We are home from Europe-what an amazing mission trip! God continues to stretch us and teach us more about his incredible, unlimited love, power, and grace. He has ignited us with His passion. He desires for every soul to know Him intimately, and we are excited to be partners with Him in the Great Commission to go into all the world…

God did many miracles, signs, and wonders in London, and we saw awesome revival in the two weeks we were there! We also visited family who are missionaries in Wales and a friend in Germany, a long-time dream-come-true for Karen! She loves speaking the language and connecting with the people. It was a great privilege to visit the YWAM base in Herrnhut, Germany, where the Moravians originated. Check out the rich history online or keep checking our blog for upcoming posts with more details!

Please pray for us this week. Following our first year of training & missions with YWAM, we are currently home in the Lancaster area. We are working hard at going through our storage and sorting through belongings-making the tough decisions about what to keep and what to sell.

We are preparing for our annual Mission Fundraiser garage sale this week, on Saturday, August 25th at 7 a.m. Please pray for smooth preparations and a successful turnout.

Also, please pray for strength and healing for Larry’s back (as well as strength for Karen to accomplish the sale preparations). Everyone is invited to attend the sale, and we are looking for help on Thursday and Friday loading heavier/larger items. We will transport them to the sale location at 790 Glenwood Dr., (the intersection of Hahnstown Rd.) Ephrata. Please respond to this blog to ask for more info. if you are available to help.

Thanks and God bless you for your prayers and support. We value our partners and appreciate your conmitment to assisting us in going to minister wherever God takes us.

Hi Everybody! We’re overdue for a blog update…we’ve been back in Florida for two months. With all the packing and unpacking every week and driving back and forth between Sarasota and YWAM Orlando, those two months FLEW by!

We’re getting ready to drive “home” to PA this weekend and really looking forward to seeing everyone! We plan to be at church this Sunday, so we hope to catch up with many of you there!

We are crossing the Big Pond for the first time!! On Sat., June 30th, we will fly to London for the School of the Circuit Riders at a YWAM base July 1-14. It will be fun to spend two weeks with my sister (she is going too after her India mission trip)! We are excited to partner with God in bringing salvation & revival to London! We will spend time in worship, training, and personal ministry & then go out to minister to others. It totally resonates with what God was giving us a vision for last year at this time, and we’re really excited to see what He does!

After the school ends, we will get to briefly visit some of Karen’s family in Wales (missionaries there for 13 years!!!) Then a quick trip to Germany and Karen’s long-time dream will become a reality! God has been highlighting a town in Germany (where the Moravians in Lititz originally came from) in the past few months, and we are excited to visit the YWAM Herrnhut base and see what God is doing there! We will also get the privilege of seeing German friends of ours. We are thrilled to get to connect with some dear people while we’re in Europe! Of course, we’re not as excited to leave our kids for three weeks, but they will be in great hands with grandparents. We’ll fly back to PA on July 21st, and we’re planning to stay about a month at this point. Our tasks will be going through what’s in storage and having a 2nd Mission Fundraiser sale in August.

We are SO excited about what God’s doing! We got a taste of the Circuit Riders School, during the last two weeks, while it was going on in Orlando and WOW! God is moving in miraculous ways!!! Revival is here! Not only did the students experience new freedom in Christ, but they took the Good News of Jesus to the streets of Orlando, and people were healed and lives were transformed! The students prayed for people and shared the love of Jesus with them. (They even got to pray with a large group of drug dealers and alchoholics as they held hands in a circle and prayed!!) Check out YWAM Orlando and Circuit Riders on Facebook and www.YWAMOrlando.com for stories and photos!

Please pray for revival in Europe! The 2012 Summer Olympics will bring the nations together in one place, and many teams are heading to London from all over to bring God’s love & hope for the people! We are so excited about what this will look like and anticipate God doing amazing things!

We have really been enjoying living in Sarasota! We are beyond blessed that Larry’s parents are allowing us to stay in their vacation home…we settled right in & had the privilege of focusing on the assignments God gave us to do during this season.

