I can hardly believe it, but month 1 is almost over!
Tomorrow night we begin our 24 hours of travel to get to Quito, Ecuador where
we will stay as a squad for a few days before being sent out with our teams to
various ministry sites around the country. This first month in the Dominican
Republic has flown by, and I thought before it entirely came to a close I
should cap it off with a summary of sorts.
Here are the numbers
My teammate, Joy, and I have been keeping several running
totals of things we do repeatedly, funny things that happen, etc. These tallies
will show up at the end of each month and then all together in a final blog at
the end of the year. So here are the numbers for the DR…
Number of times Team Kaleo ran into Manuel (a taxi
driver/pastor who we kept seeing in random places all over the area): 13
Number of places I made my bed and slept: 5
Number of Internet networks I connected to: 6
Number of chicken tacos from Pan de Azucar that Team Kaleo
consumed: 77
Number of meals I ate that included rice: 14
Number of hot showers taken: 0
Number of minutes spent in any type of air conditioning: 9
Longest number of days in a row without a shower of some
kind: 2 (unfortunately, I’m sure this number will continue to increase as the
year goes on and the conditions get more primitive)
Advice to Future Racers
And now, inspired by my team leader, Tiffany, I will include
an Advice to Future Racers section in my monthly wrap up blogs. If your squad
comes to the DR in general, and San Juan specifically…
Hang out with Miguel and Kristin, the AIM contacts here, as
much as possible.
Volunteer to babysit their two (or however many they have by
then) adorable children.
Convince Kristin to make you her sugar cookies.
Always buy something when you use the free WiFi at Pollo Rey
because it’s polite and the staff are a lot more friendly when you are not
trying to take advantage of them.
Get to know the neighbors in the area you live in.
Ask Miguel where the fruit lady is in the market and enjoy
as many 50 peso fruit boxes as you can!
Also ask Miguel where the taco place is and enjoy…but don’t
ever expect them to have guacamole.
Ministry Summary
Ok, now onto the more serious summary of our ministry this
month. You can read about our ministry objectives and what we were asked to do
here. At first, we struggled to feel like we were making any real difference in
people’s lives because we were simply going to their houses for a short time,
talking with them, and praying over them. But as the month went on and we saw
more and more of what the people of this area are dealing with, we began to see
the value and importance of our prayers.
The region of San Juan is a dark area. Although the people
are friendly and hospitable, many of them live in bondage to generational
curses over the land, remnants of ancient religious practices, and continued
participation in idolatry and witchcraft. So many of the people we talked to
did not understand that they only need to trust one God and pray to him for
their salvation and provision. They believe the lie that they need to appease
many gods and saints, and are constantly trying to cover their bases and avoid
offending anyone’s power.
As the villages we visited got progressively darker, and the
people’s view of the church and Christianity got progressively more polluted by
legalism, we saw a greater and greater need for intercession to bring freedom
to this land. The people here have tried to limit God by making him only one of
many powers that they trust. Many churches here have tried to limit God by
setting up such impossible standards of living that people have to meet before
they are accepted into Christian fellowship. But what we learned this month is
that through the power of prayer and through true believers putting all their
trust only in God, freedom can come here. God is bigger than the altars we put
him on, the long sleeves and skirts that we hide him under, and the limits we
try to impose on him. He has already won the war that’s being fought here.
Prayer Requests
Thank you for all your prayers and support this month! Being
able to come on my blog and read your comments is very encouraging. Knowing
that so many people were praying for us all over the world really helped our
team to stand up to spiritual attack this month. Please keep the Dominican
Republic in your prayers, as more permanent workers are needed here and there
is still so much more work to be done. Please also continue to pray for us as
we travel to Ecuador this week, reunite as a squad, and find out our ministry
assignments for February. Pray that each team will be put exactly where we need
to be and that we will be a blessing to our new ministry contacts.
Finally, here is a video I put together that summarizes Team
Kaleo’s month in the Dominican Republic. Enjoy, and I’ll update next from
Ecuador!!
