York Rick Suzanne 2001 Dom.rep.

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Rick a n d Su z a n n e York Missionaries

Dominican Update

T h i s i s s u e :

Change in Ministry Plans . . .Eastern Dominican Plans Updated Leadership Informedof Plans . . .Three Projects StillUnfinished Family News

M a rc h 2 0 01 / Volume 29 . N u m b e r 1

Dear Friends in Christ

Greetings from chil ly southern Ohio. Here i t is the last week of March and it s still below freezingSuzsinne and I have enjoyed our furlough except for th e colder weather on e of th e coldest in Ohio inseveral years. We ve been on the go almost every weekend and have no w put about 28 000 miles on ourcar since August 2000. We appreciate y o ur p r ay e rs fo r o u r t ra v el s and it s been a blessing fo r us t o v is itwith many of yo u on this furlough.

Exciting Change in York s Plans For Ministry

Someone a sk ed m e several years ago i f wewould stay on th e mission field imt i l we retiredor died and I replied t h a t the only reason we dconsider leaving the field would be to go back toJohnson Bible College to teach missions. Ialways said i t half jokingly no t knowing t ha tthose were th e Lord s exact plans for us .Suzanne an d I visited th e campus in Novemberjus t before the Missionary convention in Knox-

ville and I spoke in chapel. I wa s informed b y o urgood fnend David Wheeler tha t the college hadjus t begun discussing adding another missionsposition in the near future and D a vi d e n co u raged me to speak wi th D r. R ic k Beam AcademicDean. I d id so jus t before we left JB C t o c o nt in u et ravel ing and then t al ke d w it h N or m D un ga nM i s s i o n s P ro fe ss or t he re W e w e r e a ll i n t e r e s t e d

i n f u r t h e r d i s c u s s i o n s a n d w e w e n t b a c k t h e f i r s t

ofFebruary an d had t wo m or e days of meetingsand interviews and I wa s offered the position asprofessor an d coordinator of the miss ions prog r a m

We re feeling a lo t of different emotions a tth e s am e t im e r ight now. We re absolutelythrilled a t th e oppor tun i ty to impact young livesfor missions an d to enable enthusiast ic youngstudents to get to th e mission field and become

s uc c e s s f u l m i s s i o n a r i e s We f ee l t h a t w e c a n

significantly multiply ou r minis t ry and impact a tJ BC. We re e xc it ed about l iv ing on campus and

being reuni ted with severa l f r iends t h a t are no wworking t he re . J o hn s on will provide housing and

we ll have a duplex right on the edge of campus.Living there s ho ul d b e v er y comfortable. We l l

also be a bl e t o be closer t o E mi ly and Laur ie and

w e r e t h a n k f u l fo r t h a t

O f course we re torn b y n ot being able to bein th e Dominican Republic fu ll time. We w il l s t i l lhave a signif icant role in th e work there andwith Johnson s schedule we ll be able to travel to

th e Dominican on a frequent basis especiallyduring the s um m er a nd w in te r breaks . We haveinformed a ll o f our support ing churches and theyare excited about t hi s g re a t minis t ry opportu

nity. The need fo r cont inued financial support i s

r e a l a n d I be l i e ve t h a t m o st o f t h e c h u r c h e s wi l l

continue to support th e work t he re a s they haveso faithfully d on e f or th e past several y ea rs . Wewill still have some miss ion expenses fo r our

t ravel b ut th e vast major i ty o f the missionincome will go fo r th e work there ju s t as i t hasi n th e past several years while w e w er e on th ef ie ld .


