Therefore we ought to support

such men that we may be fellow

workers with the truth.

III John 8

A BULLETIN OF PARTNERS IN CHRIST

DECEMBER 2014

SPONSOR A CHILD Good news! Fountain of Life has 312 students enrolled this year! But about 40 of those children are in need of a sponsor. Would you be able to help...perhaps by sponsoring another child, or recommending sponsorship to a friend, or spon-soring together with your Bible study group or Sunday School class? One of our sponsors who visited the school in February said, "I see God just greatly multiplying the efforts we put in as men. What joy and love the staff shows for the students." Another said, "It wasn't just a place where the kids went to learn, but a place where they were known and loved." Thanks for all you are doing. To view students who have not been

sponsored, go to www.partnersnchrist.org

FOUNTAIN OF LIFE GRADUATION Upon contact from Connie Boyd, Partner's in Christ's chairperson for sponsorship, I was pleased to accept her invitation to attend the graduation of our oldest sponsored student, Tha-nia Mercedes, at Fountain of Life School. This trip changed my view of sponsorship. Sponsoring a child is a means to a joyous end. These 16 gradu-ates were overjoyed as they came together in a church filled with family, friends, teachers and Partners in Christ board members. Proud smiling graduates feeling success as they accepted their diplomas and looking forward to the next chapter of their lives. As this beautiful mature young lady walked toward me with tears in her eyes to re-ceive her diploma, my heart was filled with joy to be able to share that moment with her. 10 years ago Thania Mercedes came into our lives, 4 years later her sister, Dania, 3 years later her brother Danniel and the next year Denis. Through Partner's In Christ and the wonder of Facebook, we correspond with all of these chil-dren and their families. As they share their lives, they become a part of our family. When we visit the school there is also a visit to their home in the village of Juan Tomas, where we are warmly wel-comed with hugs and words of gratitude from the children and their parents. The day after gradua-tion we spent together in Santo Domingo going to

a park and then to a Mall for pizza and other ac-tivities, including batting cages. Sunday we wor-shiped together at their church. Yes, we are one in Christ Jesus. Thank you Partners In Christ for making this pos-sible. Speaking to other sponsors, when your child be-comes a graduate I encourage you to plan to at-tend this special occasion. Our Lord is using you as a tool to help your child succeed in life. Cele-brate with them! The gratitude of Thania, her par-ents and siblings was heart-warming. Nothing compares to sharing the love of Jesus. In Christ, Jan Stuart

ANNUAL DINNER & BOARD MEETING We welcomed Paul McMillan and Richard Acosta from the D.R. to Mansfield/Ashland in October. Paul comes each year for the annual Partners In Christ board of directors meeting, but this was Richard's first visit to the U.S., and in fact his first

trip off the island!

The weekend began with a catered dinner at Ash-land Grace Brethren Church. Paul, Richard, the PIC board of directors and their wives attended, as well as Lester and Laura Flaquer from Logos Christian School in Santo Domingo. It was a fun evening, giving everyone an opportunity to renew friendships and enjoy the company of our brothers and sister from the D.R. It was exciting to hear Richard's testimony of how he was exposed to the gospel of Christ through the McMillan's ministry in Juan Tomas from the time of his birth, and how God has guided him to the leadership he holds today as a preacher in the Juan Tomas Bible Center and administrator of Fountain of Life Chris-

tian School.

Laura Flaquer teaches at Logos and she shared with us the work that she and some of her stu-dents are doing in the “barrios”, or slums, of Santo Domingo. They are reaching out to bring help and the gospel to this segment of the public school student population who are so far behind the other students that they are often ignored. We are thankful that God has led Laura and her students from Logos to go into these barrios and show the children that Someone cares for them, not just

here and now, but for eternity.

A new and important aspect of our ministry in Juan Tomas this year is the addition of Dr. Aaron Young and Lisa Young to the PIC board of direc-tors. They will coordinate medical missions in Juan Tomas. At thethe work which is currently being done to follow up with hypertension patients

in the vicinity of dinner, Dr. Young reported .

Visit our website at

www.partnersNchrist.org

to see developing news.

