Hola from Equipo Gozo!

1 Corinthians 9:16
"Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!"

Today was an encouraging day spending time in fellowship around the city of Santo Domingo. We had the opportunity to go to Evelyn’s church today. She has been a great contact for us to have in Santo Domingo to help make the most of our time here. It was the same church we went to last year. We enjoyed singing in worship to “From the Inside Out” in Spanish and hearing an awesome message on Philippians 2:12-13 that encourages believers to “work out their salvation in fear and trembling.” He expounded on how God’s work inside us produces obedience.

After we returned from church we enjoyed lunch outside. One of Allison’s favorite parts of the trip so far has been taking adventures to the super market and buying food for our large group. We then spent the afternoon getting prepared for our Bible Study tomorrow on Luke 2:1-20. We have no idea what God will do with it but we trust that his word will not return void and will accomplish its purpose! (Isaiah 55:10-11) We are glad to have Leslie in our group to translate the gospel into Spanish, to continue to help them learn English while hearing the gospel!

For dinner we headed out into the city to find some dinner with Cole’s group and ended up at Wendy’s/Sbarro. On our walk to and back from dinner, God gave us more compassion for the people in Santo Domingo, and our hearts were broken by the sin we see in people’s lives. But praise the Lord! All of our experiences today as a group has given us some truly genuine times in prayer, and has helped us to grow together as a group in our love for God and our love for these people. Matt was able to share with us some of God’s provision for his group last year, which allowed us to be encouraged in the same way Moses encouraged Joshua in Deuteronomy 3:21-22 in which Moses said to Joshua, “21 And I commanded Joshua at that time, ‘Your eyes have seen all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. So will the Lord do to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing. 22 You shall not fear them, for it is the Lord your God who fights for you.’

Please pray for Edward and Jose Luis. They met missionaries that were down in the DR last week from the Gainesville, FL Church. Our group will be contacting them Monday to see if they would like to spend time with us during the week. We believed they are saved and hope God will raise them up as dedicated laborers of him.

As you go on with your Monday please pray for our first time on campus and our Bible Study. God is for sure moving in Santo Domingo. It is such a great privilege to be a part of!!!

Thanks for reading!

-Matt and Mitch