Buenos dias todo, ?como estan? well, i have a huge and very neat praise to share with you! this is a story of victory: my camera has been found! i was so happy, cause i just started doing this project with the kids in preprimario and kinder, and i really needed pictures of them......but as always, God had his hand on the entire situation (why do i ever doubt it?), and things unfolded in the most unexpected of ways!
one of the boys in 8th grade went up on sunday to profess his new belief in Jesus, which is always a neat thing, but sometimes kids just do it cause everyone else is, and it's hard to know if God has really changed their lives, until we see fruit. well, i can honestly say that i have never seen a boy whose life is so completely different! joel (pictured in the green coat) came into the office that very next monday, bringing the camera and confessing that he and another boy had taken the cameras from the school. i was so surprised and thankful - and i couldn't believe the courage it took for him to come and tell! the cameras along with the quantity of money stolen was more than enough that he could never pay back, but God had changed his heart, and he wanted to do the right thing. isn't it amazing how God works everything out in the end? but of course, He's not finished teaching me to trust Him yet - Miriam (the principal), just asked me if she could use my camera for the 8th grade camping trip. yikes! needless to say, i'm a little hesitant to allow the 8th graders to have my camera once again, but i'm learning that all i have is God's, and He'll do as he likes with it - i should never stand in the way. the best part of this whole story, as far as i'm concerned, is that Joel is a new child of God's, that his heart has been changed, which lead to changing actions and life! what a victory! ......i guess i'd rather have all my stuff get stolen, if it meant that more kids would come to Christ, hahaha. so praise God for his myriad of blessings, Joel's life, my camera back, and being a step closer to living as Jesus. "All things work together for good, for those who love God, according to His purpose." what satan meant to harm my work here, God turned out for good.....awesome!!
well, have a great week, and may you never stop learning each little thing God wants to teach you!
~allison

God's Love - Really

Hello everyone! ....haha, long time no see.... well! life is good here still, having a good week of work, and a fun time with my friend kristy's family, who were visitng for spring break. their son eric is now sponsoring a child, which is always such a huge blessing to us here at the school! we've also gotten a few new sponsors for our preschool class, and it is so sweet to see the kids learn to understand that there is someone in another country who cares for them, enough to send money for them to go to school. what a great way to show Jesus' love here!! it was also really cool to see cheifry (little boy) actually meet his sponsor, eric, that's always an extra special meeting to be a part of.

now, on the other end, there's been a few roadblocks in the past few days - my camera was stolen out of the office, along with my grocery money, and two other cameras were stolen out of the main office. definitely a setback to all of us, since a big part of my job is having pictures of kids. a small praise, though, was that i had just copied all the pictures onto my computer before it was taken. (thank you God!) i won't lie, it was really disappointing to feel that some kid in this school does not appreciate the work we do here enough to not take our things......but God has been teaching me something really neat about love through this. the very night my things got stolen, our women's bible study read about Jesus' holy and perfect love - how no matter how many people reject, don't understand, spit upon, or just ignore our Father's love, He never stops giving that love to us. and so, what would be keeping me from loving these kids? because one of them took a material possession from me? i should not be offended by something like that, but like Jesus, learn to understand that none of us are perfect, and accept it with full and complete forgiveness. this work here, it's not about me, what i'm giving, or any of us and whether or not we're offended - it's about showing God's love to the unloved, no matter what. so thank God for that lesson, i hope i can continue to think more in that vein of Godliness! (personally i still feel pretty imperfect...) now, we are trying to find out who did it, because it wouldn't be right to just let someone get away with that, but the reality of that is almost laughably small. : ) so, from here on out, until further notice, i may have to put some older pictures up on here......sorry i won't have any new ones! thank you all for your continued prayers and support, i thank God every time i receive a monthly reminder of those who have commited to supporting me : ) God bless, and keep drawing on His well of Perfect Love!
~allison

The Ark Update

This past weekend was a long weekend because of the Dominican Independence Day. it's the first week that i am staying in the trautwein's house without them, as they are touring the states to raise more support. so for the weekend, my friend sara stayed with me, and we had a few motorcycle adventures, including getting caught in a downpour on the way back from visiting the campamiento. there was also a team here with a doctor on it, so we did another round of vaccinations at school, to finish up all the children. that was very fun, as i got to learn how to draw up the needles. (trying to get ahead on my nursing education : )
now, having just gotten through carnival month, i was hardly excited for more dominican parties, celebrating independence - haha - but the ark really knew how to celebrate enjoyably. We had a giant sleepover, with all the boys camping out on the baseball field, and us girls staying in the big multi-use building. what a fun night!! we played games, went on a scavenger hunt around the ark, watched a movie together......and hardly slept a wink! but that group of girls is so special, everyone is fun and amazing in their own way, with all their special stories, and different personalities, i really enjoyed getting to know each one of them better. we opened another home at the Ark and rescued five new children in the loving arms of Hilda and Eric, the new house parents! it's always so exciting to see these children come into this new atmosphere, where they are safe, cared for, well fed, and loved. not to mention their excitement at recieving new things like clothes, toys, even toothbrushes light up their faces. there's nothing like it in the world, knowing that children really are being saved from horrible situations, to be brought up as children of God! hope ya'll have a great week.
~allison