We have arrived!!!!! We arrived in Punta Cana Tuesday afternoon, as that was the only airport we were able to land in. From there our sweet friend Tammy (Staff Care at Doulos) picked us up with a big shuttle bus and a driver. From there we drove 6+ hours to get to Jarabacoa. The boys travelled AMAZING. They slept, ate, and played. The drive to Jarabacoa felt the longest, as we were restless to get to our new home and exhausted. 
Tuesday night we arrived at our home, and Tammy had already set up the furniture we’ve been collecting for the last 5 months. We had beds set up, a kitchen table, a couch, etc. Wednesday Tammy took us to get our new phones set up, and exchange money. Thursday we picked up our vehicle, unpacked, and got groceries. In between we have been unpacking and trying to make this house a home. It will take time to adjust and get used to it all. We have been very overwhelmed this week with all the newness, while helping the boys adjust/eat/sleep/not overheat. We have been welcomed into the homes of other Doulos staff and are so grateful for new friends who speak English and understand this process. 
The roads here are … the opposite of our sweet Winkler driving. 😛 Hundreds of motos, trucks, cars, etc., going any which way at any time. It will definitely take time before I drive here. Matt practiced yesterday and did amazing! 
The boys love our home. They have started climbing up the barred windows, play mini sticks on the front cement, and have found some favorite corneres to play toys. We have slept pretty good, despite the heat. 
We have today and the weekend left of home time, and Monday we begin new staff orientation. 
Please email with any questions or anything!! It’s hard to know what to all include, or what is important to share with you all. We love staying connected with all of you. 
This week, God has been every faithful in a thousand different ways. Here are a few of our “grateful moments” from this week: – Monday night we had a 13 hour layover in Atlanta. We arrived with our boys, 2 carryon suitcases, 1 diaper bag, 1 guitar case, 1 toddler carryon, and 2 toddler backpacks. BEcause it was 13 hours, we had to collect all 7 of our giant suitcases AND two carseats at the at the airport. We collected them, had everything in a giant pile, and physically had no idea how we would ever get them to a hotel and back the next morning. Matt talked to a lady behind a desk, who told us that if we “accidentally” left them on the belt they’d be taken off at mindnight and put in a back room with forgotten luggage, and we could just come bang on that door in the morning to retrieve them. Annnnnnnd, we looked at each other, took the risk, and went to our hotel after we put all 7 suitcases BACK on the belt. HAHAHAH. We had no idea what else to do… woke up early the next morning to get to the airport to start our hunt for our luggage, fully assuming it would take hours to track it down after the risk we took. A man greeted us at the airport doors, said, “how can I help?” We explained the situtation. He pointed across the airport, said “to the left is a grey door. Meet me there.” We made our way carrying boys, stroller, carryons, guitar, etc. to the grey door. He met us there with the biggest trolly, unlocked the door, loaded up all 7 of our suitcases, and brought us straight to check in!!!!!!!!!! -Tammy arrived at the airport to pick us up loaded with cold drinks, snacks, fresh fruit, and videos on her tablet for the boys. -She also arrived at our house every morning with hot coffee to check in on us, hug us, and take inventory of what we need emotionally and physically. xoxo. -We have received countless calls, texts, and messages with words from teh Holy Spirit to encourage our hearts. We are exhuasted. But these have lifted our spirits and reminded us of why we are here. -Tammy invited us to her house for dinner, and we were able to meet her husband josh, as well as their kiddos- junior high and highschool, who took time to take our boys swimming in their blow up pool! -We have received help with wifi, phones, food, etc., from all our new neighbors and staff. We feel safe in our neighborhood! 
I will add pictures below, but feel free to check out our blog for more! We are so grateful for your support and encouragement. Please keep praying for us as we adjust, and that we would be a light wherever we go. XOXO.LIsa. 

Hello Friends and Family! 
We’ve been waiting to update you all, as our flights keep getting moved around due to covid. We have now booked again, for Monday!!! We will head to the airport in the morning. Please join us in prayer. Right now we are allowed 2 suitcases each, minus our infant, so we have packed up our lives into 6 suitcases, 2 carseats, 1 stroller, and 1 guitar case!!! It feels surreal. 
We are scheduled to arrive in the DR on Tuesday afternoon, with many long layovers..  because of covid, we have to travel into Punta Cana, which is a solid 5+ hour drive to Jarabacoa. Our dear friends will pick us up from the airport and we will make the trek to Jarabacoa together! We hope to arrive at our home Tuesday night. PLEASE join us in prayer for safety, health, great attitudes, and JOY as we seek to further God’s kingdom at the airport, on our drives, in every moment of every day. 

This weeked we will be saying goodbye to close family and friends, and finishing our packing. We finished immunizations, paperwork, healthcare info, etc. this week.

