attend ANIJA. I see now that not only am I here to encourage but to be encouraged by other believers. This got me thinking, "what is my role at ANIJA and how can I show God's love through teaching English?" So far, I've been feeling like I've made little progress really connecting with the students from ANIJA and I think a lot of that is the language barrier. Up until this week, I knew I needed God's grace to be able to teach English while speaking Spanish and I've been asking God for the words to say and guidance for every class that I teach but now I see that I'm not even going to be able to build relationships without His help. Lately I've come to think that that's the point... I can't. God can. Several times in the last few weeks, through friends and family, this theme has come to mind. Each day as I pray for my students I also read, "...My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness..." (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). Every thing I do or accomplish here in the Dominican Republic (or wherever I may be) is not by my strength and I literally could not do it without God's Hand working. English in itself is not my strong suit, let alone having to teach English while speaking in Spanish and then trying to build relationships with people that I don't understand 75% of the time. May God receive all the glory and honor for all that is accomplished. Amen!

This is a view from the roof of the Trautwein's house (the family I have been staying with).

Quick Update & Prayer Requests

Thank you everyone for your prayers these past few weeks. After a rough week of seeing my gramma's health decline and having family fly in to see her, my gramma had done a 180 turn! She is able to have a conversation, eat normal, and seems like she is doing just fine. The hospice helper was shocked! My emotions have been up and down through all of this since at one point I thought I would be flying home for her funeral. God must not be done with her on earth yet :) Thanks again for your prayers and thoughts. Things are going well here although finding time to update my blog has been hard! I am working on setting a chunk of time weekly for updating my blog.

A few things to pray for:
1. Living situation- I am still living with the Trautwein's (a missionary family). I am looking to live with another KAI missionary, Jenilea. There are a couple of options but as with most things in the DR, the process is slow.
2. Process of learning Spanish- I am taking 4-6 hours of tutoring a week. This has been extremely helpful as I write out a few bullet points (in Spanish) of what I want to say in my classes and have my tutor correct any grammar mistakes.
3. Teaching is going well- Communication is the hardest part. I am anxious to know all 150+ students' names that I teach and start really getting to know the kids.
4. Transportation- As you will see in a picture, I have driven a motorcycle a few times but am now thinking that I will drive a pasola instead. Pray for safety every day for me as people here drive without acknowledging pasola/motorcycle riders.
5. Time with the Lord- I have been studying Exodus and have been encouraged that God will use me even if I feel like I don't have the ability to communicate like He used Moses. Pray that I continue to have daily time with the Lord.
6. Praise- I have been feeling peace about being here.
Thanks again for your support, I love getting emails and encouraging words!

Here are a few pictures:

This is at ANIJA, the school I teach at.


My first lesson on how to ride a motorcycle. Now I am practicing riding a pasola. I feel better on a pasola. I will try to take a picture and post it soon.


Walking to the waterfall, Salto Baiguate.


Salto Baiguate.


I like this picture but it was really rocky so it made my hands hurt a little.

PS- Here is my address, I love receiving letters :)

Julie-Anne Bailey
Unit 3049- KAIDR
3170 Airmas Dr.
Ft. Pierce, Fl 34946