La Romana and El Batey

 

Being back in America for a short Christmas break and bringing in the New Year with Family and close friends was so nice. I’m so thankful for having been able to quality time with family members that I haven’t seen in months. I enjoyed other  things too, like a Chick-Fil-A, spending quality time with my girlfriend, and the South Carolina air. I felt something more than happiness while I was home. It was joy.

Now I’m back on the Mission Field and this time in La Romana, Dominican Republic. I’ve observed that the people here are also more than happy. I’ve been able to  experience a very different reality in the Dominican Republic, in a more rural province called La Romana. This province specializes in growing sugar.  Many people here do not even have the opportunity of formal education at all. The local elementary school is miles away by foot. Many have lived in a tough environment called a batey or sugar cane plantation for most of there lives. But if you ask them, everything is fine and they are happy. 

I am starting to believe that joy is choice. One example I can think of is when we met a mother who lives in  a small house with 8 family members and no running water made sure we didn’t leave without coffee. She was so hospitable and was so happy to take care of us in any way she could. It seemed like she was smiling the whole time. Where does that kind of joy and happiness come from when she doesn’t even have running water or the things that I so often overlook and take for granted? 

I believe that gratitude is the choice that leads to joy. Rather than meditating on everything one does not have, take every thought captive to obey Christ. We are human beings and to be is far better than to aimlessly wander in doing. As I continue to be here in the D.R. I ask that you continue to pray for our ministry and that the locals will continue to experience the joy of Christ’s presence. It is my hope that they will receive the mystery of the Gospel as the Holy Spirit provides the opportunities to share the story.   

May God continue to bring you joy in your life that surpasses all understanding, even happiness. 

Isaac

How have I changed?

 We are back at the base going through a time of debrief. This time is amazing because we are presented with questions such as what are three things I learned about myself? What are three things I learned about God? When we started doing this process I wasn’t sure about my answers but as we continued I really began to enjoy it and realize what I had learned and how my faith had grown. One thing I have learned is that not only a does God care about me but I am in his hand Isaiah 41:10. Another thing is that I knew that God was invested in my story but I didn’t know he was leading it. 

As I look back and reflect I realize that I had doubts about whether or not I was good at missions, who I was to God, my purpose and my calling. I am thankful to God for allowing me to finish this season in Mexico and move on to the next adventure. It has been incredible. I now realize the intimacy I have grown in and how God is in the details. 

I realize I have learned a lot about intimacy with others too, I have learned to live with a team, I have learned to love others who are different from me, and what I like most is that I have grown in boldness. I’m aware that my perspective has changed in a way that I am more bold. This is awesome. What I am most thankful for is the process as a whole. 

This week has also been fun in that we have had more free time and I have been playing basketball, soccer, volleyball, riding bikes, swimming, and spending time with others. We have a Christmas party tonight. I am very curious to see what that will look like as there are over 150 people on base. Thanks for reading!

Isaac

A Life Changing Experience

This past weekend we had the opportunity to go to a place that I will never forget. We made the long trek out to Santa Cruz Mitlatongo in Oaxaca, Mexico. This was a life changing experience as I found myself in a society different from anything I had seen before. We drove through the sierra (mountains) of Mexico 4 hours to reach out destination. I saw mountains like I have never seen as we wound up and down the roads. The view getting to Santa Cruz was bumpy but so incredible. Our contact Daniel, has been in contact with this village for a number of years and travels there bi-weekly. This being said, our presence was not an intrusion and the community was welcoming. 

To give you an idea of how isolated and far out this place is we had no cell service the entire time and you travel on dirt roads for over an hour before you arrive. The first day we arrived, we began inviting people to the medical brigade taking place the next day. We also invited people to the children’s, youth, and adult services that would be held after the brigade and in the following days. Daniel also wanted to extend invitations to the people of another, smaller village that is below Santa Cruz. This village only had 5 or 6 houses and was an incredible experience. The houses were built out of wood and the roofs were made out of dried palm branches. It was so interesting to see how these people were so resourceful. 

The next day a medical brigade from Oaxaca City, the capital of Oaxaca came. In there brigade were optometrists, dentists, family doctors, physical therapists, barbers, and more. Me and my friend Samuel were in charge of giving out the clothes. This was very upbeat and especially the children were eager for new clothes. It felt so good to be able to help organize the clothes so that the people of Santa Cruz could have what they need. 

We were extremely busy the entire time and 2 services every night after visiting with families during the day. I have a great time getting know families, listening to them, and translating into English. The services were also fantastic as I had the chance to share my testimony from different parts of my life. My leaders were very encouraging of me in sharing my testimony and seemed to enjoy it. This encouraged me so much I shared a different part of my testimony the following night. 