Also join us on Facebook

as we try to connect with

past participants of

mission trips.

www.facebook.com/picdr

Juan Tomas and shared his vision of a clinic to

eventually be established there.

On Saturday, the PIC board meeting was held. Paul McMillan presented the mission and vision for Fountain of Life, and the needs of the school and teachers for the upcoming year. Lester Flaquer presented projects which are ongoing at Logos and the financial help needed for some of those projects. Updates were given on PIC fi-nances and sponsorship at FOL. Doug Diehl reported on the work groups which have been in the D.R. in 2014 and the work accomplished by those groups. He presented a schedule for groups which are planned for 2015. The 2015

budget for PIC was presented and approved.

The Lord has been faithful in providing many committed Christians to carry out the work of furthering the gospel at Logos and in Juan Tomas. The board of PIC makes plans, but God moves in the hearts of His people to give in physical and financial ways, according to their ability. We thank Him for allowing us this week-end to encourage our missionaries and to renew relationships with fellow workers in the gospel. We continue to look to Him for the future

And so, we are so incredibly thankful for the wonderful relationships we have developed over the last five years with the brothers and sisters in Juan Tomas. When we return each year, it feels less like a missions trip, and whole lot more like a heavenly family reunion. Our goal for the team this year, was to have as many eternally significant conversations as we could. Yes, we accomplished a number of im-portant work projects while we were down there. But I think more importantly, we grew in our ability to initiate Christ-centered conversa-

tions with our Dominican brothers and sisters.

We couldn’t be any more excited about all that the Lord did in and through our team while we were in Juan Tomas. We are so thankful for the amazing examples of Christ’s love that we see each and every day with the believers in Juan Tomas. It is clear to us, that the Lord is richly blessing our church through this ministry, and so we continue to praise God for his faithfulness to us and to the village of Juan Tomas, through

Partners in Christ!

Thank you all!!! JEREMY A. JOHNSON,

PROCLAMATION YOUTH GROUP MISSION TRIP Each year when we return to the Dominican Re-public, the group from Proclamation Presbyterian Church is pleasantly surprised to see the pro-gress that has been made at the church and the school in Juan Tomas. We are always so glad to see new buildings that have been con-structed. We are always excited to tour class-rooms that have been redesigned and repur-posed. And yet, it is always a bit bittersweet when we encounter those walls that our church has painted in previous years, which have re-

quired a new coat of paint since our last trip.

When this happens, the reality sets in that our service projects in Juan Tomas only last for a while. And that is why it has become so important for us to focus on the things that have eternal significance. For us, the work projects that we do each year are absolutely important. But in time, they will require more work and more attention… because they are only temporary. But because we worship the Lord Jesus, and because we have been saved from our sins and to the Body of Christ, we can have eternally significant conver-sations with other brothers and sisters.

Development of Medical Programs In Juan Thomas Medical missions are not a new evangelistic out-reach tool in the Dominican Republic. They also are not original to our teams. Jesus Christ per-formed many miracles when he was with people in his travels. His disciples used the same methods as they continued to spread the gospel. Acts 5:16 states “There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits; and they were healed everyone.” The vision of the medical mission teams in Juan Tho-mas is to use medicine to attract the multitudes so they can hear the gospel of Christ. The second part of this is to improve the health of the people in the village. For the last 2 years in March and July, Ashland University and Woodmont Baptist Church have taken medical mission teams in to Juan Thomas.

During these weeks, hundreds of people come to the clinic seeking medical treatment. As they are waiting to be seen by the healthcare providers, the gospel is shared with them. They also get individual opportunities to hear and see the gospel in action. Medical treatment is offered by several specialties, including internal medicine, pediatrics, family health, cardiology, mental health, and den-tistry. There are many medical needs that are seen each week. Some come for a routine physi-cal, others come with wounds that need treatment and many come with common diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, malnutrition, infections and headaches. During the weekly clinics, patients are seen start-ing at 8:00 in the morning and continuing (often non-stop) until 5-6 in the evening. The people are so appreciative of the care and education that is provided. The support from the McMillans and the church is amazing. They help to organize the patients as they wait and Linda’s English classes provide us with interpreters for every provider and triage nurse. The pharmacy is a busy place as antibiotics, antihypertensives, diabetic medica-tions, stomach medications, and basic over the counter medications such as Tylenol, Ibuprofen and vitamins are provided free of cost to each person who needs them.