As Mission Builders, we drove two hours every week to YWAM Orlando to “go camping!” (the boys called it “going home.” I called it “girlfriend time” or “date time with my hubby” since we weren’t around people in Sarasota very often.) This time was important for interaction w/our YWAM family & to do hands-on work such as taking video (Larry) & meeting with the Director to review Larry’s drawing ideas for designing new buildings and remodeling buildings on site. Karen has been helping with editing & proofing on the YWAM Orlando website, so if you visit the site let her know if you see any typos or links that don’t work, etc.

We got to participate with YWAM Family Night Monday evenings, which included worship time & a speaker followed with a snack & fellowship. We enjoyed a break from cooking & grilling when we had YWAM meals for 2 days a week!

After the intense Fall schedule of the DTS (Discipleship Training School) for our family and our two-month mission trip in DR, this time has been a “gift.” We have had the opportunity to purchase electronic drums, keyboard, and a guitar and to worship God with our instruments and our voices & invite the presence of God to flood us. Without Him we can do nothing…not even BREATHE! God is teaching us so much more about Himself through His Word (There is so much in the Bible that we are discovering or at least understanding in greater depth!) We feel like we are in an accelerated learning/growing “course” and God has put resources strategically in front of us to read, watch, listen to, and implement. I don’t think we’ve ever read so many books in this time frame before! We can’t get enough! We are hungry and God is feeding us as we make more time to talk with Him and listen to Him as well.

Our goal has become to spend 1-3 hours every day in time with the Lord worshiping Him with our instruments, voices, reading/listening to the word of God, & praying. Even though it’s not the amount of time we are focused on, we want to be intentional to carve out time to rest in the Lord and soak in His Presence (Be still and know that I am God.) We feel God wants us to make this a lifestyle & encourage others to do the same. Knowing God & making Him known (YWAM’s mission and ours) begins with spending time talking AND listening to Him. It also includes worshiping Him in the ways He gifts us and according to our God-given desires. Missions should come out of intimacy with Jesus and love and worship of Him. When this life is over, missions will fade away but worship of God will still remain forever (Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Romans 14:10-12) Right now it feels as if we are in “training,” waiting for our “marching orders” and we are being prepared (success is in the daily routine) for whatever assignments God has for us in the future. We are learning how to wait on the Lord and not get ahead of Him and His plans. It is actually a very peaceful place to be because who can we trust more than the God of the Universe, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords?!

Another desire of ours is to seek God more while focusing on bonding as a family & growing in our marriage (learning how to love each other better-what better way than living together 24/7?! LOL) We enjoyed worshiping at a local church in Sarasota and have been so blessed and challenged with the series about marriage and families. There is always something to “work on” and it was perfect timing for us to hear the truths and apply them. God has been showing us the Love Chapter, 1 Corinthians 13, and the Fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22-23, a lot lately. Growth and mastery in these areas require time and being intentional (and lots of prayer!) We praise God for His involvement and work in our hearts and lives. He is refining us, and even though pruning and getting the “impurities” burned out of us is PAINFUL, it’s been so good.

Our kiddos have really taken an interest in music & are playing around on drums, guitar, & piano when we aren’t on them. Kiana has her own little toy drum, but “plays” the boys’ guitar as well. The boys have been enjoying listening to the Bible (electronically) and reading their devotional books, and we’ve had many meaningful family discussions & prayer times. Teachable moments happen every day!

We just officially finished our 2nd homeschool year and put portfolios together! We’re so glad that’s done! Thanks for your prayers for cooperation for our boys with this–school is not their favorite thing in the world to do! They did well and learned a lot, but they are happy for a break (and so are we.)

Thank you all for your support: phone calls, cards, texts, Facebook messages, emails, gifts/monetary donations, visits, and Mary Kay orders. We appreciate you! We are excited to have partners accomplishing God’s goals with us, and we pray you will be blessed and that all you do will be multiplied and come back to you abundantly! We are hoping you will pray and ask God if He wants you to partner with us as a monthly financial supporter, and if so, how much He wants you to pledge. If you would like more information let us know and we will be happy to share more, or we can meet with you personally.

