Monday was our day to sleep in a bit, start packing, and go to "The Market" in Santo Domingo - a place that draws tourists by its hundreds of vendors and colorful memorabilia. The thing that surprises Americans is the aggressiveness of the sales people. As soon as you come in, they try to entice you into their shop, promising better prices and better quality than the shop next door. There is a huge variation in "sticker price" for the items, though all are the same. Of course, you never pay sticker price - which is on there just to show how much you are "saving". The negotiations begin in ernest as both buyer and seller want to come away happy. If the price lands at 50%, both parties are happy - Americans think they really got a deal, and sellers make about 200% profit!
Before the Market, we took a short drive around the Fort, and the Colonial District. We didn't have time to get out since we got a late start (waiting on Rebecca to get out of school). We had Dominican pizza for lunch prior to our shopping trip.
After leaving the market and fighting city traffic, we stopped at "La Sirena", which is the Walmart of the DR. We bought some ice cream & frozen yogurt to eat, then shopped in the store for a few unique food items that we can't get back home. I don't know if it is always this crowded, or if was just after-work rush, but there was a sea of humanity in the store, many immodestly clad and seemingly most without the Lord. I had a moment of feeling hopeless that we could ever make an impact in the Dominican Republic with the masses of unsaved. Then I remembered the three who were saved, and the ongoing works in Juan Tomas and Villa Mella, and my joy was restored. God is alive and well in the DR!
We are packed and ready to fly home again - back to "normal" life..........Or are we? What is normal?? We have been deeply engaged with the hearts and souls of these people for ten days. My prayer is that each team member will be forever changed, and will never forget the impact that they have had on these young people, and how the desperate physical and spiritual needs here have impacted us as well.
"For me to live is Christ, to die is gain". May we never forget that, and may we live on the edge of eternity for the rest of our days.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Oh Worship the Lord!
Sunday found us up bright and early again, and in the van to Villa Mella. We had been invited by Abel and Pastor Jacinto de la Cruz to share in their service with music. It was a different worship experience than the small village church. Iglesia Bautista Quisqueyana is the largest Baptist church in Villa Mella, a suburb of Santo Domingo. There are larger churches in the city itself. This church has a membership of about 500, and Sunday attendance of about 700 thanks to the tireless evangelistic efforts of the church. This summer they have conducted 24 Vacation Bible Schools with the help of mission groups from the U.S. They have a strong visitation program and ongoing discipleship classes for those who make decisions. They are ultraconservative for the culture in their music standards and are unique in the stands that they take - music to the glory of God. We were privileged to be able to share in the service with music that God has given to us.
If the church had walls, we would say they were "bursting at the seam", but it is a pole-shed, metal roofed building with open sides. They keep adding chairs, then standing room only when those are full. The people on the edges just hope it doesn't rain! The church is in a building program and has purchased a piece of land (fully paid for -- a miraculous story in itself due to the price of property). The new church is near the end line of the metro train, and will be highly visible. It is supposed to seat 3000 indoors, with air conditioning! That is probably 5-10 years down the road, so in the meantime, they will squeeze more and more people under the roof..............
Our music consisted of all our piano & strings, including Noelle on the mandolin and AnnaBeth on guitar playing "Oh How I Love Jesus", a trumpet & cello duet by Mason & Daniel --"Onward Christian Soldiers, Noelle & Kassidy singing "Because of Grace", and the whole group singing "For me to Live is Christ" in English and Spanish. They finished up with Kassidy on piano & Lisa & Noelle on violins playing "Power in the Blood". Our kids did all this in humility and totally for the glory of God, yet received much praise of men as people expressed how they were greatly blessed.
The church also had special music as the children's choir sang, and the children's string group played (accompanied by Abel on trombone and a 12 year old piano player who has been playing for 8 months!). Of note is that none of them used any music- they never had any because of cost and unavailablity, it was all taught verbally and memorized. Amazing!!
