Greetings family and friends,

     Island time is known for its turtle pace and carefree gait, but regardless of this my time on Helene has flown by.  It is hard to believe that six months have passed since I was in Atlanta visiting my sister and her family prior to boarding a jet to Honduras.  Since returning to the Bay Islands my experiences have been deeply profound and at times seemingly inexpressible.  They have also been full of challenges– physical, emotional, and spiritual.  Born in these challenges have been distress and struggles.  But praise God!  For we “also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Romans 5:3-4).  I have experienced many instances of our Father’s loving discipline and in this I am only encouraged because “the Lord disciplines those he loves” (Hebrews 12:6) and while “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11).

     At times it has seemed as though we were living on the brink of a world disaster hat-trick.  The magnitude 7.3 earthquake that rocked our world in May…a debilitating outbreak of swine flu in July…and a political coup d’état and subsequent civil unrest leaves me searching the horizons for the hurricane that’s sure to make landfall before the season’s end.  If not that, then perhaps frogs or flaming hail!  Whatever befalls us next, it seems that God is drawing attention to this little-known third-world country!

     Nonetheless, here I am and praise God, I feel as safe, or safer than I ever have in my life!  It’s an awesome thing to be called to join God in His work and to know that you are where you are because He made it so!  As most of you know, my role (after first being a missionary) is serving as a 5^th and 6^th grade teacher.  God has done some wondrous things with school this year, beginning with the formation of an islander school board.  The teachers have likewise taken an impressive step forward toward greater workplace independence.  As for me, what started out as a class of sixteen, through constant stretching and molding (of God’s hands upon me) has whittled my (His) class down to eight.  Throughout this difficult process God has been teaching me far more than I can reveal in words, as this teaching has come in revelation.  God wants all of me, and wants Christ to live in and through me and me in Him.  The Blood of Christ has washed me clean of all of my sins; past, present, and future.  Christ’s work upon the Cross has dealt with the fallen me; the son of Adam, the old me.  The Cross which bore Him also bore me, and now each day I now bear the cross as I submit my will to His and call upon Him to be my all-in-all.  Simply said, the Blood dealt with the sin, the Cross the sinner, and now daily I pick up my cross in constant remembrance to lose myself so that He might live through me!  It is such an awesome and precious fact, that “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

     God’s word shines truth into the world.  In addition to my Bible, I have really enjoyed reading some books over the past few months.  I am not embarrassed to admit that one such book was William Young’s The Shack.  Conversely, I must admit that I am a little embarrassed that I also enjoyed The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis (if you haven’t read it, only after reading it might you understand my position).  Also by Lewis, I benefitted from Mere Christianity, but perhaps began to push my limited intellect when I inched across the finish line of The Problem of Pain and am now most definitely stuck in idle (on page thirty-six) of Miracles.  His mind, given me in doses, makes me dizzy.  As a team we completed the Bible study Experiencing God by Henry and Richard Blackaby, which was excellent.   Right now I am in the final pages of The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee and I highly recommend this to all believers.  Wow.

     Now, please know that me sharing my recent reads is not meant to draw comments such as, “Check out the big brains on Dominic!” but rather, that God has revealed my inflated sense of self and knowledge, and that my brain was (and still is) quite honestly filled with a heap of utter uselessness and He aims to conduct needed spring cleaning.  Out with the old, and in with the new.

     Speaking of new-s…As of November, Alternative Missions will be officially handing over the reins of the Helene mission site to a new private non-profit mission organization (see attachments).  Mission Encounters International (MEI) will be directed by Larry Benson (our site director here on Helene).  It’s an exciting time to be part of the planning for this new organization as we collectively seek to join God in the work He is doing around us.  During mid-September our team spent ten days down-island in intense prayer, planning, and teaming sessions as we sought out God’s plan for MEI and the people of Helene.  I am humbled to be invited into God’s kingdom work.

     With that said, I do not know if I will be returning to Helene next year.  Honestly, I have not thought that far ahead!  I will begin to pray through this to seek God’s will in the coming weeks and months.  Recently I read about George Muller who was a minister in England during the nineteenth century.  Muller detailed steps he took for seeking a heart relationship with God and learning to discern His voice.  Interestingly, the first step he took was to in the beginning get his heart into a state that it had no will of its own.  This is where I too hope to begin, since once I submit my will and emotions to be removed of the process, finding the knowledge of His will should be more readily revealed.  We all know what happens when we are driving down the interstate at night with the interior cabin lights on…we lose our vision for the road.  I seek to turn off my inside lights so that I might see His way more clearly.

     If it’s in God’s will, I'll be returning to Wisconsin on October 31^st.  Very shortly thereafter, and again if it’s in God’s will, I will be joining my parents and various relatives from my father’s family on a trip to the Philippines for two weeks.  I am again humbled and deeply thankful to God for providing the opportunity and means for this to happen for me and my parents.  What a blessing it will be to share this experience with my mom and dad.

     I thank God for each of you, as your prayers of support, your words of encouragement, and your financial gifts have been a true blessing from our Father.  Do not hesitate to forward this message on to anyone who you think might be called to further support God’s work on Helene.  Please continue to pray for me, my fellow missionaries, my students, the people of Helene, and the nation of Honduras.  I feel that God has drawn a line to and across this little, poor Central American country.  What that means I do not know, but keep the Honduran people in your prayers.  Please pray too for my family, especially my parents as we prepare for our trip to the Philippines.  “And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).   

     The days ahead call for boldness.  The days ahead call for believers to truly believe what they have heard, stand upon it with the confidence that comes from Christ, and to proclaim it to the glory of His name. “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).  May God bless you and keep you well in His hands.

In His Grace,

Dominic C. Alvarez