Jon and Rachel Sawyer & mission team: Allie, Gracie, Tate & Annabelle

sawyersinthesun.blogspot.com sawyers5dr@gmail.com May 2012

Whats new? The short of it . . . .

We are new: crosswindsyouth.org We need to raise MONEY (for a new vehicle and residency). We will be in the states this summer! We want you to bring a short term mission group to the D.R! God is GOOD all the time. ALL the TIME God is GOOD!

All photos in this newsletter were taken from our last spiritual retreat where we had alien night, orescent night, royalty night and camo night. The theme was IN NOT OFF and focused on how we are in the world but not of the world.

$16,500 = Amount of Money required for a new (used) vehicle

This is the amount of money that we need to raise for a different vehicle. Our current vehicle has become an unreliable, money sucker. On our last road trip at the rst of April, in addition to our side mirrors blowing around to the point of uselessness, the passenger side window literally fell into the door . . . REPEATEDLY. We are past the point of duct tape. We are past the point of brake repair (for the fourth time). We NEED YOUR HELP! Will you please pray that the Lord would provide a way for us to raise this money? Should you feel led to give, you can give securely online by going to crosswindsyouth.org/ (one time gifts as well as repeat payments can be arranged). On the donation form under donation type, select STAFF SUPPORT and in the Donation Note box, put "Jon and Rachel Sawyer." OR you can send a check to: Crosswinds ATTN: Ann Schaub PO Box 80487 Fort Wayne, IN 46898-0487 (PUT "For Jon & Rachel Sawyer" on the memo line.) There are other ways to give in which a tax receipt could not be issued. If you are interested in giving in another way, please let us know and we can direct you how to do

BIG CHANGES
While there are some visible external changes on the campus of our ministry, there are many more crucial internal changes taking place. One of the biggest, most recent changes is that we have a new Director, Scott Taylor, and Jon is now the Assistant Director. Some of you many know how our lives and Scott's were previously intertwined: in addition to Scott and Rachel being cousins, Scott, Jon and I previously worked together at another program living in house as residential staff. Scott had previously visited us in the Dominican twice to lead spiritual retreats on our campus, and last June, he and his wife Meleah moved their family here to serve. Little did they know what was in store for them! We are very excited about these new developments as Scott is a visionary and has already built many bridges among our ministry and others in the community. Please pray for Scott and the Taylor family as their responsibilities have just increased immensely. To learn more about the Taylors, visit their website at www.taylorsndr.com.

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

As if us being here is not enough, we have a short term mission house on our campus that houses 24+ (not to mention that there is a newly renovated house that could easily hold another 20 people.) For $50 per day per person, transportation to and from the airport and around Jarabacoa, plus three meals a day PLUS a great experience in a third world country, REALLY, what are you waiting for? For more information, photos, details, etc. for bringing a short term mission team here, check out crosswindsyouth.org and click on the Missions + Outreach tab.

sawyersinthesun.blogspot.com

RESIDENCY

We are looking into getting our residency here in the Dominican (after 7 years, it seems like a good thing to do!). Currently, we have to pay taxes every time we leave the country. The cost to obtain residency is around $800 per person, so this is one more thing that we will be looking at raising support for. Would you begin to pray that the Lord is in this process with us? Going through red tape and foreign processes in a third world country can be very frustrating, lengthy and frustrating.

THINGS we MISS from THE STATES

(other than friends and family, of course!)
Air conditioning, smooth roads, ushing toilet paper, barbecue, drinking water out of the tap, speaking and understanding (mostly) the same language, SUPER TARGET *sigh*, orderly trafc, being able to try on clothes before you buy them, college football, the fall.

STATES DATES

June 30 - July 23 Lake Jackson, TX July 23 - August 16 Dallas, TX We will be visiting First Presbyterian Church of Lake Jackson, Grace Bible Church of Dallas, and Sagemont Church of Pearland. We will also be visiting as many of our family and friends as possible. If you would like to see us, we would like to see you! Send us an email at sawyers5dr@gmail.com!

HOW TO RECEIVE EMAIL UPDATES From us . . . .

You can: -Go to our blog sawyersinthesun.blogspot.com and click on the EMAIL UPDATES tab across the top of the page. Enter your email address and hit subscribe. OR -Email us at sawyers5dr@gmail.com and ask us to manually subscribe you. When you do this it saves us a stamp AND you are also able to click on direct links for more information. Its win/win!

Passing on THE BLESSING

The Lord laid it on our hearts to raise the full amount of money for a new vehicle so that we would be able to pass on the blessing to a Dominican family by selling our current vehicle to them for practically nothing. We believe not only did the Lord specically give us this desire but also that HE will see it to fruition. We want to give HIM all the credit and glory for this (in advance). "Is your vehicle that much of a prize given it's condition?" you may ask. The answer is "YES, it is!" because the man of the family is a chauffeur, but at this point he has to rent or borrow other's vehicles to do this job. Our current van is a 12 passenger van (however, by Dominican standards, it's more like a 25 passenger van!) so by blessing him with this type of vehicle, he would be able to make a better living. The Dominican family does not know anything about this - it's our little secret. This endearing family lives humbly, gives freely and shows others love and encouragement and we believe that the Lord wants to bless them in this way. Will you please join us in praying for the fulllment of what the Lord has laid on our hearts?

PRAISES:

love us as we are but dont leave us as we are. always provide! continue to teach us new truths about your character while we serve here in the Dominican. are breathing new life into our campus and renewing and strengthening it.

THank you LORD, that you

Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Psalm 119-105

PRAYER REQUESTS:

showing your love in all situations and living in such a way that you would be GLORIFIED. trusting, obeying, and following YOU without question. raising money for a new vehicle. making order of our time in the states. future health endeavors (RAchel has gallstones and will need surgery to remove them if natural medicine does not work.) safe travels and smooth transitions for us from third world to the states. our Dominican friends here who have had many medical needs this year (Anthony, Miriams niece). We want to be vessels of encouragement while providing assistance as we can. energy and balance while we are in the states. making new connections with those who might support us both prayerfully and financially.

LORD, please help us with

Leaning on Him,

Jon, Rachel & mission team