I hope this finds each of you doing well and experiencing the goodness of our Creator.  Life here for me in the Dominican Republic is in full swing as we are finishing up the school year.  My students amaze me each day!  For example, Jackie.

 A lot of really great things have been happening around here.  I often get in my daily routine of life and forget to update.  So I am going to update you on some the exciting things that have been going on here in the Dominican Republic since the New Year.

1. Writing on the Walls.  At the end of this school year Doulos will have completed construction on our new Elementary building.  We started the school year with 4 new classrooms.  Next year we will have a total of 8 classrooms.  One of those being the 2nd grade classroom.  So last week we had the opportunity to cover the walls with blessings before they put the final coat of paint on.  Our God provided these classrooms and He will bless what goes on inside of them.

2.  Random Acts of Kindness.  My students came up with the idea of serving those around us, with a little help from their teacher.  So we made a list of things we could do and each Friday we choose a Random Act of Kindness.  Delivering flowers, reading to the elderly, making cards for teachers, and washing a strangers car are just a few things on the list.  One week students brought non-perishable goods to give to a boys club at a local church.  It is so beautiful to see their servants hearts.



3.  Lots of Learning.  Counting Coins, Nouns, Reading and fun Tutoring classes.

4.  100th Day of School.  Students came to school dressed like they were 100 years old, wearing a 100 things and we had a blast all day!


 5.  Revolution.  Every other Friday our school has what we call Revolution.  It's like a big pep rally, but not with sports as the main focus.  It is a time for our students to have fun and be recognized for what they have been doing.  I love the joy on these faces.  Also, our seniors won a fundraiser and their reward was to shave our Managing Director's face however they wanted.  I love it!




8.  We Built This City.  This semester my students our learning how a city is run.  What our role is as citizens, what a government is and their responsibilities, etc.  It has been lots of hard work SO FUN!  My students wrote persuasive speeches and then we held an election where they ran for president, mayor, city council, etc.   A local policeman even came to talk to us about his job and the importance of laws in a community.  My students are creating their own community, which they named Narnia.  We are now in the process of writing traffic and common laws for Narnia.  I am so in love with my job and seeing my sweeties learning.




 9.  Friends and Fun.  Outside of teaching I have also been soaking in God's goodness.  I have a great group of friends and we often take advantage of this beautiful place where we live.  Girls beach trips are always full of fun and laughter.  We also recently went camping and enjoyed watching the boys on their dirt bikes.


 10.  God's Promises.  Through all of this God is faithful and fully alive.  He has continued to faithfully provide for me.  Financially, emotionally and spiritually.  As I walked into school one morning last week I looked up and saw this and was reminded of His great promises as His child.

THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!  I could not be here doing what I am doing without you.  Thank you for your prayers and financial support.  We serve a big God.

Blessings,
Meredith

Every year when January 1 roles around I feel so excited overwhelmed with making New Year's Resolutions.  Why do we even do that?  Well, I did some research and came upon the history of New Year's Resolutions.  Check it out!  So I shared this with my students and we began making our New Year's Resolutions.  I found this awesome unit by Linda Kamp to help me.  My students came up with some really fun resolutions.

To be the best skateboarder ever!

I started off the school year with a visit from my parents.  It was such a blessing to have them here with me for a week before I started back to school.  We had a great time relaxing in Jarabacoa, visiting friends, eating, and a trip to the beach!  I am so thankful for my mom and dad and how they support me in all that I do. 

Dad, Moreno, me, Mom

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Certification - Most of you know that last year I was taking some online courses to complete my teaching certification.  This summer I took my final exam and passed with flying colors.  You are looking at a Texas Certified Educator right here.  
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Expeditionary Learning is the fundamental educational philosophy of Doulos where rich and varied hands-on experiences provide a unique and practical approach to learning and applying one's knowledge to real life.  In second grade my students learn and become experts on Germs.  One of my favorite thing was seeing them light up when they were given the opportunity to look at bacteria in a microscope.  Their final project was a News Show informing others of germs and how they effect us.  My kids did a fantastic job!

I wish you could have heard the screams and seen the smiles on their faces!

