The idea of 47 people living in one place for a month was quite a daunting thought after our first month in Puerto Rico, where we had been relatively spread out with no more than 3 teams working together at one ministry site. The reality of the whole Squad being back together was very exciting but there were no doubt concerns on how all of us would be able to get along living in such close quarters. All of our fears were quickly removed once we pulled up to our contacts house and saw a beautiful piece of property perched in the mountains of Lajas, Dominican Republic.
Ruben and Vicki Dominguez along with Junior, Josiah, Star, and Solimar (4 of their 8 kids) greeted us with warming smiles and hugs as soon as we stepped off the buses. Their other 4 kids Salina, Jonathan, Joseph, and Joshua are living in the States at this time. They are such a loving family with a heart for children and to see the Dominican people rise up and begin a personal relationship with Christ. They have an incredible vision of building an orphanage on their property as well as a retreat for pastors who are tired and burnt out to come and rejuvenate their souls. Vicki’s parents Arthur and Roslyn were also there for the first week or so and they imparted so much wisdom in us through devotionals during breakfast and dinner.
Our first few days were spent in orientation finding out what all we would be doing. I was amazed at how much preparation the family had put into setting up our ministries for the month. We have 7 teams so they had laid out a daily schedule for the month of what each team would be doing. It was all very overwhelming at first but we knew that the Lord would work in us no matter what we were doing. We were also in tents so that was an adventure in itself because it rained pretty frequently.
The daily schedule comprised of one team teaching english in Cien Fuegos, one team prayer walking in Santiago, one team teaching english at the house in Lajas, one team prayer walking in Lajas, one team doing work duty around the house such as laundry, cleaning the pool, cooking, and cleaning around the house, and lastly one team doing manual labor on the grounds of their property. It was all set up so that teams rotated through all of the tasks throughout the month. We had an off day spent at the beach and an off day spent hiking to some caves. On sundays some teams would go to the church in Santiago and the other teams would go to the church in Moca where we led worship and gave testimonies at both locations. We also held a children’s day at the church in Moca where each team planned various activities such as puppet shows/dances, games, songs, dramas, and bible stories. It was an incredible day spent with some wonderful children.
On our last weekend there, we held a ceremony on saturday where the kids that we had been teaching in Lajas could come and receive a certificate showing that they had completed introductory english. The kids were so excited and it was so fulfilling knowing that we had a small part in helping them learn a new language. On sunday we had a basketball tournament for all the locals around to come and play and Pastor Ruben gave a short devotion on how everyone should handle themselves in the correct way while playing. It was such a fun time for everyone there and first place even got trophies.
When our time had come to an end, it was very tough to leave that family. They had taken each one of us in as their own and showed so much love to us. Our team sort of adopted their 16 year old son Junior in as one of our teammates for the month and he was such a blessing to us as well. We even initiated him in with a customary “wet willy” lol. He was wise beyond his years and helped out our whole squad in a way that was incredible to witness. He is a natural born leader and i am excited to see how God moves in his life going forward.
God taught me so much during our time there and one thing in particular was how all of the work that we were doing would one day help the family see their vision become reality. We are called to continually plant seeds everywhere we go and so often our human minds want to immediately see the results come but the truth of it is that sometimes we will get to harvest the seeds and other times someone else will and thats the beauty of the Kingdom of God. I ask that you all join me in prayer that the Lord would continue to send the people and resources to this family so that they would be able to reach their dream.
