We were greeted by an amazing family who the father is the pastor of the church we are to be working with. Hugs and smiles were passed around as we tried to communicate with each other. God definitely blessed us with this family as they have opened up their hearts and home and we invaded their lives We are sharing beds, have American toilets that we manually flush, a shower, a washer/dryer, free internet and the family serves us mouthwatering meals 3 times a day! But they have given us so much more than the material things…they treat us like we are their own children and care for our needs.
The first night we got here, we joined the family during their church service. Walking into the building we were welcomed by smiles of curiosity as 7 Americans strolled into their church! But soon the walls went away and we were all there to serve Jesus Christ! It was an honor to watch this community coming together and singing praise and worship songs…I didn’t need to know the language to know that this is a church that loves God. As people started coming in, they would kneel at their chairs and pray and prepare their hearts for the service.
When the music director started singing “Open the eyes of my heart Lord,” my heart sunk! Here I am singing this song in English as the congregation is singing in Spanish! Then we sang “Heart of Worship” the same way! I will never forget that moment. The Holy Spirit was there and we were one body!
Throughout the service men and women shared songs, scriptures and stories. I still had no idea what they were saying, our interpreter tried to give us an idea of what each person was talking about, but for the most part I just enjoyed sitting there and listening to these people’s heart. They were not holding back or afraid to share.
Tears rolled down my cheek as I realized that God is NOT the God of JUST America. He is here in Comendador, DR right now and after I leave this place. He is going to be in the 10 other countries I am going to visit and will be there after I leave! Together as God’s children we get the privileged to worship together.
Afterwards, everyone came to us and gave us God’s blessings of hugs and smiles. They had accepted us into their family! I will never forget that night…for I have never been in a service like that! It was a great way to start our month in the Dominnican Republic!
God is doing amazing things.