After an hour and 15 minutes of music, the offering was given (not taken) as the people filed to the front to give their offerings to the Lord. The message was brought by a guest preacher who was retiring from a pastorate in Puerto Rico. His message was about the brevity of life, and redeeming the time for the Lord. They use the Reina Vallarta version of the Bible, which is comparable to our King James.
After some time visiting, we headed back to camp for the noon meal and an afternoon of rest-- or play as some of the kids needed- but a different pace than we had been on all week.
We also were blessed to share some of the same music in the evening service, and Kassidy and Noelle sang "Going Back" instead of the other. The team also did a skit about resisting the lies of the devil, that was quite pointed in its message. The church was packed - probably a couple of hundred-with the congregation being about half American and half Dominican. A work team had arrived from the U.S., so we had a number of English speakers. It was probably a predominantly saved crowd, unlike the meetings during the camp week.
David preached on "Abiding in Christ" and what it means to be a branch on the vine, and included fruits of the Spirit as evidence of that abiding. It was a powerful message. It was made more powerful as we heard every word twice. Dario was translating, and he is the best there is. He puts the same passion into every word as it is given by the speaker. Dario has a lot in common with David - a highly intelligent computer programmer on whom God has placed His hand. Dario feels called to preach the word of God and has been greatly impacted by David & Justin this week. In the DR, someone with computer skills can move into the upper echelon of income and society --but Dario is on the edge of forsaking all that to serve the Lord. Please pray for God to make His calling and pathway clear. Someone will be needed in the future to take over the shepherding of this work in Juan Tomas.
Praise be to God for His working in Juan Tomas, and allowing us to be a part.
If the church had walls, we would say they were "bursting at the seam", but it is a pole-shed, metal roofed building with open sides. They keep adding chairs, then standing room only when those are full. The people on the edges just hope it doesn't rain! The church is in a building program and has purchased a piece of land (fully paid for -- a miraculous story in itself due to the price of property). The new church is near the end line of the metro train, and will be highly visible. It is supposed to seat 3000 indoors, with air conditioning! That is probably 5-10 years down the road, so in the meantime, they will squeeze more and more people under the roof..............
Our music consisted of all our piano & strings, including Noelle on the mandolin and AnnaBeth on guitar playing "Oh How I Love Jesus", a trumpet & cello duet by Mason & Daniel --"Onward Christian Soldiers, Noelle & Kassidy singing "Because of Grace", and the whole group singing "For me to Live is Christ" in English and Spanish. They finished up with Kassidy on piano & Lisa & Noelle on violins playing "Power in the Blood". Our kids did all this in humility and totally for the glory of God, yet received much praise of men as people expressed how they were greatly blessed.
The church also had special music as the children's choir sang, and the children's string group played (accompanied by Abel on trombone and a 12 year old piano player who has been playing for 8 months!). Of note is that none of them used any music- they never had any because of cost and unavailablity, it was all taught verbally and memorized. Amazing!!
After an hour and 15 minutes of music, the offering was given (not taken) as the people filed to the front to give their offerings to the Lord. The message was brought by a guest preacher who was retiring from a pastorate in Puerto Rico. His message was about the brevity of life, and redeeming the time for the Lord. They use the Reina Vallarta version of the Bible, which is comparable to our King James.
After some time visiting, we headed back to camp for the noon meal and an afternoon of rest-- or play as some of the kids needed- but a different pace than we had been on all week.
We also were blessed to share some of the same music in the evening service, and Kassidy and Noelle sang "Going Back" instead of the other. The team also did a skit about resisting the lies of the devil, that was quite pointed in its message. The church was packed - probably a couple of hundred-with the congregation being about half American and half Dominican. A work team had arrived from the U.S., so we had a number of English speakers. It was probably a predominantly saved crowd, unlike the meetings during the camp week.
