Dominican Recap #1

I am sitting at my desk in my office at home and I am reading my journal entries from my latest trip to the Dominican Republic. I continue to marvel at how awesome the Lord really is. He continues to do exactly what He says He will do. He continues to meet me at the deepest point of my needs but has no desire to leave me there. He continues to push me further in following His leading. He continues to extend His loving grace and blessing upon my life and my family. He continues to show me that He is GOD.

Before I left on the trip, I read through John Piper's book, called Let The Nations Be Glad. It was once again, a beautiful reminder of why missions exists. In Piper's own words he states,

"Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Mission exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever."

Once I arrived back in the Dominican Republic, I fell immediately back in love with the country. This was my fourth visit and I am already looking forward to my return. We worked closely with Mercy and Julio DeRuiter who connected us with Pastor Manny and his work in the villages of Dos Hermanos and Monte Largo located in the San Pedro de Macoris region of the Dominican Republic. This is a different area than I had been in before but I really feel in love with the people of the villages and Pastor Manny's heart to plant churches in that area.



We spent several days working in the villages and had some time available to us to work on the church by putting in a new floor, painting the worship area, planting flowers and bushes around the church (so the villagers would understand that God's things are beautiful and need to be taken care of~ this was Pastor Manny's idea and I loved it) and then we were able to go and paint some of the houses that belonged to the men who worked and served in the church there. We also had the opportunity to lead a few backyard Bible studies in the schools and villages that we were at. Here is a clip of one of the villagers singing for us.



I will be sharing more over the next few days, and or weeks about our trip and all that the Lord has done in us, to us and through us. What an amazing journey the He has us all on and i am excited about what is around the corner.