2/10

P l a n s F o r E a s t e r n

A s y ou kn ow, our plans had been to go back to th eDominican Republ ic to s ta r t a new chu rch p l ant i ngven ture in t h e e a st er n part of the count ry, where theC h r i s t i a n C h u r c h e s / C h u r ch e s o f C h r i s t h a v e n o e s t a b

lished works. We had planned to form a team to go withus and we re thr i l led to say t ha t th e p la n is still on.Benito M a rt in e z a n d hi s family will be leading the teamt ha t will plant ne w churches i n the east, most l ikelybasing the work in La Romana, as p er o ur or ig inal p lans .C a rl o s D ia z a nd h is family f rom Santo Domingo alongwith Michel Marte from San t i ago will a ls o b e joining th et e a m a n d w e re e xc it ed t o s e e w h a t t h e L o r d w i l l d o

t hr ou g h t h es e families. Th e No r th ea s t Ch r is t ia n Churchin Louisville i s j o in in g forces w i th t he s e church planters

to get th is work going i n t he e as te rn section of th e count ry . T he y are planning to help i n e ve ry a sp ec t of th eministry over th e next fe w y ea rs a nd we re excited abou t

their c om m it me nt t o h el p raise up large a nd s tr on gcongregat ions t here . T h e Plum Creek C h r i s t i a n Churchin Butler, KY has also committed to support Carlos an dhi s family and we re t h ri ll ed wi th their involvement also.They r e s end ing their f irst team toward the end of Ju n eand we re looking forward to having t he m. T he Lord hasworked al l o f t his o ut so well t h a t w e r e a ga in a m az ed a th o w H i s h a n d w or k s i n a l l o f t h i s

Dominican Leadershipi n f o r m e d o f

York s Change

A s a lw a ys , the L or d w or k s ou t

our p l an s e v en before we know what

is going on I h ad made a commitm e n t t o t h e N o r t h e a s t C h r i s t ia n

Church in Louisville to accompany aleadership t eam down to th e Dominican in mid-February well

before we knew anything for sureabout th e jo b a t JBC. Three of th eministers. Bob Cherry, Ro n

H a st en s , Ra n dy Gordon, and on e of

theElders,

C a ry F r am e , m etme

inM i a m i o n F eb 1 4 t h a n d w e t r a v e l e d

to the island and they m et severa l oft h e l ea de rs a n d s aw s e v e r a l d i ff e r

ent projects including th e w or k i n

San Ju an de la M ag ua na a nd t hec am p i n Salcedo. We spent two daysi n t h e L a R o m a n a a r e a a l so . T h i s

trip provided me a chance to speakw i t h s o m e o f t h e l e a d e r s t h e r e a b o u t

o ur pl an s a nd t he y m et F eb ru ar y

23-24^ at the camp for a CIY classo n Yo ut h w o rk a n d a l l o f t h e l e a d e r s

w il l b e informed of our change.T h e re w a s s ad n e s s m i x e d w i t h

joy as we spoke. We have worked

side-by-side w it h t he se m e n for th epas t 10 years. We ve rejoiced together an d also despaired somet i m e s so w e a r e c l o s e f r i e n d s i n t h e

Lord. It was not an easy th ing fo rme to do and I lost a lo t of sleep

thinking about ho w to present thischange. We are especial ly confidento f t h e s e m e n s a b il it ie s to c o n t i n u e

to lead the work. They are dedicateda n d sacr i f i c ia l l e a d e r s a n d I k n o w

the work will continue to grow andprosper. Please be i n p ra ye r for th eleadership there.


3/10


4/10

c Financial Support For Work Stiii Needed 5We've been able to contact al l of our support ing churches about our move to JB C and the need fo r

continued financial su pp o rt o f th e work and workers in th e Dominican Republic. We're very pleasedwith the very positive response that we've received from e ac h o f our supporting churches and the y h a ve

agreed t o continue supporting th e work. In actuality, Suzanne and I h av e n ot received a salary frommission funds for t he p as t five years, as we were also working at the Santiago Christian School. All ofthe income ha s been going direct ly to the work anyway a nd t hi s change will not affect that. The onlyfunds we'll us e will be for ou r travel and expenses there when we are there during the su mm e rs a n dalso at other times of th e y ear a s our schedule a t Johnson allows. Our schedule there will be fairlyflexible and we should b e a bl e to be there a t least tw o o the r t im es d u ri ng the y ea r a n d around 6 weeksduring th e summer. Lord willing. Since most of our support ing churches h a ve b ee n down and seen thework a nd m et th e workers i t makes i t m uch easi e r fo r them to continue supporting this very worthywork. P l^s eTee l f r ee tonca trus a t 740/886-0919 i f yo u have anyipres t ions .

