WOW!
It’s time to play a game of catch up with yall and update you on my life! I’ve officially been in the Dominican Republic for over a month. Time does fly when you’re having so much fun. I’m so excited to share with you guys all of what the Lord has been doing in my life, but first, let’s talk about ministry and what my squad gets to do!
World Race Gap Year has teamed up with Mission Of Hope, a non-profit organization that fights for families’ physical and spiritual needs mainly in Haiti, The Dominican Republic, and the key west. We get the opportunity to live on base here in the DR which is such a blessing and is considered “boujee” to Gap D. Every week, Monday-Thursday our squad does “SMT” (Strategic ministry time). We split into our 5 teams and each group has one translator (we loveeee our translators!!). We walk around the city and go into communities that the local pastors are familiar with and minister to homeowners. That looks like either sitting in their homes (masked up of course) or standing on their front porch asking questions to get to know them and hear about what they’ve gone through. We get the opportunity to share with them about who Jesus is and pray powerful prayers over them and their families for healing and restoration. We get to sit and listen, which is something this world doesn’t do enough of. We’ve gone into hundreds of homes over the month and each of our teams leave with multiple stories each day. It has been an honor to hear about the struggles certain individuals and families have walked through and to see them still holding on to the Lord with so much trust. How crazy is it that these people we meet trust total strangers with such personal information? Their hearts are SO big and their hunger for the Lord is growing and it’s a privilege to help walk them through it.
Over the past month I’ve seen the Lord shift my perspective on the ministry we get to do here. It’s not only being their friend, or sharing the Gospel, but it is showing them what it looks like to live for Jesus. Something I’ve noticed is when we ask most of them if they have a relationship with the Lord they will almost always tell you, yes, but they live your typical “lukewarm” Christian life. They believe Jesus died for them so that they could live and have eternal life, but they don’t know Jesus on a personal level. Instead of seeing him as a Father or best friend and wanting to tell him all the things they only seek him when they need something. We get to share with them that he is so much more than a provider. He just wants to love them and squeeze them tight! He wants more than their best dressed on Sundays, he wants them every single day of the week. We get to be vulnerable and share our testimonies with them to show how the Lord has turned our lives around. For me personally, addiction has been my biggest struggle and I’ve been able to share my story with many people who are struggling with the same thing. I’ve been able to show them how the Lord has broken those chains, and I’ve been set free and redeemed!!!
Something else I’ve noticed in the Haitian culture is that they come to church dressed up, but those who don’t have nice clothes are scared to go because they won’t meet the church’s “standards”. Another common theme is that they believe they have to be perfect to have a relationship with God, they think “well if I just do these things then I can be a Christian”. As a society, why do we feel the need to present ourselves a certain way? Why do we think we have to have our crap together to be presentable to God? He wants our brokenness, he sees beauty in it. No one else can look at you, think you’re perfect, and accept you the way Jesus does. My heart hurts these Men and Women who live in fear because they believe they aren’t good enough for the Church and have a relationship with the Lord. Why do they limit their relationship with the Lord to if they go to church or not? The church isn’t just a building, it’s in your heart, it’s the people around you lifting you up. Ministry is much more than talking to people and asking how their day was, but it’s getting to remind them that they are a son and daughter of the highest king. They are WORTHY, SEEN, and HEARD! My prayer for the communities we come in and out of every day is that they truly live for the Lord, seek him, and want to experience all of the beautiful parts of a relationship with him. The Lord is moving here in the DR! There are so many testimonies and stories that can testify to that. As we wrap up our last 2 weeks of ministry, the Lord constantly reminds me of his goodness.
Wow, what an awesome life I get to live:)
THANKS, GOD!!!!
