Prayer Requests

ISSUE

2011

2012

That God continues to move in the relationships that are being formed. That I can have a positive influence here, and that cultural differences dont hinder. Positive family influences of the students and even the shoe shiners not in the school.

AN INSIDE LOOK ON W HAT GOD IS DOING IN JARABACOA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.

Dominican focus

Field Trip to the Zoo

AN EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETINE... In May, our school, Colegio Timoteo, had the amazing Domingo was an entire opportunity to take the guys on a field trip to the zoo and new world for them aquarium in the Capital (Santo Domingo). This was totally a because it is a more God run trip because modernized city than He provided the Jarabacoa. Even the funds so that all of bathroom was an the boys could go experience for most of free of costs. They these guys. When they would go to wash their hands they were also had the aweshocked that hot water came out (me too because it has been some opportunity to awhile since I have felt hot water come out of the faucet and I eat pizza (which for didn't expect it). most of them was a The hand dryers, first because pizza at first, were a here is a luxury). curious and even God even had control of the weather. As we were in the bus, it kind of a scary was down pouring and the streets were literally flooding (there thing, but then was water that literally reached halfway up the bus), but God quickly changed cleared it all up as we arrived at our first destination, the zoo. into a fun and This was the first time for the majority of my students to see a exciting thing tiger, monkey, or bear in real life. that had us in the For most of these guys, they bathroom for a haven't had the opportunity to long period of leave the mountain in Jarabacoa, time. So many of the boys said to me with laughs and joy, "Hey nor let alone see an animal in the Jim!!! Look how it flaps my skin back and forth!!" Haha, it zoo. It was such a privilege and a made me laugh. It was even funnier to watch the faces of the blessing to be a part of these men who were walking into the bathroom to see these boys guys' experience and to watch having so much fun with the hand dryers and me trying to tear them as they were fascinated by the things they saw. Santo them off of them so that we could go eat.

Shoe Shiners Camp 2011

Treasures in Heaven

Shoe Shiners AClubH E G A M E . . . B CK IN T

Gladiators & Salvation
One Saturday at club we tried to make the Evangelical message understandable for our boys and so we thought one of the best ways of doing that was through the form of a game. The boys were paired off and each pair was given an egg (that we had painted hearts on) that we called life and the two boys had to protect and take care of the egg throughout the activities that we had for them. The boys were tied together as if they were on a three-legged race, and they had to make it through a labyrinth of obstacles much like from the show American Gladiator where they had to get to the Goal without being attacked by the gladiators. The gladiators were throwing tennis balls and the boys had to take the egg together and get it to the goal without getting hit by the tennis balls. The boys really enjoyed this game. Later, I explained that this game represents our Spiritual Lives. The egg represents our life. The Goal represents God the Father that ultimately that is where we want to arrive. However, without Jesus, which was represented by the pairs, we could never get to the goal. The Gladiators represented Satan and how he tries to do everything he can to kill and destroy us and create obstacles in order to persuade us not to get to the goal. Ultimately, many of the boys sacrificed themselves, just like Jesus, so that the life could get to the goal. This was a very effective message. One of the boys, Marcos, was very effected that he decided to give his life to Jesus. He decided that he wanted to allow Jesus to get him to the Goal the Father, and conquer the enemy.

Character Spotlight
JEFFREY PICHARDO Not too long ago Jeffrey became a Christian and has had a huge heart for the shoe shiners. He has been a faithful servant coming to Club every Saturday. Jeffreys story is very tragic, but an awesome testimony of redemption. About two years ago Jeffrey was in a tragic motorcycle accident and was paralyzed in his left arm. Everyday he endured great pain ever since the accident and through a local television program, Reto de Vivir that our church puts on, he came to a relationship with Jesus Christ. Despite Jeffreys intense pain, he has been an extremely hard worker in club and in all that he does, and back in March of this year, it was discovered that Gangrene had appeared in his paralyzed arm and was quickly spreading, and if something wasnt done soon it could move to his body and eventually kill him. Drastic measures had to be taken in a very short period of time, and he had some very big decisions to make. The arm had to be ultimately amputated, but whether it be cut to the point to where a prosthetic could be placed and continue to have intense pain or cut it where no prosthetic would be able to be used, but the intense pain that he had been enduring for 2 years straight would finally end. During this time of great trial, Jeffrey was faced with a lot of battles and Satan trying to convince him that without his arm he has no value. He ultimately decided to take it off entirely and Glory to God, he has grown SO much and is now very strong. God has used Jeffreys arm to get to his heart and Jeffrey is now capable to do many more things now than when he had the arm because of the great pain he constantly felt. He is so happy now because now he can be touched or hugged without fear of being harmed, and now he gets in there and plays rough with the other boys during club. Jeffreys testimony is an inspiration to those who feel limited by their limitations.

