Back to the future

Well, we are back in Georgia,with very mixed emotions.  The internet was down for the last few days of our stay, so we truly were third world -- in conditions akin to the poor South in post depression USA days. No TV, no radio, no telephone, no hot water, no internet those last few days, no window screens for the most part. Electricity is sporadic. We are now back to reality -- or are we? Reality for most of the people of the world is what we just experienced.  There are well-to-do people in the DR that live like kings (many government officials), but the middle class would be considered poverty level in the US,and the poor are at a level that we haven't seen in half a century and cannot imagine. There is no government welfare system.  Existence for most is hand to mouth, just wanting to get one good meal a day, and most of that is carbohydrate. In the poor areas, theft is a way of life for survival, and personal property rights a foreign concept as they scrounge to feed themselves. Yet in spite of all that, the Dominicans are some of the happiest people I know - not simpletons, because there are some very intelligent and skillful people coming out of the poverty - but happy in spite of their circumstances.  The Christians are faithful, and truly exemplary for those that live in hopeless and helpless conditions. They bring the light of Christ into an otherwise spiritually dark place. The work at Centro Biblico de Juan Tomas is a vital one, and is an oasis in the midst of despair.

We have left our hearts in Juan Tomas, both emotionally and physically, in the fact that we left some of our own (Rebecca, Abel, Johabelly & Matthew) to continue to share the good news through their ministry, both in Juan Tomas and in Villa Mella.  The camp is considered to be a great success by those that live there, and we hope that we fulfilled the work that the Lord had for us.  It is not only by the harvest that success is measured, but by the seeds that were planted - and there were many of those!  There was a multitude of tears shed on our last day at camp, both from campers and workers,  as we left parts of our hearts with those dear children.  The staff and the campers all begged for our return next year.  It is hard to say "No" but requires a great sacrifice from those who prepare and go, and a true dependence on God's provision and in the faithfulness of His people.   On our flight to the Dominican Republic, there was another mission team on the way to Santo Domingo. They were going to do construction on a new church plant.  I thought that was wonderful -- and how easy that would be!  Go and apply yourself to bricks and mortar every day in the work of the Lord!  No lessons to write, no feeding 60 extra people, no crafts to prepare, no character lessons to teach, no discipline problems, no gum in the hair at night, no getting tied to the bedpost -- but also no seed planted, no harvest seen and no sharing and tearing of our hearts.  No, I would not trade all the sacrifice and six months of preparation for that.

Please pray with us that God wll clearly direct as we seek to continue the work next year, and will provide as He sees best.  We praise His name for the seeds planted, the fruit that was matured, and the harvest of souls! In the blessed and glorious name of Jesus!

Debbie, for the DR mission team

Independence Day!

July 4, 2012, will be an Independence Day that all of us on the mission team will never forget!  While Americans were watching fireworks light up the sky, we had fireworks of our own here in Juan Tomas!  Last night about 10 pm, after the evening service, we saw four young men come to know Jesus as Savior!  They had the best Independence Day that anyone could ever have -- freedom from sin through the blood of Christ!  The drama was moving, and the message was clear, about Jesus being the light of the world. and our only hope.  We heard many stirring testimonies from the campers last night, and while they still didn't come forward during the invitation at church, God's spirit broke through the darkness into four hungry hearts, and they came to the leaders afterward.  We are all so touched and humbled.  Everyone who came, everyone who gave, everyone who hsa translated for us, and everyone who has prayed has a part of these four decisions in eternity - adding crowns! Most importantly, one of the church leaders promised that there would be follow up and discipleship with the new believers.

On a lighter note, the campers say that they wish every day was the 4th of July!  They enjoyed the 4th of July food, especially the hamburgers and the ice cream after church!  I say if they ate like that every day, they would be fat like Americans! They were grabbing and wrapping up the extras for later -- there is not ready access to food in the village (or money to buy it), and it was a feast to them!

Our character quality yesterday was orderliness, and was exhibited in the extreme cleanliness in the cabins.  That was a nice surprise!  Everyone is happy with the way things are going - we are all seeing daily improvement in character, behavior and love for one another among the campers.

Off to class......

Debbie, for the DR team

Jesus the Shepherd..........

