York Rick Suzanne 2007 Dom.rep

8/12/2019 York Rick Suzanne 2007 Dom.rep.

1/17

Rick and Suzanne York, Missionaries

Dominican UpdateNew Truck Purchased and Van St olen . . . Ext reme Home Mak eo ve r. . . Planning for the Future in LaRomana... DoYouSpeak English? Punta Cana News Ne w Addresses . Family News

February 2007 / Volume 33, Number 1

Dear Friends in Christ,Suzanne and I send our greetings to you once again from t he warm and sunny Dominican

Republic.There is lots of news to report in this newsletter and we are very encouraged by th e way the

Lord s hand is moving in this part of th e country. We expect great things to continue to happen inthis ministry in the next few years.

New Truck Purchased and Van StolenWe were able to purchase a new 2006

Mitsubish i t r uck for th e mission work inOctober. Friends and supporting churches,many of whom had ridden in th e back of theold Chevy truck, responded to the need for anew truck, and we were able to pay cash forthe truck. Thank you. It is a real work truckand has already been put to good use haul ingmaterials for projects and people for churchWe had 29 people in th e back last Sundayevening and it rode very smoothly

We re using both th e new truck and theold truck that th e church now has to help

transport people home after church. The churchvan wa s s to le n in Novembe r. V i ct or was a t aPTA meeting at school and the van was stolenoff th e street, in broad daylight To make th es tory more interesting, the van was spottedin Santo Domingo a couple of weeks ago, stillwith the same license plate and church nameon the side The police are investigating,we hope, and perhaps the church will ge t itback. Transportation is difficult and becomingincreasingly dangerous at night, so providingsafe transportation for the church has become anecessity.

Extreme Home MakeoverIf you have seen the TV program about

home makeovers, you will understand al l of thework involved in redoing a home. We hosteda t eam f rom th e No r th ea s t Ch r i s ti an Churchin Louisvil le t h a t bu i l t a n ew h om e f rom thefloor up for one of the families in th e church inLa Romana. Amable Rodriguez and h is threedaughters, Paula, Nairobi, and Raquel, werein desperate need of a new home. The on ethey had been living in for yea rs was madecompletely of ti n roofing and was in pretty

bad shape. The team sent funds ahead and wewere able to get the footing and floor pouredbefore they got here in November. They laidthe block and got th e roof on in just one weekLots of effort and prayers went into the projectand we were able to later p las ter and get allof the electricity and plumbing installed andthey now have a lovely two-bedroom home andindoor plumbing for the first time in their livesThank s Nor theas t


2/17


3/17

Pun ta Cana NewsThere is so much news regarding this new

church plant that it's hard t o know what tochoose to s h a r e We d o n t w a n t t o o v e rw h e lmyou with information, but let's just say thatthe Lord is moving in many different ways tose e that this church gets started. Here a re t hehighlights:

T h e F i r s t C h ri st ia n C h ur ch i nTarpon Springs, FL , has becomethe sponsoring congregation for thisproject and we thank them for theirvision and support

Franklin and Ilonka Toribio, alongwith their son, Christopher, areplanning to move to the Punta Canaarea, hopefully by July 2007.

The Toribio Family

We have started Wednesday Biblestudy in one of th e neighborhoodsand w spend each Wednesdayexploring and gett ing to know th e

We h a v e m a d e c on ne ct io ns a t local clinic run by non-profitorganization that would welcomem e d i c a l a n d d en ta l t e a m s

W e h av e m a d e c on ta ct w i th o n eof th e local primary schools thatneeds and welcomes help from anychurch group interested in helping public school with very basic schoolsupplies.Every week we make more andmore contacts and find people tha tare really interested in what weare doing. This is relatively newarea, less than 30 years old, so mostpeople that live there a re not fromthere. That means that t he y a remore open to change and more opento the gospel message.

Because of th e tremendous growth inth e area, land prices are sky rocketing and good price is 100 US per square meter.An acr e has 4400 square mete r s so an acrewould cost 440,000 We have found housing development called Pueblo Bavarothat will sell us piece of land that is 2756square meters at 47.50 US per meter, lessthan half th e going price. We're praying veryhard tha t the Lord will provide for this needand would ask that you pray and also helphowever you can. The total price is around 131,000 and we're sure, if it's the Lord'swill, the funds will be made available. Theowners wil l sel l it and finance at this price ifwe can make substantial down payment ofabout 70,000 US.


