Dawn is a celebrity!

Imagine my surprise when a friend of mine called to tell me that she saw Dawn in Trinity’s monthly letter!  We had no idea.  My friend sent it to me and we just about burst with pride when we read it.

[Disclaimer:  Unfortunately she wasn’t happy with the picture they chose to run with it!]
She’d done the interview last year, but didn’t know when they’d run it.  They stated that she’s a junior, but now she’s a senior.  Oh well.  We’re still pleased with them choosing her as a spokesman and as a student that represents Trinity well.

She received an scholarship over the Christmas break that allowed her to go back this semester.  She also got word that she was given a manager’s position in food services at Trinity where she worked last semester.  This means she’ll get more hours and a slight raise in pay.  It basically pays for gas, food and a few necessities.

She had to move out of the school’s apartment because the school closed it.  There were a few dropouts, opening enough room in the dorm for the apartment girls.  Since she doesn’t have the funds to live in the dorm, she is living off campus in a bit of an unusual situation. 

She and her roommate, Kate, are living in Kate’s grandmother’s RV for 2 1/2 months.  Before you panic, the RV is one of the huge, long ones that has a couple of pull out sections.  It will be parked in her grandmother’s yard (her grandfather will do the weekly septic run for them), which is 2 houses away from Kate’s family.  So we feel that it’s a reasonably safe option.  Dawn is looking for another living situation after this one is finished at the end of March – a big prayer request!!  It will need to be from the end of March and possibly be through the end of the summer.  The school said she could be an RA again in the apartment that they anticipate opening up again in the fall. 

She left this week and is already back to work and in classes. We’re empty nesters again!

An even bigger reason to smile and jump for joy! An engagement announcement….

On Dec. 21 she said yes!!

Devon asked his girlfriend, Kristen Discavage, to marry him and she said yes!  We’re going to be “in-laws”.  And since he proposed with a much longed for puppy, we already have a “grand puppy” that comes to visit.  Chloe is a red fox lab and will be a big, lovable dog.

It was fun being a part of the secret, visiting the puppy with Devon, seeing the ring and helping with Devon’s “epic ask”. 









Here is the video of it….

You might have to watch it a couple of times to hear everything.  Turn your volume up quite a bit and you’ll have to turn your head sideways a bit because of the camera angle.  Let me walk you through it…The camera is set into a decorated Christmas tree in a small public park.  The ring was positioned in it’s box near it so you’ll see Devon reach up near the camera to retrieve it.  Dawn, Caleb (Devon’s cousin) and Wes (Devon’s roommate) all helped get everything ready.  Devon picked the puppy up from the breeder that afternoon. While he took Kristen to supper, the backup crew decorated a huge box, cut out letters to spell her name on the box, took care of the puppy then, on cue, took the box, cameras, puppy and ring to the park.  They had everything all ready, including the puppy (who was very quiet at that point because it had just been taken from her mom and she wasn’t sure what was going on) in the box ready to go.  They hid in the shadows with additional cameras running.

Kristen opens the box and sees the puppy.  She’s so overwhelmed at the puppy that she doesn’t take her out of the box.  This step is important because there are 2 tags on the dog.  One has her name and one says “will you marry me”.  So you see Devon (who has retrieved the ring from the tree and is hiding it behind his back) trying to stay on one knee.  He lifts the puppy out of the box one handed and encourages her to read the tags.  It takes her a minute to find the 2nd tag.  That’s when he pops the question. oh…and his pet name for her is “girlie”…so he calls her girlie Discavage.

At the end the backup crew come into view.

They’ve been busy planning the wedding since then.  The important details right now is that they’ve set the date of July 27, 2013 and it’ll take place in the Ft. Lauderdale area (her hometown).

Kristen is a sweet gal that compliments Devon in many ways.  We love her and are excited to have her join the family soon!!

New Year of Ministry

We here at RMI are ready to take on a new year of ministry!  

Yes there will be challenges, disappointments, victories and probably more changes than a person would care to think of (some exciting, some not - some we know of and some we don't---but that is the way life is!)!  However, one thing we know for sure...God is good and He is sovereign.

It is our hearts’ desire is to see lives transformed, both Haitian and American.  God enabled us to see so many lives touched last year spiritually, emotionally, and physically. The transformative gospel is alive and well, and we thank God that He has allowed RMI to be a part of what He is doing in this world.

As we look to 2013, would you join us in prayer:

For good spiritual health for all of our staff...

For good physical health for all of our staff – they work long hard hours…

For the finding/hiring of additional staff in Haiti as well as here in the Ft. Myers office...

That Greg and Star Harvie and Lee and Tina Nunemaker (and family) will see enough funds come in that they are able to be in Haiti by the end of the year – they are badly needed there…

For 10-15 new Sister Churches…

For the plans, funds and teams to be in place by the end of the year to begin the construction of the new RMI Haiti Ministry Center (more information will be coming about this soon!)…

For increased funding for RMI’s ministry! God is moving RMI forward on so many levels but we need the funding to continue to accomplish all these things. 

We count on your partnership in prayer!  We know that we cannot carry this ministry without God’s blessing and help.  Thank you for your involvement with us.

Help us transform lives and make an eternal impact with RMI in 2013!