Too early to decorate for Christmas?

   Hello family and friends! It has been a gorgeous fall here in Dominican Republic. Slightly cooler temps (most of the time), and a wonderful breeze! It has definitely been more comfortable in the house. It's easy for me to forget that it is actually really cool, and even cold, in a lot of places right now. I see someone's picture of them with their jackets on and just cannot imagine needing one! I am extremely happy when I think ahead to the fact that I WON'T need a                                                jacket at all this year! :D

   There is debate going on social media about when the "correct" time is to put away all of the fall decor and decorate for Christmas. Without going into everyone's opinions on either side....I tried to wait. I usually put our Christmas things out the day of or the day after Thanksgiving. And this year, I was going to try to wait another couple of weeks. But, the boys and I helped put up decorations at church on Saturday. And all of the stores here have decorations out and Christmas music is playing. And, I just couldn't wait. Haha! Last night, the boys and I put away all our fall things and brought out the Christmas stuff.



   This doesn't mean that we have become ungrateful and are skipping over Thanksgiving! I am thankful and grateful all year long, and so look forward to being extra thankful on a special day with friends in a couple of weeks.

          In October, our church here celebrated 22 years! We had 3                 Sundays of special services. It was a busy time, but many new visitors came and many were saved and baptized! 

Praise the Lord!

   On the last special Sunday, the deaf ministry did a drama for the deaf class. It was all in sign with no speaking parts. 

Our three youngest boys participated in the drama and had a lot of fun! I was able to be down there to watch and record it. Such a blessing! 

   Thank you to all who prayed for Joshua and Seth as they took a quick trip to the states for Seth to take his ACT. Everything went smoothly. Now we wait to get the results. 

 








  

An answered prayer and mail in the DR!

Ps 146:5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose help is in the LORD his God:
   "Thank you for praying with us specifically for the added delay expense. We are so glad that the God of Jacob sent help our way through his people. Today, we officially report that we have received $16,800 from God's people. Halellujah." ~Joshua

   We are praising the Lord for answering our prayer and He gets ALL the glory! We have to stand back amazed at how He works. Thank you, Lord!

   I want to address our mailing situation. Many people have been asking about our mailing address and how to get mail to us. So I thought I would share how we do mail...or really, hope to do mail soon.

   DR does not have mail services. We cannot receive or send mail with any postal service. We have an address (my parents' home)in the states that we have some things go to, and some people send mail to our mission ministry in Georgia. Our mission ministry takes photos of cards and letters and sends those to us, in addition to taking care of support that is sent in. Likewise, my mom sends photos of our mail as well. So far, that is all that we've been able to get.

   We are working on getting an account with a courier service so that we can receive packages. And we have started the process to apply for an account with Agape Flights, a ministry that helps missionaries. Any way that we will eventually get mail or packages here in the country, we will be paying customs fees along with all the shipping costs. Customs fees are anywhere from $2-$4 a pound. The same goes for sending mail from here to the states...we don't have anything set up yet, and it will cost money to do that.

   If/when we get an account set up with Agape, I will post a link with the information for sending mail to us. And if anyone wants our address in the states, so that we can at least get photos of the mail, please email us, or private message us on FB, and we can get you that address.

   All of the cards and letters that we have gotten over the last few years have been a huge blessing and encouragement to us! We read each one on the photos that are sent to us and it always brings a smile to our faces. Thank you for your ministry of love to us!

July-August 2019 Newsletter

Ps 146:5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:  The latest newsletter is below.  Thank you for praying, giving, and sharing. Thanks,  Joshua

Birthday, Storms, and Zoo Visit!

We had the privilege of celebrating Joshua's 45th birthday (yes, those candles say '85' 😂) this past week! I am so thankful for the husband God has given me and all that he does for me and for our boys. I couldn't ask for a husband that desires to love and serve God more.




The night we celebrated with our friends was the night of our midweek service on Thursday. There was a storm right to the south of us that brought in a lot of rain, flooding, and wonderful cooler air. We had to make some detours to get around the deep water and crazy traffic, but we made it to church. There have been so many storms already this hurricane season! I've been dealing with some storms in my personal life as well...but...God is so faithful! He has reminded me through His Word, as well as through sweet friends and even the Scriptures that others have been posting on Facebook lately, that He will never leave nor forsake us. He is using these storms to change me and make me stronger for His glory and for His purpose!


Our weekends are usually full and we enjoy every minute! Saturday, we were able to have some youth from our church over to our home for fellowship after visitation, and before a Christian film at the church that night. We ate lunch and they played some games, but the highlight for me was them playing the piano and guitar, and singing to the Lord! What a blessing!