4/17

c New AddressesThe mailing address that reaches us here in the Dominican Republic has changed to:

Rick a n d Suz a nn e York DMG 14772Agape Flights100 Airpor t Avenue

Venice, FL 34285Our e-mail is changing because Verizon just sold out to another company; so effective

immediately, our e-mail is:[email protected]

Many of you may recognize that as our old e-mail addressOur mailing address for contributions stays the same at:

Ea s t e r n Dom in i c a n Chr i s t i a n Mis s i onR t 2 Box 266

Clinton, XL 61727

c Family wsIt s hard to believe that our daughter

Emily and her husband Ryan are gett ingready to celebrate their first anniversary onMarch 4 How time flies They are living andworking in Medford, Oregon, and enjoyinglife in th e Nor thwes t Un i t ed S t at e s We l l seewhere the Lord and job markets lead them inth e fu ture

Laurie got a new job in the citygovernment in New York Ci ty in November.She works for the Sma l l Bus ine ss ServicesAdminis t ra t ion a nd h as l ea rned a lo t in herfirst few months on the job. She is thinkingabout starting graduate school in the nextyear or so and we ll see where tha t l eads her.

Suzanne and I con ti n ue t o do we ll . I ve

been watching my weight and have los tabout 25 pounds, which in turn lowered mycholesterol levels way down Suzanne hasbeen bothered by a bone spur on her left heel,but it is responding to treatment. Other thanthat, we re in pretty good shape

We ll need a ll of our energy for this year swork. The calendar is filled with activities,conferences, and work teams coming from theUS churches that support the work here, sowe ll be on the go a lo t of the time

As always, thanks for your prayers forus and for the work he re . P l ea se con ti nue tolift up the church in La Romana and the newchurch p lant in Punta Cana. We do appreciateyour help and your support


5/17

Christopher powell 03:00 PM 1/27/2005 0600 RE: HORIZONS Page 1of2

GeorgiFrom: Rick York [[email protected]]Serlt^^HVteRdayrFebruary 05 2007 6:50 PMTo: Ed SmithSubject: Property Purchase in Punta Cana

Dear Friends in Christ,Suzanne and I wrote on January 26 - ^ asking you to be praying for theLord's guidance concerning the property in the Punta Cana area for a newchurch. We strongly feei the Lord leading us to launch out in faith and commit tobuying the property we mentioned in our last e-maii. Available property in agood area is hard to find and the prices we have seen in other areas are doublethe asking price of 47.50 per square meter that the developers of the PuebloBavaro are asking for this church lot.We need to raise 70,000 of the 130,000 asking price. The developerindicated that they might be willing to reduce the price even further with someDominican-style haggling, which we are more than willing to do The PuebloBavaro housing development will have almost 600 homes and over 200apartment buildings when it is ail finished The building lot they have designatedfor a church in the first phase will be right in the middle of that phase, next to anew High School being built right now, the only one in Punta Cana, and rightnext to an area of over 2 acres that is designated for a community park. Thelocation is ideal, the people are moving there and we have an opportunitv to be

on t around floor of t hi s booming areaWe need your help with this project. We are asking you to prayerfullyconsider a significant financial gift toward the purchase of this property. We arewriting our supporting churches today also and know that they will help, but thisis a BIG project that will take the help of a lot of our friends and supporters. Weknow that some can give very generously and others are definitely more limited

in their ability to give.Please do 3 things for us as soon as you can:1. Pray that the Lord will lead In this fund-raising process. We'recompletely confident that God will provide for this need.

2/6/2007


6/17

Christopher powell, 03:00 PM 1/27/2005-0600, RE: HORIZONS Page 2 of2

2. Give as generously as you can. Any funds can be sent to:Eastern Dominican Christian MissionRt 2 Box 266Clinton, IL 61727Please be sure to indicate that your offerinc is for the Punta Cana property.

Please let us know if you are able to help.3. Talk with your church's missions committee or the powers that be

about helping with this project.

