10 memories from the first 10 days...

Ten Memories from the last Ten days...

1) Arriving in country at 9pm (and meeting my WONDERFUL roommate Lindsey) and going to school at 6:45 the next morning. Talk about transition.

2) Going to La Sirena (kinda of equivalent to a Walmart... sort of.) for the first time. It was very overwhelming and weird to see prices in the hundreds for small things (38 Dominican Pesos is equivalent to $1.00)

3) Staying home on Thursday to unpack and waking up to no power. no water. no internet. no phone. What an interesting day.

4) Trying to communicate with the Internet guy who was speaking very fast Dominican Spanish. Only to find out that he is a pastor and loves Jesus. (Which mind you was the only part of the conversation that I could put together.)

5) Meeting my amazing students and my wonderful assistant- Alba. Such a blessing.

6) Going to the bank three times before they will actually give me a bank account. Thankfully my precious roommate translated.

7) Deciding to paint a few walls in our house to add some “home-iness” sounded like a good idea. Realizing that our laundry sink is broken (no one told us) and the water flooded our downstair’s neighbors whole house was a bad idea. [Side note: We were able to meet her and develop a friendship that will hopefully lead her to Christ.]

8) Going to a Dominican church for the first time. I didn’t understand very much (because Dominicans speak FAST!), but being brought to tears by the worship-even though it was in another language.

9) Visiting “La Playa Sosua” (a beautiful beach) for the first time with the Koster’s (my family away from my family)! The beach was beautiful and the water was crystal clear!

10) Realizing that the Lord has called me to such a place for such a time as this. I am able to reflect on the goodness of the Lord and his providence in all situations.

Flooded with emotions.

I don’t think I can even begin to describe the emotions that I have experienced over the last five days. Anything that could happened in attempt to discourage a person has happened; however, in the midst of the craziness the Lord has been so faithful to bring Scripture after Scripture before me and give me such a precious peace. Knowing that serving the Lord is not always an easy, beautiful task, I have come to realize that it can at times be a daunting charge. Instead of sharing with you all of the emotion (which might take hours), I want to share with you Jesus’ words that have sweetly comforted me.Isaiah 43 says:

“1 But now, this is what the LORD says—

he who created you, Jacob,

he who formed you, Israel:

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

2 When you pass through the waters,

I will be with you;

and when you pass through the rivers,

they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire,

you will not be burned;

the flames will not set you ablaze.

3 For I am the LORD your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

I give Egypt for your ransom,

Cush[a] and Seba in your stead.

4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight,

and because I love you,

I will give people in exchange for you,

nations in exchange for your life.”

[Click on the link to finish reading: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2043&version=NASB]

Psalm 90:14-17

14 Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love,
so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives.
15 Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery!
Replace the evil years with good.
16 Let us, your servants, see you work again;
let our children see your glory.
17 And may the Lord our God show us his approval
and make our efforts successful.
Yes, make our efforts successful!

The cry of my heart is that I would wake up each morning allowing the Lord to satisfy me with His unfailing love. That he would give me gladness in my service. I pray that He would send down His glory so that I may see His work in this place. Most of all I pray that the Lord would show me His approval and make my efforts successful. Not so that I may be praised, but that He may be made famous among the nations. So that all men might praise the Lord. I pray you are encouraged today knowing that you are precious and honored in the sight of the Creator.

-Madison

Mailing Address

Wonderful Readers,

It has been a crazy few days here in Santiago, DR; however, God has been so gracious to me! Just a quick post with my mailing address. This is the address for cards and small packages ( I have to pay $1 per pound for each incoming package-not letter). If you are sending support, please send that to my home address-listed below. Thanks again for all of your support and prayers! God is going to do big things here!

Dominican Address:

Santiago Christian School

Attn: Madison Wheeler

8400 N.W. 25th St. Suite 110
BM # 2-30555
Doral, FL 33122

Home Address:

Madison Wheeler

PO BOX 209

Stantonsburg, NC 27883

Dios le Bendiga,

Madison

Nothing without Jesus.

Thank you for all of those who have been praying for me and following my blog along the way! Yesterday was rather overwhelming, but equally as refreshing to have such a peace of knowing I am right where I am supposed to be! In the last 36 hours, I have probably heard two times more Spanish than I have heard English. This makes me more excited and more urgent to learn the language. Today, I spent the day in my new Dominican apartment unpacking my stuff and trying to settle in (with the few things I have). I am so blessed to have a bed, queen size!, two couches, a kitchen table and some random dishes! Yesterday, I was able to get a shower curtain and other random toiletries so I could use my own bathroom! After waking up this morning, I quickly realized that we did not have running water. It wasn’t until later in the day that I realized we didn’t have power which is why we didn’t have water. The school provides an inverter that runs the fans, praise the Lord, and several lights; however, we have been without water, no toilets, most of the day!

