It seems odd over the past few weeks to see pictures of snow, ice, jackets, hats, gloves, and sweaters as we are experiencing warm weather. Although, we have seen our share of Dominicans with hats and jackets during their winter season. Before long, we will be joining them in wearing jackets below seventy degrees! It is refreshing to enjoy the holidays, but it is also nice to settle back into our normal routines. We have continued with our Spanish classes three times a week. It is very helpful to be able to put into practice immediately what we have learned, helping cement it in our minds. Tim was able to substitute in the 6th and 8th grade Bible classes for the first few weeks of January, and he was very appreciative that their textbooks accompanying their Bibles are in English! Please pray as the school is not only an outreach into the community but also another way to disciple the next generation in the Word of God.

Work is ongoing in preparation to renovate the new church building for our arrival. We are anticipating our first church services there in February. Renovation will continue in the adjacent building through the end of March to make ready for the school and seminary to move to the new facilities. We covet your prayers in this process and as we seek to reach this new neighborhood with the gospel. We have already been able to contact and invite some who live in our neighborhood (the new church property is in the same city block where we live).

Tim has enjoyed the opportunity to preach at New Life Baptist Church through a translator. These wonderful believers have helped us in so many ways in setting up our home, learning the culture, developing relationships, and in practicing our Spanish every week. Some of the messages from the past few months can be found here.

We can not thank you enough for your prayers and support for our family. Many of you sacrificially gave more to us for Christmas. Thank you! Please help us in praying for the following things:

• Language learning
• Building renovation
• Outreach into our neighborhood
• Health for our family

Also, we have received our Vonage number in order to remain in contact with those in the United States. Feel free to contact us at (757)-216-9213.

The final chapter has been written for 2015! It seems as the years go by that they pass faster and faster! Thank you for your prayers for our different outreaches during the month of December. On Friday, December 18, the church visited El Faro, a Christian boys’ orphanage in Santo Domingo. It was so humbling to watch the boys crowd around as we had held a short program and passed out Christmas gifts! On Sunday, December 20, we had our annual Christmas service. We enjoyed special singing by our children’s choir, singing by a local quartet from a church nearby, and a powerful sermon from Bro. Autrey. We even had a meal to close out this special day. What a blessing to see a packed auditorium hear the truth from God’s Word!

We enjoyed spending Christmas with our fellow missionaries and taking time to reflect on the birth of our Savior. We trust that you had a very Merry Christmas. Tim was able to preach on the last Sunday of 2015 on “the fullness of time”. The next day, we as a church drove east to La Romana. Each year, we are able to have a program with the children in one of the sugarcane villages as well as pass out Christmas presents.  Our hearts were once again stirred as we ministered to these precious people!

Much has happened in 2016 already. The church signed the papers to their very own building! After years of renting, God has allowed the church to move to a new location which is much more beneficial and larger for the church, school, and seminary. Please pray as there is much work to do in renovation in the coming weeks! We are eagerly looking forward to more opportunities to serve our Savior in 2016. We are praying that you are able to grow and do more for the Lord this new year! In closing, please take a few minutes to look at a short video highlighting the different ministry outreaches for the church throughout the month of December!

December, as usual, has been very busy thus far. Between preparing for the many church Christmas activities and outreaches along with personal preparation for Christmas, it is hard to believe we have already come to December 16. We began our language classes at the beginning of the month. Our tutor comes three times a week to our apartment to work  with us. These have been greatly beneficial to us as we see even more now from using the Spanish that we know that we have much to learn.

On Sunday, December 6, Tim was accompanied by two men from the United States to a new church plant in the city. The church quickly filled as the ushers had to bring out more chairs twice! One of the Americans who was raised in Argentina in a missionary family preached, and God used him to give a wonderful gospel message in Spanish to the church. Praise the Lord that four people responded in placing their faith in Jesus Christ! On Sunday December 13, Tim was able to preach through a translator for the morning service at New Life Baptist.

Work immediately intensified that week as we were finishing the final things for the annual National Pastor’s Christmas Banquet. The church members and school families brought in many things for food boxes to give in thanksgiving to these servants of God all around the country. Over thirty pastors were present at the banquet. We enjoyed meeting these men and some of their families. We presented each of them with a box of food and supplies, Bibles for their ministries, and a monetary donation for their personal Christmas. The following day, the ladies of the church had their annual Christmas Party. Stephanie enjoyed spending time with the ladies as well as the devotion shared by a pastor’s wife in the city.

Please continue to pray as there are more outreaches this month. On Friday, we will visit two of the orphanages in the city to minister to the children. On Sunday, we will have a special Christmas service and offering for the new building. The Monday after Christmas, we will travel to La Romana to visit some of the sugar cane villages…there is much to do! On a personal note, please pray for our family’s health as we continue to adjust to living here; we have all faced a little sickness since we arrived. We hope that you have a Merry Christmas! We are so thankful that “when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons“. God orchestrated the birth of His Son, knowing that He was born to die for the sins of the world! What great love that God has shown us!

The following is an article written by Stephanie for our mission board about the process from God’s call on her life of missions to the day she arrived on the mission field. I trust that it will be a blessing to you.