David preached on "Abiding in Christ" and what it means to be a branch on the vine, and included fruits of the Spirit as evidence of that abiding. It was a powerful message. It was made more powerful as we heard every word twice. Dario was translating, and he is the best there is. He puts the same passion into every word as it is given by the speaker. Dario has a lot in common with David - a highly intelligent computer programmer on whom God has placed His hand. Dario feels called to preach the word of God and has been greatly impacted by David & Justin this week. In the DR, someone with computer skills can move into the upper echelon of income and society --but Dario is on the edge of forsaking all that to serve the Lord. Please pray for God to make His calling and pathway clear. Someone will be needed in the future to take over the shepherding of this work in Juan Tomas.
Praise be to God for His working in Juan Tomas, and allowing us to be a part.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
An exciting day!
I am so happy to be writing this today, having returned with the entire team alive and well from our mountain adventure. Some of my own kids nearly gave me heart failure at the waterfalls, but all lived to tell about it.
After a very late night on Friday (helping another group get settled), we got up at 5 am and left at 6:20 to ride the bus northward to the mountains. The groggy team became more and more alert as we began to see the beautiful scenery. The mountains do not appear especially high, but actually are higher than the peaks in Georgia. They are "sharp" rocky mountains, unlike our rounded, treed mountains in the Blue Ridge. The foliage was gorgeous, with many flowering trees and loads of banana plants.
We reached RANCHO JARABACOA at about 9 am, and enjoyed some leisure time while waiting for our tour. To our American brains, it was a disconnect to have mountain views, beautiful rushing river, and tropical foliage and temperatures. It was somewhat cooler than the sea-level village that we had left. We enjoyed ping-pong, dominos, billiards and talking birds while waiting in the shady pavilion and gardens.
Our first tour left about 10 am -- an open truck that took us through the mountain city of Jarabacoa, and on to several scenic areas. We stopped first at a higher elevation scenic area to take pictures, but declined to "bathe" in their public bath, as pretty as it was. We went on to the Confluencia (the confluence of the Yaque and Jimenoa Rivers). Beautiful scenery! Because it was Saturday, the Confluencia was very crowded, and vendors of all persuasions surrounded our truck, including a few dozen Dominican boys on horses trying to convince us to ride with them. We decided that was not the best place to spend very long due to the beachgoers , so enjoyed the water view for a short time and left again.
We went on to Salto Baiguate, a very beautiful waterfall at the end of a long hot trail. There, my own children (and some of yours who will currently remain nameless - but were the "adults" in the crowd) proceeded to attempt to give me my first heart attack of the day. While I was on the rocks in the river taking pictures, several of them decided to take the trail to the top. From my perspective below, it appeared that they wanted to take the fast way down to the bottom of this 200 foot waterfall. They later assured me that they were several feet away from the edge. After frantic hand motions (they couldn't hear us), they finally got the message to back off and head back down. It was with great relief that they all arrived safely back. We headed back to the truck with some very tired and hungry hikers, and were driven back to the rancho. After a couple of hours in the Dominican sun, several of our group were reminded that sunscreen does not work retroactively..... quote--- "I don't burn"---- but this is a Caribbean island very close to the equator!
At lunch, we were served an all-you-can-eat buffet of ham, chicken, potatoes, salad & fresh sweet pineapple. DELICIOUS!! After that, we took a short "Dominican Pony" ride around the town. These are about the size of a Welsh pony, but very skinny. Most of us were accompanied by an equally skinny Dominican boy who took the reins and took control. I learned too late that you could say "no" to the extra rider! And we also learned too late that tips were expected for each boy. None of us had DR coins, so they were given bills to change out and share among them. If you have read previous posts, you may conclude sooner than we did, that Dominican boys do not like to share! One of our party (a Police Captain) had to break up the disagreement and redistribute the funds appropriately.
Our last tour of the day was to the Salto Jimenoa waterfall, about 130 feet high. It is reached by walking across a narrow suspension bridge on which they only allow four people at a time, and has only the suspension cable to hold on to- no safety fencing or rails! Definitely not for the faint of heart, but everyone made it across. At the end of the bridge was a rocky trail, and finally the viewing platform of the falls. The falls were beautiful, but the area more congested than Salto Baiguate which had been deserted. We took many pictures, then had a big surprise (well - surprise to most).
