| | Home is now Santiago, Dominican Republic! August 27, 2013 was our arrival day! The Walker Family officially lives in Santiago now. We are working on staff with YWAM Santiago. Before we joined staff, YWAM Santiago consisted of Glenn, Rhoda and Jason Martin and Issa Peralta. The Martin's are now currently out of the country until January 2014 at various conferences and their daughter is getting married. So YWAM Santiago is Issa and us. Issa is a beautiful young Dominican lady whom we first met in Fort Lauderdale in January of 2010. She has been left in charge with us helping her. The biggest thing we will be helping Issa with is SUYO. This program works with Dominican youth aged 9-16. There are around 20 SUYO participants that come once a month for the weekend. We will have teachings with them regarding discipleship and Christian life and then we will do a couple of local outreaches.
We are transitioning well at this point. Mainly because we have been here before so we know how to get to the grocery and the local stores. We can communicate enough to get around. Asking where something is located is fairly easy, although understanding what the directions given to us is much harder! It is extremely strange to move somewhere so familiar yet still so foreign!
| | |  Spanish Class Our family's biggest task is to learn Spanish!! We are taking classes at ISLA, a local school with English classes. We have our own personalized class with the 5 of us. Our teacher, Guarionex, is a Christian and we start each class reading scripture. This is a blessing. We can't really pronounce his name correctly so we all call him Prof X. We all enjoy class because yes, it is work but he enjoys our family and we enjoy the time together! It is quite expensive but is it really one of the most important things that we can do to acclimate here.
|  Mailing Address: Ned and Debbie Walker
c/o Agape Flights STI 27519
100 Airport Avenue
Venice, FL 34285
It is VERY important to include the STI 27519 in our address. Mail may be addressed to any member of the family.
We can now receive mail through Agape Flights mail service. Letters and small packages around 1 lb come in for free. Anything over that we pay $1.75 per pound. Agape Flights suggests having the sender bless us by donating the $1.75 per pound or part of it to them on our behalf. Please email us for more information!
Letters or small things from home would be greatly appreciated as we transition. | |  Missionary Flights International! Pilot Ray Oostdyk and the Walker Family! Our family was really blessed to get to fly into Santiago via MFI! Missionary Flights International is an organization that flies missionaries and cargo around the Caribbean. You can check out more information about them at Missionaryflights.org . We homeschooled with a lot of the workers there including the Oostdyk's while in Vero Beach. We flew on a DC-3 plane next to the cargo! It was pretty neat. Yes! Like you see in the movies! The rows were two seats wide with cargo, boxes, suitcases, etc...netted in next to us. We stopped in Exuma, Bahamas and refueled and then in Cap Haitien, Haiti to drop off and pick up some passengers. Then arrived here in Santiago, with 1/3 of our belongings. Due to the kind of aircraft, everything goes by weight and there was only enough room on the plane for us and an additional 650 lbs of cargo. On September 10, another 1/3 will arrive here and then two weeks later the last 1/3. Seems like a lot of weight til you start weighing clothes, shoes, books, legos, and all household items! So by the time we arrived in Santiago, we had been to 4 countries! Started in the United States, then the Bahamas, then Haiti and then the Dominican Republic! | | |  NIKOland One of our responsibilities: NIKOland is a 4 acre piece of property up in the mountains just north of Santiago. It is about an hours drive up the mountain and is very rural with no electricity or running water. It is the campo! The purpose of NIKOland is to run NIKO camps, which are survival leadership camps for youth. Sammi in 2010 and Hannah in 2013 both completed this program and it greatly changed their lives. Jesse will be allowed to participate in 2014! He is quite excited because he will be an exception and do it at a younger age than most.
NIKOland is also a place where youth or church groups can come and do leadership training weekends. Our first task as staff at YWAM Santiago was to help with one of these weekends. The leading Christian private school in the city and possibly the country had their Senior class leaders do this training. We were support staff and Debbie was in charge of cooking. Ned helped with this a lot as we were cooking outside over gas or on a bonfire. The kids got to help lead the night hike, which is quite the adventure in the dark. It was a blessing to be a part of this first leadership training weekend.
