Where Have We Been?

Dear friends,

You may be wondering where we have been and what we have been up to. It's been a long time since I've written on here. And for those of you on our mailing list, a prayer letter will be coming soon. The Spring was busy and emotional as we prepared to move out of our apartment in the Dominican Republic and return to Canada for a extended furlough. We flew back to Ontario at the end of June and spent a couple weeks with family before driving out to British Columbia for Paul to begin his Master's in Educational Leadership. After spending six weeks of the summer in BC, we gradually camped our way across the States back to Ontario. September was full with getting moved into our current house, attending missions events, and starting online classes for Paul and homeschooling for the rest of us. Now, in October, we are finally settling into more of a routine. We're missing our friends and life in the Dominican Republic but are enjoying fall and the changing colours that we are seeing for the first time since 2008.

Please continue to pray for our family as we go through a very different year from what we're used to and also for ANIJA as they carry on without Paul's leadership. Thank you!

Marcie

P.S. Here are a few pictures. More will come...

Good-bye D.R.

My cousin's farm in Manitoba

At the Calgary Stampede

Big trees in BC

Mt. Baker

White Rock

Stanley Park

Vancouver

Vancouver Island

We loved catching up with family!

Happy Valentine's Day!

       

Every time our kids request pizza with corn I think, "I have to write a blog post about that!" They were really surprised when we told them that no one we know of in Canada eats corn on their pizza. It's so common here. Paul and I still don't like it but here it is: Valentine's Day pizza with corn--for the kids!

Marcie Cooper

In this world, you will have trouble

Dear friends,

John 16:33 says, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart!
I have overcome the world."

We don't have to look far to see trouble in our world. It is all around us whether in our personal experiences or seen on Facebook or the evening news. Here, tonight, there is an eight-year-old boy from ANIJA being cared for by nuns and sleeping in an unfamiliar bed while his mom is in jail for child abuse.  He has a splint on his finger and x-rays on his arm revealed a history of broken bones caused by physical abuse. He told Paul that he would rather go to a Kids Alive children's home than go back to live with his mom because she hurt him too many times. No wonder he had trouble behaving in my library class. Would you pray for this little boy tonight? Pray that he will sleep well and that the government would allow him to be placed in a Kids Alive home in the near future. And pray that his life and his mom's would be changed by the Lord who has overcome the world. Our hope is in Him.

Thank you!

Marcie Cooper

Update (February 3, 2016):
Prayers answered! We arrived back from Christmas holidays to find that this little boy had been placed in the care of our school's Social Services director. On Friday, he was moved to one of our Kids Alive children's homes--just in time to experience a Quinceañera, a huge birthday party for three girls turning fifteen. He will likely need some extra sponsors to help cover his 24-7 care. Please let us know if you're interested!

Meet Our Newest Students

Hello from the Dominican Republic!

School has been in session for over a month now and we have the cutest new pre-school students. I probably think that every year. I love the little ones! Will you pray for them, their classmates, and their teachers as they get used to being at ANIJA? Thank you! Here is a sneak peek at some of their school photos:

Over the next several months they should be entered into the system for sponsorship. Stay tuned!

Marcie Cooper

Life and Death

Dear Friends,

Paul is at the funeral of a fourteen year old boy today. A student who was about to enter Grade 8 next week at ANIJA. The son of Ark house parents. A friend of many. We received a distraught call from his dad as we were getting ready to head to church last night. We couldn't believe it.

Last week-end I followed on Facebook as fellow missionaries posted pictures of a close family friend, a twenty-year-old college student who had drowned in Lake Michigan. They attended her funeral on the week-end.

A couple of days ago I heard about a missionary in Santo Domingo who drowned trying to save some teenagers. I didn't know him but can't imagine being in the place of his wife or children.

Three people in a week. Young. Healthy. Full of life. One of our own students. It has been a long time since I have written a blog post. I certainly didn't plan on writing about death. But death is a reality that each of us must face. We hope it will come later rather than sooner but we just never know. We have to be ready for it at any moment. Are we?

So many children in our school tell us that they can get to heaven if they are good enough. But God's standard is perfect and we all fall short. We all need to rely on Jesus Christ who lived a perfect life and died in our place to forgive our sins. Through Him, and Him alone, we can have eternal life. He gives hope. He brings assurance that we will see loved ones again. He helps us through tragedies and difficulties in this life even when we don't understand them. He is faithful. And He is good. Through Him I can say with the apostle Paul, "for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21). I hope you can too.

Sincerely,

Marcie Cooper

Happy Pi Day!

I just had to make pie!

Maybe I'm just procrastinating instead of working on my paper for Dynamics of Biblical Change, a course I'm taking through CCEF. It's an amazing course, by the way. I'll get back to work after sharing a pi story with you…

When I was a teacher in Toronto, there was a little boy in my Junior Kindergarten class who had recently arrived from China and spoke hardly any English. It was his first time at the painting easel and he didn't seem to know what to paint. I tried to explain to him that he could paint whatever he wanted and left to work with other students. When I looked back he had painted huge colourful numbers: 3.141592653...I can't remember exactly where he stopped but he filled the page. He knew pi to more digits than I did! I wish I would have taken a picture. Apparently his grandfather worked with him for long hours in the public library. If he knew pi at four, I wonder what he is up to now that he is eleven.

Whether you are celebrating pi day or not, I hope you have a great week-end!

Marcie Cooper

Dominican Independence and Culture: Part 3

Hello again!

Here are a few final pictures from the preschool/kindergarten fair last week. They're a bit random but show some popular aspects of the current culture.

The staple food--rice and beans:

It's tempting to put little hands in those dishes!

The Tourist Zone (a couple of hours away from us):

At the beach
(They probably have never been there in real life)

The Botanical Zone:

National bird: Cigua Paloma
National Flower: Mahogany

We can't forget the national sport, baseball!

Ready to play

"Cheese!"

Paul actually spent part of Independence Day playing baseball in an Ark vs. ANIJA staff game. He also went to watch the ANIJA boys team play in the Copa Coca Cola soccer tournament. Our guys love soccer even more than baseball here!

I hope you have enjoyed getting a glimpse into the Dominican culture over the past few days. Here are links to the first two parts in case you missed them.

Dominican Independence and Culture: Part 1
Dominican Independence and Culture: Part 2

Marcie