Prayerletter March April06

The LaRue Family Missionaries to the Dominican Republic (March – April 2006)

1Thes.5: 24 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Greetings, in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. On the 4th of May we arrived back in Florida and on the 5th drove from Fort Pierce, FL to Lexington, SC. Susan had figured her due date at approx. June 26th that is why we were planning on coming in the middle of May, but in April I took my her to one of the clinics in Barahona for a sonograph. The doctor who performed the sonograph insisted that Susan was a month farther along then we thought. That meant that she could have the baby at the end of May. So we had to move up our schedule. Things have been real busy here, trying to get our vehicle licensed and looking for a house to live in for the four months that we will be here in the States. Getting someone to rent a house for four months is all but impossible, but as we know, Luke 18:27 And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. Thank the Lord that through Him all things are possible. God sent us a man who has been trying to sell his house, but because of some water damage to the floors and thresholds of the house no one will buy it, so we will live there for four months in exchange for labor of fixing the problems. The churches in the D.R. are doing well. In Los Tayota we have been running into some problems in the past. We were invited by Alijando Santana to hold the bible studies in his home. Alijando is a grounds keeper for a wealthy man who lives in the capital. After asking him repeatedly if there was a problem with the studies being held there Alijando always responded No problem. But after meeting the owner one Saturday afternoon at the house, there was a problem. This man is a very rich Catholic, and after Mrs. Santana introduced me as her pastor this was his response. “Pastor? There aren’t any sheep here.” (In Spanish the word pastor means shepherd.) Next he said, “What denomination are you?” I replied, “I am an Independent Baptist.” He replied, “I am a Catholic, this is Catholic property, I don’t want your Bible or your Gospel here, you’re just trying to change the minds of the people here. Get off my property and don’t come back.” So we left. We tried the school, but that didn’t work either. I was unsure what to do, because we had no permanent place to meet. Pastor Nathan and I were visiting there one day handing out tracts and preaching. We were speaking to four gentlemen in Los Tayota and explaining the situation of not having a place to meet. After we were finished one man named Lorenzo said that he had a piece of ground that he would give us to build a church building. Boy! What a blessing. God moved on this poor mans heart. Senior Lorenzo is a very poor man, working hard every day just to survive. But isn’t that normal, the rich have no need for God, but the poor see their need for God. Pray for Lorenzo as well as the other men, they all admitted that they needed to be saved.

None were saved that day, but all said that they wanted to attend the services. We will return to the field the first part of September. May God Bless you all, Brother Chris LaRue