Joshua and I were able to begin our Spanish classes online. I think we've both had 3 classes with our instructor so far. We are really enjoying the classes and learning in a way that we feel is much better than what we've done here so far. And we are excited to have more time at home, and also more time to homeschool and get other things done.

Yesterday, we were invited to go to the zoo here in Santo Domingo. It was our family's first time there and it was so much fun! The day was perfect for it too, with sunshine and a great breeze!

Joshua has been busy preparing to take Seth, our oldest, to the states next month. Seth is registered to take his ACT in Ft. Lauderdale, in hopes of getting accepted at Pensacola Christian College for the next fall. The two of them will only be there for a few days, but will be trying to accomplish some errands while there too. 
Please pray for us as we continue to learn Spanish. Pray for us as we reach people with the gospel. Also, please pray for Seth with his test coming up, as well as he and Joshua as they travel. 

Bendiciones! Blessings!

                                               Hola from the Corner family!

  Most of you already know, but on August 1, we got our van from customs! Then on August 6, our shipping container with our household goods was delivered to our home! What a feeling of relief to have our things in our possession and Joshua didn't have to spend hours and days on it anymore. We were also blessed with a crew from church to help unload and get the heavy things up the stairs. I can't imagine not having their help! We are praising the Lord that we have our things now!

We have been settling into our home, working hard in language school, going to visitation on Saturdays, attending 2 churches up until the beginning of this month, and participating in all kinds of other activities.

The boys are still learning sign language at church, and are also now in the youth choir. 
 Joshua had the opportunity to teach a soul winning class for a month at one of the churches, and it was awesome to see people excited about wanting to tell others about Jesus!


We are so thankful to be in DR, and so humbled that God would use us in this place. This country is beautiful! I'm always thrilled to see the blue-green water and the palm trees and bright flowers. But even more special are the people. The believers here have welcomed us in and want to be a help and a blessing. The lost here are in need of a Saviour, and we are so privileged to be able to point them to Jesus!  

Our family had a day after our midterms in Spanish classes, where we got to leave early after we finished our exams. We decided to celebrate a little and spend some time as a family. We went to lunch and finally got to walk by the water near the colonial zone in Santo Domingo. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed getting out in the sunshine and relaxing a little. 

 Just this week, Joshua, Seth, Nathan, and I finished 3 months of Spanish classes at the university.! Elijah and Jared's tutor will be coming to the house one day a week, for the next month or so, to finish their class. At least Joshua and I, hope to start online classes from home now. We have learned so much, but still have so much more to go. It is a relief to not have to leave the house and fight traffic to get to the university 3 days a week, but we don't want to stop learning Spanish.

Thank you to those who pray for us, support us, and encourage us with notes! You are a blessing to us! To those that have sent love gifts to help us with the extra costs in our move, thank you!!! It is so very much appreciated!

We love ya'll!

2 Months!

  Hola family and friends! This past month has flown by so fast. 

At the beginning of July, we had the privilege to go to camp and get to know the people in our church better, as well as many other churches that joined us for the week. It was an amazing time of good preaching and teaching, singing, games, and much other fun! God saved many that week, as well as worked in many hearts about surrendering their everything to Him. All glory to God! 

We also enjoyed meeting and spending time with 2 different groups from the US this past month! What a joy they were, and we and the boys were able to join in many activities with them and others from our church all month long. It was very hectic, but all had a great time! One group was able to be a part of camp with us, and the next helped us with Vacation Bible School. 

We have great news as of yesterday...we have our van!!! It took us 2 months to get it out of port, with much time and effort (on Joshua's part), and more costs than what we were planning. But we are praising God that we have it now, nothing is wrong with the vehicle, and God provided our transportation the entire time we were waiting!

Spanish classes are going well, and we are learning much! But oh how I fall short when trying to communicate. Like I keep getting told...little by little. I am really enjoying the language!

God is doing so much for our boys. We just praise Him for how He is working! They are loving living here, have found many friends, and are learning Spanish as well. We all go to the university together for now. The Lord has also allowed them to learn sign language, and they are so excited! There is a wonderful deaf ministry here, and they have jumped in with both feet. I am just in awe of these things, and many more, that only God could orchestrate!

Please continue to pray that we get our container with our household goods soon! There are many essentials, including my youngest two sons' schoolwork, that we are needing. We are so thankful to have been blessed with many borrowed things while we wait! And please pray that we can get our container with a discounted cost. Every day that it has sat in the port storage 

(nothing we could do to get it out), it has accrued fees. These are all extra costs that we had not planned, but God knew this already and we are trusting that He will provide. 

We love you all and we're so thankful for you! Thank you for your encouragement, your prayers, and your support! God is using you mightily in our lives!

May-June 2019 Newsletter