Al l m i ss io n i nc o m e wi l l con t inue to go t h r o u g h o u r fo rward ing agen t s i n Clin ton , Ill inois:

Y o r k D o m i n i c a n M i s s i o n

R t 2 B o x 2 6 6

Cl in to n , IL 61727

Please be in prayer for us as we prepare to make this bi g change . We 're exci t ed and hum bled bythe chance to influence so many young lives. Please pray for a smooth transition and safety as we moveto Knoxville an d cont inued guidance of the leadership i n t he Dominican Republic.

Thank yo u fo r your continued support and prayers

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5/10

Rick York 04:59 PM 8/3/01 0400 SuperSummerin the Dominican Republic

Delivered-To; [email protected] From: Rick York To: Barry Bumett Subject: Super Summer in th e Dominican RepublicDate: Fri 3 Aug 2001 16:59:14 -0400

X-Mailer Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4522.1200

D e a r F r ie n d s in Ch r i s t ,

G r e e t i n g s f rom J o h n s o n Bib le Coi iege S u z a n n e a n d 1 a r e b o t h b a c k f rom t h eD o m i n ic a n R e p u b l i c- S u z a n n e c am e t h e l as t p a rt o f J u n e a n d g o t o u r h o u s e r e a d y

b e f o r e b e g i n n i n g w o r k h e r e o n c a m p u s . 1 g o t b ac k y e s te r d ay a n d h a v e s p en t t hem o r n i n g h a l f w a y g e t t i n g m y o f fi c e s e t in t h e n e w G l o b a l Te c h building h e r e o nc mpus

O ur s u m m e r in t h e DR w a s s up er w i t h 1 1 w o r k t e a m s help ing u s g e t a lo t d o n e o n t h e

c a m p p r o j e c t . W e p r e pa r ed a n d p o u r e d t h e c o n c r e t e ro o f o n t h e t h ir d f l oo r o f t h ec l in i c b u il d in g . We a l s o g o t t h e foo t ing d u g a n d p o u r e d f o r t h e n e w b o y s d o r m , t h a t willa l so b e a 3 f loor building. T h e t e a m s a ls o d ug a n d p o u r e d t h e c o n c r e t e f o o t i n g fo r af e n ce a ro u n d 1 /2 o f t h e p ro p er t y - s o a s you c a n s e e t he re w a s a lo t o f w o rk d o n e a n dw e w a n t to t h a n k th e te ms f o r t h t

A c ou p le o f h igh l igh t s t h a t s t a n d ou t - w e h ad o u r f i r s t t e a m v i s i t t h e n e w w o r k in L aR o m a n a . C a r l o s Diaz a n d h i s w i f e Yv e l is e , a n d t h e i r femiy m o v e d o v e r t o L a R o m a n a in

May. T h e r e h o u s e i s r ig h t n e x t d o o r t o t h e Pol i ce s t a t i o n - so i t s b o th t h e s a fe s t p l a c ein tow n a n d a l s o very e a s y t o f ind. W e h ad a t e a m o f 2 6 f rom t h e P l u m C re e k C h r is t ia nCh u r c h in But ler, KY s p e n d fou r d a y s t h e r e . Th i s c h u r c h Is p a r tn e r in g wi t h a l l o f u s t og e t th i s w o r k s t a r t e d . T h e y d id a g r e a t Job wi t h VBS programs a n d C ar l o s o rg a n iz e d ac o n c e r t t o i n t r o d u c e t h e n e w w o r k t o t h e l o c al e v a n g e li c a l c o m m u n i t y. A l m o s t 1 0 0 0p e o p l e c a m e t o t h e c o n c e r t a n d i t w a s a g r e a t e x p e r i e n c e .