We are doing a Mary Kay mission support fundraiser before our trip. Feel free to check out Karen’s website www.marykay.com/kweaver5 to place an order no later than Monday, June 25th. All proceeds will help to fund our summer mission trip to Europe and our ongoing monthly expenses. Karen will have products available during the week we are home (next week). If she does not have your order in inventory, she will have Mary Kay ship it directly (this only applies if you order on her personal website www.marykay.com/kweaver5).

Any order of $40 or more will receive your choice of a free gift or free shipping. (Please indicate your preference in the comments section when you order.)

Also, please indicate if you are able to pick up your order or donate the cost of shipping to increase the amount of funds raised. (You may request pick-up at locations in Ephrata, New Holland, and Lititz.)

Don’t worry if you don’t hear from her until next week when we are in PA. She will contact you no later than June 30th regarding your order.

If you aren’t placing an order but you would like to support us financially, you can:

1. Donate online at www.ywamorlando.com. Click on Make a Payment under QUICK LINKS in the blue box under the orange box. Then click on Payment For A Student/Participant. Fill in Larry & Karen Weaver and select Other for the School/Program/Seminar. Fill in the amount and use the credit card of your choice.

2. Send a check to:
Larry & Karen Weaver
5377 Paes Rd
New Holland PA 17557

3. Donate in person or to our parents while we are gone. Hope to see you at our Mission Fundraiser Sale in August! We will announce the date and details next month.

Thank you in advance for your support, whether it’s financial, prayer, cards, emails, etc.! It all means the world to us. We are raising support for the trip & ongoing as we are feeling called to answer the Great Commission in a way we never dreamed we would!!!! We are excited to be where God wants us & to go wherever He takes us!

Thank you for reading our updates! We appreciate your prayers most of all as we pack up and “move” again, for our children staying in PA, and for us during our trip! God bless you richly and abundantly, and may you know and experience the deep love of the Father toward you.

Love,
The Weavers
Larry & Karen
Cameron (10), Grant (7), and Kiana (1 1/2)

Here are two short recap videos from our two months in the Dominican Republic. It was a stretching time and we grew a lot! God taught us so much about hearing his voice and trusting in him. We saw approx 30 people dedicate their lives to serving Jesus! We also had a tremendous response of 30 people committing to get involved with missions! We made many new friends whom we miss very much! We hope we impacted the people of Dominican Republic as much as they impacted us!

It’s time for a blog update! Thanks for your patience everybody! Our time in Dominican Republic has been amazing! It’s hard to believe we are officially over half-way through our outreach trip! We had a full schedule most of the time and no internet, so we went to the local internet cafe when we could. Hopefully some of you saw our FaceBook updates or talked to our parents, but hopefully this is what you’re looking for. Also, here is our YWAM team blog update.
Thanks to everyone for your support…whether it’s prayer, financial, or internet communication. It all means so much to us, knowing you’re tuned into what God’s doing in our corner of the world. God bless you all!

We arrived at our second location in Dominican Republic-Santiago-on January 21st. We love it here! We have to leave the YWAM house for internet though! We can get email when we have the opportunity to get online…we hope to get in touch with many of you we haven’t been able to connect with so feel free to email us anytime! We have another week here. Then we go to our third location, Azua, for our final two weeks in DR. We aren’t sure what the internet is like there, but we will return to Orlando, Florida, on February 28. Graduation is March 2nd, and we plan to visit family and friends in PA, about a week later. We are tentatively planning for a two-week visit.

At our first location, Barahona, we performed our dramas quite a bit in the park, in churches, at bateyes (poor refugee villages), etc. We focused a lot on children’s ministry, playing sports, jumping rope, doing hand games, and singing kids’ songs at the bateyes. The kids flocked to us and grabbed our hands as soon as we jumped off the truck. They even fought over us sometimes. It was fun loving on them, asking their names, ages, and finding out who their brothers and sisters were (all in Spanish). It’s been more fun for Karen than she expected learning another language (since German is on our minds). We hope we brought the joy of the Lord to them, but I think they impacted us more than we impacted them. We are proud of Cameron and Grant for stretching out of their comfort zone, time after time, at each new place we went. We lost count how many places we went, but every time we went somewhere, we rode in the back of a pickup truck with a bench seat along each side and a tarp tied on top for a roof. The wind blew our hair in our faces, and if we took a drink from our water bottle the person next to us got a mini-shower. Most times it took about 30 minutes to get somewhere, unless we were going to a local church or to the bank to exchange money 5-10 minutes away or to the beach or mountains 45 minutes away.

