Today was a joy!
Waking to the sound of birds singing and meeting for breakfast by the ocean, I relished in the fact that after meeting with Jody and Pearla, a missionary couple who have been here for 10 years, the same God is a work here in the DR. He is raising up pastors to shepherd the body here, just as Brad and Vanessa do so well at Mission of Hope in Haiti.
One if the men they work with is a dear friend from youth ministry days in Nashville. What a joy to reconnect with Brad on this new mission field, where he and his wife Brooke have invested the last 15 years with “Until They Know,” fighting corrupt orphanages and being put in jail for defending the rights of orphans and women who are trafficked, while raising up leaders for the church. It is so good to see his faith still vibrant and growing.
As we packed up for a day of adventure with this delightful team, the excitement was contagious! One of my favorite parts of our family trips is sitting by someone new on each bus ride. As we departed the hotel, I sat by Sheelu, my new friend who was raised in an orthodox Christian church. She told me how her faith had been so strong early in her life and even led her to seek out a “true believer” within her denomination to marry, which meant she waited much longer to marry than anyone else in her family and had to trust God’s perfect timing before He brought her husband to her in a most “unorthodox” way. We connected on how a house full of children can dull your spiritual disciplines and how Equipped Disciple brought them back to life. Now she is leading a group of ladies in her own home through Equipped Disciple 1.
After our visit, we had the best training I’ve received on a mission trip with Noah Joyner. He and his wife Steph and their 5 kiddos live here and train pastors. He taught us the “4-1-1 method” of sharing our faith, worked through the great commission in Matthew 28:18-20, shared discipleship from 2 Tim 2:2, and brilliantly guided us through 2 Cor 5:17-21, carefully spelling out how the Lord entrusted the gospel to us and committed to us the message of reconciliation. Our team ranges from ages 10 to 57, with every decade represented in between, and our teacher connected with everyone! We left his home equipped with a straightforward way to enter a home with a prayer of peace, share our story of faith in 15 seconds, and then explain the gospel in a simple illustration that quickly let us see where the person stood in their journey of faith. It was so encouraging to stop and practice every tool he gave us, while being reminded that “the best tool is the one you use.”
After we trained, we had lunch and headed to the villages. We met with Haitians whose families had come to work on sugar plantations -but when they were shut down, they were left with no jobs in a country that does not want them. After singing “Amazing Grace” in Creole and English and praying outside the small church in the center of the village, we went house-to-house, guided by our translators who work in this village. We sat with a blind man who lost his sight to diabetes, women washing their clothes by hand, an older couple shelling beans, a young girl who felt unaccepted by the Lord because she loves to dance… all ashamed to go to church because they were not “ready” to walk with Jesus. (This shame comes from the common belief by works-oriented churches who teach a false gospel…they believe they must have the right clothes or their life in order to come to fellowship.) It was a joy to share the hope that “there was a time when each of us were desperate, hopeless and broken but then made Jesus the King of our life and then became content, full of purpose and joy and whole.” Noah gave each of us a Bible in their language to leave with these new friends. We left sure that folks had heard the good news and would be followed up with by these pastors in their village.
The next few bus rides were spent hearing Chris’s story of redemption through re:generation, from a life of performing and achieving to escape the pain of his abusive childhood and broken marriage.
We were able to wash away the weariness of the day in the ocean and enjoy the sunset, while Austin unfolded the story of Mission of Hope in the DR. This was followed by a great dinner, relishing in stories of the joys and trials of raising “little women” along the path of faith back in Dallas. To close the day, John led us in more fun games we could use with the children we met, and we literally fell asleep listening to stories of how God had worked in and through us this day. Can’t wait for tomorrow!