"Blessed be the Lord, because He hath heard the voice of my supplications. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusteth in Him, and I am helped:therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise Him." (Psalm 28:6-7)

We praise God for a positive interview at the immigration office in Atlanta. The interviewing officer said that everything looks complete in the paperwork we turned in, and that the main holdup this year seems to have been due to a mistake by a government official who sent Abel's last name in for the routine background check as “Delacruz,” who does not exist with that spelling. Normally, we would not have even been called for an interview until the background check had been completed – meaning we could have been waiting for something that was never going to happen on it's own! We are informed that it could take 4-6 weeks to finish the process and receive our documents, but that everything has been approved. Meanwhile, our baby is due on February 22, so we have decided to stay here in Georgia through his birth. Lord willing, Abel will make a short trip to the Dominican Republic in March to prepare everything there for our arrival.

We recently visited the Hispanic church in which we served for several months last year, giving music classes and reaching out with the gospel. It was encouraging to see that they have continued with the music program, and are planning to possibly add another service time until they are able to obtain or build a larger sanctuary. Most importantly, we see those who were led to the Lord last spring and summer still faithful and growing spiritually.

We look forward to what God will do in the coming year and being a part of His great work by evangelism and discipleship through music ministry.