Hiii-Yah!!

Our friend, Jake, visited from Santiago this weekend. He studied Tae Kwan Do for several years and held a mini-class for our boys. They couldn't get enough. The concepts of fighting only in self-defense and using your strength for good made an impact on them.

Best of Spanish...

children's books!

I (Holly) have long loved Spanish. I was much inspired by my excellent high school teacher, Señora Johnson, who ONLY allowed Spanish in her classroom from day one. Notes in Spanish, vocab in Spanish, questions in Spanish - everything.

I'm also a nerd, and love communicating in another language. It opens different areas of your brain, and enriches the language you already speak. Especially if you have little ones, check this stuff out. This is the best of the best, and it's easy to pick up language when you're little.

I have also long loved children's books (all books, really), much inspired by my parents who read to me tirelessly. Pat the Bunny and The Little Engine that Could... Those were the days! Gracias, padres...

We live our lives in Spanish here, so I thought I'd share our favorite Spanish/English children's books, based on hours perusing the shelves of bookstores, a deep love for reading. Seriously, this stuff is the best of the best.

No Is No, Si Is Yes
by Ana Galan

It's perfect. Just get it.










Baby Einstein Wordsworth's Book of Words
by Julie Aigner-Clark
Though you may not be able to tell from the cover, this is an EXCELLENT Spanish/English dictionary. Great pictures, great choice of words. I love looking at it, and it honestly helps me reinforce basic vocab.





Isla by Arthur Dorros
A fabulous, magically whimsical tale about a little girl and her abuela who "fly" from New York to the Caribbean island where abuela grew up. Elisa Kleven's illustrations are stunning. Abuela, Dorros and Kleven's first collaboration, and the prequel to Isla, is also worth checking out.




I'm sure TJ will love this post so much, he'll be inspired to share his favorite Spanish musicians and songs. There is some REALLY good stuff out there, running the gamut from Sevillanas to reggaeton.

I must also say, that though when we moved here a year ago, I had about a thousand hours of Spanish language training on TJ, he is now completely fluent and is always teaching me new words. If you've ever heard the music he writes, you're probably not surprised to know that he is ASTOUNDING at acquiring language. ¡Bien hecho, querido!

Holly's break from boystuff

Let me brag on my wife a little.
Last week at the Outreach Center, several girls piped up and let us know they were tired of seeing pictures of all these guys doing fun stuff. We took it as a sign and last night, we had our first-ever girl's bible study.



Holly did such a great job. She planned it, led it, and I couldn't be more proud of her. Working with these girls will definitely be different than with the "Pescadores", but I think Holly will enjoy the break from all of us dirty boys.

Vietnam and the Twin Towers

Why do you fight and argue with each other? Isn't it because you are full of selfish desires that fight to control your body? You want something you don't have, and you will do anything to get it. You will even kill! But you still cannot get what you want, and you won't get it by fighting and arguing. (James 4:1-2, CEV)

Reflections on that passage from 14-year-old quasi-literate street boys in the Caribbean:

"That's why Vietnam started the war with America when they knocked down the Twin Towers. Because they were jealous since America has all of the money."

(To us) "Were you in America when they knocked down the towers?"

"Yes."(We were in Abilene, Texas.)

"Were you in the towers?"

"No."

"Whew. That was close. We're glad you made it out."

Night-time visitor

"There are no poisonous snakes or spiders on the island." This is Brian Wallace's mantra to American groups when they arrive for a week of ministry in the Dominican.

There are, however, poisonous toads. Not shooting dart poison or anything. Just, if you (or your dog) ate it, it would be bad news. Apparently, toad stew is the preferred assassination method in rural Haiti.

We let this big, ugly guy go in a field far, far away after a midnight photo shoot.

Mitch Wilburn's Continuing Legacy

Even in the Dominican Republic, I find the influence of my youth minister, Mitch Wilburn, runs deep. Of all the things he taught me (TJ), this one is the most important.



We don't yet have a Dominican FatGuy's Club... at least, not yet.

TJ had a bright idea.

He cut his own hair. It actually looks pretty good! And he feels much less scraggly. He hadn't had a haircut in almost a year, and his hair was REALLY long.

I was going to try to cut it, but it never seemed to be a good time. Then, last night, I walked around the corner to find TJ chopping at his own hair with a pair of scissors.

Hey - why not?!

It's not what you think.

No, we're not playing Spin-the-Bottle at our Bible study... Well, actually, we are. but not like you think.

We are studying the ever-practical, applicable, book of James. The boys have a hundred different stories for every verse we read. Last week we talked about "wisdom from above." Tonight was this:

But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness (or goodness).

On that note, our indispensable partner in ministry, Osvaldo, starts them in a game of spin the bottle, only in this version, you give compliments or apologize to whoever it lands on.

I don't know many 14 year-old boys who would do this in the over-sensitive USA, let alone rough and tough Dominican street boys, but they did. And it was amazing. These kids were giving compliments - actual compliments. I've never heard them say anything nice to one another in a year of being here, and now, because it was a "game", they felt like it was ok to bend a knee in apology and tell someone else they are a good friend. Sowing seeds of peace. Wow.

We've needed some big wins lately, and tonight, we got one in the form of a Coke bottle.

Something New

We tried something new last night - a sunset run on the beach. It was nice. Amazingly nice. We can't imagine why we've lived here a whole year and have never done anything like that.

It was healing to get away from the noise of town, splendid to watch the sun slip into the sea. Good to be just the two of us, good to exercise and push ourselves. What we didn't realize was that running in sand is like having ten pounds strapped to each foot. We made it about half as far as we thought we would, but... it was great, nonetheless.

We aspire to incorporate several Playa Preciosa jaunts into our weekly routine...

cocoNUT

Party-ed out

Guess we needn't have worried about parents not showing up. Our patio was overflowing, and it was an abundantly good time. Thanks for your party thoughts and well-wishes.

Party Prep

A team of machete-wielding men showed up this morning, and our yard is now freshly shorn for the Pescadores party on Friday. I'm trying to track down items that could serve as tablecloths, punch bowls or christmas lights.

The boys have been assigned to figure out what their parents names are (they really don't know) so we can make nametags. They're also making original art that we can hang around our patio for the parents to see.

We're trying to figure out how to use the sound system without turning on the incredibly loud generator.

More than anything, we're hoping against hope that the boys' parents will come. TJ will drive to each family's house to pick them up, partly because it will make them feel special, and partly because it's the only hope we have of them showing up.

The boys are so proud of everything they've done this summer, and they're excited to share it with their families. So, everybody think party thoughts on Friday!!!

A Typical Day

Here is our latest video (and first-ever Vlog).

When we get down and feel like we haven't done anything- we watch these videos and realize that things really have come a long way since January- robbery or no robbery.

Thanks for continuing to watch, read, and pray!