Our task is to do a few work projects up there including getting the frogs out of the water catchment system and making sure no more get in. Plus clearing the land of some guava trees. We are excited for this "out of the city" weekly task
| | Prayer Requests! Thank you for your support and prayers!
* Language Learning! That we will be able to learn Spanish quickly. Also for the funds for the lessons.
* Sammi, Hannah & Jesse. God is providing some friends from past trips for the kids. Prayers that they continue to make friends and adjust.
* Finances.. for the fees to pay for our cargo to be flown in ($1.50/lb) and the taxes due (hopefully minimal). A few more monthly supporters are needed. Funds for the needed misc. things to move for daily life. Living expenses.. for instances, toiletries are quite a bit more expensive here. (A $3.00 bottle of shampoo is $6.00 here)
*Safety and Adjustment.. We are adjusting to life here which includes heat, noise, locks, alarms, etc... One can not just leave things lying on a table here such as a computer or a camera. This makes people see what you have and since you are Americano you are already viewed as rich. Petty theft is very bad and we must hide valuables constantly and hide the laptop etc... when we leave. It is always a bit nerve wracking when arriving home to see if we've been broken into or not. | |  Jesse turns 13! September 25 is Jesse's birthday!
Can't believe my baby boy will be a teenager! That doesn't seem possible. He is really a sweet young man who is quick to serve others. He loves going to NIKOland to work hard. Physical labor is one of his favorite things to do.
This morning we arrived at church earlier than Brauny, a boy whom we met on our last visit, and Brauny slipped in to sit next to Jesse. You could see the pleasure in Jesse's eyes of having a friend! Brauny speaks English which is a relief to Jesse. They really connected last time when we were here when they learned that they share the same birthday. Brauny is a good Christian boy who serves his mother well.
It is neat to see how God is providing a friend for Jesse.
If you would like to bless Jesse with a birthday card that would really make his day. Even if it is a bit late :)
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Keep Dreaming and Helping Others to Dream
Nov 11, 1997 we took a little almost 3 yr old to the circus. There she fell in love with an elephant named Pete. By her 4th birthday Little Sammi Walker was dreaming of being a missionary elephant trainer to Africa. 4 1/2 years later she boarded a plane for her first missions trip to Mexico City. This spurred by the thoughts of her parents to help her reach this dream! "Let's see what this missions thing is all about!" we thought!
Little did anyone realize that this trip would re-awaken a dream inside of someone else's heart to actually make a difference in the world. The dreams of a little 4 year old would help to re-awaken the dreams long asleep deep inside the hearts of her parents!
You know the dream!! The one where you are a hero! Where you make a difference in the world! Those dreams are placed in our hearts as part of our destinies! We all have them when we are born! We are invincible and we can and will change things around us! We will be the one to make a difference!
Then somewhere along the way we get caught up in the day to day life and we stop dreaming in a sense. We stop envisioning our lives making much of a difference and those dreams go dormant. We listen to the lies of the world and sometimes people around us that say, "you can't make a difference"! But that's just it...we have to stop listening to these lies and realize that each and everyday we can make a difference in someone's life! On Wed, I went to the pool store..nothing big! Bought chemicals to put in the YWAM pool in orlando...but there on the corner stood a panhandler. The lady looked beat! Hot, skinny, sunburned, scrawny and yeah a little hungry. I was suddenly overcome with compassion for this lady, I have no money I thought. But you have bottles of water a little voice in the back of my mind said! Guess what I listened. I watched a car a couple cars in front of me give her a couple of bucks, she thanked him and dejectedly put the money in her pocket. When I pulled passed her I handed her the water with a quick apology of having to money. But there is was...the look of hope! The look in her eyes as she spied that bottle of water that looked as if I'd just given her a million dollars!