We started Bible Studies two weeks ago in Punta Cana and have a group ofpeople that our friend Beth Clouse has gotten together in herneighborhood. There are a lot of people looking and searching in that areaso we're excited about that. Also, we met again with Franklin and IlonkaToribio, a dynamic young couple from Esperanza, who are definitelycommitted to coming to minister in Punta Cana. They w ll hopefully be hereby the middle of the summer$130,000 is a lot of money but, as a I read a while back, if money is theissue then it's not an issue. What the author of the article was saying isthat ifmoney is the only issue stopping a project that is God's w ll then It'snot an issue. We truly believe that God's hand is in this project and we'retrusting that we are in His w ll in leading forth with this fund raisingproject. Please give as generously as you can. Thank you for your prayersand offerings Please feel free to contact us via e-maii or by phone at809/550-9695(home) or 809/458-6840(celi) if you have any questions orsuggestionsIn Christ,Rick and Suzanne York

2 6 2007


7/17

^eor^naShaj^From: Rijck York [iVork@codetel net do]Sent: Saturday ^ne 09 2007 3:07 PMTo: ElmicholsSubject Greetings from La Romana ttachments image001.jpg

DearFriends- Summer greetings fromthe hot andhumid Dominican Republic. Wejust said goodbye to agreatworkteam from Erie Christian Church inErie, BL There were22 onthe teamandtheywereherefor 10dayssowe are pretty wornout thisweekend but getting recovered Theywere ableto get a lot of projects done.Werented scaffolding to clean andpaintat the church building, jobsthat are impossible withoutthe scaffolding.The teamalsobrought a spotlight systemfor the stage sowe are super hightech now.The youthgroup ishoping to inaugurate the lights tonight in youth group-should be a lot of fimlThe church also planned a three nightspecial servicededicated to the themeof SexualPurity .Wehadexcellentattendance- two of the three nightswe had over 100young people in attendance. Wehad Dominicanpsychologists, socialworkers, doctors andTerryGreen YouthMinister fromErie leadingthe sessions. Teenpregnancy is at epidemiclevelshere inLa Romanaandwe're really seeinga needfor educationaboutabstinencefor our young people in the community. The team stayed inDominican homes and what a great timethey hadcommunicating and livingwiththe families in the church. Therewere tears onboth sidesas theysaidtheir goodbyes yesterday afternoon Teny does an especiallygood job in preparing his teams and we are alwaysglad to have them.Oneof the typical attributesof the Dominicanculture is the way families care for their elderly parents orsick relatives. That was illustrated very clearly in the church this past month. IsabelMorales was the sister of

one of the churchmembers inLa Romana. Twenty-one years ago she went to the hospital for a routine surgerybut never recovered from the anesthesia. She had been in a coma, unable to speak or move for all those years.Angela's sister, Margot, moved into Isabel's home and took careofher, along with help from the rest of thefamily, every day for 21 years. They fed her, bathed her, and turned her every three hours, for 21 years. Shenever had a bed sore in all those years Isabel died a couple ofweeks ago and the hundredsofpeople that camefor the visitation and funeral all expressed their admiration for the devoted love ofher family.Andrew Butz is here for the summer from Cincinnati Christian University, where he will graduate thiscomingyear. We are talking seriouslywith him about returning to headup a campprogram in the easternsectionof the country. The campin Salcedo, that we started in 1994, isjust too far awayfor the churchesin thisarea to use with any regularity. We are looking for land in the hills north ofLa Romana and would ask that you

pray about those plans.Franklin and Ilonka Toribio will be moving over to Punta Canaby July 1,Lord willing.Wewill befinalizinghousing arrangementsfor this week and are praying for a good home in a safe area at an affordableprice-not too muchto ask fromthe Lord- He has control over all things We're excited for themto get here andpray the Lord will bless their ministry. One of the first things we'll do with them is sit down an establish sometime lines and goal for the next few months. Often we get overwhelmed when we think of a newproject andwehave found that breaking down the first year or two into three month levels helps in establishing goals and nottry and do everything the first month they are here. We're continuing to look for land and have seen two goodproperties the past three weeks and we're sure the Lord will show us the right place at the right time.