I think my favorite part of Santa Cruz Mitlatongo was being in a society so different from what I’m used to. Most of the people in the town do not work for money but tend their crops daily and keep their animals healthy. The people in the town trade amongst each other and a few of them own small shops. It was so cool to be in a place where the people know the land so well, grow crops, and are so resourceful. These kind of people are incredible in that even though they do not have much, they give out of what they have. 

We had to leave early from Santa Cruz Mitlatongo because of a conflict they were having with a neighboring village. Land is one of their most important assets and the village above them called Santiago Mitlatongo has been pushing down into their territory. On Monday, conflict started and two people from Santiago Mitlatongo were killed. Because of the danger, our team left a day early to come back to Tlaxiaco where we are currently. We travel to Mazatlan Saturday night and Sunday morning so please be praying for safe travels. Thank you friends and family for your continued support and see you all soon!

Isaac McDowell

Saying Bye to the Island

 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

Plans Have Changed

 Hello everyone! I know many are asking if I am safe in light of the recent events going on in Haiti. I am safe! Our team has decided not to travel to Haiti because of the kidnapping of the 15 missionaries. We will be staying in the Dominican Republic for an extra 2 weeks instead – which I am happy with. 

Right now we are in Santo Domingo. One of our team members has fallen ill and we believe she has dengue fever. This is something she will be able to recover from, but your prayers are still much appreciated. We have been working with different Compassion International centers, mostly having fun with children and sharing Bible stories with them. Moses and Joseph are two of my favorite stories from the Old Testament.  Their stories really capture my imagination as I visualize  Moses floating down the river in a basket and Joseph having a coat of many colors.

The kids love being with us, and I think they especially enjoy the games we play with them. I have been greatly impacted by sharing with the children because I realize how much I learned growing up. I also think about how I might be able to help the next generation with ideas like being open to God and what He has to say and obeying Him when He speaks. I really think it’s interesting how Jesus says that those who do not receive the kingdom of Heaven like a child won’t enter it. Kids are so open to learning and listening. At the time the Pharisees wouldn’t listen to Jesus and their hearts were hard. Jesus desired an attitude of that of a child. When with the children, I also like learning about their talents and hobbies and encouraging them to keep excelling in those areas of their lives.

Today we partnered with some workers from the Compassion center and had a medical brigade. Doctors and nurses consulted with children, parents, and teenagers and prescribed antibiotics, over the counter pain relievers, and vitamins. I filled orders in the pharmacy throughout the day. Although I enjoyed the medical brigade, I felt a little frustrated and brain dead when we took a lunch break.  I finally realized I had been reading the same words over and over again for hours as I filled the prescriptions. Haha!  I stopped taking it quite so seriously and we turned on some music - it made things much better during the afternoon!

We are tentatively leaving for Punta Cana on Wednesday and I would appreciate your prayers for safe travels and improved health for our friend and teammate,  Andrea. 

 

Thank you,

Isaac

The Dominican Republic

 We have been in the Dominican Republic for around a week and a half now. I have enjoyed the atmosphere of the Dominican. It’s very relaxed and all the people seem so happy. It’s funny, but I have especially enjoyed riding in the Ubers and taxis in the Dominican. The drivers always want to talk and since I am learning Spanish I always oblige.

 

I have been stepping of my comfort zone speaking Spanish. It’s fun and I figured the more I try to speak, the quicker I will learn. I’ve heard that the Dominican speaks the quickest among the Spanish speaking countries. I have also learned some cool words from the locals such as wawawa which means a gangster, popi which means rich person, and que lo que which is there “what’s up” hahaha. 

A woman who’s name I don’t know who attends church with our Dominican contact Raul has allowed us to stay in an apartment she owns in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican. This is our “mission base”. What’s really cool is that, we can leave our bulkier things in the apartment, close shop and go to other cities for ministry for 3-5 days.

 

So far we have done kids ministry in Santo Domingo and Santiago. Santo Domingo is an interesting city because even though it had the hustle and bustle of a capital city, it still feels small. It feels local and inviting. The weather is warm mostly around 80-85 degrees everyday.

Santo Domingo is along the Southern coast of the island and has amazing history behind the city. The Colonial zone has stunning old Spanish churches, an awesome museum, and some great shops and restaurants. One interesting fact is that the Dominican is actually the first place Columbus ever landed. The Dominican is a really diverse place and one of my favorite parts is how welcoming the people are.

 

One unexpected fact is that they eat a lot of salami in the Dominican. It’s one of their staple foods along with plantains. 

 

We have been involved with mostly kids ministry since we arrived. There is an organization called compassion here in the Dominican that works with kids during the weekdays and has activities for them, teaches about the Bible, and just lets them be kids and have fun. We have been patterning with them to do all kinds of fun things with the children. We play games, dance, sing songs, create art and crafts, tell stories, and share the love of Jesus. I will try I share some videos soon. 

