Hello my friends and readers - it has been a looooooong time since I have written. Perdóname, por favor. But here I am, still loving it down here, working hard - God is doing great things! I thought I would share with you a concise journal entry from one of our days here...
Waking up to the sound of birds and motorcycles, I give thanks to the Lord for another day here in the country of the Dominican Republic. Today, we have planned to go meet with some pastors in the countryside. Jim and I hopped on our bikes and started our journey. We rode into Nagua, made some photocopies of some pastor information forms that we have been using, put some gas in the bikes, and headed north. Our first stop was La Entrada (literally, "The Entrance") to meet the pastor of the Evangelica Metodista Libre church (Evangelical Free Methodist).
When we pulled up to the church, a very friendly middle-aged man, Pastor Benjamin, greeted us. He promptly invited us in to his church, which was a very beautiful building, to sit and chat. We talked for quite awhile, explaining our purpose (to work with the pastors) and hearing his vision and the needs for the church and community. The community has around 3000 inhabitants, and is plagued by a drug and prostitution problem. He is essentially the only evangelical church in the area. He took us around the back of the church and showed us a crude wooden/tin building that was almost falling over. "We would like to reconstruct that building and put the children in that area for Sunday school," he explained. Sitting down for a few more minutes, and sipping two cold Coca-Colas, brought by his son, we got to know some more about this wonderful man with a very gentle, loving spirit. After praying for him, Jim and I left for the next phase of our journey.
Turning onto a side-road, we began looking for a pastora named Delsi, who lived up from the main road in the hills. We rode up to the area in which we knew she lives, and asked for her whereabouts. Promptly, we arrived at a humble little home, where she and her husband, Carmelo, lived. Chiming a typical "Dios te bendiga" (God bless you!) greeting, we walked up to the front door, and, as is very normal and wonderful about the Dominican culture, they immediately invited us in to sit down. As it turns out this pastora was part of a group of pastors that we were planning on meeting later that month, and she knew some of our pastor friends from Río San Juan and Cabrera, two larger towns to the north and west of where we were. She was so encouraged that we dropped by, and after we talked and prayed with her and her husband, she shared with us that God had given her a vision that two white people would be stopping by her house. She was very certain that we were the people in her vision. That is pretty neat - being the fulfillment of a vision. After leaving her house, we continued travelling upwards into the hills, higher and higher, looking for another church.
After passing through several areas with no evangelical churches, we finally found one, but it was closed up. Driving a little further we met some people on the road that immediately asked us to stay a few minutes and sit down with them under the shade of some trees. We did, and as it turns out, one of the gentlemen knew us from when we were ministering in Nagua, and they offered to show us to the pastora's house. We gladly accepted their offer, but took a few minutes to drive up to the end of the road a little further ahead. After having arrived at a cliff (and stopped with a few feet to spare, thank the Lord) with a most spectacular view, we headed back to pick up our new friends, and headed 2 km up a very rough path to where the pastora lives. We were greeted with many curious smiles from the children, and the pastora insisted that we eat there. After partaking in a most delicious meal of rice, chicken, and avocado, we sat and talked with the pastora for awhile. Her name is Santa, and she described to us how God had called her to be His servant in the village. She had heard of us through another pastor friend, and after chatting and praying with her, we headed back down the road and back to Nagua.
In Nagua, another pastor was waiting there for us. He had brought us a big sack of plantain, avocados, and lechosa. What a blessing he has been to us! We talked for a bit with him, and then bid farewell. Renee and I then did some planning for our english class, and went over to our mission house to teach the class. We played a Pictionary-type game with the pastors and leaders that are taking the class. What a fun time! Arriving back home and grabbing a snack, I did a little bit of spanish studying, and then worked on refining our back-road computer map that we are generating bit by bit using a small GPS unit that was given to me. That will be a blessing to be able to locate with ease all the different villages and pastors. In all, it has been a great day! I give thanks to the Lord for the opportunity to minister in this country. Every day we see the Lord at work here - it is quite awesome.
Please continue to pray for me as our team continues to meet with pastors every week, working alongside them, praying with them, and helping them fulfill the kingdom visions that God has given them. I am still seeing people saved, set free, and encouraged. It is a war, though, and I can see the enemy at work trying to cause divisions and strife in the church, and trying to deceive people with false doctrines. We have the victory, however, and if God is for us, who can be against us!
I appreciate each one of you, your support, and your prayers, and pray that God would continue to bless you and fill you with His Spirit. And if you don't know Jesus personally, I pray that you would enter into a most wonderful relationship with Him, accepting Him as your own personal Lord and Saviour!
¡Adios por ahora, mis amigos!
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