We will be disabling our phones before leaving, so neither of our Canadian phone numbers will work. You can gladly use facebook or instagram messenger, or email, to reach us until we have new numbers. 
A few more prayer requests as we wrap things up here: Sleep!!!! The more we transition, the more our kids lose familiar routines, and the more we say goodbye and process what’s coming, the less we all sleep. Please pray for SLEEP in our household, as well as health. Please pray for us to continue to view the world through the eyes of curiosity, adventure, and humility as we seek to learn from others, find joy in each moment, and establish a new life in a new place. Please pray for our travels!! 
Thank you for your continued investment and encouragement. Thank you for your partnership. We will send out another email when we land, arrive at home, and settle in (once we have wifi!). 
Love in Christ, Matt and Lisa. 

Thank you for supporting us through our online fundraiser!!! While this was not an ideal way to say goodbye and thank all of you for your ongoing investment in our journey, it was neat to connect with you all in different ways. Thank you immensely for the prize donations, the ticket purchases, the notes and the prayers. We are so grateful or the funds we raised. These will be used to pay for our tickets, as they will cost twice or three times as much as we had originally planned, due to covid.

Due to covid, we have booked and rebooked our flights a few times. They have been cancelled again, and we are waiting to rebook. At this point we are unsure of when we will leave. The borders to the DR are scheduled to open on July 1. If they open, we will book and leave when we can. We will definitely keep you all posted!

Due to COVID, our flights got changed (and could still change) to July 9! We are leaving earlier than expected, but we are looking forward to the time to just settle into our house and adjust before we start our ministry projects.

We have loved living at Mom’s house, and the boys will miss having her around all the time! We are finishing up more paper work right now, renewing our Driver’s license, etc. Matt will finish work at the end of next week to help me get our family ready. We still have doctor’s appointments, immunizations, a bit of last minute shopping to do for clothes for the boys, and packing. As well, I am finishing one more course towards my Post Bac. degree! My current course is an excellent precursor to delve deep into Expeditionary Learning, which is what Doulos Discovery School specializes in.

As you know, we were unable to host our Farewell Fundraiser. Instead, we are simply selling tickets for the prizes that were generously donated by local businesses and friends.

Below is a picture of all the prizes, as well as a picture with the items labelled. To purchase tickets, follow the instructions in the photo below. 🙂 Thank you again for your investment in our journey. Xoxo.

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I know the Lord has been preparing our hearts long before we ever knew we would move to the DR> but lately, I’ve been reminded that the Lord has been preparing our hearts during these last few months, even when all felt clouded over. We have made countless decisions in the last months as we get ready for the big move, and many of those decisions have had unanswered questions. We’ve felt peace as we have made them; confidence in what we have chosen along the way, but we have often wondered WHY. And I am reminded, again and again, that we don’t always need to KNOW why.. somewhere, sometime along the way it might be revealed to us…. but often it’s not.. and yet, it is STILL up to us to respond to the Spirit.

“Inside out.” It’s been my phrase, my mantra, my rainbow ribbon of motivation, hanging over my head. We live in an “outside in” world, where the focus is often placed on the outside: appearance, actions, anything the world sees in an instant. And as I work through my own personal emotions regarding leaving this home as a whole, as I talk through these transitions with my kids.. I feel it deeply and heavily: “you must learn to live from the inside out:” that is, to focus on the heart- on the soul- on the stuff that makes us human– before I focus on anything else.

The stuff that makes us human, that’s what I ponder next. The soul connections. How do I leave this place WELL? How do I say goodbye WELL? How do I keep this all in the forefront, without getting bogged down by this “outside in” world?

It’s the little things, I’m learning, that allow me to begin to live “inside out.” It’s the free play. The mud. Their clean clothes rolling, rolling, rolling across lawn and mud and leftover Dairy Queen ice cream. It’s the releasing of control, for me. To live “inside out,” it’s putting frustrating conversations before screen time. It’s setting boundaries that enable this lifestyle: early bedtimes again and again and again for our own mental health as a couple. It’s Survivor Night as a family, bike rides, walks, PLAY, but all with the constant throbbing of the Spirit breathing in.. out.. out.. in.. in.. out.. remembering why we are here on this Earth and Who created us and how can we love better. That’s what prompts me to begin to live “inside out.”

And at the end of the day, it’s this collection of moments that we miss if our eyes aren’t fully open. If our soul eyes are busy, rushed, frazzled.. we miss the moments that breath “inside out.” This awareness of such moments.. this is the essence of “inside out.”

His browned face, and rooster-blond cowlicks. The way their heads nuzzle together, giggling endlessly before they collapse to the ground in laughter. Baby’s courage- up the slide, up the ladder, in the mud, around the water, under the stairs. Husband joining us for bedtime stories, all piled high in the toddler bed after he’s worked ten hours. My own Mama’s face every morning, drinking hot Máte with my baby or making cheerio necklaces with my big boy.

Essentially, it’s the awareness of all these moments, good and bad, hard and easy, that breathe

inside out.