W e a l s o s p e n t 3 d a y s wi t h a t e a m o f l e ad e rs f rom N o r t h e a s t C h r i s t i a n C h urch inLouisvi l le , KY . Se n io r P a s t o r Bo b Cherry, R a n d y G o r d o n , Miss ions Pa s to r, R ob K a s t e n sAdminis t ra t ive P as to r, a nd o n e o f t h e y o u n g m e n f rom t h e c h u r c h J o s h Kinlaw. Carlos ,Miche l Marte , B en i t o Mart inez , a n d m y s e l f m e t a n d p la n n e d a n d p r a y e d wi t h t h e t e a mfrom N or theas t . W e p r e p a r e d o u r m i s s i on s t a t e m e n t a vis ion s t a t e m e n t a s t o w h atk ind o f c h u rc h w e w a nt ed t o p l a n t in La R o m a n a a n d a s e t o f v a l u e s t h a t will h e l p t h et e am t h er e g u id e th i s n e w w o rk . W h a t a wonder fu l e x p e r i e n c e fo r a ll o f u s .

T h e f i rs t e v e n in g t h e l e a d e r s from N o r t h e a s t a sk ed u s w h at o u r vis ion w a s fo r t h i sc h u r c h . Th ey h a d m e t f o r a c o up le o f d a y s pr io r t o o u r arr ival a n d c a m e up wi t h t h e i r

vis ion-bo th o f o u r t e a m s w e r e t h ink ing a l o n g t h e e x a c t s a m e l i n e s - w e w a n t t oe s t a b l i s h ch u rch -p l an t i n g c h u r c h t h a t will h a v e a s i gn i f i can t i m pa ct o n t h e l o s t in t h ee a s t e r n p a r t o f t h e c o u n t r y.

Pl ease pray f o r a d d i ti o n a l funding fo r t h i s p r o je c t . We r e hop ing t o h a v e Michel m o v e dby S e p te m b e r a n d Ro sa a n d B en i t o b y t h e e nd o f Oc to b e r, Lord willing, b u t f u n d s a r e

Printed fo r Mission Services Associat ion


6/10

Rick York 4:59 PM 8/3/01 0400 Super Summer in the Dominican Republic

s t i l l n e e d e d fo r t h a t t o h a p p e n . c a n t th ink o f a b e t t e r i n v es t men t r igh t n o w in t h e DRo r i a t in A m e r i c a - h u t t h e n a g a i n I a m a l i tt l e b i a se d

S u z a n n e a n d I a r e t h r i l l ed t o b e h er e a n d w e rea l ly f ee l G o d s g u i d a n c e in o u r m o v ehere- i t s s o g o o d to fee l you re in th e right p lace a t th e r igh t t ime- jus t like w e fel t for

t h e 1 0 y e ar s w e w e r e in t h e Domincan . P le a se k e ep u s in p ray e rs a s w e g e t s e t t l e d inhere . O ur o l d e s t d a u g h t e r Emily j u s t b e g a n h e r in te rnsh ip a t Re s to r a t i o n H o u s e inM anches te r, NH , a c r o ss - c u l tu r a l c h u r c h plan t ing w o r k t h e r e . Laurie is f in ishing h e rs u m m e r w o r k a t t h e Li t t l e Gal i lee C h r i s ti a n A s s e m b l y In Clin ton , IL . B o t h a r e d o i n gv e r y wel i .

O u r h o m e p h o n e i s 8 6 5 / 2 5 1 - 3 4 8 7My o ff i c e n u m b e r is 8 6 5 / 2 5 1 - 2 3 9 2S u z a n n e s o f f i c e n u m b e r i s 8 6 5 / 2 5 1 2 3 4 8

