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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Take time to Rest. In Jesus.

Over the last several weeks, I have been faced with a feeling of lack of purpose and direction. I am aware that this feeling is not from God because I have been spending my time speaking with people about my mission, babysitting, taking care of sick family members, and doing random jobs for friends and family. I have been busy to say the least. But I can’t help but be reminded of the verse in Luke chapter 10 that says, “you are worried and bothered about so many things;but only one thing is necessary..” In the midst of feeling like I need to be doing something or checking things off of this grande to-do list, I catch myself wondering what I am doing. My version of productive is being remolded to that of Christ. I am realizing that I may have a list of things to do and not one of them be something the Lord would will for me to get done that day. One of my sweet friends reminded me of a verse in Hebrews chapter four that talks about resting. She went on to say how it says that we must be diligent to enter that rest. Sometimes, we just have to slow down, take a step back and realize the Lord may have us in a place in order to take a deep breath and rest. As I am continuing to raise support, speak with those about my mission, and getting things ready to leave for the mission field, I pray that I don’t forget to rest in Jesus; to sit at his feet, pour my heart out before him and allow him to change me from the inside out to look more and more like Jesus. I want to share a quote by one of my most favorite pastors, John Piper. Thank you for reading. God bless.

“And Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word’" Luke 1:38

"Can you say: ‘Let the Holy Spirit do with me as he pleases’? Do you trust the Spirit enough to say: ‘I am your slave; take me; use your omnipotent power to put me where you want me, when you want me there, doing what you want me to do’? Do you know why we can entrust ourselves to the Holy Spirit? Because he exists to exalt the glory of Jesus Christ. Therefore, if the heartbeat of your life is the glory of Jesus Christ, the Spirit will empower and help you with all his might. Let’s live and speak so that men and women might know that Jesus Christ is a great Savior, the Son of the Most High, and the never-ending King of kings. That’s the passion of the Holy Spirit. To be full of that is to be full of him.” ~John Piper

-Mads

Ps- check out my previous post to watch my support video! :) Thanks!

Video Update: My Journey to the Dominican Republic

I want to share with you guys a video that my sweet friend Megan made for me documenting some of my time in the Dominican Republic and a vision of what I will be doing for the next two years! I wanted to share it with you guys. I pray that the Lord uses it to bless and encourage you! Simply click on the link below and it will take you to the video! Thanks for watching!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dcmaOmxGJ4

-Madison

Two Months.

I woke up this morning and glanced at my watch. August 11. To many of you this may not be a day of great significance, but to me this marks exactly two months before I fly out to Santiago, Dominican Republic. These last three months have gone by so fast, but God has done BIG things to prepare me to go to the Dominican Republic. I had the opportunity to speak at Camp Lapihio to the Middle School and High School students. I was given the privilege of speaking at New Hope Baptist Church and First Free Will Baptist Church. I had the honor of leading 7 precious women to San Pedro, Dominican Republic to serve in the sugar cane villages (previous posts). I have also had the opportunity to participate in Silent Worship at my second home, Fort Caswell. The theme of the serves was “From the Cross to the World.” This service definitely hit home with me because I have such a passion and desire for my life to scream “From the Cross to the World.” A verse that has been resounding in my heart for the last few weeks is found in Acts 20:24: “But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.”

As I am continuing to prepare to leave the United States and head to the Dominican Republic, I would ask that you would join me in prayer for the ministry that I am about to join. Pray that the students I am going to work with would have softened hearts to learn and hear the gospel. Pray that the Lord would continue to do a work in my own heart to remove the things that keep me from becoming more like Jesus. I would also pray that you would consider supporting my mission financially. I am currently at about 60% of the monthly support that I need to be able to serve in the DR for two years. If you would like more information about how you can join my mission, please email me at madison.c.wheeler@gmail.com or visit www.crossworld.org. Thank you once again for reading and I look forward to updating again soon! Stay tuned for an awesome video to come!

-Mads