What was the difference! Holy Spirit knew what she needed and I listened. Bringing hope and helping people and ourselves keep dreaming through God's prompting is what missions is all about. That's what our family is working to do! Serving God as He sees fit! That looks different each day because each day is different, each of us is different and what each of us has is different. Rsch of out dreams is different. God can and will use all of us if and when we are obedient. I didn't do anything that any of us couldn't do.
| | We are moving!! Santiago, Dominican Republic here comes the Walker Family! Ned and Debbie and family will be joining YWAM Santiago Staff while partnering with YWAM Orlando to set up a Family Center in the Dominican Republic.
We have currently been working on staff with YWAM Orlando for 4 years. We will still be on YWAM Orlando staff, which means that YWAM Orlando will still process our support, while working with YWAM Santiago in Santiago Dominican Republic.
At the end of August, we will be moving to Santiago. Our first tasks will be acclimating to the culture, learning the language and building relationships with the local churches and ministries in Santiago. We were able to work alongside a group of churches while we were there to help grow and strengthen the local church. The local church is growing and working to train up young pastors but still needs help as for years the church has been a mix of Catholism, voodoo and religious structure and have not known a true relationship with Jesus. We will also be working with YWAM Santiago to help with their SUYO program which trains local dominican youth to reach into their own communities with evangelism and helps.
We are all super excited and working towards this big move!
| |  Orlando Epic Quest 2013 EQ trip 2013: Sammi, Hannah and Jesse just got done doing a 2 week local outreach trip called Epic Quest here in Orlando with YWAM Orlando. They did quite a few different ministries ranging from sorting soaps and clothes to feeding some local homeless. They worked with a couple of different children's ministries doing children's church and day camps. One of Sammi's favorites were the survey's in downtown Orlando. Each small group had a short survey with 4 questions normally that led them to a discussion about Christ. Hannah really learned that she needed to just be bold and put herself out there while doing these survey's. Talking to strangers is not something that she naturally likes to do but one thing that God has asked her to do and she enjoyed it when she stepped boldly and just did it! Jesse loved working with Orlando Rescue Mission and doing the day camp there. He really enjoyed playing with the kids and realized that so many of these kids have nothing and live in a "rescue mission" and have no home. Something that made him appreciate all that he has.
The kids are all looking forward to moving to the DR with the family. Sammi graduated homeschool this year but is looking forward to spending a year with the family in the DR and helping us transistion. School options are still open for Hannah and Jesse. We are still trying to decide if we will continue to homeschool or if they will go into a local school in Santiago, in order to help with language learning and the transistion. We would appreciate your prayers in this area. | |  All-Generations DTS Outreach Ned and I had a blast leading the All-Generations DTS (Discipleschip Training School)! This school was able to serve over 10,800 people in the two months that we were on Outreach to Vero Beach and the Dominican Republic. We worked with Life for Youth Camp and The Source in Vero Beach and with many churches in the Dominican Republic. We worked with Chapel Project in Cien Feugo, Santiago, DR where we were able to do evangelism in the streets and public schools and build the church while also finish putting the roof on the building that we call a church. We really learned first hand how the people in the building are really the church. It is not about a building but about a relationship with Jesus that permeats out of us into the lives of those around us. That is what being the church is really about. Our team saw over 850 salvations and were able to connect these new believers with a local pastor and mentor to help them grow in their new relationship with Christ. This group of 20 ranging in ages from 12 to 68 quickly formed a neat family unit where we all lived and served together! We laughed alot and shared some amazing moments! | | | | |
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What are the Walkers doing right now?
We are moving!!
The last week of August, our family will be moving long-term to Santiago, Dominican Republic. We will be working with YWAM Santiago and the Martin Family! We are super excited about this transition. But also praying for wisdom as we figure out visa's, residency, what to do with our things, etc...
As always, we are praying that the Lord will use us wherever we are!
Lord, help us not to miss the things you have prepared for us to do!
