Leaving Home to go Home

Dear friends and family,

April 1, 2011 is a prominent day in our memories. It is the day we wrapped up a year of preparation and packing and drove away from Tequesta, Florida - home to both of us for over 30 years. Over the last four and a half years we have faced many trials, but have had some of the most spiritually enriching times of our lives. Opportunities to serve, teach, and pray; encouraging conversations with outreach participants; watching God at work all around us; working alongside amazing Dominican and American staff - these are just a glimpse of the highlights of these years.

When we made the commitment to leave our lives behind and move to the mission field, we did so without putting an end date on it trusting the Lord’s leading on timing. Our mission organization asks for a minimum 2 year commitment but we really didn’t have a feel at that point of how long we were to serve, instead hearing the Lord say, “go and serve and I will direct your next step.” So that’s what we have done. Our first few years were very hard. Learning to live in a culture with different norms and values was something that we tried to prepare for before arriving in the DR but until our feet actually touched ground there, we didn’t have a clue what we were going to face. So many things were different – from the way that neighbors interact (you are part of their family, you’re never too busy to talk) to the way that people drive (loco doesn’t even begin to describe it), to what to do if you have a fender bender (hand the person who hit you a couple hundred pesos and be on your way) – all of it was so totally different to what we considered “normal.” Add to that our bi-weekly shopping trips in Santiago where we were stood out for miles as the only “gringos” to be seen, and if we had a problem we were flat out of luck because the only English to be heard was the occasional American pop-song blaring from a car radio. But we slowly learned the language, learned the habits of our neighbors, found our way through Santiago shopping trips and adjusted, or even more so, enjoyed living life in the Dominican Republic.

This past year in particular has been an amazing year of ministry. Due to changes in staff, Mary Ellen was able to become more involved in the lives of the women working in the kitchen as well as do some of the cooking – which she loved! Dick was given the opportunity to teach bible lessons on a regular basis to the outreach participants. We were also both able to take part in a worship and prayer night, having the opportunity to pray for outreach participants and were also able to spend many hours sharing our faith and our lives with students and leaders around the table at mealtime and during breaks in our schedule. We seemed to be settling into our roles and responsibilities on the field and felt so blessed to be doing what we were doing.

On May 31 of this year as we were preparing to start a busy summer, Dick was spending time reading in Mark 5. Have you ever had the experience of reading or hearing something that you felt like was written or spoken just for you? How often have you read a verse of scripture that you have read many times before but at that moment it seems to jump off the page at you? As Dick began to read verse 19 of chapter 5, he sensed very strongly that the Lord was speaking to him.
"18 As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him. 19 And He did not let him, but He said to him, ‘Go home to your people & report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, & how He had mercy on you.’ 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.”

The revelation of the Lord was so strong that Dick wrote these verses in his journal. Wondering if God was beginning to prepare our hearts to return to the US, we began many lengthy discussions about what might be in our future and when we might return to the States.

On August 27th, Dick had stabbing pain in his back. We went to the local clinic (like an Urgent Care Center) and he was admitted and treated for angina. After a week of treatment and no improvement and at the prompting of his son, Jason, we made a hasty trip to Florida. Within 24 hours he was admitted to South Lake Hospital in Clermont, FL, where it was determined that he had 3 blocked arteries in his heart. Over the course of his stay there, he received 4 stents and it was discovered that he had multiple aneurysms that have, in some places, more than doubled the size of his aorta. He will need surgery as soon as his heart is healthy enough – sometime within the next 6-12 months. In the meantime, he is managing his blood pressure through a few different types of medication, keeping it low enough to not cause stress on the aneurysm but high enough that he can function. He has to be careful of the types of activities he does and also needs to take care to not be exposed to illness if at all possible. His doctors have advised him not to travel internationally or to any remote areas of the United States – in other words, to remain close to good emergency care. So it seems as though while we were busy planning our way, God has graciously intervened and ordered our steps. And the verse Dick read in May has taken on a whole new meaning to us - "Go home to your people & report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, & how He had mercy on you."