8/17

We have two more teams this summer, one in July and one in August. Both are coming from the NewHope ChristianChurch inRoanoke,VAand will be their first teams in the country.W have a web site under construction I vvvvvv.easterndominican.com is the web address and althoughit is not finished yet you can still access it and see what s thereOure mail has changed to n^ork@codetel net do so please change that inyourcomputer from the old

Verizon account. We look forward to hearing from you. Thanks for your prayers and support

ic k and Suz anne York


9/17

Georgia SharpeFrom: Rick York [[email protected]]Sent: K londay Jdne 25 20077:28 AMTo: Ed NicholsCo: Eo^Smitn; Eddy Garrido; Elizabeth Lumpkin; [email protected]: Esther Witsman;

Etienne Prophete; Fred and Linda Butler; Fred Dobbins; Fred Stephens; Gary Reynolds;Gary Thompson; [email protected]; Gaylord Crum; George Rogers;[email protected]; Glen and Paula Becker; Glen and Wendy Gibson; GlennBoyd; Grace Aprill; Greg and Beth Smith; Greg Johnson; Greg Orcutt; Greg Sexton; IsaacBiggs

Subject: News from the Dominican RepublicAttachments: image001.gif; Image002.gif; image003.gif; image004.jpg

La te s t New s from Eas t e rn ominican hris t ian Miss ion:>The church in La Romana had 8 baptisms yesterday morning What ablessing for the church and the new members. Please be praying for

these 8 new bro ther s and sisters. Almost al l were a result of the BibleStudy network taught by church members.

Franklin and Ilonka Torribio will be moving next week to begin theirministry in Punta Canal Please be praying for them as they move a longway from home and their comfort zone to take on the challenge ofstarting a new church.

> We had a great work team from Erie Christian Church in Erie, IL recentlyand are gearing up for teams from New Hope Christian Church inRoanoke, VA in July and August. Lots of activities and ministryoutreaches planned.

> We found a nice apartment for Franklin and Ilonka-we'll sign the contracton Wednesday, Lord willing We have also found a very good used carfor them so we re thankful for that

> Be praying for Antia Arias, one of our friends from Punta Cana. She is awonderful lady and is expecting her first child at the age of 40. She lost


10/17

two previous pregnancies but this one is doing wonderfully and she andher husband Miguel, are so excited. Antia hosts a Wednesday Bible studyand have become our good friends.

We re continuing to look at new pieces of property in Punta Cana andhave seen a couple that are good-we re praying for the Lord s guidancein choosing the right property at a price that is as reasonable as prices goin t ha t area

> Please continue to pray for Andrew Butz, the summer intern fromCincinnati Christian University. He is feeling the Lord lead him to a campministry in this part of the country and we re thrilled with that. Pray forguidance and confirmation of that leading.

We hosted a Couples Night Out on the roof at our apartment lastSunday evening and we had 19 couples attend. Lots of games and funand good food. Two of our neighbors from our building attended. We vebecome good friends with them over the past couple of years. They areJuan Alberto and his wife Corales, who live next door to us and Frankand Raisa, who live downstairs.

^Thanks for all your prayers and support Suzanne and I aredoing great

God bless youRick and uzanne ork


11/17

Rick and Suzanne York Missionaries Th i s I ssue

Dominican Update8 B ap ti sms Highlight Work in LaRomana ... Mothers Day Photos ...Sexual PurityWorkshops... SummerWork Teams. . . Franklin and llonka inPunta Cana .. . Summer Intern... TimeLine for the Future . .. Family News

July 2007 / Volume 33 , Number 2

8 Baptisms Highlight Work in aRomana

V ^

VJ/jLIIji iuj/ AThe church in La R oman a w a s b le ss ed

on Sunday, June 25th, when 8 new believerswere immersed in to Christ . It was, as youcan imagine, a joyous occasion. Several ofth e people baptized were the direct result ofthe English as a Second Language classesthat were s ta rt ed in the church this pastyear. The students have Engl ish classes on

