Unfortunately internet has been a little short and far between but I’m safely in the Dominican Republic and actually in Santiago de los Caballeros for debrief until Thursday when we’ll leave and head up into the mountains for ministry. I definitely feel like I left a little of my heart in Puerto Rico with our awesome host Pastor Peter and the amazing church members who took us in as family. We had two awesome church members who cooked for us and made us amazing coffee, others let us use their washing machines to do laundry, others offered their hot showers, and others worked alongside us as we cleaned houses, painted churches, houses and fences, moved dirt, and scraped paint off ceilings. Thank you everyone for your prayers, I have been able to get lots of rest (except for travel day when I got about 30 minutes in 36 hours) and stay healthy.
I’ve been amazed at how God has really blessed me with such great people to live and work with. I have also seen His blessings in the small things. The other team leader Sabrina and I were invited by Pastor Peter to go to a monthly pastoral meeting and I very apprehensive but it turned out to be a huge blessing to not only learn from the pastors who attended but also see how they could help, minister, and serve each other. Another was when the pastor asked for volunteers to go to a Judo class. The class is led by one of the church members and I was sorely tempted to stay at the church since it was the day we were leaving and get other stuff done but the 6 of us who went were truly blessed by the students who attended the class. We were able to share a few songs, some words of encouragement, and then even pray for them. Are there little opportunities that God is providing in your day to day life? I encourage you to take the time, whatever that looks like, and in turn God will truly bless you.
The two teams that worked together in Arecibo, team Fire Starters and team Salmo 45:11
The church, Iglesia Viva where we lived and did ministry at and from for the 3 weeks
Single mom Ginet and her son’s house which was one of our ministries, we helped clean up around the house, painted, de-bushed and de-treed with machetes, tackled the forest that was their back yard etc.
Our AMAZING host pastor Peter
View from “El Moro”
El Moro (a castle in San Juan used during the reign of the Spanish to defend the island)
Ana and I at El Moro enjoying the sunshine and getting to explore
The mural that one of the girls from team Fire Starters drew for the church. The door on the right that’s open leads into the room where we slept, at the back of the church