Hearing testing during the school physicals.

Justina taking blood pressure of one of the

patients during a blood pressure clinic. Lisa Young preparing medications

The first time Dr. Aaron Young went with Ashland University, he had a vision for consistent medical care for the village. Not only could this improve the health outcomes, but it would increase their exposure to the gospel. Most people do not come to Christ with one exposure to the Gospel. This is done by providing clinics at the same place each time we go. The problem is these teams still leave, so a plan was developed how to increase the exposure to the gospel and the Christians in Juan Thomas even if no medical team was pre-sent. The Medical mission has several plans at this time. Some of these have been started and some are in the planning phase.

Hypertension clinic In March of 2014, a hyper-

tension clinic was started that is currently treating

over 100 people with over 90% of those people experiencing normal blood pressure readings. Patients are given a monthly supply of medica-tions when they attend the Fountain of Life Church for blood pressure checks and medication refills. Basic health education Training has been given to about 10 people on basic blood pressure and heart rate skills. These 10 people are mem-bers of the church at Juan Thomas and take the vital signs of the people, who are patients in the hypertension clinic. Medical Mission Trips-Medical trips continue to be planned. Currently Woodmont Baptist Church and Ashland University goes for one week each year. Aaron Young and Lisa Young take small trips in between the big trips to check on patients in the hypertension clinic and to assist with any other medical needs. School Physicals-In November of this year, Aaron Young and Lisa Young returned to com-plete school physicals. Hearing, eye site, height, weight and health screenings were completed on each child. Multi-vitamins were left for each child. Medical Clinic-Property and plans are being looked at to plan a health clinic in Juan Thomas. Currently, the school buildings are used when the medical clinics are present. The hypertension clinic has people coming in several times each week and other chronic diseases could be fol

Dr. Aaron Young seeing a patient during the

March 2014 medical mission trip

lowed if there was room to have a medical clinic. We would also like to plan smaller teams to go in for routine healthcare follow up and a clinic could make this a reality. Healthcare Education-The goal of any mis-sion is to have the nationals take care of their own people. Several of the graduates from Fountain of Life are applying to the university to major in medicine or nursing. Assisting mone-tarily in their education is a goal for the medical missions to encourage them to return to their own people and serve in the clinic. Vocational Education-Although this is part of the school, the medical mission teams are will-ing to help organize the nursing education that the school is considering as they prepare to offer vocational education. Outreach beyond Juan Thomas-Another goal is to reach out to surrounding communities as the medical missions becomes more established in Juan Thomas. The possibilities for service are endless when you allow God to guide you. Our theme this year is “Let them see You through me.” Maybe in one act of kindness or in some of the words we say someone will see Christ and accept Him as their Savior.

PRAYER THE SHORT-TERM TEAMS AND DOUG DIEHL AS HE LEADS THEM Partners Dominican staff and leaders Lester Flaquer and Paul McMillan The elders of Juan Tomas Bible Church. The developing medical ministry in Juan Tomas and the need of property to build a clinic PRAISE For Connie Boyd and Sharon Key, volunteers, who make the sponsorship program operate smoothly For the faithful sponsors of students at Fountain of Life Christian School. For the great work done by the short-teams For the many donors, who give and support the work in the Dominican Republic. For the many young leaders God has raised up in the Dominican.

SHORT-TERM TRIPS January 9 - 19 Dayton Christian School Dayton, OH Feb. 28 - March 7 Ashland University Ashland, OH April 8 - 10 United Christian School Charlotte, NC May 30 - June 6 Ashland GBC Ashland, OH June 6 - 17 WCCS Rock Hill, SC June 22 - 30 Proclamation Youth Group Bryn Mawr, PA

PARTNERS IN CHRIST 1672 Twp. Rd. 1043 Ashland, Ohio 44805