The Gillen Family

Wow! How the weather has changed since our last post. The heat has been brutal here in the Dominican Republic. I (Anthony) was so exhausted from the heat yesterday that I went to bed at 8:30pm. The only thing we do nowadays is sweat and drink water. Food is just not appealing at this point. However, ice cream at Burger King has become a necessity. Did I mention that they have air-conditioning?

One of the reasons that we are struggling with the sudden change in temperature is because of our week in Guatemala. We recently traveled to Guatemala for the OGM. This is an Occasional General Meeting for all missionaries serving in the Americas. It was a great time of encouragement and meeting old friends. A BIG THANKS goes out to all of our SBC Churches for making this possible.

The Lord has blessed our time with discipling and door to door evangelism over the last month. DeNiel and I were both able to translate for a mission team in Bayona. One lady was filled with anger and bitterness towards her ex-husband. He had left her and her 3 kids for another woman. The sad thing is that they were both involved in their church and professing believers. As we talked with the woman, we realized that she had left her church family due to being embarrassed and was hurting more over the loss of her church than her ex. Granted, she experienced much pain but had been unable to fully heal due to the loss of her church family. As we spoke with her and walked through the scriptures, you could see God literally restoring a joy within her life for her church family! Would you join us in prayer that she would be restored to her church family and that she also would receive total healing through her many broken relationships including her ex?

During our time with the mission team, we had the pleasure of spending time with a friend we met at language school in Costa Rica. It was great catcing up on old times and reflecting on our journeys. Plus, he brought us a trunk filled with goodies! His family truly blessed us with the trunk! Ken is traveling back to the states today and has had many opportunities open up for him in ministry. Would you pray for Ken that God would make it abundantly clear where He would have him serve?

These next several weeks many short-term mission teams will come. Please join us in prayer that God will:
*use these teams to glorify His name and accomplish His will, drawing the lost Dominicans and Hatians unto Him.
*protect them, and us from the extreme heat.
*use this time to grow Kolby,  our summer missionary who will stay with us for 3 weeks & help w/ Anthony.
*continue to cast His vision in our hearts for a godly family as we raise our four sweet children.
We cannot express our thankfulness for your prayers on our behalf and the behalf of the Dominicans. God is working powerfully and we have had the opportunity to see several prayers answered! Praise God!