O u r dd ress i s 7 9 0 0 J o h n s o n D r i v e

Knoxvi l l e , TN 3 7 9 9 8

T a k e c r e

R i c k a n d S u z a n n e Yo r k

Printed fo r Mission Services Association


7/10

Rick a n d S u z a n n e York, Missionaries

Dominican UpdateN o v e m b e r 2 0 0 1 / Vo lu m e 2 9 . N u m b e r 2

T h i s i s s u e

Yorks Set t le in At J o h n s o n Bible

College.. . Summer Work Teams. . . N e w C h ur ch P la nt in L a

Romana . . . Existing Works Continue To Do Weil. . . Family News

Yorks Sett le in At Johnson Bible College

Greetings once again, this time from Knoxville, TN. S uz an ne a n d Ih av e b ee n in a whirlwind s in ce M ay but things are finally settling

down, at least for now We left southern Ohio toward th e end ofMay, after packing an d down-sizing in a real way We go t toJohnson and had a lo t of he lp un loading a n d a rr an g in g furniture and storage crates. We were here for about five days andthen flew to the Dominican Republic v ia P h il ad e lp h ia , w h er e

we m et up w ith a work team from Erie, IL le d by Terry Green.T hi s w a s Er ie s four th trip s in ce 1 99 4 and what a blessing they

I h av e b ee n fo r th e missions work. T he y h av e worked a t they camp p roj ec t and i t a lways seems tha t they get the hardest

jobs digging th e footings for buildings When we arrived

^ in the DR , w e f ou nd ou t t h a t we h ad a no th er foo ti ng t o digfo r th e new b oy s d or m

S u m m e r Wo r k T e a m s

The team from Erie was jus t the first of several teamst h a t we had over the s um m er a nd we were able to accomplish

a lot We dug and poured the foot ing for the ne w d orm, wh ichwill h o us e a b ou t 20 0 when i t s done, one h u n d red on each

floor. T h a t w as a lot of work in th e very h o t su n an d the t eamdi d a great job. We got the walls up to floor l ev e l a ll aroundth e building a nd th e fill dir t hauled in , on e wheelbarrow a t at i m e

We re al ready schedul ing teams fo r 2002 and several areplanning to go. L et me know soon i f you d like to lead a team.


8/10

N e w h u r c h P l a n t In L a R o m a n a

I t really has been exciting to see ho w the Lord is le ading in the ne w church plant in La R om an a. C ha nc e e nc ou n

ters a t the Missionary Convention in Cincinnat i in 1998 andthen again last y ear h ere in Knoxville at the MissionaryConvention le d us to two churches that have partnered witht h e w ork i n L a R o m a n a . I t s obvious t h a t thos e w e r e n o t

chance encounters, b ut t he Holy Spirit leading in God stiming. The Plum Creek Chris t ian Church in Butler, KYan d th e Northeast Christian Church in Louisville ar e sup-p o rt in g a n d guiding this ne w work and we re thril led tohave their support.

Larry Travis led a team of 28 to the Dominican in June and we worked for a few days atcamp in Salcedo and then traveled to La Romana. Part o f th e team s tayed with Carlos an dIvellise who ha d moved to La Romana in May. We were able to pass ou t t ract s and do twoVBS programs that drew several hundred children. Carlos and Michel Marte had been organizing a Christian concert with some of th e best contemporary local talent an d we wereamazed when over 800 people came for that program. One of th e men on th e work teampreached and I t ranslated an d i t was a powerful moment.

Since the summer, Michel Marte, who m an y o f you know has moved to La Romana.Michel is a wonderful asset to th e work an d will concentrate on the youth activities and

ministry of th e ne w work. Car los an d Ivellise will be working with small group outreachministry and media/promotional materials. Benito and Rosa Martinez have a lso moved to LaRomana and Benito will be t he team leader and preaching minister for th e new church. Theyar e al l involved in small group/cell groups right now and will be organizing the launch of thechurch, probably around the first of April 2002.

Please be in prayer for this new team. There are a couple of specific needs we have right now

1.We n e ed a d d it io n a l f inancia l s u p p o r t fo r th is pro ject . We need a n o t h e r 1500a month for t he s up p or t of t he s e w o rk e rs a nd the office they have establ i shedin L a R o ma na . Please b ri ng t his n ee d before your congregation.

