christmas is awesome

Dear Everybody -

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

This will be my second Christmas in the Caribbean and I am soo excited for it! Dominicans celebrate on the 24th with what they call the "noche buena." Basically their whole family gets together and its a massive potluck. I've already been invited to a couple different gatherings and I don't think my stomach is going to make it till Christmas without exploding. This is a good thing. haha. I'll also be performing for a holiday party in Cabarete next saturday, assisting with a holiday outreach in the community of Charimicos on the 23rd, and assisting with an English Christmas Eve service at our English speaking congregation. Fun Fun Fun.

I was blessed to be able to go back to Punta Cana this past weekend for a surf contest. We held a service on the beach before the finals on Sunday and the majority of the participants joined us for some worship and the word. Our local CS contact, Rafael also announced that they will be beginning weekly services at the beach from here on out. What a blessing to have two locations of surfers worshiping God every Sunday in the DR.

I've attached a picture of a competition here at Playa Encuentro where CS met the last day of heats. This is Jesus Perdomo leading us in a closing prayer.

PAYPAL!!!

Hey all. Being back home in San Diego this past month was such a blessing. It was great to see everyone and partake in my friends' Bryce and Wes' weddings. I'm back in the DR now though and back to work. We've been busy organizing our first national surf competition for February and bringing down a team from the states. We're also running our national facebook page with weekly devotionals that are sent to our friends nation-wide. Needless to say, I've been loving being back home.

As many of you know, I am only able to be down here because of the financial support from friends and family. If you've given and have committed to giving - THANK YOU!!! If not, don't worry you can now give online via PAYPAL. You will not receive a tax write off by giving through PAYPAL, but your gift will be heart felt. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Paypal site - LINK
website donate page - LINK

Back in SD for a bit

I've currently been back in San Diego, California for 11 days and it is sooo good seeing old friends. While it is evident that we have all changed in the past year, it is still such an encouragement to know that there have been people praying for me while I was in the DR. I will only be here another 2 weeks, but I hope on continuing seeing friends, attempting to fundraise, and getting some cold-water surfing in.
Being in SD has really opened my eyes to the fact that I truly feel home when I am in the Dominican Republic. The relationships and ministries that I have in the DR have become more familiar and comfortable than here in the US. I consider it a blessing.
God has really been opening my eyes recently to what it means to pursue significance more than success. Romans 12:3 states that and because of God's gracious gift to me I say to everyone of you; Do not think of yourself more highly than you should. Instead, be modest in your thinking, and judge yourself according to the faith that God has given you. We're only doing what God has called us to do and we can only do it by HIS grace by acting in LOVE within the community that he has placed us. It would help us all to live and work with the idea that God doesn't call the qualified, but rather qualifies the called.

1st national leaders meeting

On September 17th, 2010 we held our first national leaders meeting for Christian Surfers Dominican Republic in the capital city of Santo Domingo. It was a huge blessing seeing everybody come together from different parts of the island. Representatives from Cabarete, Bavarro, and Nagua were present. We all arrived around lunch time and after an amazing meal, we got down to business. Our current initiatives for 2011 are as follows:
1- Feb 4-6 CSDR's first national surf competition. A weekend of activities including a concert, a movie premiere, and a morning beach service. We're hoping to have a bus from Punta Cana provide transportation from Punta Cana, through Santo Domingo, and up the North Coast to Cabarete and back.
2- National Camp-Out Iniative. In order to continue with the spiritual growth of our local surfers we will be hosting 3 local camp-outs in Cabarete, Nagua, and Bavarro. In lieu of these activities, we will be hosting a national camp-out next fall in Bavarro.
3- National Facebook Page. To post weekly bible studies structured for surfers by surfers, promote the prayer and support of all surf events nationally, and connect surfers nationally.

School of Music Starts up again

Last Tuesday, our little group of musicians were proud to start up the school of music for this school year. Most of all the kids have come back and are trying to shake off the rust from the couple months free of playing. There is one kid named Junior in specific who at the age of 12 has begun playing with our Spanish youth band behind the drumset. It’s been very exciting to see him from the start and even more exciting seeing him help teach some of the new guys some of the basics (even though they may be 6-7 years older than him).
We’ve also been able to hire a new guitar teacher this year named Lardwin who plays guitar with me at our English Service. He attends one of the bigger churches in the area and is a regionally renown guitarist. We’ve been very excited to have him with us and it’s allowed us to expand our amount of students. It’s amazing how God has been blessing us down here.
My current plans are to take a one month break from the Dominican Republic from September 21st thru October 18th. I will spend a couple days in Costa Rica learning from the Christian Surfers ministry over there and then head back to California for a couple weddings, seeing old friends, and fundraising opportunities. Please let me know if you would like me to come speak about what God is doing in the DR at your church or small group. I am currently trying to plan a couple more fundraising opportunities.

Santo Domingo Trip with Papito

On Monday, August 2nd a local Christian Surfer named Papito and myself took a trip to Santo Domingo to meet up with a mission team from California doing ministry within the surf community down there. Papito was able to share at a local youth group what God has been doing in the DR among the surfers and how God has impacted his life personally. Papito is one of our most faithful members of Christian Surfers at Playa Encuentro and is currently ranked #1 in the national rankings. This trip also allowed us to make contacts with many pastors in California whose hearts are moved by the surfing community in the Dominican Republic.

Nagua, RD Competition

This past weekend the Surf Community in the Dominican Republic united for the fourth national contest to make the national team. It was a weekend of poor waves, but bringing everyone together held enough joy that sustained the positive atmoshpere. We were blessed to host a bible study Sunday morning before the finals right on the beach with a large majority of those competing. Isaac, a local surfer to Nagua shared his testimony. It was a huge blessing hearing from him and connecting with him in order to impact our national surf community. We were able to make a lot of other connections as well in uniting Christian Surfers around the entire country. Its a true blessing to see God moving nationally through a ministry that started on one simple beach.