Welcome Jaylene Rae Paez!

Birth Story: It's interesting babies don't always comply with the order of your to-do list.  April 13, I had a blog post written and ready to put up on my blog.  However, the internet wasn't working that day so I didn't get a chance to post it. One hour later, I had a sharp pain in my stomach and  called Dr. Fernando and he said I should come in to get it checked out.  He noticed that Jaylene's heart beat was a little slow and sent us home with a heart beat monitor to keep an eye on it. Breddy checked it at noon and it was still a bit slow.  Dr. Fernando had us come in and when they did an ultrasound, they saw that Jaylene had the umbilical cord really tight around her neck. The pain that I felt had been a contraction and it was pulling down on Jaylene, but the cord was pulling her back up and this caused the cord to get even tighter around her neck and was affecting her heartbeat.  So after Dr. Fernando saw the ultrasound he said, "Well Jess, you will have your babies in your arms within the next hour."  And so it was! I feel like I didn't even get the chance to get scared because it all happened so fast! So about 45 minutes and a C-section later, I had Jaylene Rae Paez in my arms.  She was 7 pounds and had a full head of hair!

The last 2 months have gone by really fast.... except the nights, those seem to last forever! I was fortunate to have my mom here for a couple weeks after the birth which was a huge help as I was recovering.  Then 2 weeks ago, Josh and Heather came down and stocked my freezer with lots of meals and got some good uncle and auntie time!

Jaylene now weighs 13 lbs and we love watching her start to smile more.  Breddy is a great dad and does a great job caring for her and helping me out. We will be coming home late July and staying for a couple weeks, so if you live in our area, we hope to see you! Thank you for your continuous prayers and support! If you still haven't had enough baby pictures.... here you go!

April Post (Sorry for the delay)

So I had this post ready to publish April 13, but the internet wasn't working... and then I had a baby that same day (2 weeks early) so I didn't get a chance to post it! So, better late than never!

3rd ANNUAL PURITY RETREAT

“I realized how much God really does love me. If others could really understand that, I think other lives would be changed.” ~Naomy

“I learned that God can fight for me. We try to fight our own battles, yet we have a God would can carry my burden for me.” ~Ileana

These were just a few of the many great testimonies shared after our third annual purity retreat. We had over 60 youth involved in this retreat and God moved in huge ways. In addition, a couple of the youth leaders shared how, since the last retreat, God has really helped them to have victory in things they struggled with in the past. This year, we used a boxing theme to portray the message that, if we let him, God can be in the ring with us. We often try to fight our battles alone, yet find ourselves always coming up short. We invited the youth to let God come into their lives and fight with HIS power. It was a great lesson for leaders and youth alike.

We had over 60 youth attend the retreat!

In other news, just two more weeks until baby Jaylene will be making her way into this world! Mabelis and Esther are prepared to take over the site while I am on maternity leave. Please pray for them as they balance the full-time job of running the site, as well as their college studies. This summer, we will continue to run volleyball teams and graduate a group of 8 seniors.

Our college girls are excelling in so many areas. We are finishing “When I Don’t Desire God” by Timothy Keller. They will be starting a bible study based on the movie “War Room” and will do that throughout the summer. Last month, three of them also played in a 3v3 beach volleyball tournament and got second place! There were teams from all over the country, including two teams that had players who play for the Dominican National Volleyball Team! So overall, a huge success for those girls.

Winning team and their very round coach! 

Thank you so much for your support and prayers of this ministry. I feel so blessed to be a part of what God is doing here in Jarabacoa through Students International.

Prayer Requests • Energy and wisdom for Mabelis and Esther as they take over the site and work with summer teams. • Healthy birth for Jaylene (and that she will be a baby that likes to sleep!) • College Sponsor for Ashley Cheyenne. We still need 3 sponsors for her to continue to attend college. We need a $100, $60 and $40/month sponsors. • Especially after making life-changing decisions at the retreat, please join us in prayer that these girls can continue to stay firm in their faith and resist temptations that they face daily