Featured Article: Ten Years

Thank you for those who prayed for our tract outreach and Friend Day. We were able to pass out many flyers and tracts around our new neighborhood on Saturday, November 14. On Sunday, God blessed our Friend Day service with visitors and a powerful message from God’s Word. It was exciting to see one of the families that we invited come to church that morning.

Two weeks ago, Stephanie and I were able to help in a small way with a missionary group from the states. We even hosted them for a meal in our house, boxes and all. They ministered in various ways during their week trip. We are praising the Lord for the children that were saved through the outreaches in the sugar cane villages and the orphanages.

We trust that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It was a blessing to spend this holiday with some of the missionaries in the country. We truly have much to be thankful for!  We are enjoying settling in to this new place of ministry. We are beginning our Spanish classes this week with a teacher from the Christian School out of the church. Please pray as we study the language that God would aid us in learning not only the language, but the culture as well. It is our desire to reach the Dominicans with the gospel, and we are eagerly anticipating the privilege of sharing with them in their own language.

We have already spent over two weeks in the country! The days have been filled with preparation, meetings, unpacking, adjusting, learning, experiencing, etc. in our new home and place of service. We have been able to set up our Dominican numbers, purchase a vehicle, receive our container, and move into our apartment. We even had the wonderful privilege to attend the inaugural service for a church planted by Bro. Autrey’s son in Punta Cana. It was also relief and answer to prayer to not only see our belongings arrive safely but to have a realistic tax bill for our container in customs. We want to thank again all of those who sacrificially gave so that we could move our belongings and set up our home in Santo Domingo. Please pray as we take time tomorrow as a church to canvass many areas with invitations and tracts to attend our Friend Day service this Sunday. We are praying for many new visitors to come and hear the gospel. Paul tells us in Romans that “it (the gospel) is the power of God unto salvation” and that “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God“.

Here is our first prayer letter from the Dominican Republic! Thank you for all of your prayers.

September/October 2015

Thank you for those who have been praying for us regarding our paperwork for our visas and for our container. We received our visas at the end of September, and everything was in order.  Brother Autrey immediately began following up on the leads for an apartment for us to rent as soon as we arrive. We are praising the Lord that we found a unit last week that was better than what we had anticipated at a lesser price than what we had planned! We placed a deposit on the apartment and began final preparation for shipping our household items in a container from Norfolk, VA.  After finalizing paperwork and details with the agent for our container on Tuesday, we packed it yesterday and sent it off. We want to thank our family and the men from Calvary Baptist Church in Smithfield, VA for helping us load it. We will be flying out of Richmond, VA on Wednesday, October 28. We are grateful to be able to spend a few days with family and friends before our departure. Would you please pray about the following items for us concerning our move and transition to the Dominican Republic?

1. Good-byes
2. Our flights to the Dominican
3. Acquiring our container from customs
4. Setting up our new home
5. Adjusting to Dominican life
6. Learning Spanish
7. Ministering to the Dominican people

It is encouraging to us to have so many wonderful people that faithfully support and pray for us. Thank you! We are thrilled to be embarking on this mission that God placed on our hearts many years ago.

The chapter of deputation has come and gone for the Germano family! Our hearts were blessed through the many different relationships, lessons, and things that God brought into our lives over the past two years. We are very proud to announce that we have reached 100% of our needed monthly support! Bless the Lord! The following is a short video about our second year of deputation along with a review of both years. We trust it will be a blessing to you!

On Wednesday, July 1, we drove across the James River to join Central Baptist Church in Yorktown, VA for their midweek service. We had a great time of fellowship with Pastor Charles and his family before the service. We enjoyed singing, presenting the work, and preaching about the ministry of the New Testament. Pastor Charles contacted us in the following week informing us of their financial support!

After having the opportunity to assist Stephanie’s dad in his church’s Vacation Bible School, we headed to Reidsville Baptist Church in Reidsville, NC on July 22 for the Wednesday night prayer meeting. Dr. Carter graciously allowed us to present the work and give the message to the congregation.

On Sunday, July 26, we took part in our last deputation meeting at Cornerstone Baptist Church in North Chesterfield, VA with Dr. Stan Bennet. We were honored to participate in their annual mission’s month by giving testimony, presenting the ministry in the Dominican Republic, and preaching about our message to give to a lost world. During the afternoon, we had a wonderful time with Sister Elba, a Dominican lady in the church, who made us a delicious Dominican meal! At the closing of the evening service, the church voted to partner with us prayerfully and financially! Our hearts were so blessed in this final meeting!

We are at 99 1/2% of our needed support! We are truly amazed at what God has done – to Him be all the glory! Lord willing, we will be posting a year/deputation in review video later this month, and we will let you know as soon as we finish it. We are asking for prayer in the following areas:

• Visa application
• Wisdom in packing and other last minute details
• A good and restful time with family and friends before we depart

Thank you so much for your faithful prayers to God on our behalf! We serve an awesome God, and we minister alongside great co-laborers in this work that God as given all of us as we share His gospel message!