Tuesdays and Thursdays and also have theBible Study Network classes on MondaysThe church just had a graduation concertwith the church full. A new Bible studygroup s tar ts July 9 Lord willing. YudermyCabrera, Victor s wife is heading up theEnglish program and Gregory Stephens isthe ma in t ea che r


12/17

Mothers ay Photos

Mother s Day is th e last Sunday in May in LatinAmerica and is second only to Christmas This yea r thechurch did a photo outreach project where we offered freefamily photos with Mom after church on May 27th. Eventhough Rick is no t a professional photographer by anymeans, his new digital camera takes pret ty good pictures.We were also a ble to use frames tha t were brought by theErie Christ ian Church work team and so each Mom got abeautiful, framed picture of her and her family. For manyof the ladies in the church, it is the f irst family picturethey have ever had

^êxuaûrity or^Ône of the real critical social problems in th e

Dominican Republic is teen pregnancy. La Romanahas one of the highes t percentages of teen pregnanciesrelated problems in the count ry . The church wants topresent a Biblical viewpoint on sexual purity so a three-day workshop was prepared and presented in June.Attendance was very good, with over 100 on two of thethree evenings. Doctors, social workers and psychologistsparticipated along with Terry Green, Youth Ministerfrom Erie, IL, as we dealt with the physical, socialand spiritual ramifications of teen sexuality and thereal need for pur ity. Each one of the teens signed acommitment card and received a white purity braceletto serve as a reminder of their promise to God to remainpure. This is just another example of the church trying toimpact the community that we l ive in.

Summer WorkTeams from theUnited States

Three work teams are plannedfor th i s s u m m e r Er ie hris t ianChurch from Erie, IL , came a t theend of May for 10 days. They stayedin D o m i n ic a n h o m e s a nd wo rk edon a variety of projects. There werelots of t ea rs as they prepared to goback to Erie, and the folks in LaRomana really enjoyed their visit.The t eam spent severa l days onscaffolding cleaning and paint ingthe church. They also brought andinstalled 8 spotlights for the churchs tage. The spotl ights will get theirfirst big workout at the Bible StudyN e tw o r k e le b ra ti on o n J u n e 30wi th a concer t a nd d r a m a s T helights can be coordinated with themusic to change according to thebeat of the songs, so it should be ar ea l show

We have a youth team comingin July and an adult team comingin August from New Hope Christian Church in Roanoke, VA. Thesear e their first trips to the Dominican Republic. The youth team willbe leading a 3-day camp with th eyouth from La Romana and two,two-day VBS outreaches in thecommunity. The adult group will behelping reconstruct a playground ata special needs school here in townwe work with and also working onthe school building that belongs toone of the c h ur ch m e m b er s in L aRomana. Please pray for the teamsand for energy levels for all theDominicans working with them. It svery hot and humid r ight now sothat saps the t eams strength prettyquickly, and they really have topace themselves as they work.


13/17

Franklin and llonka in Punta Cana

but we met recently with the owner who is

ten minutes which has to be a record herePlease pray earnestly for Franklin and llonka and their two children Christopher(7) and

Alondra(4 months) as they move a long way from home and begin this missionary journey. We reeager to see how the Lord opens doors for this new ministry.

Summer Intern Learning the RopesWe have enjoyed having Andrew Butz

from Cincinnati Christian University herethis summer. Andrew came in January witha team from CCU and felt the Lord leading tore turn t hi s s um m e r n d see where th e Lord isleading in his life. Andrew has a very stronginterest in a n a re a that we feel very stronglyabout getting a church camp/conferencecen te r s t r te d in th e e st er n section of th ecountry. The camp that many of you know

bout in Salcedo is bou t 6 hours from theeastern section of th e country and is reallydifficult and costly for the churches east ofSanto Domingo to use. Andrew has a lifelonghistory of working in church camps and isreally feeling lead to possibly come and lead inthis prospective ministry. Pray for him as hereturns to CCU for his last year of college andespecially pray for guidance from th e Lord.