Good morning friends and family!!! We have successfully moved into my Mom’s (Nana’s) house and out of our own! It feels… surreal. Hayden is our homebody, and although he ADORES his Nana, he’s the one to ask each night for his own bed and his own room. We are so grateful for this comfortable transition between home and the DR.

Due to the public gathering cap of 50 people, we won’t be able to host our celebration/fundraiser as planned. This was kind of our way of celebrating and saying goodbye, so we’re sad to cancel it. In its place, we hope to host an online auction event to auction off the beautiful collection of prizes that have been donated from our amazing local community.

We are about 3/4 of the way to being fully funded!! Being fully funded means we will have reached our monthly goal of funds to cover ALL living costs. THANK YOU for investing in our mission to disciple, share God’s love, and empower others in the DR. We are still monitoring flights and travel info carefully, and aren’t sure when we can head to the DR. However, it looks hopeful that we would still be able to leave on our planned departure date in July.

Right now, our hearts are focused on “blooming where we are planted.” That is, being right here, right now. While we still plan and prep for the DR, we are focusing on enjoying and soaking in EVERY moment with our loved ones here. Every moment is our mission, and every place our feet take us is our mission field. Spreading God’s love + praying with you, wherever you are at. Love in Christ, Matt and Lisa.

Just a quick Q&A to answer some common questions in this weird season.

Q: Are you still going to the DR?

A: Yes! We have no clue when, or how, but we know the Lord has called us to the DR, in His timing. As of July, we will both be unemployed, and will be either a) hopefully moving to the Dr, b) seeking employment, or c) relying on our donors until we can move!

Q: How has COVID19 affected fundraising?

A: Not a lot… we did have to cancel/postpone our fundraiser which was sad, because we were excited to celebrate and share our hearts and build community. However, we believe that God has laid partnership on specific people’s hearts, and now it’s our turn to listen to the Holy Spirit, and seek out those of you who are meant to partner with us! 😉 We do need to raise about 1,500 dollars more per month.

Q: How is the DR responding to the progression of COVID19?

A: The same as here! They have about 56 confirmed cases within the country. Their method of flattening the curve is similar to ours– social distancing!!! They’ve added a mandatory curfew between the hours of 6pm and 6am. In a culture like the DR, people are outside, on the streets, at parks, communal living at all hours, especially after dark! So this eliminates much of the spread! As well, they have cancelled school and small businesses, etc., similar to what MB has done.

Due to the rapid spreading of COVIC-19, we will postpone our fundraiser until a later date. At this point, we do not know when that will be. We hope to host a similar event in May or June. Right now we want to be responsible, and abide by the government recommendations to stay quarantined, in order to stop the spread of this virus. Thank you to those of you who have already purchased tickets and donated prizes. You will not have to re-purchase tickets! Please stay tuned for more updates.

A few updates: we have a house in the DR, awaiting our arrival! We can finally picture ourselves there. It is a practical home for the four of us, near the school we will be working at!

We are currently seeking approximately $1500 in monthly sponsorship. Please click the “donate” tab above if you feel led to partner with us monthly.

XOXO Lisa.

Good morning team! Thank you again for sticking with us. Thank you for your prizes donated for our Fundraiser, your encouragement, your support, your prayers, your sponsorship. We are just over half way towards our monthly sponsorship goal!! This is so exciting, as we would like to begin our ministry fully funded.

Many of you have asked why we are aiming for $4,500 a month. We have displayed a detailed monthly budget on our “Donate” page to hopefully answer some of these questions. While it seems like a large number to raise per month, this is less than most average incomes for a family of four. Not only are we paying into monthly costs, we still need to pay for things like upkeep of our Canadian drivers licenses, visas, any unforeseen medical bills, income tax in Canada, recertification for me to teach in the DR, flights, etc. I will also be required to attend a Professional Development conference that will cost over $500 next spring. As well, we will be paying $450 – $500 per month for admin fees.

While living here with two steady incomes, or living in the DR with the generosity of others, we understand that income and money belong to the Lord. Regardless of the source of income, the money does not belong to us and we will strive to make the most wise and responsible decisions. In the same way we strive to be responsible with our income here, using it to further God’s kingdom, we will do the same in the DR.

We plan to return for the summers to refresh, spend time with family, and reconnect with sponsors + friends.

Thank you so much for your generosity, trust, and support. Xoxo. Lisa

Blumenort Mennonite Church was so gracious to us this week. My mom, with the help of her community, served a fundraising lunch on our behalf. We were able to connect with so many people, speak about what God is doing in our hearts and lives, and hear others’ hearts as well. We are so grateful to have received just enough to cover the costs of our family’s one-way plane tickets, as well as my Mom’s plane ticket. This allows my Mom to travel down with us, and help us with the kids as we adjust and do staff training. THANK YOU, BMC!!!!

Head to our “Donate” page for a breakdown of our monthly and start-up costs, and donor info.

Thank you immensely for your support and encouragement.