Ok, sorry it has been so long since I have written a blog.  My mom informs me that everyone wants to know how things are and what is going on with us.  Well, I am almost 28 weeks pregnant and my girth is expanding every day.  Next week I will be flying home for my big brother..s graduation and to visit friends, family, and church.  I am not for sure exactly how long I will be in the States.  We have decided to have the baby in Nashville.  So, I will be home in July no matter what.

The church is going very well . . .  and growing.  After the recent youth conference, we had three kids decide to give their lives to Christ.  Two of them are nieces and nephews of Melchor.  We are so excited to see the fire of Christ in their lives.  We also won the Bible quiz competition at the conference and the kids are very excited about that.

It was a short update, but there it is.  I cannot wait to see and talk to you all in person in the coming weeks.

Kassie

Hello, everyone.  Two tropical storms have passed through the Dominican in the past month and a half.  They were big enough even to have names, Noel and Olga.   Olga arrived last week and hit the northern coast.  The same northern coast that you can see from my house in the mountains on a clear day.  It arrived at around 9:00 pm.  There was no power, so I was listening to a little mp3 player/radio that I have.  By the way, the news stations here in the Dominican are not very reliable -- they consist of people calling in from all over "explaining" what is happening where they are.  It also involves a lot of conjecture and hear-say.  Anyways, I don't like tropical storms.  Roofs were blown off of the neighbor's houses.  All of the bananas, plantains, oranges, and avocadoes ended up on the ground.  The church lost part of its roof.  If that night was just a taste of what a hurricane is like, I'd hate to see a full blown hurricane hit the island.

Ok, so it wasn't a chicken -- it was a rooster.  There I was sitting there on a bus traveling to the city and all of the sudden I hear this rooster crow.  I look around at  my fellow travelers, but no one seems surprised or bothered that a rooster just crowed on the bus, indicating that somewhere on this bus there was a rooster.  So, I attributed it to my imagination or perhaps the rooster was actually oustside the bus somewhere.  But, to my surprise it crowed again.  So I covertly began searching this bus for a rooster -- couldn't find one.  Luckily just as I was looking two seats back to the left, the rooster decided to announce it's presence for a third time.  There was a man, well dressed, with a pillow case that evidently had a rooster inside of it.  Come to find out that this rooster was coming back from a cock fight, which he had just lost.

This is just one exmaple of the many strange things that one can experience in a third world country.  Such as: burros being ridden in the streets of a major city,  a pig being butchered just a few houses down from yours, and did you know that you have to go and buy your own blood here.  No really, if you or a family member needs blood as a result of an accident or surgery, you personally go to the blood store to buy it and bring it back to the hospital in a plastic bag. 

Even after living here for nine months straight -- I am still constantly surprised at the things I see and hear every day.  I would never have thought that I would be sitting on a bus in the Dominican Republic wondering why a rooster just crowed two seats behind me.

The past have few weeks have been great fun.  Especially last week when the group from Franklin was here.  It was absolutely wonderful to see them coming down the escalator in the airport, even though it was 5:00 am.

We dug out a footer for a new house at the camp, mixed a lot of concrete, even worked in the pouring down rain.  We also had three church services where Steve and Jason preached.  We played dominos, connect four, went to the beach for a day, and ate some great food.  God blessed me with this past week.  I am also glad that those that were here can go back and tell everyone else about my home and about Melchor.  Thanx guys for an awesome week.

Ok, so we finally set a date, and it is less than 10 weeks away.  On June 2, 2007, I will be a married woman.  So now it begins ...

Kassie Marie

    Like I have said in the past few entries, I am starting to adjust myself to the culture down here in the DR.  I enjoy most of the food.  I love the people.  The country is absolutely beautiful. . . BUT, there one thing that is taking a lot of getting used to and is sometimes a bit frustrating -- they are always late.  The only thing they are on time for is plane flights and class.  I'm sure they are even late to their own funerals, yes, it is that bad.  Last week youth group is supposed to start at 6:30 pm.  They arrived at around 7:30.  I I have to plan on them being late.  The English class is a bit better, yet about half the class was 30 minutes late. 

   Does anyone have any ideas about getting them to be there on time?  Should I just leave it how it is?  Can anyone think of anything?

   Besides this, the English class is going very well.  They are actually learning something.  I have about 30 students and some are very apt.  And there are still about 20 kids coming to youth group and I really enjoy teaching them.  We are preparing a drama right now for a retreat at the camp in April.

I hope all are doing well and I can't wait to see those that are coming down next week.  God bless, Kassie Marie

It was horrible.  And I wish you could hear it pronounced the Spanish way -- with a rolled "r" and an accent on the "I."  What was horrible?  -- I got food poisoning.  Last Thursday night I went out to eat with an American group in Santiago.  I had one piece of shrimp, and I'm pretty sure that one piece of shrimp did me in.  I started throwing up at 12:30 am and didn't stop until 11:00 am and then it started at the other end.  I ended up in a clinic with two injections and an armful of drugs.  I went home and slept for 20 hours straight and am still feeling the after-effects of that night.  Needless to say it has put me off seafood ... really anyfood for now.  I am starting to get over it, but my stomach still feels out-of-sorts.

I've got a two-week break in between groups and so I am studying  a lot and planning for my classes.  The youth group started meeting last Saturday night and we had about 20 kids.  It is going to be fun, but I need to think of some way to get those kids to stop talking.   Please, pray for opportunities to affect these kids' lives.

Kassie Marie

I have been out of the loop for a while --- way too far out of the loop.  We had a group come in from Pennsylvania and in that same Saturday we traveled more than six hours to San Juan de Maguana.  I must be starting to think like a Dominican, because that six hours felt like an eternity. 

While we were there we put the finishing touches on a church building.  We parged (for those of you wondering, what is parging ... parging is the last layer of cement that you put on over the cement blocks).  We painted inside and outside, the outside is very close to a Tennessee orange.  We built 20 benches, a podium, and a new counter for the pastor´s wife.  I translated one sermon and lots of cponversations.  It felt like every five minutes someone was calling my name to translate something.  I am starting to learn a lot about the details of my job down here, it does recquire patience and lots of joy.

Like I said, I am learning a lot and learning to rely on God more. My English classes are going surprisingly well.  I have about 50 students on Thursdays and the classes here in Navarrete will begin next week.  Please pray that these students will be reached through this class.

If any of you are wanting to send ´´real´´ mail, you can send it to my parent´s house in Brentwood and it will get to me somehow.

Kassie Marie

My parents made it back home safe and I had one or two afternoons to just sit and enjoy the view.  But, now life starts.

On Monday night we are starting a women's Bible study in Navarrete.  Most of the women attending are not Christian, so I have a great opportunity to witness.  We are going to be going through the Gospel of John chapter by chapter with a some fun and games to keep them interested.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I will be teaching an English class in two different locations.  I am a bit nervous about this, I never wanted to be a classroom teacher for a reason :)

We have another group coming in next Saturday and I will be with them for two weeks and two more groups are coming in March (Franklin Christian Church included).  I can't wait to pick our group up from the airport and show them the life I am now living.

God is blessing me and giving me plenty to keep me busy.  I am starting to build relationships as well.  Already I have many friends here in the DR.

Dios le bendiga, Kassie Marie