 

We recently returned from the second largest city in the Dominican called Santiago. Santiago is not on the coast and is surrounded my mountains. I really enjoyed this trip as we stayed with a family friend of our contacts. They were so welcoming and made their home ours.

The patriarch of the family is a renowned cancer doctor in Santiago and him and his wife have 4 children ranging from around 30 to 10. The youngest child, O’Neil is what we call a wild child and has so much energy. He loves to talk and play. I enjoyed playing with him and laughing with him.

 

The matriarch of the family named Maribel was most involved with our team and has many connections to do ministry in the city. She was so kind to us and was also a lively soul who liked to laugh a lot. I hope to see her again someday. We stayed in Santiago 4 nights. During that time we got to visit a school and speak with teenagers which I enjoyed a lot. I feel like I can relate to them a lot.

I can remember being the same age as them and how I felt. Teenage years are awesome years of enjoying friends, sports, fighting with your parents, having your first girlfriend and many other exciting things. I prayed for them that they could continue to enjoy these things and not worry too much about the future. I prayed that they would know God is with them every step. This I also where I learned the cool words I previously mentioned. 

We also went to a compassion kids center in Santiago, but when we arrived all the kids were already gone. We ended up sharing who we were and why were there with the workers at the school. I got the opportunity to be the translator during this time which I enjoy. They also told us about themselves and how long they had been worming with the ministry. Staying at Maribel and her husbands house was a great experience of hospitality and the joy of God because they were so happy to host us the entire time. I really think they enjoyed it too. We returned in Santo Domingo for a couple of nights and are now in a less populated state called Monte Plata. We are helping to paint the playground at an orphanage today.

Please pray for healthy bodies and endurance as Monte Plata is hot and we are doing physical labor outdoors. Thank you so much 

Because of his love,

Isaac

From one Extreme to Another

I am on outreach! Last Thursday night around 8 we departed from Mazatlan for a 14-hour bus ride to Mexico City. Our Contact from a church in a city called Tlahuelilpan in the state of Hidalgo picked us up and drove us to his church where we are staying now.

Tlahuelilpan is actually a famous city but sadly because of the tragedy that has taken place there. A gas pipe exploded in Tlahuelilpan two years ago that killed 137 people. The Mexican government holds gasoline thieves who were tapping the pipeline responsible for the explosion. If you want to learn more search Tlahuelilpan explosion and you will find videos, articles, and more. Now, Tlahuelilpan is facing flooding as a result of the combination of heavy rain and bad maintenance of local city water pipes. Mostly residential areas were flooded but the damage was catastrophic. A local pastor was generous enough to invite us to stay at his house where he had a couple of rooms and a kitchen available on the bottom floor free of charge.

Locals and church members had donated clothes, food, diapers, soap and other necessities to the church for it to be given out to those most in need. When we arrived at the pastor’s house we organized all the donations so that they could be given out. The first day we headed out to a rural area where the flood had hit hardest.

We were met at the first house by a family of three generations. Don Isabel was the patriarch of the family and warmly greeted all of us. They gratefully accepted the food we had prepared in bags for them that mostly consisted of rice, beans and other canned foods. They were so grateful that they invited us back to their house for lunch on the following Tuesday. We continued our day of giving out food and clothes on Saturday and by the time we finished we were completely exhausted. Tlahuelilpan is at 6,500 feet and is much less humid than Mazatlan. I didn’t notice how much I was getting sunburned because of the dry air but by the end of the day my face was red as a lobster and exhausted. 

Sunday morning, we woke up and helped the church staff get ready for the service. The Sunday service starts around 12:30 and goes to 3. Their musicians and vocalists were very impressive and I enjoyed the music a lot. They played a lot of upbeat songs and many of the people were dancing and clapping. The pastor had also we requested that each of our team members share where they were from and a little bit about their testimony.

When we went on stage to do this, I was not prepared at all. Once the mic got to me, what I said surprised me. The girl before me shared that she had grown up in the church and always considered herself a Christian. I started off by saying the same thing but then shared that although Jesus has changed my life and made me a new creation that I have made many mistakes and went down the wrong path many times. I shared that each time God has been so merciful to me. He has been so merciful to allow me to learn from my mistakes throughout life. I shared that God has always reminded me that I am His and that He chose me. I told them how thankful I was to be in their country enjoying their culture. 

After the service, many of the families wanted us to pray for them. As I prayed for a family with children I found myself praying that this child, no older than four or five, would know that he has so much to look forward to in life and that God will be with him every step of the way. I hope that this meant a lot to the parents and that the kid can have some sort of understanding of what I was saying.

This was an awesome experience and after the service, we were fed delicious enchiladas with salsa and a corn soup called pozole. Corn is a very popular ingredient in many Mexican dishes and actually most of the time tortillas in Mexico are made with corn instead of flour. We have just made it to the Dominican Republic so please be praying for smooth transitions! 

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. 

Because he first loved us,

Isaac