Christmas in the Dominican Republic

Shalom and Charis made new friends during the Capitol Outreach

Merry Christmas from the Rineholts!

Barahona, Dominican Republic

This year has been filled with so many great and wonderful things as well as many sad and tragic things. We had a very eventful trip back to the Dominican Republic filled with overflowing emotions of leaving our family and friends behind and the excitement and anticipation of being reunited with our friends and partners in ministry in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. As we settled back into the daily grind here it seems that we would be routinely interrupted with things that may have been designed by the Enemy for discouragement or for a setback, we have been praying that God will use all of these things for the furtherance of the gospel. Philippians 1:12-14 " But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, ¹³ so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; ¹⁴ and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear." This is our prayer.

I was in Haiti working on the Saint Marc Radio station when I got word that my mother passed away. My family made a quick one week trip back to the United States to take care of the services for my mother, Bertha Rineholt, and celebrate her going home to be with the Lord.

Sue Bartholme, Bertha Rineholt(mom), Chris Bartholme

My mom just a few weeks before she went Home.

Also we have been concerned about the armed robbery at the school which took Christina's Motorcycle and telephone, we are so thankful for God's protection during this scary time. Because of this we have been presented with an opportunity to be a bold witness in this community who expects us to pack up and leave. Please pray with us that God would give us wisdom to reach this community. We had a meeting with the Assistant to the Chief of Police for Barahona who arranged for a meeting with the "Commander". At this meeting they offered the support and even agreed to come to a community meeting we are planning to address the area where the school is located.

Johanny helped with the school

Jen teaching her class

A visit from the Police to the School

 They need the love of Jesus. As our friend Pastor Darren Truel a seasoned 30+ year veteran missionary who is fluent in English, Creole, and Spanish and has lived in the area for the past 15 years just this week was robbed at gunpoint in the daytime! Pray that we do not lose heart and can continue with the boldness from God, and the love He has shown us. We pray for tough skin, but a soft heart. We do not want to be operating in fear or in a state of apethy thinking that everyone here is againt us. In fact I have seen God's love magnified in our hearts towards the people here.

We will resume school again after Christmas break on January 9th. We will have a guard at the school during classes for the safety of the teachers and for the safety of the children or we will wait until one is in place before classes resume, but we know Who our real protection comes from.

We had a Christmas party December 23rd for the children in the school and gave them each a backpack provided by MTVchurch.com, a Bible, pencils, an orange, Candy Cane, a bag of popcorn, and homemade cupcakes as we celebrated the birth of our Lord Jesus. We had a great time sharing with them the story of Christmas and singing worship songs to our Lord.

We had a visit to the Capitol (Santo Domingo) where we had the opportunity to share in a community dinner that fed over 500 people a Christmas Dinner of Chicken, Rice, Potatoe Salad, and Eggplant as well as giving the opportunity to hear that Jesus the Lord came to forgive them of their sin and offer the best Christmas gift ever that of everlasting life and a relationship right now that brings peace and joy, the true meaning of Christmas. The Iglesia Cristiana de la Communidad hosted the outreach and we were so blessed to be a part of it!

Setting up to feed 500 people from the City

At the Christmas Dinner Outreach

While in the Capitol , I (Shawn Rineholt) was seen by an Orthopedic Surgeon who after reviewing new X-rays released me from wearing the cast on my ankle, stating that it looks perfect, he also after reviewing the new X-ray on my knee determined that surgery is not necessary to repair the meniscus and that the rest and rehabilitation has done that which was intended and has relaesed me to use the knee but to continue to take it easy. He gave me a shot of Cortisone in the knee to help with the pain. Praise God for His healing and for His faithfulness!.

Right after the Accident

I have a meeting this week with our lawyer to continue the paperwork for the new Radio station in Barahona, and for the starting of paperwork for my family to have residency in the Dominican Republic. Please pray for this meeting that God would go before us.

We  celebrated Christian and Kylie's birthday December 22nd and it is really hard to believe we will have two more teenagers in the house!

While we were in the United States our WiFi receiver mounted on the roof of our house (Nano Station 2) was stolen. We were notifed while we were still in the United States, so I took advantage of having access to Craigslist and found an eight camera security system that was used and when we got back to the Dominican Republic our discipleship group took an afternoon and installed the system on the radio station with three cameras pointed at the house and 5 on the radio station. Once we get internet established this will also allow a link that our family and friends can check in on the happenings (live) at our house and the station as well as deter future theives.

Setting a New Logo in the Studio

The Logo After install.

Ricardo sitting at the controls

We Installed an 8 camera security system at the station.

The Studio with its new Spanish Logo!

Infrared Security Cameras

Many things have been happening physically at the station as well, we have been working on getting the studio together. Please pray for God's provision as we work on bringing these things together over the next month.

We installed two batteries and an invertor

Shalom painting the ETH Studio

The Station in St.Marc, Haiti has been approved and accepted as a partnership project of Galcom International. This is a huge answer to prayer as they are thones who make the equipment we need to replace at the station in Haiti. Please pray as I put together the budget and undoubtedly will need at least one more trip into Haiti before we begin installing any new equipment.

There are many things to pray for as God continues to build relationships for Ears To Hear. I have been praying God will open doors for stations in Pedernales, Jimani, Polo and San Juan, These places are all within an hour or so from Barahona. Please pray as we continue to get the radio content available. We have launched a 24 hour radio stream that is being broadcast on Shoutcast. If you have an iPhone you can download an app you can also stream it from the browser by visiting this site here.

The Station in Haiti as I pulled in.

At the station in Haiti

This board needs replaced

The computer is outdated

The tower is good but needs some work

My visit with the 102.3 crew

Please pray for God to continue to open doors of opportunity and to strengthen the relationships we have within this community and the partnerships with other ministries.

There is so much more to share, but I will save it for another update in a few weeks.
OUR GOD IS GOOD, and His mercy endures forever.

We love you and thank you for keeping our family in prayer.
We pray you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Rineholts

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

Mailing Address for The Rineholts for packages or letters:  The Rineholts c/o Missionary Flights International Unit 4021 HMMBH 3170 Airmans Drive Fort Pierce, FL 34946
Support Address: payable to Ears To Hear Ministries P.O. Box 367 Parkton, MD 21120-0367 with "The Rineholts" in memo field

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