We are having an amazing week!  The message last night was about Jesus being the shepherd and our need for him as sheep wandering in the wilderness.  The message was powerful, and it was obvious that God's spirit was present.  There is a palpable spiritual warfare in Juan Tomas, and the struggle was felt last night at the invitation.  No one came forward, but you could sense the battle.  These kids, even more so than Americans, are extremely peer dependent, and very concerned of what other people think of them. If they feel they will be ridiculed for making a move or showing emotion, they will not move. Please pray that God's spirit will break through that and will have a mighty moving in this village even tonight in the service.  We will be doing a drama that points straight to the cross and the need for salvation, before David's message.  Please pray specifically that the powers and principalities of darkness will be bound tonight (Wednesday) so that God's word can penetrate hearts.  Our service will start around 7 pm.
One interesting note is that we are getting a side effect that we did not anticipate.  Several of the Dominican leaders (already professing Christians) have been greatly moved, so much so that they take the microphone and give added exhortation to the campers after the messages.  Our prayer for them is that God will stir them to evangelism and revival, to keep the fires burning here and be the discipleship team that we need to follow up with the campers.
We had a special history lesson in music class, and presentation of colors, in honor of American independence, and more importantly, the REASON that the US has been blessed due to the founding on God's principles. We are serving an all-American picnic meal tonight, with hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans, slaw, watermelon & of course, Sweet Tea!  That will be an adventure.
Our character quality today was Orderliness, taught by Levi & Lindsey.  They have the dubious honor of being the only ones to teach a class this week that resulted in a stampede.  Obviously there are a few more things they need to learn about Dominican teens!  You can ask them about that later.  Thankfully no permanent injuries.
Off to cook hamburgers..............
For the team,
Debbie

Generosity

Our character lesson on Monday was "Attentiveness" or "Attencion".  Needless to say, that is a challenge for   Dominican kids, or any group of 11-15 year olds for that matter.  They are improving, as we improve and fine tune our teaching methods and interactions with them.   Today's lesson character lesson is "generosity", and they have a lot to practice on today!  We had an incident last night of some of the boys scaring the girls into hysteria -- talking about snakes and such-- and it took quite awhile to get the girls calmed down enough to go into their cabins and go to sleep - without snakes.  Somewhat funny today, but last night one girl was "missing" (turned out to be with the camp director's family, so no problem), but that added to the hysteria.  We had a long "mommy lecture" today from 1st Corinthians 13, and pray that will bear some fruit in spiritual maturity.  They were somewhat more subdued in chapel today, so we are praying that God is beginning to crack some of the tough veneer on these kids.  John gave a wonderful chapel on the generosity of God - His infinite love and sacrificial gift to us for eternal life.   David has given three solid salvation messages and will be building on what it means to live with Christ to have victory in all of life.

We had more new food today -- "johhnycakes"  but not to be confused with southern cornbread Johhnycakes.  These are made from wheat flour and deep fried to a crisp. The Dominicans put ketchup on them, but we chose to spread butter instead.  Rather tasteless without something!  Last night was beans and rice and some sort of eggplant dish (not Southern fried!).  The lack of protein is felt as energy wanes and hunger returns quickly.  The kids grab their protein bars when they have a chance.  Tomorrow (July 4th) we are sponsoring an American 4th of July meal with hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans (which we brought from the states in cans), chips, watermelon and SWEET TEA which they have never had!  Should be fun to watch them eat strange food for a change!

English camp begins!

Monday, July 2:

The weekend preparations went by in a whirlwind, and we have started camp today.  We spent Saturday reviewing all of our lesson plans, music & skits, then went on visitation to the village.  It is always a humbling experience to do that, seeing how the majority of the world lives in abject poverty, and seeing the vast spiritual darkness as well. 

On Sunday, we started our day early with the worship service at Iglesia Bautista Quisqueyana in Villa Mella, where the prodigal Abel was welcomed back with joyous open arms.  We sang two songs there (both in English & Spanish), and Kristina did a solo, as well as Abel.   The message was moving, and we genuinely felt the Lord's spirit there in that congregation of 700-800. It was the usual 2 hour service :-). We got to ride Dominican style (14 passengers in an 8 passenger van) so that is always a cultural experience.  We arrived at church with "Dominican car hair" due to no air conditioning and windows open.  Most of the boys were pretty happy with their haircuts at that point. 

