We are coming towards the end of our tenure in the Dominican Republic. I have enjoyed so much the island experience and the Caribbean atmosphere. Experiencing their charismatic and incredibly hospitable people, merengue music, warm weather, rich history, beautiful beaches, intense traffic, and wonderful food has been a blessing. What an incredible experience it has been to be able to travel to 6 different locations in the DR. We have done ministry with children, evangelized with locals on the street, visited nursing homes, served countless youth services, shared from our hearts many times and overcome challenges.
One amazing part is that there hasn’t been pressure to do a perfect job preaching or sharing your testimony. Our leaders always remind us, all it takes is the courage to share and God can take care of the rest. They have allowed us to learn from our errors and figure out how sharing the gospel is best for us personally. This has been a true blessing to me to be able to share a word with people and get a feel for what evangelism and ministry feels and looks like. We had an incredible debrief day where we thought about our favorite experiences in ministry, our favorite hosts, foods, our most profound experience with God and enjoyed each other’s company. We were also able to honor the contacts and hosts that were so helpful and hospitable to us during our stay. I am so thankful to have met them and made new friends.
Although we are leaving, I am excited for what is ahead. We will be staying in the Mexican state Xoaxca for 10 days starting next Tuesday. This is still part of our outreach. This Mexican state is known for their large indigenous population, mountains, cold weather, and delicious food. This will be a new experience for me being among natives of Mexico.
One of my favorite experiences here at the end of tenure has been our host in the city of Nagua. She is single mother with two teenage daughters. She works everyday and is faithful in her devotion to God. I am in charge of the groceries and meals throughout the week. This just means scheduling and budgeting what we will have and who will cook on what days. When me and another one of my teammates Andrea went out with her, she didn’t complain about how long we took to shop and even wanted to help pay for our groceries. At the end, when we wanted to get fruit from local vendors, she took us to 3 different street vendors just so we could find the most ripe pineapples and seemed thrilled to do so. These kinds of acts of generosity and kindness remind me of how God gives hope and joy in any circumstance. I hope her and her family continue to experience God’s blessing.
Another amazing experience in Nagua was going with John to a local he had shared the gospel with the day before. We knocked on his door and without hesitation he asked us if we wanted to ride on the back of his motorbike to the beach. Our answer of course was yes! The three of us loaded up on his motorbike and had a cool ride to the beach. When we arrived, it was incredible as there was a dirt road that ran right along the ocean. The beach looks much different than in Horry County but was equally as beautiful. The waves and currents in this particular part were strong and choppy and we opted against swimming. We were able to look at the beautiful view and spend time with our new friend who had so much interest in Jesus. John had shared the gospel with him the day before and he told me and John that he had been reading different stories in the Bible since. I hope he continues to find life in scripture as I have many times. As we went to ride further down the beach, our friend realized his bike tire was going flat so he left us at the beach and zoomed off to get it fixed. After waiting for an hour or so for him to return we realized that his bike may have had a more serious issue and we made the hour long walk back home. Nagua is a safe city and so this walk was very pleasant and enjoyable. We drank coconut water and chatted as we went. It was then that I realized I loved the types of experiences that I get on missions and that I could see my self continuing in missions. Spending time with others around the world and sharing Jesus is something I get excited about.
I will dearly miss many people who have blessed us here in the Dominican with their generosity and compassion. I hope to return here one day. I am also excited about what could be next for me after Discipleship Training School. I am excited to see family, my beautiful girlfriend who I have missed so much, my church family, and return to South Carolina. There are possibilities of traveling to the DR in January with a friend for a short period of time for missions. I am excited about this possibility and am working out details for that to happen now.
I am also very keen on going to Puebla, Mexico where the other male on my outreach team lives to work with a ministries he is involved in called Grace ministries and another ministry called Kumbre. I have heard Puebla is quite amazing and am talking with him about details like cost, shelter, and the program. John has inspired me in many ways to step out in my faith and always reach for more. I am so thankful I got to do this outreach with him. Please be praying for these next steps in my walk with God and learning more about my calling as I step out into new horizons and see what more is out there for me.
Please be praying for us as we travel tomorrow back to Mexico. We have a long layover in Colombia and will get a chance to enjoy this country for a few hours as one of our leaders has a contact there and we will spend the night at his apartment. I am looking forward to travel but am sure we will be very tired. Please pray for alert and sharp minds. Thank you all friends and family for your continued support. Update you all soon
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