December 2020

Dear Mission Family,

As you may know, about a year ago, we discovered a rural mountain village that was highly
impoverished. We asked a few of our missionaries to begin discipleship programs there. The
village is on a mountain and the miles-long journey up is treacherous, at best. Because of its
difficult incline, it’s not very accessible by vehicle, so we bought a few donkeys to get supplies
to the top.

A few months ago, we got word from our on-the-ground missionaries in the Dominican
Republic that they decided to pave the road up to the top. Not only would this make our access
easier, but it would be an incredible gift to the people who live there. So, with the help of
generous donors, we began the process. As our mission has celebrated this good news, we’ve
contemplated the concept of roads, but not physical ones.

This past year has been a rocky one. Many of us may feel isolated on a mountain, like the one in
the Dominican, as access to normal life has become uncertain and even dangerous. We’ve done
our best to keep climbing, but we are eager to reach the other side. We have seen God’s
faithfulness in small ways as we’ve walked, but we are tired and ready to see His faithfulness in
full. If we’re honest, our doubts echo those of Psalm 77: “Has his steadfast love forever
ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in
anger shut up his compassion?”

While suffering is common to us in the first-world, the concept of uncertainty might be new.
However, because many Dominicans and Haitians are day-laborers (they depend on a day’s
work for that night’s dinner) uncertainty is a part of normal life, especially during a pandemic.
Even in the face of uncertainty though, we are still praising God for His faithfulness. In the past
year, He multiplied the resources you gave us to provide tens of thousands of meals for our
Dominican and Haitian brothers and sisters. He shielded our missionaries in the face of violence
and sustained them with good health. Over the years, we’ve learned life-changing lessons in the
Dominican, but this year’s might be the most important yet: nothing is uncertain to the God
who knows our needs.

We look again to the words of the Psalmist, as he continues on after raising his doubts to the
Lord: “I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High. I will remember
the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. Your way, O God, is
holy…Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints
were unseen. You led your people like a flock.”

This Christmas season and as we head into the new year, we are reminding ourselves to
remember how God has been faithful. Though we walk through the sea of uncertainty and are
not always able to see the footprints of God, we’re certain He’s leading us because He has
before. He led the shepherds and wise men to find Him, the disciples to follow Him, and He’s

been leading us to know Him since. Our good and faithful Shepherd came to earth to give up
His life for us; so, we pray you’re finding Him, following Him, and knowing Him more with each
passing day. Thank you for helping us pave roads and feed tens of thousands of people this past
year. Because of you, people in the Dominican Republic are finding Him, following Him, and
knowing Him, too.

“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Great
Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good
that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ,
to whom be glory forever and ever.” (Hebrews 13:20-21)

Merry Christmas,

Jack Eason, Mike Williams, Missionaries, and Staff