After posing for a picture in front of the falls with Rebecca, Captain Abel de la Cruz launched into a speech about how special the day was, and how he was giving glory to God for everything. He went on to say that the hot sun was not as romantic as moon and stars, but then proceeded to pull out a ring and propose to Rebecca! It was in Spanish of course, but being translated by one of our group. Rebecca was surprised, but happily agreed. Girls squealed in delight, and guys congratulated them.
This is a relationship that has been scrutinised, criticized, praised, GREATLY bathed in prayer and fasting, and subject to much counsel from many sides. It is with joy that all four parents give our blessing -- knowing that neither Abel nor Rebecca are perfect, and many challenges lie ahead with culture and communication. They understand this, and will walk worthy of the blessings. Abel went on to say that they would be a great example for the young people of the community, and would maintain a pure testimony for all to see, saving their first kiss and intimacy for the wedding day. They anticipate many decades of ministry together in spreading God's Word through Godly music training in the DR.
It was rather anticlimactic, but we then went to the pools below to swim (everyone fully covered). The sandy pool was crowded with not so-covered people, so we went on down to the next pool which was rocky and empty of people. We soon found out why it was empty, as the swift currents and many rocks were treacherous. Daniel was swept into an eddy, but was quickly rescued by Justin. We are so grateful to our ALERT man for his quick thinking and actions without regard for his own safety. Mason was right behind him. Justin turned what could have been a tragedy (and ruined Rebecca's engagement) into a nuisance of the day, and is our hero forever. After a few more minutes of near heart failure (second time that day), we moved them all into the "baby pool" - the next pool down with little current and about 2 feet deep :-). Enough excitement for one day!!
We headed back to the rancho, got in the bus and headed "home". We stopped for chicken & fries along the way, where we were able to be a blessing to the bus driver and handed out tracts to other customers. We were absolutely exhausted when we arrived home, but stayed awake long enough to attend a college graduation party for one of the special guys here at the mission. Dario happened also to be the translator for Abel when we were interrogating him via email last year -- so he has a special place in our hearts as well.
It was a great day for us - seeing the wonders of God's creation, rejoicing with Abel and Rebecca, and having returned ALL alive to the camp! SO amazed that God protects us even in our foolishness if He has more for us to do. There is absolutely no doubt that this entire trip has been in His awesome hands!
After a very late night on Friday (helping another group get settled), we got up at 5 am and left at 6:20 to ride the bus northward to the mountains. The groggy team became more and more alert as we began to see the beautiful scenery. The mountains do not appear especially high, but actually are higher than the peaks in Georgia. They are "sharp" rocky mountains, unlike our rounded, treed mountains in the Blue Ridge. The foliage was gorgeous, with many flowering trees and loads of banana plants.
We reached RANCHO JARABACOA at about 9 am, and enjoyed some leisure time while waiting for our tour. To our American brains, it was a disconnect to have mountain views, beautiful rushing river, and tropical foliage and temperatures. It was somewhat cooler than the sea-level village that we had left. We enjoyed ping-pong, dominos, billiards and talking birds while waiting in the shady pavilion and gardens.
Our first tour left about 10 am -- an open truck that took us through the mountain city of Jarabacoa, and on to several scenic areas. We stopped first at a higher elevation scenic area to take pictures, but declined to "bathe" in their public bath, as pretty as it was. We went on to the Confluencia (the confluence of the Yaque and Jimenoa Rivers). Beautiful scenery! Because it was Saturday, the Confluencia was very crowded, and vendors of all persuasions surrounded our truck, including a few dozen Dominican boys on horses trying to convince us to ride with them. We decided that was not the best place to spend very long due to the beachgoers , so enjoyed the water view for a short time and left again.