If you want to know more about the conditions and lifestyle of the refugees in bateyes you can read more at the end of this blog post.

Cameron says he likes the ice cream here…their “Dairy Queen” is called Bon and it’s everywhere…he & Grant love to run out to the ice cream truck or umbrella-covered bike and use their pesos to buy a fruit bar, etc. (our faves are Coconut & Chocolate).

Cameron also made two new friends through Compassion International! Wonder if someone we know sponsors them?! We spent time with sponsored kids with Compassion the last two weeks in the afternoons and played sports like basketball, jump rope, and frisbee. We also did sidewalk chalk and bead bracelets with them. Karen enjoyed trying to speak limited Spanish and communicate creatively with a few young girls. One day while we were taking a breather for a few minutes on a concrete park bench, all of a sudden we felt like we were on a waterbed! Then we realized it was an EARTHQUAKE! Honestly, it felt really cool! That was the second earthquake we felt since we arrived in DR out of a handful that actually occurred (I think the count is at five). They say it’s better that there are many smaller ones rather than one big earthquake. This must be the year for earthquakes because the first one we felt in our life occurred in August in PA, if we remember correctly.

We got to worship with many different evangelical churches (we’ve lost count how many), which was so refreshing. One particular church in the mountains measured about 20’ x 40’ and had a concrete floor and tin roof. The 14 of us packed in and just about doubled their number of attendees. However, we loved experiencing a taste of what it will be like to worship with all the saints together from every tribe and nation in Heaven one day! The fragrance of Heaven was sweet that evening as we sang along in English to their Spanish songs that we recognized.

In Santiago, DR, we have been spending our time at Oasis Christian School, teaching the Seniors’ Bible class and assisting teachers in the other classes. God is working through the team as we build relationships with the students and teachers. We see God stirring hearts and believe that He is using our team to inspire young people to answer God’s call on their life and get involved with missions. This fits into the big picture of the founder of YWAM, Loren Cunningham’s, vision of 200,000 young people coming through YWAM to go to the nations in the near future. This is very exciting! DR is a “religious” nation. They even have a Bible pictured on their flag, but there is a big difference between being “religious” and living as a follower of Jesus Christ.

Last Friday, we got to teach in chapel at Oasis Christian School and it was an amazing morning! Karen was able to lead worship for the first time and she definitely sees herself doing that as a ministry in the future. Alicia Zimmerman (singing) and Jo Jo Lusceous (guitar) were also leading along with Larry on the hand drum. Cameron and Grant loved being part of the story of Daniel (acting out the story) and Larry taught two of the grade levels on the topic of service. As an example of Jesus, he washed the feet of one student in each class. We did a drama as well, and the boys had fun leading the preschoolers and 3rd-7th graders in action songs.

This week in the afternoons, some of the team plays basketball and the others mingle with the students who are their to watch the games. The girls are making some great connections with the female students. Another form of ministry we are using here is the Courageous movie. The other night, a couple of families responded to the invitation to get a fresh start in life by giving their lives to Jesus.

Kiana is growing fast and learning so many adorable things! She counts 2-3. She leaves out the 1. Guess she’s confused because she learning some Spanish words too. Maybe she doesn’t know whether to say One or Uno. After all, she said “Hola” before she said “Hi!” She’s just about ready to walk…any day now! She says many words including people’s names…Mommy, Daddy, Bye Bye, basketball, bot (bottle), more, and dirty. She fist bumps everyone and does high fives–they love it! The team tries not to fight over who gets to hold her and we’ve gotten some nice little breaks when they feed her, play with her, or change her diaper. We are enjoying living in a great community of fellow believers.

Other things we are doing…reading through the New Testament and writing 60 journal entries to complete our DTS (Discipleship Training School) assignments. The boys are enjoying making their own videos on Dad’s laptop. You may even get to see one Cameron is putting together of this trip! He’s doing great with it and having so much fun!