We can’t even begin to express how much we appreciate the love and support of so many over these past four and a half years. The opportunities to minister and serve the Dominicans and outreach participants were made possible because of your prayers, friendship and financial support. Thank you just doesn’t seem like enough but we do thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Dick and Mary Ellen Meyer

The mind of man plans his way but the Lord directs his steps ~ Proverbs 16:9

Giving Thanks

Dear Partners in the Work in the Dominican Republic,

We have just said goodbye to our last American team for the year - twenty nine college aged students from a gap-year program called LIFT (Leaders in Further Training) from Camp of the Woods, in Speculator, NY. These young men and women have committed one to two semesters out of their lives to separate from friends and school to seek a deeper relationship with God and to better sense His direction for their lives. LIFT requires study and memorizations of great swaths of scripture as an important part of the program. As we listened to and watched them quote and apply scripture to their lives, we were humbled and encouraged!

We had the great privilege of pouring our Christian life experiences and insights into these enthused and eager young Christians. It would take a book to tell you about all of the affirmations and encouragements and glories-to-God that came during 15 days of dinner-time discussions, breakfast-time talks, and many more hours of leadership in Bible and worship time. I can strongly assure all of us “veteran” Christians that there is great hope and promise for the next generation of Christians!

Dick has had the opportunity to speak with each team this year about the importance of prayer in the life of a believer. During each outreach he presents a message to the students to prepare them for a day dedicated to prayer in the communities they worked in. Below is a list of prayer requests that we would like to share with you so you can join us in praying, if you feel so lead.

As we approach Thanksgiving, we reflect on how thankful we are for each of you – for your prayers and your support which enables us to have the privilege of serving here. Through your obedience to God, and then through His power pouring through us, you have made a difference in hundreds of young Christian men and women just this year alone.

The Lord bless you and keep you and your family and friends during this Thanksgiving time. Please let us know how we can pray for you.
~Dick and Mary Ellen Meyer

Dick facilitating a praise and worship night

Students gathered to pray for one of their fellow students

Students during the praise and worship night.

Prayer Requests
A young lady whose mom died and whose father is now seeing someone, she feels alone and abandoned
A young man whose friend committed suicide a year ago and he is now questioning where God is and where he is with God
A young man who committed his life to Christ at a camp meeting but has been making bad choices in friends and in activities, he claims a desire to turn from that but he is adrift
Jackie - is praying to be in the core of revival at the U of PA
Sondra - is going to serve in Africa with an organization called TIMO for 6 months
Mike - to sustain and increase his love for God
Jordan - his twin brother and younger brothers for their salvation and freedom from the world’s grip
Nicole - to be a strong woman of God and a godly influence to all she engages
Kenny - to be more kingdom minded
Natalie - to be a good wife & to set aside all of “me” in relationship and possessions
Amanda - to be a seeker of the Lord and His direction in all she does
Brennan - for an unshakable spirit as a man of God
Tyler - eager to serve “all out,” to be completely willing to be poured out 100% for God
Jonathan - a strong influence for God at ASU in Boone & to have a strong relationship with God
Nathan - to be a leader and teacher in God’s truths
Ian - to stay the course and remain faithful at the hostile environment of U of RI
Hannah - for more and more intimacy with God
Unspoken - for freedom from old habits and sustain a Christian walk apart from LIFT
Stephen - to finish LIFT well and for the fruit of patience
Tyler and Rachel - for God to be powerful and present in their lives. Enable diligence, effectiveness, and creativeness in teaching God’s word
Liam and Bekah - for direction of continued service to God (missions? US church?), also for Liam's health issues

Thoughts on Loss & Change

July 14, 2014

I haven’t written a newsletter or update in months. I have started a few but never seem to get very far. You see, I have been struggling. And no one wants to hear that in a newsletter (at least in my estimation). Newsletters from missionaries should be full of wonderful works of the Lord and salvation stories. I don’t have any salvation stories and while I know that the Lord is wonderful and working all around me – I would feel like a fraud right now if I shared anything but the honest truth about where I have been and why so much silence.