We went on to Salto Baiguate, a very beautiful waterfall at the end of a long hot trail. There, my own children (and some of yours who will currently remain nameless - but were the "adults" in the crowd) proceeded to attempt to give me my first heart attack of the day. While I was on the rocks in the river taking pictures, several of them decided to take the trail to the top. From my perspective below, it appeared that they wanted to take the fast way down to the bottom of this 200 foot waterfall. They later assured me that they were several feet away from the edge. After frantic hand motions (they couldn't hear us), they finally got the message to back off and head back down. It was with great relief that they all arrived safely back. We headed back to the truck with some very tired and hungry hikers, and were driven back to the rancho. After a couple of hours in the Dominican sun, several of our group were reminded that sunscreen does not work retroactively..... quote--- "I don't burn"---- but this is a Caribbean island very close to the equator!
At lunch, we were served an all-you-can-eat buffet of ham, chicken, potatoes, salad & fresh sweet pineapple. DELICIOUS!! After that, we took a short "Dominican Pony" ride around the town. These are about the size of a Welsh pony, but very skinny. Most of us were accompanied by an equally skinny Dominican boy who took the reins and took control. I learned too late that you could say "no" to the extra rider! And we also learned too late that tips were expected for each boy. None of us had DR coins, so they were given bills to change out and share among them. If you have read previous posts, you may conclude sooner than we did, that Dominican boys do not like to share! One of our party (a Police Captain) had to break up the disagreement and redistribute the funds appropriately.
Our last tour of the day was to the Salto Jimenoa waterfall, about 130 feet high. It is reached by walking across a narrow suspension bridge on which they only allow four people at a time, and has only the suspension cable to hold on to- no safety fencing or rails! Definitely not for the faint of heart, but everyone made it across. At the end of the bridge was a rocky trail, and finally the viewing platform of the falls. The falls were beautiful, but the area more congested than Salto Baiguate which had been deserted. We took many pictures, then had a big surprise (well - surprise to most).
After posing for a picture in front of the falls with Rebecca, Captain Abel de la Cruz launched into a speech about how special the day was, and how he was giving glory to God for everything. He went on to say that the hot sun was not as romantic as moon and stars, but then proceeded to pull out a ring and propose to Rebecca! It was in Spanish of course, but being translated by one of our group. Rebecca was surprised, but happily agreed. Girls squealed in delight, and guys congratulated them.
This is a relationship that has been scrutinised, criticized, praised, GREATLY bathed in prayer and fasting, and subject to much counsel from many sides. It is with joy that all four parents give our blessing -- knowing that neither Abel nor Rebecca are perfect, and many challenges lie ahead with culture and communication. They understand this, and will walk worthy of the blessings. Abel went on to say that they would be a great example for the young people of the community, and would maintain a pure testimony for all to see, saving their first kiss and intimacy for the wedding day. They anticipate many decades of ministry together in spreading God's Word through Godly music training in the DR.
It was rather anticlimactic, but we then went to the pools below to swim (everyone fully covered). The sandy pool was crowded with not so-covered people, so we went on down to the next pool which was rocky and empty of people. We soon found out why it was empty, as the swift currents and many rocks were treacherous. Daniel was swept into an eddy, but was quickly rescued by Justin. We are so grateful to our ALERT man for his quick thinking and actions without regard for his own safety. Mason was right behind him. Justin turned what could have been a tragedy (and ruined Rebecca's engagement) into a nuisance of the day, and is our hero forever. After a few more minutes of near heart failure (second time that day), we moved them all into the "baby pool" - the next pool down with little current and about 2 feet deep :-). Enough excitement for one day!!
We headed back to the rancho, got in the bus and headed "home". We stopped for chicken & fries along the way, where we were able to be a blessing to the bus driver and handed out tracts to other customers. We were absolutely exhausted when we arrived home, but stayed awake long enough to attend a college graduation party for one of the special guys here at the mission. Dario happened also to be the translator for Abel when we were interrogating him via email last year -- so he has a special place in our hearts as well.
It was a great day for us - seeing the wonders of God's creation, rejoicing with Abel and Rebecca, and having returned ALL alive to the camp! SO amazed that God protects us even in our foolishness if He has more for us to do. There is absolutely no doubt that this entire trip has been in His awesome hands!
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