Adam had shoulder surgery at the end of January.  It was a slightly longer recovery than anticipated including several months of PT.  But, thanks be to God, he is good as new! After such a long season of being displaced and moving from home to home, we are finally back in the Dominican Republic!  Thank you for your constant prayers!  We returned to the DR on May 5, 2021.  It some ways it feels like we never left and in other ways it’s remarkable how much has changed here over the last year. Since our rental house had been empty throughout the last year, we had lots of critters that had taken up residence.  We also had a fair amount of mold to contend with.  Most of the plants in the backyard had died, leaving behind a big ant hill that was thriving in our absence.  During our first couple of weeks (when we tried to stay home and away from people, just in case we had come in contact with COVID), we set to work on fixing up these aspects of the house.  We also had to get the fridge fixed twice!  Always an adventure!  But now that we are settled, it feels so good to be back.

During the last year Monsignor Grullon, the Bishop of San Juan, retired and a new Bishop was appointed.  One of our first tasks was to meet with him, share who we are and what the ministry of BBOH entails.  Though I was very nervous, especially because we had to bring all of our kids to the meeting (we don’t have childcare here).  But, the meeting was fantastic.  Bishop Tomas Alejo is very supportive, even promising to come visit our new clinic.  He shared his hope of starting large medical centers in the three provinces that comprise his diocese.  Needless to say, our hearts are very much aligned on our focus to provide access to healthcare for the poor.  Bishop Alejo is also extremely supportive of families, young children and getting them involved with the mission.  He made us promise to bring all of our kids along for the visit to new clinic — I agreed as long as they ride with him!! haha.

Our residency status continues to take baby steps forward.  It has been a slow process that was complicated by COVID lockdowns.  The first visas that Adam and I had expired while we were in the States, so we had unexpected costs and steps to re-apply and update all of the paperwork.  Working with the government of a developing nation has proven to be as challenging as it sounds haha. Our residency applications are complete and through the first step of approvals.  The next part of the process is a medical evaluation and a series of appointments in the capital (I spit coffee across the table when the Office of Migration explained the post-COVID process and cost!!).  Please pray for this process!  The kids visas will expire in August and we are trying our best to get residency approval before then (once we have residency we no longer need the visas, so if it’s approved before August we can avoid the cost and delay of reapplying for children’s visas).  Though the whole process is frustrating, it will be worth it to be considered residents and avoid all taxes/fees/legal issues in the future.  

As always, we are grateful for the sacrifice that each of you have made to allow our family to serve here in the Dominican Republic.  We know that your gifts to our family are true sacrifices and we do not take them lightly.  Thank you for supporting and praying us through these many seasons of change and ministry.  Be assured of our prayers for each of you as well.  Please let us know if there is a specific way we can be praying for you. Love,
Jessica, Adam & kids