2.We n ee d to r ai se a b ou t 3500 to e qu ip th e mission office t h e r e with a compute r, copier, desks and chairs , and o ther furni ture . I am going to th e Dominican on December 15 and I hope to take t h ose f u nd s with me to buy the equipm e n t t he re . Any help you can give can be sen t to o u r f o rw a r d in g a g e n ts inI l l ino is . P l e as e d e s ig n a te t h e fu n d s for t h e office i n L a Rom ana . Please f indenclosed a r e t u r n e n ve lo p e f or y o u r gift.

We re all excited about wha t the Lord is doing there and the doors that He is openingand we really covet your prayers for that ne w work.


9/10

c a c k t o J C DW h i l e S u z a n n e a n d I w e r e i n

th e Dominican Republic, w e w er eable to organize and pack ourthings t h a t we had stored in Juneo f 2 0 0 0 . W e w e r e b l e s s e d t o b e

a bl e t o rent a room from a goodbro ther, Pieter d e Vr in d t. Pe te r

and his wife, Trudy, are fromH o l l a n d a n d w o r k w i t h I n t e r n a

t i ona l Child C are i n Santiago. We

contracted with a shipping company and t h ey b r ou g ht a 20ft.c o n t a i n e r to t h e h o u s e a n d w e

loaded al l of our goods on , go t itofficially sealed, a nd s en t i t of fwith a praye r, hoping that we dsee every th ing again sometime

W e l e f t t h e D o m i n i c a n a

couple of weeks later, flew to

Jack son v il l e, FL , and had a ren ta lt ruck waiting fo r us. We d ro ve t ot h e d o c k s a n d t h e L o r d w a t c h e d

out for us . We go t to the shippingcompany and found out th e onlyway we could unload the conta ineri n t o o u r t ru c k w a s w i t h u n i o n

labor The manager, however, was

really nice and reduced the price alo t and we ju s t backed the t ruckup and t h e t ea m s te rs unloaded i ti n t o t h e t ru c k a n d w e w e r e o n o u r

way in a couple o f hours

W e m a d e i t to K n o x v i l l e a n d

unloaded a n d S uz an ne spent th enext fe w weeks getting the houseorganized and s ta r ted work hereon camp u s an d I went back to theDominican fo r the month of July,w h e r e w e r ec e iv e d s e v e r a l m o r e

w o r k t e a m s

Existing WorksC o n t i n u e t o d o Well

I ve been thrilled with the continued growth andmaturi ty of the church leadership in the Dominican.They h av e a ss um e d comple te contro l and d ir ec tion of

the work and I know that they are doing a good job.All th e mission income is being used in the work. Wewill use only what i s necessa ry to travel to the Dominican on a regular b as is . You r f in an ci al support fo rt h i s w o rk i s s t i l l n e e d e d a n d I a m t h ri l l ed t h a t o u r

suppor ting churches have agreed to continue th is

suppor t .

Please continue to pray fo r the leadership. Praytha t they will c on ti nu e t o w or k together to glorify theLord. Unity i s v er y important and nothing harms aw or k m or e than disunity.

cFamily News

DSuzanne and I are enjoying our work here . I veb ee n t ea ch in g f ou r regular classes plus I took on aSpanish III class when on e of the professors hadsome s er io us s ur ge ry. N ex t semester I ll j u s t havefour c lasses. First-year t ea c hi ng i s a lo t of work I vespent a lo t o f t im e in my office and reading I amreally enjoying the contact with the students. Wehad over 10 0 a tt en d t he National Missionary Convention in Tulsa, OK ~ a 15-hour t rip The college

l eased a bus and we had th ree vans plus several whoflew I t r eal ly impac ted o u r s tu d en t s. We re seeing areal growth in mission interest on campus a nd t ha t sexciting. One of my goals is fo r the college to besending out 5 graduates a year to the mission field.Pray fo r that , please.

Suzanne i s work ing in the Education Department th is y ea r a nd is enjoying it . Her organizational

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