Sunday afternoon was spent checking in the campers, and testing them for English placement. That took all afternoon, and we ended up with the biggest camp we have ever had -- 21 boys and 19 girls, with some of the boys double bunking on a twin mattress like they do at home.  I don't think we had to turn anyone away - though two of the Dominican workers had to go sleep at home instead of staying in the cabins, but they were back bright and early.  Zeke, Levi and Lindsey had their first experience with mangu (pronounced - mon-goo) which is mashed cooked plaintain, that is served with eggs and onion sauce.  It's always fun to watch someone get their first taste of this Dominican staple.

 Sunday evening, David preached his first sermon on our theme verse, about Jesus being the only way to salvation. During the invitation, at least 2/3 of the congregation, including most of our campers, admitted to not having a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  Our mission is clear and our time is short, so please pray for these kids while we have an influence on them this week.

In the English classes, we had planned for two classes of beginners, two intermediate and one advanced.  As it turned out, about 25 of the 40 kids didn't know the first word of English, so we have three beginner classes, one large intermediate class and a semi-advanced class.  The teachers adjusted and jumped right in to their work this morning.  We have chapel first, personal devotion time, English & character classes in the morning, then crafts, music & sports in the afternoon.  After supper we have our evening service.

John will be teaching in tomorrow's chapel, and each of the leaders has to do cabin devotionals and discipling, so please pray for their strength, perseverance and patience this week as we continue in the Lord's strength and through His grace.

Debbie for the DR team

We have arrived!

Our trip has gotten off to a tremendous start, and it is obvious that the Lord's hand is in this and His spirit is with us.  We all hate the Atlanta airport and the 2 hours or so that it takes to move a group this size with this much luggage through check-in and security.  However, God declared Himself even there, using the testimony and smiles of the group to speak His name.  One agent dismissed a very large extra baggage fee, another agent moved some of us (that had been delayed) to the head of the security line, and one agent weighed four boxes, then declared that "everything else is 50 lbs and the right size -- we don't need to weigh all these because they are supplies for the camp".  

 

Greatest of all, another Delta agent who admired our shirts praised the blessed name of Jesus out loud as the Savior who died on the cross for her sins.  This was in front of the few hundred people in the security line!  We hope that she still has her job today, but are praising the Lord that we still have the freedom to declare His name in public.   In our team prayer time on Thursday night,. we specifically prayed for God's stuff that we were carrying to the Dominican Republic and our time at the airport -- He can take care of his own!

 

Another praise is that when we got here, it appeared that very few suitcases had been opened by TSA -- and none of the camp supply boxes had been opened at all!   Additionally, Abel & Rebecca's musical instruments, recording equipment and computer and accessories were not bothered, nor were they charged any customs fees for the equipment -- another miracle!  We  are excited that with such a good start, God is going to bless tremendously this week.  We are more prepared at this point in time than we have ever been for a camp. 

 

We have spent Saturday in final preparations for classes, and will do visitation this (Saturday) afternoon.  Please pray that God is working on hearts even now, as the kids begin arriving Sunday afternoon, and the real work begins.  

 

In the blessed name of Christ, and in anticipation of great fruit,

 

Debbie, for the Dominican Mission Team.

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In the Air!

Thanks to 15 minutes of free wifi on the plane, we are blogging from somewhere over Florida. 

We think we made it out of the hotel and to the airport with all of our luggage (except for Levi’s pillow).  Checking in that many people and bags proved a little challenging, but it went okay except for a slight problem with Matthew’s ticket (they don’t allow babies to travel with one way tickets).

It took awhile to get through security, since there was a long line.  By the time most of the group was ready to go through, the De La Cruz family had gotten things settled with the ticket and were put in the fast lane to join us (thanks to David’s problem solving skills).  Most everything went through security okay – Abel left water in one disposable bottle (which was confiscated), and they didn’t know what a bread machine was (all the interesting things you get to carry when moving a family…)  We think we got everything after going through security – if not, it’s too late to get it now.

After riding the “plane train,” we made it to our gate – with just enough time to refill water bottles, stop by the restrooms, and purchase some lunch.  Our plane took off around 10:35 a.m. and we should be arriving in a few hours.

We received several comments and questions this morning because of our shirts – including the lady guiding people through security commenting loud enough for everyone around to hear, “Jesus is the one that died on Calvary for our sins.”  We can’t wait for opportunities this week to share that!

Lisa, for all the team