On the morning of Tuesday July 29th I woke up, packed my belongings, and said goodbye to my new friends at HOPE DR. It was a great month and and I am grateful for the time God allowed us to serve on that mountain. We hopped on a bus and headed for Santiago, DR. Upon arrival, our new mission was to begin setup and further planning for our 5-day squad debrief. Let me stop and say logistics has been a great tool that God has used in my life to transform me into the image of His son. After two bus rides and a ride with a lost taxi driver we arrived at our hostel. There were a few uncertainties on my mind. I was hoping and praying the location we chose would be suitable for what was scheduled to happen at debrief. Along with the rest of my squad, I had never had a debrief with the World Race, so it was all new to me and my logistics partner Kelsey. We hit the ground running. Thank God for allowing us to have our squad leaders there to help us figure out the major task we needed to accomplish. The main focus was lodging, food, and transportation set up for forty-eight people to arrive two days later in addition to, our three support staff coming in and staying at another location.
There are multiple moments God has come through and it’s only month one and our first debrief. Here is one of the stories of how God has provided not just for blessing us, but to further His Kingdom in all He calls us to do:
Once the basics were squared away we proceeded to go seek out a meeting space at our support staff’s hotel, since it was much larger and nicer. We walk up to the “Honors” desk at the hotel with one name to ask for, and that’s where God began to reveal His favor. This individual wrapped up what she was doing in her office to walk out and show two young missionaries around their glamorous hotel in search of meeting space, and visit the rooms that we booked for our support staff. While walking around she threw in complimentary breakfast each morning for three people that is $18.00 a plate. The staff was incredibly supportive and offered the lowest rates possible. We were blessed to have two rooms that run $150.00 each night at $71.00 per night. Although the meeting spaces were still out of our budget, they did not kick us out. Instead she showed us other secluded areas throughout the hotel that we could use for free.
We ended up using their business center for our team meetings, where they unexpectedly supplied all 51 of us with free coffee and water bottles. We have two nights left here at debrief, but last night we had worship and met outside the bar on a fifth-floor balcony overlooking the ocean. I could throw a rock and hit the water it was so close. As the group lifted up their voices in worship to God it was a privilege to take in the moment. Music from the outdoor pool area began to fade away, and I watched lightning on the distant ocean horizon from Tropical Storm Bertha rolling in. It was Beautiful! God revealed his provisions to us. Not only to bless us, but for encounters that followed.
As the coaches wrapped up the message they were sharing, a few others and myself noticed a man from the bar getting closer. Alcohol on his breath in a bit of drunkenness and a cigarette in the other hand. Three teammates greeted “Christian” immediately after worship, and by the time I walked over they were deep into conversation explaining to him how to receive Christ. He agreed with the truth and said he believed there is a God, but he did not know his name. It was a blessing to meet him and confirmed our purpose there. I noticed the irony in his name, “Christian,” but I see that as part of the story God is writing through Christian’s life. Please be praying for him that God will shake off the blinders of Satan, and make Himself known to him.
