Well, we made it to the DR… picking up basically right where
the teams that spent month one here left off in their ministry. It’s a little different for team Crash,
though. Our ministry contact, Pastor Manuel, had a team last month and they worked for his organization in the city but God has placed our team to bless his wife’s church over in Mongollon on the rural
outskirts of San Juan. It’s BEAUTIFUL
out there!
So far, this is what we know we’ll be doing: manual labor,
VBS and other activities with the children, door-to-door prayer visits and even
a couple days of hair-cutting, from what I’m told.
Yesterday, it was all about manual labor (which is where my
title comes into play). Pastor Manuel
and his wife wanted to remove the grass from about two-thirds of the church
yard (about a half-acre, maybe). Back in
the states, this is maybe a two-hour job with a tiller from Ace Hardware and
maybe a weed whacker. Here�”shovels and
hoes, man. 7 hours of manual labor
(ML). It was a chance to really grow
closer to our new friends there, though.
They graciously provided lunch for us and also a snack break with the
most delicious juice I’ve ever tasted.
Some kind of mixture of pineapple and coconut juices… AWESOME!
Today, we got the chance to visit and pray for numerous people in their village who were either sick or just needed some company. We speak through a translator, who repeats our prayers and everything we say in Spanish for us. I’m getting better by the day, though.
On a more serious note, God has placed us here with a very
clear purpose. Not only do we feel
called to, the community and the children as a team but I, in particular, feel
called to grow closer to Pastor Manuel.
He and his wife were recently married�”after he lost his eldest son and
first wife AND mother within a year and a half.
It seems that the relationship he has with his current wife is one strictly
based on their love for God. They make a
great team because they are both pastors and each have a strong calling to
their community ministry.
Please begin to pray for this man and this woman! They have hearts of gold�”the way Christ calls
our hearts to be.
We’ve been here less than a week and God has already shown
us several parts of His testimony. I’m
just thankful to be a part of it!
Internet will come sporadically but always during the day
since it’s not a very safe walk in the dark.
The house we’re staying at is like a palace compared to what we grew
used to in Haiti. A refrigerator? Mattresses?
Plumbing? What? It’s just a 10-minute walk to the market, so
we’re pretty much free to cook whatever we want to within our budget.
We all have a camera-ban for the first week of our ministry
here. It goes right along with my last
blog post about creating meaningful relationships first, so I’m actually very
comfortable with it. This is why there
is no picture with this post. I’ll be
sure to get some really good ones, though!
I miss you all and think of you often! Thanks for reading!
