Update

God is revealing himself in the DR in ways I never could have anticipated. I've honestly been avoiding this blog and have been volunteering every other member in the group to write it each day for fear of diluting the mighty things He's done. Sharing the gospel in the DR is a wonderfully encouraging experience because of the people's willingness and even eagerness to sit and listen to you talk about Christ--for hours even. I have never been turned down or ignored. It's mind blowing, coming from a culture where simply making instantaneous eye contact with a stranger is painful for most.

I was stoked to be back on campus yesterday to share Jesus with the students after the riots prevented us on Wednesday. I had the opportunity to share the message of salvation with many students before bible study on campus, and many of the people I met were interested in joining the study. After Ashlie and I shared with a few groups of people, I asked God to provide a Dominican translator so I could dive deeper into the Gospel. Israel is our only Spanish speaker in the group. I am only able to get through the Gospel using Way of the Master in a very basic fashion and carry on simple conversations. At that time I saw Andy and decided to go chat with him for a minute. Andy had Estevan with him (a Christian Dominican who has devoted a lot of his time to translating for us). It turned out that Andy's group needed to leave that moment to go teach one of the English classes which freed up Estevan to come translate with me. Really God? This gave me the opportunity to share many more analogies, examples, and parts of my testimony to help get across the reality of eternity. What's even more strange to me is that I've had 5-6 Dominicans tell me my Spanish is good and my pronunciation even better. This is just whack, but praise God for bridging communication gaps! I make no boast in this.

Because fellowship is basically nonexistent for these students, the idea of us leaving tonight is breaking their hearts and ours. Please pray that fellowship on campus would grow and that they would be one in Spirit and purpose. Also pray that we would return to Des Moines ready to blast the city with the love of Christ, maintaining our current pace. In the words of Herschel, "We know too much to kill time." I appreciate your prayers and support. I'm excited to tell you all more about how God is pursuing people, renewing my mind, and reviving my heart.

Kayla (Heavenly Realm Gangstas)