arrived in Azua, Dominican Republic on Saturday,
January 10th. We immediately
started ministry which began with a youth service on Saturday night. On Sunday we took part in two services. On Monday the real work began. This week our schedule begins every morning
at 10 with an English class lasting until 12.
You must take into account that
the start and end times are not really accurate since we are on Dominican time,
which means everything is at least 30 minutes late. After our morning classes we come home and
have lunch and a rest time; the heat here drains us all every day. The next appointment begins at 3 with a
sports camp. We are teaching the
children how to play basketball, volleyball, and soccer. Pastor Raul, our contact, says that the children
have no positive ways to spend their energy so they end up getting into
trouble. He desires to teach them
discipline and focus, while allowing them an outlet for their energy. At 5 we begin a second English class, this
one for the older and more advanced students/adults. This class lasts for 2 hours as well. Once classes are finished we go to church
members homes and invite their neighbors over for a mini Bible study. Pastor Raul desires for these “cell groups”
to be an outreach time, not only to the community but to the relatives of the
church members who live in the same house.
This Saturday we will host a leadership conference for the church
leadership. We hope it will be a time of
challenge but also a time to encourage them and to just have a good time.
Raul has a heart for the people in Azua.
He wants to see them better themselves.
He wants to see them educated, so he has opened a school. He wants to see them understand the value of
working for what you get, so he charges a minimal fee to attend. He understands the importance of children
being provided for and setting a generation up for success rather than
repeating the failures of the past, so he feeds the students everyday and gives
them a safe place to learn, play, and be cared for. Every student in his school learns English
and they stress the importance of knowing multiple languages. Pastor Raul has a heart for his people. He knows that with a little help and
determination Azua and Buenos Aires,
a barrio located up the mountain, will no longer be known as forgotten people
but they will be a group of people who take pride in themselves and in what God
has called them to do. He is a shepherd
who has gone out to look for the one lost sheep and has found a town of
17,000.
Please
pray that God will bless the ministry of Pastor Raul and his wife Zanza. They live in the community and have two small
children, Samuel and Rebecca. They
opened up their home, along with three other church members, to a group of 15
crazy Americanos and they have blessed us abundantly. They believe that God will provide for their
needs in their home and in their community.
They both work hard to see that the next generation makes a difference
in the world.
Luke
15:4-7
“What
man among you if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not
leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost
until he finds it? When he has found it
he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing.
And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors,
saying to them, rejoice with me for I have found my sheep which was lost! I tell you that in the same way, there will
be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine
righteous persons who need no repentance.”
