the power of a new place and a new experience can put a significant dent into your perspective of the world. For me, this was a staple for me, moving around and seeing places because my dad was in the military. Missions have blown those years of moving around out of the water.
The Dominican Republic has been a constant battle ground of Spiritual Warfare, highs and lows, but ultimately God triumphing. We are in Lajas, a small town in the mountains of the D.R. Some things have been minor nuisances like bug bites, scrapes, and this new diet. Some things were just crazy and I didn’t understand. Day 1 in the D.R, I got sick from the only real American food we had so far, a hot dog. The next day was a work day and we helped build a bathroom for the ministry location. While working I drank 10 Nalgenes full of water (that is 10 Liters throughout the day by the way) and I still got dehydrated. I could not believe it. it was only just beginning though. Jobs I normally love to do I felt I did not want to. We had to counsel for a kids camp last week and I did not feel like doing it. It felt like I didn’t have anything to give after the few days of work and just feeling horrible. it honestly felt like Satan had my number.
While in a desperate time do devotion I was asking God for just a renewal of strength. I was praying hard to give me rest and refill my cup so I could pour out. Then, God clearly spoke to me. He told me not to worry, in my weakness…He is strong! God just blew me away in that moment. He has had my back the entire time I was here my weakness. Now that I realized this, my strength was found in him.
I went on the past week to counsel for an amazing group of teens. Our camp team (Dream Team) was such a blessing and it broke my heart to learn their stories of how they live back home. We got to offer them a sanctuary for a week from the hardships they lived everyday in the cities they lived in. My experience as a counselor shined through, but God ultimately was glorified when I figured out that he was the one providing the strength necessary to do so
The the next few weeks will be dedicated to teaching English to kids. I am doing devotions during this time and teaching scripture in English to kids. We will also be doing ministry on the basketball court. We will play basketball And share testimonies and the gospel after playing. This opportunity was so amazing and I thank God for giving me the talents I have to do so.
Thank you you everyone for being patient for the next blog. I have been trying to immerse myself into where I am at, so I just now am posting. I will have more post coming this week and I am excited to show you where God takes the ministry we are doing. I also want to thank my supporters who have given. I am about 4,500 from being fully funded which is outstanding. Thank you all. God bless and keep me and my team in your prayers. The spiritual warfare will not stop, we know this, so prayer is powerful and effective during our time on the field.
Pictures coming bing soon, having trouble uploading them. Friends have posted some to Facebook of our work. Check them out.