So if I were to write a newsletter, it might go something like this …

Life stinks right now. I am lonely. I am cranky. I don’t even like myself some days. At times I feel like I might even be a little depressed. This past year has been hard. For someone who doesn’t like change, who lived in the same town for 41 years prior to moving to the DR, and who had the same job for 20 of those years – I picked the wrong vocation to move in to.

Life on the mission field is a series of hellos and goodbyes and constant, constant flux. But this past year has held too many changes, too many hard good-byes.

First, my precious friend Carole, her husband Ron and their children Anna & Sara left the field. This family loved on us and welcomed us in when we first arrived – they were our family on the field.  I love her kids and we loved spending time with their whole family. Carole was my right hand in the kitchen and she challenged and inspired me in so many ways. She has such a beautiful, humble heart and she loves others well. She is one of the most unassuming people I know.  I miss her sweet presence and quieting effect on my life.

Then Jayson and Lindsey left. They were our pastors in the truest sense of the word and cared for us when we hit a really tough spot in our transition here. Jayson is a no-nonsense, get-things-done kind of guy but he also has a tender heart and a passion for the Word of God. Lindsey opened her heart and her home to woman in our area and led Bible studies and provided lots of fun opportunities for fellowship. What an oasis that was! Whenever I left her home, I felt filled, strengthened, and encouraged. I miss their godly counsel and care.

And then Carlos died. He lived right next door to us, he was struggling, and he killed himself. It was hard walking through the months before his death and the months since. Carlos was blind but never let that stop him from working hard in our kitchen and around the base. He always walked with a broom handle to help him determine where he was and where things were. The tap, tap, tap of his stick was a constant part of life here on the base. Every time now someone taps the ground with a stick, my heart wrenches a little. And I miss his laugh. When he laughed it was a full-on belly laugh that could be heard around the base. I loved Carlos but am afraid he died not knowing how much I cared for him.

Then our dearest friends Karen & Kenny left, after one short year of being here. This woman and I share so many similarities in our pasts and also in our current lives. She “gets” me in a way that I don’t believe anyone else on this earth understands me. And we worked well together too. We both thought that we would have a long-term working relationship and were looking forward to that. Transition to the mission field from life in the States is hard but it is made easier knowing that you can share those unique struggles of transition with others. Because of our similar life stages, when I said I was missing something back home or had a heart ache over something or someone, I knew she could empathize. I miss having that comradery and I miss her wise-counsel and unique perspective on life.

And then Kim & Carlos left. Their leaving felt like the final break from what we knew when we first came here and what we felt was our support system here in Jarabacoa. Kim arrived not long after us. She had the same Spanish tutor I had in Guatemala and had heard stories of us through our tutor Sonia before even meeting us! Even though we weren’t exactly of the same generation, we had the bond of finding a godly spouse unexpectedly in life as we were bumping along being content in our “singleness.” She and Carlos are a beautiful picture of a redemptive God and I miss their fellowship and friendship.

Quite frankly, I am numb from all the hard good-byes.

So, if I were to write an update right now, this might be what I would say in it. I really wasn’t sure if I should write about this and as I write I’m not even sure I will send this out. Today the feelings are not quite as glum. I took a true Sabbath rest yesterday and I went to bed early and slept deeply. I feel refreshed today and even understood a good part of the sermon in Spanish at church this morning. I know that these feelings of loneliness and ineffectiveness aren’t necessarily unique just because I’m on the mission field. I could very easily be feeling these same feelings sitting in my living room in Florida. We all experience loss and change in our lives.

So as I reflect back on this past year of loss and change, I know that the great truth is that God is unchanging and never leaves us. No matter my circumstances, I know that He is the one true constant wherever I am. He is the great strength giver, the great comforter, and the lifter of my head. Because of who He is, when I look to Him and lean on Him, He gives me the strength I need to continue on. And those are promises I can cling to no matter where I am!

 
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. 1 Corinthians 15:58.