Also, please pray for God’s direction and clarity for us. God has shown us some specific direction for our future, but the timeline is not completely clear. He is giving us one or two steps at a time, and we are grateful and very excited! We know whatever His plans for us, they will be best. When we return to Orlando, after going home for a “spring break,” we would like to be Mission Builders and use our God-given talents and gifts to benefit the base, while taking some much-needed family time to finish the homeschool year and portfolios, etc. Worship & health and wellness are Karen’s interests and photo and video as well as worship are Larry’s.

God bless you all! See you soon!

The Weavers

The BATEY habitat where impoverished Dominicans, Haitians and others live are sugar cane labor communities made of tiny, drafty shacks built with mud and split canes, often next to large dumps or open sewers. The small rooms often lack basic hygiene. In some bateyes, there are no sewage systems, electricity, running water, trash collection or paved streets…only ditches filled with muddy, parasite-ridden water and garbage heaps with rats, flies, mosquitoes, and wild dogs. (Two bateyes we visited were blessed with water systems thanks to the mission we were working with.) Life expectancy is very low when compared to the statistics for the Dominican Republic. Teenage prostitution and pregnancy complete the picture, as these unemployed young women find the only ‘work’ available. There is a rise in the spread of AIDS, and a very high infant mortality rate. Childhood illnesses, including diarrhea, fever, respiratory infections, measles, parasitic ailments or malnutrition plague them right up into adulthood.
All the factors that make life difficult for Haitian men in the bateyes are present for the women, who face further vulnerability. Being of Haitian descent in the Dominican Republic is often looked down on and being a woman of Haitian descent is doubly difficult. Some of the issues against them are domestic and sexual-based abuse, financial hardship, and a high unemployment rate forcing them to risk their lives prostituting in order to make ends meet. Unfortunately, a future of poverty is practically inescapable. But we pray they will rise above their circumstances, with God’s favor and HOPE, and have a better life.
Over the past decades, thousands of impoverished Haitian migrant and Dominican families living in the country’s 220 bateyes have realized almost no concrete improvement in the quality of their lives, due to the lack of access to primary and reproductive health care, lack of adequate standards of nutrition and sanitation, and lack of educational training and employment opportunities. While efforts have been made to help improve their precarious conditions, enormous challenges remain. Humanitarian aid for the impoverished batey communities has been reduced drastically as the Dominican Republic’s economy has grown in recent years. On other fronts, it is still difficult for generations of undocumented Haitian families to easily access the country’s mainstream school or health care system due to fear of discrimination, deportation, or extreme poverty. The results have been devastating. Thousands of children do not know how to read and write; women and their offsprings often die from preventable illnesses; and employment opportunities remain scarce. Both the Dominican Republic and Haiti are deeply affected by population migration patterns stemming from the realities of globalization, poverty and lack of resources on the island of Hispaniola. They are also affected by the uncontrollable spread of HIV/AIDS, limited access to health and education services, and economic opportunities-empowerment and rights issues- often driven by special interests and discriminatory practices.
Today, the batey population is facing its most challenging times: high unemployment with the closing of most of the sugar mills, HIV/AIDS at a 5-13% rate as compared to the national average of only 1%, etc.

Not only are there Haitian refugees in bateyes, but they also “squat” in back yards or wherever they can find unused land. Their “houses” are made of sticks (maybe sugar cane) and their roofs consist of tarps and large stones. Pray for these dear people whom God loves very much that they can know Him and live the destiny God created them for.

I wonder what Christmas time must be like in other parts of the world. Would it feel like Christmas if we didn’t get to go shopping, bake cookies, or put up decorations and lights? Would it feel like Christmas if we didn’t send greeting cards or have a big feast with a turkey or ham and all the fixin’s? Would it feel like Christmas if we didn’t spend time with family in a warm cozy home with candles burning?

Reflecting on the very first Christmas, I realized none of these things we associate with Christmas were happening when Jesus was born. But God loved us (the world) so much that he sent his one and only son to be born in a dirty stable and be laid in a manger. Then He lived humbly as a human for 30 years, began his earthly ministry, and then gave up his life at the age of 33 in severe humiliation and death as a criminal even though He had never sinned. All this because God wanted to restore us to himself. What a sacrifice and what a GIFT! Hope you all had a wonderful time celebrating today!

