New Addition

We wanted to post a picture of our sweet preemie, Adelyn. She came early on November 27th weighing 1.14 Ibs. Many of you have been praying for Addi. We hope to have our blog up and running with news and pictures of our family and ministry very soon.

Currently we are in the States because of our little medical emergency as you can see in the picture. DeNiel had an emergency C-section the day after Thanksgiving. Since Adelyn is still on a small amount of oxygen, we are awaiting our return to the Dominican Republic. Please pray for continued healing and growth for Adelyn. Kylie, Brooklin and Jacob love her to pieces! But, we are all ready to go home to Santo Domingo. Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.

Adjusting in the Dominican Republic

I can't believe we have now been living in the Dominican Republic for a month! We are currently learning all about our Island, "Hispanola" and still trying to understand the language here.

We have had some amazing opportunities to visit a few churches here. At one of the services they asked Anthony to give the message (with no warning!) and then they called me (DeNiel) up front to say something and to sing a song-in Spanish! It was difficult, of course, but it was such a rich experience for all of us. The kids aren't sure what to think about a church service being outside and in the dark, or in someone's garage. It is good to know that God can make His church wherever He pleases!

We have visited a museum (picture up top), where the girls had to choose 5 pieces to write about. It was a lot of fun and a great learning experience. We have also been to a beautiful beach just 45 minutes from our house. Jacob's favorite thing to do is swim, swim, swim.

Brooklin turned 8 on September 7th and we are having a party for her. Kylie has been reading like crazy. The kids are adjusting well and even the heat does not keep them from having fun and enjoying life here in Santo Domingo.

I couldn't help but add this picture of a typical "trafficy" day here. These rows of traffic actually look straight, but don't be deceived! Please pray for the following as you think of it:

• Safe travel in the car.
• That Anthony & DeNiel will find language partners here.
• Our family will be active wherever God is at work.
• Understanding of the Dominican language.

One last picture of the girl's new beds! They are watching a movie here. They all say hello and we thank you SO much for your thoughts and prayers. May God bless you.

New Address

We wanted to give you all our new address and remind you that we have to pay around $2.00 per pound to receive mail from Agape! Please remember this when sending packages. If you know what the weight is, it is safe to put the money inside of the package and we can pay Agape with that money. Our address:

Mark & DeNiel Gillen
c/o Agape Flights DMG 25869
100 Airport Avenue
Venice, FL  34285

This must be copied EXACTLY as above.  

Thank you for your prayers and keeping up with us!  Also, the new blog colors/template is a work in progress.  We will be more dedicated to keeping the blog up to date in the coming year (with the help of Ryan).

In Him,

The Gillens

We're in the Dominican Republic!

Well, here we are in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic at last! We have been settling in for almost 2 weeks now. We still have no Internet, but we're borrowing from a friend for now. We absolutely LOVE it here! The traffic is certainly different & the language is it's own, but it feels like home. We are where God has called us!

We plan to post some pictures when we finally get Internet. But for now here is a small update and a few prayer requests. Please pray that:

• DeNiel will find courage to drive in the crazy traffic!
• We will not be so fatigued from the heat.
• God will use us mightily here for His glory & the furthering of His Kingdom.

The kids really like our new home. Kylie & Brooklin will be home schooled this year (Jacob too, of course!). During this next year Anthony & I will be training for his new position & learning more language (Dominican!) culture. The IMB is a wonderful agency to be with. Thank the Lord that He really is taking care of His missionaries through the churches giving to the IMB.

Thank you for keeping-up with our blog and for your prayers. We hope to post again soon with some pictures of our new country.

The last two months ...

Well, we have had a wonderful, yet busy two months since our last entry. As you can see from the pics below, our Christmas was packed with friends, family, fun, trips and even a paper Christmas tree! DeNiel's parents came from Missouri and we went to the beach, a coffee plantation, a nice restaurant up the mountain, and a few other fun places. We really had an amazing time together. The week went very fast! Our Nicaraguan family came to our house for a Christmas dinner. The children got stockings and a gift. They were very thankful. It was Pascual's first Christmas to celebrate as a Christian! Please continue to pray for this family. Pray for consistency with our Bible Studies and pray that Pascual Jasmina will invite others to join us.

We are still learning Spanish like crazy! Pray for us as well, that we will continue to learn the language and more importantly, to stay fervant and committed to our daily time with the Lord.He is good! Thank you for your prayers. God has been faithful.

"Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen." 1 Timothy 1:17

The Reason We're Here

The Lord has blessed us here in Costa Rica. Our family has the honors of being a part of a Bible Study with some nationals here! What a blessing! This is Pascual and Jasmina's home. They have 2 little girls, Jasmine & Sarita. Pray for salvation and for others in the area to join with us in this time of studying the Bible together. Pray that the truth will shine through and that the Bible Studies going on here will remain active. GOD IS GOOD!

Supper Time!

September 29, 2008 5:30 pm CR time

Since you cannot join us for dinner, this one is for the family & friends that are missing the calm Gillen children. They are really excited about this meal they are eating. This is a typical evening with Kylie, Brooklin and Jacob.

Mastering the Language

This is a video of Anthony and Jacob practicing their Spanish. Listen how well Jacob pronounces the words. It is amazing! We have been working hard at the language. At Jacob's school they ONLY speak Spanish-no English. He probably knows more than we do!

We made it to Costa Rica!

Here is a video to go along with the pics above of the kids on the plane to Costa Rica.

God blessed our travels to and through the airports. We finally made it to our home in San Jose' at around 11:30 pm on July 24th. We are one hour earlier than Central Standard time (that is until the time change).

Costa Rica

We have Internet access now! We are planning to keep our blog a little more up-to-date! We will be posting some pictures of our time at Nanna & Pappa's house. Then you will get to see more pictures (but prettier) like the one below here in San Jose', Costa Rica!

Believe it or not, I could not find any other pictures for our blog at this time! This was taken in down town San Jose' right after our trip to the zoo (on Saturday, Aug. 9th). There came a torrential down pour but the girls couldn't resist holding this sweet lady's hand for a pic. We are really enjoying it here.