Dear Friends,

We are writing to let you know of a blessing that we have received from our partner church, the Dominican Evangelical Church (DEC).

As any of you know who have tried to keep in touch with us in the Dominican Republic, we move a lot. Not only are we on the move traveling with volunteer teams, but we move from one housing residence to another. When we suddenly had to move again this fall, the fifth time in four years, the DEC became concerned for us. What was going on that we were having to move so often and with such difficulty each time? Our church is blessed with very capable people who stepped in to help us get out of a very unpleasant living situation where we felt trapped in our own home. Then they carefully checked to make sure that our new lease was fairly written before we moved into a different house.

Even better, Pastor Luis Padilla of the DEC of Buenos Aires here in Santo Domingo, said to us, "You are having too much trouble and moving too often. We are going to do something about this. We are doing to bless your new house." And bless it, they did! A young couple from the church with whom we are friends helped us for two weeks as we closed down one house and prepared the other to move. Then after we had a chance to get into the new place and get somewhat settled, the Buenos Aires church brought a group to our house one Tuesday evening to "bless the house."

They scheduled the House Blessing for 7:00 p.m. We invited some of our North American friends to come too. We set out refreshments. We gathered chairs and packing trunks for people to sit, thinking no more than 10 to 12 folks would come. Very few people of the Buenos Aires Church have cars or can afford the transportation for traveling to a different neighborhood at night. Just before 7:00, the church people arrived. They had made a special effort to arrive early and start promptly. As many of you know from experience, punctuality is not as important here as it is in the States. (Our North American guests all arrived after we had started the service, surprised to find us already in the midst of things!) The time was not the only special effort though. There were not 10-12 church members who came. There were 30! We scrambled for more chairs and had people everywhere! Then, with a full house, the service began, directed by Pastor Padilla and his wife Luisa.

People read scripture. They prayed. They gave testimony of the blessings they had received during the day: thanks for a good neighbor, thanks for not getting run over by a bus, thanks for resolution to someone else’s housing woes, thanks for God’s perfect timing. Then we sang. I love to sing with Dominicans of the DEC, complete with hand motions and tambourines they had brought from the church. And the two choruses that they picked to sing were my favorites. Someone must have remembered they were my favorites from the many times that we have done Bible school together. The first chorus was "Jesus is Passing by Here." It goes, "Jesus is passing by here. When he passes, everything changes. The sadness leaves; the joy arrives. Jesus is passing by here for you and for me." The second chorus was that the love of God is marvelous; how big is the love of God; it’s so high you can’t get above it; it’s so low you can’t get below it; it’s so wide you can’t get outside of it; how big and marvelous is the love of God!" Then they had actually packed up enough hymnals from the church for us to sing a few hymns. You have never sung "How Great Thou Art" until you have sung the Spanish version with the DEC. There were two solos by members of the church. And then Pastor Padilla led us all in a blessing and dedication of our new home. May the Lord be the Lord of this home, may this house keep us safe, may it be a home of love and refuge, may those that live here and those who visit be faithful followers to the Lord of this home. And may God permit Ben and Shannon to stay put in this house for as long as God wills! We closed in more singing and prayer. Then we ate and drank refreshments, laughed, hugged, exchanged onion dip recipes (some things are just universal), toured the house, and said good night. After everyone went home and we had put all of the chairs away, we sat down in our newly blessed house and knew that we had been blessed indeed.

It is our Dominican brothers and sisters who need special blessings right now, though. The crash of American Airlines flight 587 has been a terrible blow here. The fact that so many of their own have died in a different country has even further compounded the grief and uncertainty for many. Please pray for the specific families directly effected and the Dominican people in general. And know that you are in the prayers of the Dominican people as we all live these trying times together. May we all be the People that God has called us to be.

Peace,

Shannon and Ben Langley

The 2001 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 238