On a funny note, the internet man FINALLY came today while I was home. This was great since we have not had internet yet (its funny how we rely on it so much!). The great part of this story is the man who came to install it did NOT speak English. (Side Note: Dominican’s speak very fast Spanish.) I didn’t realize how much I didn’t know and how much confidence I lacked until this very moment. Needless to say, we ended up laughing at the dilemma and trying to make it work. He saw my Bible on the table and began to ask me about church and God’s Word (which surprisingly I could understand most of what he was saying). Praise the Lord for the few Scriptures I had learned in Spanish and was able to share with him. I was reminded of my desperate need to learn the language fast if I want to reach these people for His Kingdom. After spending all day with this man trying to get our internet fixed, it finally works. and then.... this great monsoon (normal dominican rain...) comes and breaks the connection. Oh, well.

I wanted to share a verse with you today that the Lord reminded me of this morning. John 15:5 says, “Apart from Me you can do NOTHING” (emphasis mine). How quickly I forget that I can do nothing without Jesus. Even something as simple as getting internet installed. You would think that leaving my own country and making my home on a foreign island would nail this truth into my head, but as humans we think we can do most things on our own and when we get into a bind we dial J-E-S-U-S to come rescue us. In reality, we need to be rescued by Jesus every moment of every hour. There is a sweet hymn that I have always loved called “I need the every hour”. How true the words to this song are in our daily lives. So, my prayer for today is that I would learn to let Jesus rescue me in everything; that I would learn never to try to do things on my own even the small things. Jesus is enough. May God teach you this too.

Thank you for your prayers. I will be trying to post my address soon!

In Christ,

Madison

Hit the ground running.

The past 24 hours have been a whirlwind. I flew out of RDU yesterday at 1:30pm. I was blessed to have a friend (thank you David Manning!) happen to be on my plane to Miami! God is just good like that. I arrived in the Dominican at 8:45 pm and was picked up by my principal and her husband. I was quickly given instructions, keys and information. Quickly overwhelmed. I finally made it to my NEW apartment (For those that weren’t aware, my housing was iffy leading up to my departure; however, God’s promise rings true that He works ALL things out for good. We were assigned a nicer, safer and bigger apartment! Praise the Lord!) I met me new, wonderful, roommate Lindsey, who welcomed me so well with the little things that are nice to have upon arrival, toilet paper. We are going to have such a wonderful time together and I am blessed to have her!

Today, I left for school at 6:40a, (much earlier than what I have been used to for the last 5 months!), but I was reminded how much I love mornings! I have spent most of the morning receiving instructions and tasks that I will soon take over at the school. The people are wonderful and so welcoming! I have such a peace that this is exactly where the Lord wants me! I can’t wait to dive right into learning Spanish and making new friends! On a side note, I have a amazing Dominican girl, Alba, working for me who is going to be such a blessing! She has already been so helpful, ordering me a dairy-free lunch!

Thanks again for all your prayers and support! God is going to do BIG things! Pray for a smooth transition, continued health and calmness as I take on this huge task the Lord has called me to! May God bless you too! I want to share a verse that I am clinging to today:

“From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint [overwhelmed, submerged, weak, anxious]; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” Psalm 61:2

-Madison

Beautiful Struggle.

I am just 4 days away from beginning my journey to the Dominican Republic. I have spent the day packing. one of my least favorite tasks. It has to be done, but boy do I dread it. While I was packing, thoughts were racing through my head. A bittersweet emotion of obediently following the Lord's call to go to the DR, but sad to leave those I love and my ministry here behind. I was wrestling with all of this trying to find contentment and rest. I turned on Pandora and just began to worship. I was reminded of the goodness of the Lord. That He is the "I AM". He holds me when I don't know what to do next. He doesn't give happiness, He gives sweet joy. What began as a dreadful process, the Lord slowly turned into a worship from the bottom of my heart as I try to prepare to make this huge step. I came across a quote that I want to share. Pray for me as I make the final preparations, establish the last of my support and get ready to GO, just as He has said.

"We can make the right answer sound old hat, but I guarantee this: God will surprise you. He will make you stop. You will struggle. He will bring you up short. You will hurt. He will take his time. You will grow in faith and in love. He will deeply delight you. You will find the process harder than you ever imagined – and better. Goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life. No matter how many times you’ve heard it, no matter how long you’ve known it, no matter how well you can say it, God’s answer will come to mean something better than you could ever imagine." -David Powilson

-Madison

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