The Allen Family

Latest Update

Good afternoon, first and foremost we apologize once again for how long it has taken to update you all. We thank you for your faithfulness and your continued prayers. It seems like no two years are the same and this last year was no exception. Last summer we did 4 weeks of camps and then headed to the states for a few weeks. We were able to meet up with many of you and update 7 churches in those 4 weeks! While we were back the kids' school wrote and told us that there was a large gap in their teaching staff. They asked if Derrick could teach middle school science. Originally we thought it wouldn't be a possibility, but God made it clear that Derrick needed to teach at the school that semester. It provided for Bria to be enrolled as well. She had been on a waiting list and there may have never been space without one of us going on staff. I love how the Lord can meet so many needs of different families and ministries at the same time. Derrick loved teaching. Teaching science provided him with many opportunities to speak into their lives and invest in much more than their academic advancements. Now all three of the Allen kids get to go to the same school and that was a huge blessing to our family this year.

Baptism is a topic we revisit every year leading up to Easter. There are a lot of misunderstandings on what it is and isn't. This year when Derrick was finished teaching about it a young man in our church approached him and wanted to be baptized. Derrick had the privilege of baptizing Davis on Easter Sunday. Davis had been coming to church for about three months and after multiple conversations with him we were able to hear him confess Christ was his Lord and Savior. His actions also reflected his faith. Though he was the only one baptized on Easter there were still others who wanted to make that same statement of their faith. One month later we had our second baptism service, in which three more young men got baptized. Before Derrick baptized these men he and Katie had a meeting with them as well, during which two of them gave their life to Christ on our front porch while the other had already had a relationship with Jesus. We ask that all of you continue to pray for all the young men in our church who despite a culture that considers church to be for women and children, continue to come faithfully.

We would like to ask all of you to keep us in your prayers because this year's camps are about to begin. It is clear that the enemy does not wish for the gospel to be shared. Camp is a time where the gospel will be repeatedly preached and verses memorized. This is not what Satan wants to have happen. Thus our minds often even our bodies are attacked during camp season. This year we will be hosting five camps including soccer, youth/teen Bible, kids Bible, baseball, and for the first time ever we will be hiking the tallest mountain in the Caribbean; Pico Duarte over the course of five days as one of our camps. We are extremely excited for some teams to come this summer. They will be helpful with camps as well as tackling some projects. With these teams we hope to add a zipline to our playground for kids to use during camps. We also need a stand for our water cooler that is currently propped on some blocks. The members of the teams will also help kids memorize verses, games, clean and prepare for camps, etc. This summer we also have an intern named Sarah! We met Sarah at our kids' school this year. She loves the Lord and is a diligent worker. She has been here less than a week and has already been a blessing. Sarah will also help with camps and paint a chronological timeline of the Bible in our junior church which teams will help with and we will continue adding to as we have time.

We look forward to sharing with you all with another update letter at the end of summer about all the amazing things God did this camp season. Thank you all for your prayers and support.

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