Meet our boss.

This is Brian Wallace. He's our boss. He gets all sorts of crazy ideas in his head, like taking groups of 20 gringos straight up mountain after mountain until they reach the remote village of El Morrito.


We're talking going where few Dominicans have EVER gone. I'm not kidding. See above picture.



This week, Oswaldo (who works with us, and we have been terribly remiss in not formally introducing him to all of our faithful readers) took two of our boys up the mountain with the group. This picture cracks us up, as Oswaldo looks like a classic Dominican tourist, if there were such a thing.

Which is ironic, as there are maybe 5 Dominicans on the island who would voluntarily make the trek up to El Morrito. Except for our boys, who are positively falling over each other for the opportunity to go. We about had a riot on our hands when only a "chosen few" were selected.

New favorite word...

OK. I have a new favorite Spanish word.

It's "amémonos". It means "love one another". As in 1 John 4:7; "Dear friends, love one another, for love comes from God...:

But when you break the word up into two words; amé monos...

It means "I loved monkeys."


I like to think of serious, dour-faced, Spanish-language biblical scholars chuckling quietly every time they read that verse...

George W. Ferris is rolling in his grave

There is a party going on in Rio San Juan.

For ten solid days, about fifty feet outside our apartment, the entire population of RSJ has been partying down for the annual Patronales festival, complete with cotton candy, rides, ear-crushingly loud music until 3am, lots of beer, and of course... horses.


Suffice to say, we haven't slept much in the last week or so- and our block smells like a stale beer/bathroom/farm/funnelcake. Trust us- this soiree makes the Abilene County Fair and Rodeo seem like the World's Fair.


We did however, "join 'em" when we realized we couldn't "beat 'em", by taking our boys over on Wednesday night for some cotton candy and a few tickets to ride. I allowed the boys to convince me to put my life into an unknown Dominican technician's hands by stepping onto the Ferris Wheel. It looked like an original model from 1893- held together by JB Weld and chewing gum- and I'm pretty sure that someone has "souped" this one up- it goes faster than any ferris wheel should be allowed to go. In any case- I survived and impressed our boys by not puking or crying when they started rocking our chair and leaning/ nearly diving out over the lap bar while it accelerated.

Everything will be over on Sunday night/Monday morning- let's hope!

Apropos

We received this email from our friend, Jeremy Jackson, who's coming to visit us in a few weeks.

"My dad wants to know if you can pick me up at the airport. He says those guys down there LIVE to screw you out of money."

So true, Jeremy's dad, so true...


pic by Moriah Farmer

Meet the twins. Or not.

This is Henri & Yoel. They're twins. Everybody in town calls them "the twins." The other day, I was asking the Pescadores for their birthdays, and Henri told me his was June 30.

I told him that was really neat, because our friends, Micheal & Heather, will be visiting us during his birthday. And they just so happen to have twin boys, just like him & his brother.

Henri proceeded to tell me that his birthday is June 30, and Yoel's is June 3. I did a double take, trying to figure out how twins could be born a month apart. Then I asked him how old they are - Yoel will be 15, Henri will be 14.

Apparently, they're not actually twins. That's the thing about this country - people aren't sticklers for actual definitions. (For example, twins = two babies born from the same mom on the same day.)

We love Wednesdays!!!

We love Wednesdays, because we feel like we're right in the center of why God called us to be here.

Wednesday nights have grown from a few guys coming over for Monopoly Night, to 20 young men gathering in our courtyard to learn about the life of Jesus. The fact that we play tons of fun games and have Cokes & snacks doesn't hurt either!

We thought it would take ages to get to this point. And maybe it has... But we have a strong group of guys, and God truly is working in their lives. Last week we talked about resurrection, and many of the boys asked more about how they could give their lives to Christ. That's an exciting step in their journey, and we're honored to be a part of it.







Pictured above are:

1) Human table orchestrated by Oswaldo.

2) TJ balancing a bucket of water on their feet. The object is for them to all take off their shoes without spilling the water.

3) 30 seconds later, Johan is drenched. (They pulled this game off without a hitch a few weeks later when motivated by prizes of a lollipop & a new pencil.)

4) Popsicle party with TJ's parents, Tom & Raye Lynn.

5) Hansel in a water-pistol vs. Alka-Seltzer duel. Both boys have Alka-Seltzer strapped to their heads, and are armed with water pistols. First one to dissolve the other Alka-Seltzer wins.

The New Children's CD!

Well, ladies and gentlekids, it is finally here! After months of near "change your huggies" anticipation, the new TJ McCloud kids' CD is out!

Co-produced by ZOE's Brandon Scott Thomas and released through Parable bookstores, this CD should leave 'em bouncin' and boppin' in their sit n'swing for a long, long time. Not only that- but if you'd like to take a few minutes and remember what it felt like to be 5 years old, well this CD is for you, too.


The CD is called "I Want to Shine" and the theme is summertime. It's got songs about fireflies, beach vacations, and of course, ice cream!

You can order your copy from Parable stores online today by clicking here

Disclaimer: No purple dinosaurs, baby geniuses, or wiggling Austrailian men were harmed in the making of this album.

