Hey guys! So I wanted to give an update on what our ministry looks like day to day here in the Dominican Republic. So basically we’re currently doing two different ministries throughout the week. We spend most days doing SMT and occasionally we’re able to go do construction. So SMT is basically evangelism, but it’s a bit different as well. When we go out for SMT we split into groups of 5 or 6 and walk around villages in the surrounding community. People here are always willing to talk, and typically are ready and willing to invite you into their home to talk for a while. The point of the ministry is to spread the love of Jesus. That basically means loving the people we come into contact with in whatever ways best loves them. Sometimes that just means prayer. Sometimes it’s sitting for hours on end with their kids and playing games in their yards. It’s funny because as I type this out I realize how wild it really sounds in a Stateside scenario, but it really is very very different here when it comes to social interaction. Kind of like Costa Rica, the Dominican and Haitian people are very relationship oriented. They ALWAYS have a stack of plastic chairs in their houses ready to be of service for any visitors. Granted, Americans aren’t their normal visitors, but they’re still ready. I have countless stories already from SMT and I’m going to do my best to share a few more of those as we continue to serve here, but for now I thought I’d leave you with a journal entry that I wrote one of the first days of SMT with some stories from the day. . .
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3/31/21
So our main ministry has been SMT which is basically door to door evangelism but way cooler and relationship based and really just going into town and meeting people and doing whatever we feel like the Lord leads us to do. Yesterday we hung out at a home that invited us in for basically the whole morning and we had a salvation which was amazing. In the afternoon we to to talk to this guy for a long time that believed in energies and several other strange “sources of life”. It was very interesting. We’re planning on meeting with him and his family again tomorrow to talk more with them about the gospel and creation. Today we got to our location, which was just a random spot on the side of the road, and the guys found a basketball court where a group of guys were playing pickup. We walked in a played against them with our pants and “nice shirts” required for ministry haha. Basically we told them that if we win they have to sit and listen to us, but if we lose they don’t have to at all. Well we ended up splitting it 1/1, but of course they just ended up spending the rest of the morning there getting to know them and playing more pickup. It was so cool seeing them slowly open up and be themselves rather than try to be the tough guys that they wanted to resemble. At the end of our time there we got to talk to them and EJ shared his testimony with one of the guys and it was so cool. The dude said he didn’t believe in the Lord, but he loved EJ so much and gave him his basketball, which is a really cool sign or respect here. After lunch we only had an hour so we were kind of hesitant, but we prayed and felt ready to hit the road. We got to a house that was excited to talk to us, which was a blessing. Let me just say quickly first that in the DR when someone is at your house, it’s custom for everyone to be present, and that’s just really cool in my opinion. Anyways, it was one guy and his girlfriend and his two cousins in the house. We got to talk to them for the whole hour, and it was so great. The Lord ended up working so clearly in their hearts, and they rededicated their lives to the Lord and decided to step into faith together. God is GOOD!
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Thanks for reading guys! I’m almost finished with a new video about our construction ministry, so I’m going to post that and a new blog in a few days!
Love you all!