Web Site InformationEastern Dominican Chris t ian Mission now h s a web site It is

w w w e s te r n d o m i n i c n c o m nd is l m o st d o n eYou can access it now and keep up-to-date with what is happening here


14/17

ime nefortNo one can predict the future. That being

said, the Bible is clear that planning fo r thefu ture i s wise and so as we examine th e nex tfew years, we have begun to make tentativeplans fo r the work in th e Eastern DominicanRepublic. We are planning to retire fromfull-time mission work in September of 2013.That sounds like a long way away but it isapproaching very quickly. We have establisheda few goa ls that we want to share with you aswe begin planning for this transition: We hope to have another American

family join us by September 2010 to beg inassuming our role as lead missionaries inth e mission work .

We will have the churches in La Romana,Punta Cana, and t he eastern section ofSanto Domingo organized and functioningwith national leadership by 2010, with newchurch plants planned for 2 other cities inth e eas t

We will have a camp/conference centerproject underway, with property purchasedand construction started by 2011.

We will spend part of 2013 visitingchurches and transitioning support fromus to th e mission team in place by then .Our hope is that our retirement will be

a smooth transition from our leadership tothose that will take our place and lead themission on to bigger and greater dreams in thefuture. We will continue to own ou r apartmenthere so we will be here part of the year af terwe retire, especially in the winters. We reseriously considering volunteering to serve asinter im missionar ies fo r o the r missionar ieson furlough that would need someone to taketheir place for a few months. We re prayingfor guidance and we re excited to see how theLord will open doors in the years to come.

Suzanne and Rick ce lebra ted the i r 33rdanniversary on May 25th We ve also beencelebrating birthdays with Laurie(25) onApril 4 Suzanne on June 16 and Ryan, ourson-in-law on June 24th. Emily and Rickcelebrate their birthdays on July 3rd . Emilywil l be 28 and Rick will s omewhat o ld e rthan that Emily and Ryan are job searchingand have in terviews or possibilities fromSeattle to New York and maybe overseas.Laurie is working for a non-profit jobtraining and placement organization inNew York City and enjoying i t. She s alsojoined the local Garden club in her sect ion ofManha t t an

Address InformationThe mailing address that reaches us herein the Dominican Republic:Rick a n d S u za nn e Yo r k DM G 14772

Agape Flights100 Airpor t AvenueVenice, FL 34285

O ur e mai l is:ryork@codetel .net .do

Our mailing address for contributions:Eas t e r n Domin ic a n Ch r i s t ia n Miss ion

R t 2 Box 266Clinton, IL 61727


15/17


16/17

Anyfunds can be sent to;Eastern Dominican Christian MissionRt 2 Box 266Ciinton IL 6 727Be sure and indicate that the offering is for the Punta Cana project.Thanks againRick and Suzanne York


17/17

Special Offering For Punta Cana ProjectDear Friends in Christ,

We are so excited to report the progress of the Punta Cana church plantAfter a lot of prayer and searching, the or opened the right doors at the right timeand we were able to make a down payment on property for the new church plant. Theproperty is surrounded by homes and about one block from the local high school. Weare planning the following construction projects: Aworship center that will seat at least 300 people, complete withair conditioning (the electricity in Punta Cana is stable, so we canplan for air conditioning).

A 3-story multi-purpose building that will be used for Bibleclasses, ministry outreach programs such as a Day-care center,medical and dental offices, an Internet library for students, etc. A parsonage for the church planters. Franklin and lionkaFrancisco and their family.

The property cost 76,000 dollars and we were able to make a down paymentof 48,000 so we still owe 28,000 and that must be paid by the end ofFebruary 2008.Plans are being prepared right now for the first two phases of the project which

will be the multi-purpose building and the parsonage. We are also purchasing a largetent that can be used for worship services until we get the worship center done.

We're confident that the Lord will help provide the funds needed and we wouldsimply ask you for your help in one of four ways:1. Give a special generous gift to help finish paying for this property2. Make a commitment to give a significant gift in 2008 for the construction projects.3. Organize a work team to come and work on the projects. Wealready have 7 teams coming in 2008 and could use a few more.The property has 3 small apartments already built that we'll be using t o house work teams

4. Make contact with your church's Missions committee or ministry topresent this need to them .Thanks so much for your help. We hope you have a wonderful Holiday seasonRick and Suzanne York

'iyerk@codeteLnet.^www.easterndominican.com

Documents

York Rick Suzanne 2007 Dom.rep