Quiet Testimonies - Gulemo

people to the services held at Antonio’s house. He was an inspiration
to all of us to trust God through all of our trials.
For the weekend we drove 2 hours north to San Francisco, DR, and
met with Pastor Gabriel’s church. On Valentine’s Day we walked
neighborhoods and invited people to the Valentine’s Day service that
night while giving them “free hugs” and lollipops. The hospitality of
the Dominican people was eye-opening coming from America; people
invited us into their homes to read the Bible with them without having
met us before, and the people at the church services would hug and
kiss us before even asking who we were.
Every church service or meeting we attended, our group would sing a
few prepared songs in Spanish (sometimes even attempting sign language)
and do a dramatic presentation called “Cardboard Testimonies.”
This drama was a representation of our own personal testimonies in
short phrases, showing a statement of our life before Christ on the front
and with Christ on the flip side. This presentation was very moving
when set to music while one of our translators read the testimonies
out loud to the crowd. Hopefully these testimonies planted seeds in
the hearts of those watching and led them closer to knowing Christ.
Along with singing and our “cardboards,” each night a few members
of the group would share their testimonies with a church service. This
seemed nerve-racking at first, but once the main idea of sharing what
Christ has done is our lives was focused on, our testimonies seemed
to flow because it was God speaking though us to touch someone in
the crowd each night.
This letter only outlines a few ministries in which our team participated
while in the Dominican Republic. This experience changed my life
for the better.
Deadline Dates: Feb. 10, May 10, Aug. 10, Nov. 10
Hebron Budget Referendums Pass
Despite the tough economic times, Hebron’s three budgetrelated
referendum items passed by a significant margin on
Tuesday, May 5. Residents vote on proposed spending plans.
On the town budget, the number of Yes voters was 715, while
474 voted No. Total town government spending (including the
local Board of Education and Open Space) for FY 2009-2010 was
proposed to decrease by 0.29%. The local Board of Education
requested a 1.96% increase in spending, the smallest proposed
increase in over a decade. The largest increase in spending involved
the new park debt service, a total of $440,568.
Spending increases were offset by significant decreases in CIP, Open
Space, Capital Non-Recurring, and Debt Service expenditures.
On the CIP budget, the margin was much closer, with 674
residents voting Yes, and 516 voting No. Proposed CIP funding
decreased by 19.09% over FY 2008-09 spending levels.
On the RHAM budget, 710 voted Yes and 489 voted No. For
Hebron residents, RHAM spending will increase by 2.57% in FY
2009-2010 due to student allocation among the three towns of
Hebron, Andover and Marlborough. Overall, RHAM requested
a 1.445% increase in spending, also the lowest proposed increase
in over a decade.
As of the Hebronian deadline, the Hebron Board of Finance had
not yet set the new mill rate. The new budget numbers take effect
July 1, 2009.
The Hebronian June 2009 Page 9