Sunshine's April Update

Hello everybody! Well, here is the moment you have been waiting for! A blog update! I have been keeping really busy here at G.O. Ministries. I returned from the D.R. March 22ND from our bi-annual "Celebration of Partnership." It was a awesome time of fellowship and sharing. The biggest accomplishment this past week was that we survived DERBY!! It was crazy, but well worth it. The ministry was able to raise $23,000 which went to help provide the funds needed to build churches and feeding centers.


Here we go...The beginning of April has been pretty steady. I have been spending time working here at the G.O. office. My main focus has been raising support and learning a lot more about how the missions ministry operates. It's been a great experience for me. As I learn how the ministry operates, it teaches me the importance of being a good steward of all that God has blessed me with! We also have two new missionaries that started with G.O. this month. Jackie Douglas from Las Vegas, Nevada, and Dianne Miller from Rockford, Illinois. Both of these women have been to the D.R. several times on short term mission trips. Jackie is learning to become a team facilitator, and Dianne is going to working with our G.O. Kids program. We are so happy to have them here with us! Our family is growing!

This was the first year that I was a part of the "Celebration of Partnership" conference. What a blessing it was. I arrived in the D.R. March 16Th, and spent a few days visiting with my friends from Hoya del Caimito, the community where I live. I had a great time seeing everybody and getting caught up on what is happening in their lives. Plus I got the chance to practice my Spanish, which had gotten a little rusty being here in the states ( I still needs lots of work). On Wednesday, the staff and our partners from China and Belize went on a retreat for two days. This was the first time we had the opportunity to meet our partners from these two countries. We spent the two days fellow shipping with each other, and had some play time as well! We also had some awesome devotions and sharing. John Kohlor, who is our partner from Mongolia, China, led our devotionals for the two days we were there( he is the 3RD pic below). John spends his time ministering to the prostitutes and alcoholics on the streets of Mongolia. John shared his walk with Christ with us, shared his ministry with us, and really challenged us to take a deep look at our hearts. The scripture for the devotions was in Isaiah 43:18 & 19. It reads "Forget about what's happened; don't keep going over old history. Be alert, Be present. I'm about to do something brand new. It's bursting out! Don't you see it? There it is! I'm making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands." He asked us the question "Are we real to ourselves and most importantly to the people that we serve?" John also challenged us to be "refreshed." As missionaries on the field, we have to fight for our quite time, especially in the middle of the busy summer season. We need to always remember that it is being a minister to the Dominicans and to the teams that come down that make our ministry so successful. We are extensions of Jesus' love, and if we allow ourselves to be thirsty, then we are not being filled with Gods Holy Spirit. If we are not be filled with His spirit, then I can guarantee you that we are not doing the job that God would want us to do. It was a great week!


The second part of our conference was at a campground on the outskirts of Santiago called La Vega. This conference was a time for us to love on our Partners. Our partners from the Dominican Republic, China, Belize and Columbia were all there. Unfortunately our pastors from Haiti could not get across the border. We had a great time in worship, workshops , playing baseball, and swimming! We also had the pleasure of meeting our partners from Belize. Ernest & Barbara Tate have been ministering in Belize for 30 years. They manage Belize Faith Mission which is a orphanage for children who have been abused and neglected. It was awesome to get to know them and to hear about what God is doing in their nation. We are going to start sending teams to Belize next year(they are the 1st pic from the left below). We also had Jhon Dario and Pastor Ramirez at the conference. They are our partners from Columbia. Jhon led us in some amazing worship and Pastor Ramirez spoke to us about being effective in ministry and the key to that was rekindling Gods spirit within our hearts and with prayer!! Very good stuff! The pic to the below right is all our missions and Dominican staff and our partners with their wives.



Praise Reports!

~God has continued to meet my every need while I have been home!
~I still have a lot of support to raise, but I am making some progress.
~Thank you Father for all your blessings!

Prayer Requests

~Our missions family is really growing, please pray for G.O. Ministries and our board as they make decisions on our behalf.
~Please pray for Brook and his family. He is traveling a lot right now, pray that God would keep them safe.
~Please pray that as I continue to raise support, that I would always listen for the Holy Spirit to guide me.

Once gain, thank you to you all for your prayers and financial support. You all are a huge part of G.O. Ministries and make my ministry possible!

Dios le Bendiga!

Sunshine