We were blessed with Karen’s whole family flying to Sarasota from PA on Friday to be with us for Christmas! Her amazing mom even froze hamloaf, gourmet potatoes, carrot casserole, and sweet potato pudding and brought it in her carryon!!!! That’s love!!! It was wonderful! We’re so glad they are all here!

School’s over!! Where did 12 weeks go? We have adjusted to life at YWAM and love the Florida weather! It wasn’t easy, but God is refining us this year. Pruning is painful, however, it must be done for growth to take place. We finished our DTS lecture phase on December 15th with our big geography final and 9 Bible memory verses, and spent that weekend packing up everything we need for Christmas break and our outreach trip. We did 12 loads of laundry this week…whew! We also cleaned our camper up in preparation for Karen’s parents and sister, Kayla, to visit the YWAM campus this Tuesday to Thursday, after the rest of the family heads home. It will be fun showing them around our new home.

We were blessed to have a visit from Larry’s parents as well from December 2nd-6th. We had a lovely time with them and Larry’s cousin, Anthony, at their house in Sarasota, eating out and going to the beach. Then they spent some time at the YWAM base with us.

We are gearing up to leave for Dominican Republic on New Year’s Day for all of January and February. Please pray that God will radically move through us to bless the church there as well as to win souls and grow the kingdom of God! We will be staying in three locations and ministering in a variety of ways including feeding programs, playing baseball, befriending orphans and Haitian refugees, and teaching school children music, crafts, sports, and other practical skills. It will be the perfect trip for our boys at their current ages, and it helps that they like baseball. We will be leading worship on the trip along with a guitar player and Alicia Zimmerman, who is from the Ephrata area and was in our DTS. Our whole family is also participating in a drama that will be used in our outreach.

Above Photo (left-right top row): Jojo, Caleb (leader), Cameron, Grant, Blaine, Kiana, Karen, Larry
(left-right bottom row): Alicia, Kim, Amanda, Jordyn, Marilyn, Tori (leader)

The one mission location, where we are going in DR, wants us to build a wall or add a new floor to their school. The only way we can do this project is if we have $1,000-$1,200 in cash to take with us on the trip to complete it. If anyone feels led to donate to this project, please let us know in the next day or so because we will need to make arrangements to receive the funds this week before we leave.

Also, any donations to support us financially will need to be sent to a different address while we are gone. We will post that information as soon as we have it. Thanks to all our generous supporters. We appreciate you all so much, and we pray God blesses you abundantly for your thoughtfulness and for making this possible. We also thank our prayer warriors, because prayer is what continues to get us through.

God is so good! He is very active in our lives and in the lives of those around us. It would be difficult to tell you everything God taught us so far on our blog, but we will be happy to share if you have questions or want to catch up personally after our trip. We hope to return home to PA, in March, for a visit. That would be a great time to tell you what God is doing in our lives and in YWAM. It’s just too much for words right now but so good. It’s a learning and growing time for us. We have so much more to learn, but we look forward to going to the nations as God leads us in His perfect timing. We are willing to go where He sends us.

For now, our plans include a 3-week program in June at YWAM Orlando, and then flying our family to London, England in July, with a YWAM team. We plan to apply for the School of Worship in the Fall (it was postponed by YWAM for the Spring). Sometimes, we make plans and God makes adjustments to our plans. We know that God works all things together for good.

We miss everyone and hope you are well…Merry Christmas!

Love, The Weavers

Prayer Requests:
-Smooth packing (please pray that everything we need for 2 months fits in 8 suitcases)
-Open hearts and minds to God (for our team and those we are ministering to)
-Team unity
-That God will do signs, wonders, and miracles in the Dominican’s lives through us!
-Worship that blesses the heart of God-we never led worship before! It’s all new!
-Continued good health & protection
-Smooth travel & safety
-For YWAM to attain all the permits needed to occupy the buildings on the campus and proceed with all the work necessary to complete renovations and projects to get everything up and running. Praise God the water hookup and sewer were approved. No more running out of water in our camper, hopefully!
-Continued wisdom and direction to know God’s will for us and that we will glorify Him.