Enjoy!

Dark. Ocean. Scared. TJ.

I like the ocean. I like to swim. I like to fish. But when my buddy Oswaldo asked me to go snorkeling and spearfishing with him at night... I was pretty anxious. I do not like to be in water if I can't see what is around me- and the extent of our light in the pitch black ocean was to be the handheld flashlights that he had covered in bicycle tubing. "Dominicans do it all the time", he says to me in Spanish. Maybe, I thought, but Dominicans also lean ladders on power lines.

We went out at 10pm, nearly got shot by the beach patrol before convincing them we weren't there to launch a boat to Puerto Rico, and then got into the water. About ten feet from the shore and I wasn't real sure where the shore even was. It was terrifying, exciting, and absolutely wonderful.

Right off the bat, we were surrounded by small little sparks in the water- tiny underwater lighting bugs, "pulgas", Oswaldo called them. It was calm, warm, and not nearly as scary as I had imagined once we got out into the reefs. We followed the underwater structure, shining our flashlights into the inky darkness to illuminate coral, sea fans, eels, pufferfish, jellyfish, small reef fish, spiny lobsters, and so much more.

We ended up shooting a reef fish whose name in spanish I can't pronounce, a spiny lobster, and (my favorite) two decent size reef squid. Oswaldo's mom made a sopa de mariscos (mixed seafood soup) the next day.

All in all - amazing experience. Not only to be in the water at night, scared I would be eaten at any moment by some overeager shark or barracuda, but also to be the predator, swimming and diving with a speargun like my favorite GI Joe figure from 1985. I'm hooked.


Watch out fishies - TJ's not just throwing lines and hooks anymore...

How does this happen???

I'd like to feign ignorance on this one, but unfortunately, I know exactly how this happens.

Dishwashers MAY exist on the island, but if they do, I've never seen one. So we wash dishes by hand. Which isn't a big deal, except that we don't have hot water, and our tap water is from the river.

Therefore, washing dishes involves heating water until it boils, washing in one sink, followed by a bleach rinse in the other.

Again, not a big deal, but you don't want to initiate the process over 2 plates and a fork. We usually wash dishes once a day, but should our day spin out of control (as it NEVER does as missionaries on a Caribbean island), a small mound of dishes becomes a mountain to behold.

a great week.

The Park Plaza group left for the States yesterday and we are truly sad to see them go. They were fearless about everything-whether it was climbing the crazy hard mountain or praying over really sick kids in the public hospital. We made some great friends this week and really were encouraged to share our little island.

Here's a few of the memories they left behind...

Laying a concrete floor and painting a house "Happy Yellow".

A crazy crowded VBS in the barrio.

Inka, an Island girl's best friend.

I moved to this island with three pieces of jewelry. My wedding band, diamond stud earrings from our first anniversary, and a little bezel set diamond necklace that TJ gave me a long time ago.

I gave up on jewelry in junior high. It's hard enough for me to pick out clothes that match, let alone shoes, handbags, hair style, jewelry, etc.

Enter hip Santiago friends, time to kill in the big city, and a little treasure on earth called "Inka." It's this fabulous jewelry store in Santiago, full of Clare's & Express fare. But everything is 60 pesos ($2) or less.

I'm addicted. As you can see in the above photo, my shoe organizer has been retasked.

The next time I'm feeling blue, I've told TJ he needs to put me in the car, drive to Santiago, give me 500 pesos, and let me wander around Inka, no questions asked. It's sure to cure whatever ails.

Girls, come visit! We'll go shopping!

ps - Mo, I found some black beads in RSJ. They're on their way.

El Morrito

We hiked up to El Morrito and back with the Park Plaza group. Can I get an amen from fellow Manna DR vets?!

We took no pictures, as pictures do not do this ascent justice. I don't know anything about hiking, but Brian Wallace says it would be rated more difficult than the most difficult hikes on the Appalachian Trail.

I do know that I clawed my way straight up the mountain for several miles/hours. I do know that men from the village of El Morrito came down the mountain just to carry our packs up, or to let us hitch a ride on a reluctant donkey. I do know that a group of Tulsa city-slickers made this hike with nary a complaint.

I know that Chris Worsham snores, and that I prefer to sleep with a pillow. I know that the people of this REMOTE village fell on the floor laughing about cowboys riding bulls in a Christian rodeo movie we watched.

I know that TJ is up for anything, and is a great partner to have on a muddy, steep road. I know that TJ speaks Spanish with the best of them, and people can't HELP but listen to what he has to say. And I know that those words don't come from him alone.

I know we're pouring a concrete floor tomorrow for a little person. Modesta is her name. Modesto, her husband, is not a little person, he's a very tall person. We're also painting houses in Barrio Acapulco: Look out, vecinos, we just might be headed your way, paint brush in hand.

Then we're headed to the beach, hallelujah!!! Sans RSJ rugrats, con dinner fantastico!

We have so many pictures and stories to share, we may have to commit to posting 2 blogs a day for the next 2 weeks. Keep checking back!

Park Plaza is here!!!

We're working (and playing) hard!