Ministry Begins in Earnest

Monday morning began with devotions and prayer followed by breakfast and Dominican coffee.  Heading into the community we picked up the 2nd of our interpreters.  We new have Daniel and Massiel serving as interpreters for our team, so along with Carlos our coordinator we are now a team of six.

Pedro and most of the team (no Daniel)

Ciela's home now painted yellow and standing strong

We began the morning in the community by visiting a number of different homes, some new and some old friends.  Each  person says how pleased they are with our work in the community over the years and that they are so great-full that we have returned.  One of the homes we stopped at is the home of Pedro.  He and his wife have been married for 45 years have 8 children, 25 grand children and 3 great-grand children.  He shared how blessed he was when we gave him a Bible 2 years ago and that he reads it occasionally and that his family often speaks of our visits to the home.  God is working in his family and its incredible to hear how long the impact can last.  He is a neighbor to Ciela whose house the team helped to rebuild 2 years ago.  We stopped by to visit her and her children, they are still enjoying the home and doing well.  The kids have finally secured their birth certificates and as soon as they get to the capitol and pick them up they can continue with high school.

Manuel sharing his life with us for a moment

Another visit brought us to Manuel, he is 88 years old, mostly blind, and very unable to walk but is definitely all there mentally.  His wife passed away just this year so his son and grand daughter, Pamela, have moved in to be his eyes and feel.  It was a privilege to speak to this kind man.

Sharing wisdom and experience

Dan with the principle and three of the teachers

After another great lunch, we began the afternoon program.  Dan headed over to the school with Massiel to observe the teachers a little and met with, Santa, the principle before having a meeting with the teachers.  He got to learn a lot about the Dominican education system as well as spend some time training the teachers.  He shared 12 characteristics of effective teachers they asked a lot of questions and considered practical applications to their situations.  He concluded by asking them to share about their challenges and where they found the most joy about teaching.  Dan noted, "It was interesting to see they are very similar to teachers in the US."

Church leader training

The meeting with pastors and church leaders was a positive experience.  There were about 12 people in attendance from 4 different churches in the area.  Greg encouraged them to make sure that before all of the things in ministry that they have to do that they focus on their own personal relationship with Christ, a reminder that "normal Christians"  are totally sold out pursuing Christ daily, and an encouragement to work together for the cause of the Gospel. Topics included an encouragement to look closely at the spiritual qualifications of elders before earthly qualities. And Bob was able to share the concept of Pray and Watch with them as a way to keep focused on lost people.  The participants were very thankful and left at least encouraged if not taking away some new motivation and vision.

We covet your prayers for God to use us in His way.  Tomorrow we plan to be speaking with the teenagers about their decision making and how it impacts their future, and we will also do a workshop with the community leaders to help them continue to focus on and pursue their vision for the community.