Being Content in ALL Circumstances

In addition to several other responsibilities, for the month of December, I had been temporarily put in charge as the director of the school because the director got married in that month. My first week as director and right before our Christmas party, the pastor's wife came to me and said, "Jim, there are NO explained that God knows the things that we are ready for and the things we are not. I tried to put it in perspective for them. I said, Let's imagine you are all Fathers... They all began naming their children (I was the son of some of them) I continued, It is my birthday and I ask for a real gun. Are you going to give it to me? They said, Well, no because it is dangerous and you are not ready for a real gun. I said, MMHMM. God is our Dad and perhaps your requests were not dangerous, but God knows the intentions and motivations of your heart. If your heart is not in the right place, God knows if you are ready for these things or not, and those things could indeed be dangerous for you if you are not ready for them. Things seemed to click. In that moment, the thirteen year old said, WOW Jim, I NEED TO repent! I said, Ok well if you want we can do that alone or if you want we can do that here together. He decided to do it together, and we all prayed together. WOW the Prayers were AMAZING coming from such young children. The 6 year old was asking God to change the sadness in his heart into joy and happiness. The thirteen year old was repenting to God for his heart and for the wrong intentions that he had made in his requests. Everyone with their own mouth prayed and asked God to make His hopes and desires for their lives become their own. I was astonished and humbled by the prayer time. Afterwards, I told each and every one of them how PROUD I am of them. I said, You know why?! You did something very difficult today; something that most adults have never done, nor will do. I said, You guys made a very mature decision and I am so proud of you. Every one of those boys left the office knowing that they wouldnt receive any gifts this year but were happy and joyful for the celebration we were going to have. I was so proud of my boys. I got on Facebook and felt like I needed to tell the world HOW Proud of my boys I am. There were no other intentions in sharing, but it seemed that God used the story to touch the heart of a friend in Finland. She decided she would like to bless the boys, and in less than a week she sent about 250 Euros ($520ish dollars) so that each boy could have a gift. On the day of the party, the boys were surprised to find gifts. I explained, Look, God saw your hearts when you gave over your desires to HIM and now, He chose to bless you because He loves to bless His children. It was AMAZING to see Gods work in the hearts of the boys and then the blessing that followed the difficult decisions of obedience that they made.

I have learned to be content Christmas gifts for the whatever the circumstances. boys this year. Nothing has come in; Philippians 4:11 not even one peso. You need to tell the guys that this year there are no Christmas gifts. I must admit I was taken back that I had to give such a difficult message to my boys so shortly into my new position. After talking more with the Pastors wife, I shared a message based out of Philippians 4:11 talking about Paul and being content in ALL Circumstances. I asked the guys if they wanted to be like Paul; always giving thanks to God regardless the circumstance. All responded, YEAH! and I told them, Well, I am glad to hear that because we have an opportunity to put that into practice. I have some news for you. This year there are no Christmas gifts for you guys. Obviously that was hard to hear because for most of them, that is the only Christmas gift they will receive. Their faces literally changed from smiles to frowns, but I gave them all a challenge. Earlier in the day, I asked all of the boys to write their Christmas desires on a piece of paper, fold it up, and keep it in their pockets. I asked all of the boys to take out their Christmas wishes and hold them up in the air. I challenged the boys, but did not force them, to symbolically demonstrate giving over their desires to God so that Gods desires could be OUR desires by burning their list of Christmas wishes. Believe it or not, ALL of the boys decided to do it. After our desires had completely disappeared in the flames, we had a time in prayer of thanksgiving. Most of the boys seemed ok, but I explained if anyone was upset, had questions, or didnt understand what happened and would like to talk, come talk with me in the office. I had 5 boys come and talk to me ranging in ages of 6 years old to 13. The 6 year old with tears in his eyes said, I dont understand why I burned my Christmas gift. I explained again. I also mentioned how God looks at the intentions of our hearts when we ask for things and if we look to people to be the provider of all our wants and needs, and not God, that is not good and are bad motivations. I also

Shoe Shiners Camp 2012

Yet you, Lord, are our Father We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8

Gods Masterpieces...

Shoe Shiners Club

In June, we had our Shoe shiners Summer Camp that consisted of about 36 boys and this was our third year working with Elmbrook Church from Wisconsin. This group has a genuine love for our boys and every year comes with this excitement and passion to pour out blessings to all of us here. This years camp topic was the Potter and the Clay. The way in which this message was shared was in a way that was very captivating for our boys because as Pastor Robin shared the Word, this group had brought a potter, Ryan, who was forming pottery throughout the message. The message that was shared was that God is the potter and we are the clay. When the Potter goes to get the clay, he first must clean it of its sticks and stones (sins and difficult things that have occurred in our lives) so that it can be used. It was also discussed about what is Gods

purpose for our lives? Just like a potter has a purpose for everything he forms on the wheel, God has a purpose for our lives. It is interesting because a lot of the time, we have a picture of what it is or what purpose we would like to have for our lives, but many times Our Maker has a much more beautiful plan and purpose for our life that it much more beautiful than we can imagine. This was an exciting time to work with the boys and help take out the sticks and stones they each have in their lives, whether it be sin related, or family problems, etc. and then help them to see the talents and gifts that God had given them and guide them and direct them in finding their purpose. This was a very encouraging message for the majority of our guys and it was really neat to see these boys finding their genuine value in God.