Creating their own bacterias out of playdough.

Germs Wanted.  Found in the dirt.  This germs makes you sick.  You can get rid of this germ by taking medicine - Joel

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Each Monday I start the week with my kids by giving them a chance to write down their prayer requests for the week.  Each day we choose 5 or 6 and my students pray for each other.  Often times it's for their tio or tia that is sick or for friends that don't have casa, but this one Monday it was very special for me.  Someone pulled a little girls prayer request.  It said, "That Jesus is in my heart and that my mom feels better."  So I asked her to explain to me what she meant by the first part and she said, "I want to pray that Jesus will be in my heart."  I am pretty sure tears started welling up in my eyes.  It was a beautiful moment where I was able to talk to her about what that meant and then she prayed a prayer with me in front of the whole class and accepted Jesus into her heart.  Later that day in English class she wrote a story about how she felt so happy today and it was because she knew that Jesus was in her heart.  That is why I do what I do.

Marcos, Jose Daniel, Esdras, Georgia, Chanel

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Discipleship - Each year my church here offers an intense, year-long discipleship class.  Our pastor's goal in this is to provide solid biblical teaching to those that are committed to becoming disciples of Christ.  It's almost like a seminary class.  If you are late to class or do not complete your homework you get a strike.  When you have 3 strikes you are out of the class.  If you make it to the end of the class you will have read the bible through twice and 12 books.  I never even thought of taking this class because, a.  it's in spanish, b. it's a lot of work and c.  I just never felt like there was time.  This year, I actually gave it a little thought.  This is the first year in a long time where I didn't feel like my plate was over flowing and so I said I would pray about it.  The pastor's wife is my small group leader and she really encouraged me to do it.  I felt like God was also stirring in me a passion for really knowing His word.  God is good!
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Fundraising - God has been so faithful.  And I am thankful for each one of you and the way you give of yourselves financially to support me and the calling God has placed on my heart.  I am in a great place with my monthly support and have half of what I am trying to raise to purchase a car.  I am currently still using a motorcycle to get around town, which is great except for the 5 out of 7 days of the week that it rains!  This is not a necessity, but would help me live a little more comfortably here.  I am lacking about $3,000 to reach my $8,000 goal.  Again, God is good!
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One of the not so exciting things to happen in 2012 was when I contracted Dengue Fever from a tiny little mosquito.  Who knows when I was bitten or where I was when I was bitten, but I will never forget the virus this little nasty bug gave me.  I had just come home from a high school Choir Concert and my head was pounding.  I thought it was from the really loud, horrible sound system.  So I laid on the couch as my roommates and I talked about the evening.  It was a nice, warm caribbean evening and for some reason I was freezing cold.  That's when the fever hit.  I had fever for 3 to 4 days and went in to the clinic to get some blood work done to see what antibiotic I needed to take.  When they saw my white blood cell count and my platelet levels they looked at me and sad, "Looks like you're not going home.  You need to stay here for a few days so that we can monitor your blood count.  Looks like you have Dengue Fever."  I tried not to panic and knew that my God is a big God and He was going to take care of me.  So I had a little 3 day vacation at the clinic here in Jarabacoa.  I did not enjoy my stay at the clinic or the IV that was jabbed into my hand for 3 days, but I was surrounded by so many people who love me.  I was never alone because someone was always stopping by to visit.  Several of my little 2nd graders came to see me and they even made me this awesome get well card and sent me this video!  Being sick is not so fun, but it sure does allow you to see the body of Christ at work. 

Thankful Turkeys

Masquerade Ball

Happy Birthday Silvette!

Great man of God the Lord has blessed me with

Getting ready for Christmas in the DR

Community

Merry Christmas from Silly Second Graders at Doulos Discovery School

   

I survived my first week of school, and so did all the little ones, thankfully!  Year 4 is looking like it's going to be a great one.  I just feel like I started the school year on the right foot.  Not that in the years past I started on the wrong one, but this year just feels good.  My munchkins are excited about learning and seem to be on level, considering they are all learning in their second language.  That is incredible! Something to celebrate.  Check out a few of their cute faces!

Joel

Yeymy