Suspended in the Mountains

When I was in Jarabacoa for my study abroad in 2007, I lived in a village up in the mountains called Los Higos. Since retuning to Jarabacoa, I have been returning to Los Higos in order to spend time with my friends and family from there. God has opened up opportunity in my old village where my relationships with the people there have been deepening. A guy by the name of Luis has been becoming a true friend, and he has had a lot of questions about the Bible. Every Monday when I would go up to visit we would sit and discuss things from the Bible. Luis has been hesitant to be a Christian because of some bad examples that he has had in his life. However, he desires to have a relationship with God and to learn and grow in the Bibles teachings. It has been really neat how God has been using our relationship to grow us both and the fact that his heart has opened up and has been influenced by a Christian has been such a God thing. Im excited to see how God continues to use this relationship. A small group of us guys began to go up to the mountain to read the Word of God. It originally began because one of the guys was just baptized and we found that because he has difficult reading, he hasnt been able to read the Bible; and you know by reading and studying the Bible that is how we grow in our Spiritual faith and relationship with God. We thought that we could at least come together and read the Bible out loud and be able to discuss it so that everyone could grow and learn from Gods Word. It has been awesome to go up the mountain and marvel over Gods creation and get into His Word.

Fight to RedemptionE E B R O T H E R S A STORY OF THR

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 2:6

One day at school we had a very interesting problem that ended that time God had been genuinely working on their hearts. Im in an amazing blessing. One of our students, come to find out, excited to see how God uses these boys to had snack money that was meant for him and his two other influence their family and community. brothers and had spent it all on a snack for himself. This created a huge problem, which lead to a fight. It is unfortunate because in this particular situation, there is some favoritism from the family towards this particular brother who lied. Due to this fight we had the three brothers in the office where the director and myself were beginning to enforce the consequences. We confronted the student who lied and we began to minister to the three brothers and teach them the importance of honesty and the importance of looking out for your brother.. We ended the time in prayer and all three brothers in this time gave their lives to Jesus. When we finished the prayer I was amazed by what had happened next. God had moved in the boys hearts so much that all by themselves they began asking for forgiveness from the other for things that they have done against the other; not only that day, but on other occasions. It was a very moving time as these boys were asking for forgiveness with tears in their eyes. It was obvious that in

End of the Year Celebration Training

In June, we finished the school year with our Annual End of the School Year Celebration. This is a time where the students are rewarded for their academic and character achievements for the year. It is a great time to no just focus on the academic advancements that they have made, but also to focus on the positive character traits that God has given each and everyone of them and encourage them before their parents to continue advancing in those areas where they excel. This year we also had two of our students, Jess Csma and Gregory Lpez graduate from Colegio Timoteo and will be advancing to the local high school. In the Dominican Republic there is a very I mportant test (much like the SAT in the States) that every eighth grader must take and pass to be able to continue into high school. We are very proud to say that every student that has gone through out school has passed this test with flying colors. Jess and Gregory passed their exams with excellent scores. I am very excited for them to go out into their high school and make a difference where they are at. I feel that God has done a lot with these boys with their time at Colegio Timoteo, and these two very special boys are born leaders in their community and I believe that God has some BIG plans for their lives and by their example.
You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. 2 TIMOTHY 2:1-2

H IGHLIGHTS
B APTISM 2012
JANUARY 14, 2012

Retreat to the Presa

FEBRUARY 27, 2012

Church Trip to the beach

in Cabarete MAY 1, 2012

Field Trip to the Zoo

MAY 18, 2012

Scholarship Dinner

Making dreams come true...

Wisin sent clothes for our

students MAY 22, 2012

This year Colegio Timoteo has started a fund to be able to give scholarships to send students that attend our school to college. Elmbrook Church, which has helped us out a lot by putting on a Summer Camp for the last three years for our boys from Shoe Shiners Club and the school., has decided to partner with us in this vision and has decided to contribute and match whatever we raise as a school. It is so exciting too that this program is taking off and that our boys now will have an opportunity to have further education when otherwise it would be much more difficult for them to accomplish just because of economic situations alone. God has definitely been all over this project and it has been encouraging to see people in the community of Jarabacoa have been coming together to help support this project and vision for these boys. We had a benefit dinner where many people from the community came together to come and hear the vision of this project and to ultimately support the project. We currently have one student that has been going to college to study accounting and he has been blessed and able to go to college through the means of the scholarship. Now, for next year, we will be sending four more Colegio Timoteo graduates to college. We are excited to see how God will continue to use this project and the community to give boys an amazing opportunity to expand their educational careers.

Shoe Shiners Camp

J UNE 19-22, 2012

End of the Year

Celebration & Graduation J UNE 19, 2012

Contact Information
Cell: 809.430.7892
Email: jim.ralstin@gmail.com Please Send Donations to:
College Park Missionary Church 2014 Liberty Drive Mishawaka, IN 46545 Attn: Pastor Jim Bayer

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