Keely, Charlie, Kodee, Jason, Jon, Michaeline

Hola! Today was a very exciting day (especially since it didn’t rain!). It was our first full day on the campus and our first day of English classes.

We arrived on campus around 11am and then split into smaller groups to talk to the students. Kodee, who went on the trip last year, went to the place where she met students the year before. While there she saw many people whom she had befriended the year prior. It was super exciting to see them and to talk with them. God is so faithful with people. Kodee was specifically praying she would meet six people from the year before (prayer answered). Also, God was faithful with chances to continue to share truth with them and show them the love of Christ!

After lunch, our group prepared for English club. We had a class of about 8 students, all of whom spoke English well. We taught them some idioms and then dove into the Bible and read the story of Jesus’ birth. It started late, but went extremely well. Many of them stayed later and hung out with us for a bit. The class was a great way to serve and love them and we are thrilled to get to know them better and teach them about Christ! Please pray for soft hearts and open ears!

After our English class, we continued to walk around the campus and talk with students. Evelyn’s daughter Saskia joined Jon and Michaeline for a conversation with another student, Hansel. Hansel (so hot right now!) spoke only Spanish, but with Saskia’s help, and God’s perfect timing we had a great conversation. Hansel was challenged by our message and expressed a desire to know Christ in a personal way. Pray that Truth takes root in his heart and pray that we can meet with Hansel again. Pray that he desires to follow the Lord with his life.

Please be praying for Cristina, Jessica, Yicel, Angel, Nelson, Jamie, Akeem, and Javier. Ask that God would lead us to people with soft hearts and give us a boldness and a great confidence to share truth in love.

Dios bendiga!

Los Liones Valientes: Ben, Caleb, Jeff, Liz, Erin, Elizabeth

Each day we have been in the Dominican God has surprised us with interesting and amazing situations. It was our first full day trying to be on campus sharing and our first time teaching the English clubs. Yesterday we talked a lot about our vision for the trip and how we thought it made sense to share with a lot of people but to try our best especially to build relationships with a few that we could talk to and hang out with throughout the week. We didn't know exactly how this would be possible especially since our Spanish skills were pretty rusty, but God gives so much grace! We were able to talk to lots of people in the square at the university with the help of our friends who translated for us. The overall spiritual climate is that people believe in God and heaven and hell and they say they know Jesus but they don't want to give their lives to him. It is hard enough to explain how to have a relationship with Jesus Christ apart from our works in English let alone Spanish but everyone we talked to was very patient and we are so thankful for the tracts that are in Spanish.

The best part of the day was the English Club. We teach an intermediate class and six students showed up to learn. All of the them were so intelligent, sweet, and eager to learn. This made our job so much easier and they knew a lot of English so we didn't even have to translate! The lesson is only supposed to be an hour but we got to stay in our group for two hours playing games and talking. Sometimes they knew more about English than we did! This group made it so much easier to build relationships and because they came to us it changed the whole atmosphere.

We are so excited for tomorrow! Everywhere we went today God gave us so many opportunities to talk to people. We met a man from the US at Burger King who is a Christian and was really excited about what we were doing, we talked to a man who was riding his moped and got hit by a truck, a man who stopped us on the street and started sharing with us in English and so many more people. It is so great to continue to see God's faithfulness and how it really is Him going before us and working and setting things up for us.

To end the night we went to El Supermercado and got some treats. We didn't eat lunch until 5 so we weren't very hungry but we got some fruit and pop that we had never seen. The mangoes here are amazing and half of our group didn't know that Grapples could be bought in the US...we laughed a lot. It didn't rain today which was a huge answer to prayer and it enabled us to talk to more people. God is so good!

¡Hola! God has been doing some amazing things down here. Yesterday, we went to the plaza and shared the gospel with people. Allie and Isaac were able to meet and invite people to our English class today. They met a man who encouraged them to continue to share their faith boldly. Adam, Randy, and Michelle were able to plant many seeds with people throughout the plaza. They were encouraged by a man whose life had been drastically changed by Jesus Christ. Then, Randy and Adam got to play basketball and share the gospel with a few high school boys.

Today, we started the day by worshiping with the entire group at the hostel. We spent the rest of the day on the university campus. Randy, Allie, and Michelle struggled with some language barriers today, but were able to clearly communicate the gospel with a few people. God’s grace was evident throughout the day.

Isaac and Adam had a great day sharing the Gospel. Before lunch a man named Ivan prayed to receive Christ and they have plans to meet with him later in the week. After the English class they went over to the basketball courts and were able to share the Gospel with a few more people. One man said he was not sure if he was ready to receive Christ, but would give it some serious thought tonight. They also had another encouraging conversation with a man who was already a Christian.

Our first day teaching English class was great. We had seven students, and they all seemed to enjoy the class. Now that we know how the classroom is set up, planning for tomorrow’s class should be much easier.

Thank you for the continued prayers!

God Bless

Hello! Our team consists of Cole and Dayna Meyers, Lans and Melissa Martin, Kendall Schroll, and Megan Lyon. Our group's adventure began with some interesting travel experiences, but the Lord came through, and we all made it to the DR with our luggage!

On Saturday, we walked to the university to become familiar with campus and where we would be teaching English. As we were walking, we met a professor of English. The Lord conveniently provided a sudden downpour, and we were forced into his classroom where we had a conversation about Jesus. It seemed like he was very interested in some of the things we had to say. It seems as though many Dominicans believe in God, but very few actually have a relationship with him. We were able to explain the difference between simply believing in God and asking God to save you through Jesus Christ. So, please pray for Antonio - that he would ask Jesus to save him from his sins.

Today (Monday), was the first day of our English classes. We were expecting that things would not go according to plan, so things went pretty much as expected. :) God gave us a lot of grace and just in time, he provided a classroom with a marker board AND markers! Many students came and seemed to have a good time. We shared the story of Jesus' birth, and then split into different groups to provide an opportunity for the students to practice their English by talking about the Bible passage. They heard the gospel, had a good time, and want to come back!

Please pray for these things:

1) That we would be faithful in keeping up with all of our contacts throughout the week
2) That many people would realize the difference between BELIEVING in God and KNOWING God.
3) That our group would be able to lead at least one person to Christ every day
4) For boldness and grace - we are all dependent on God to carry out his mission.

Thank you for your prayers - they make the difference.

-Team Equipo

Keely, Charlie, Kodee, Jason, Jon, Michaeline

On Friday, we departed from Walnut Creek Community church at 6:30am. Praise God for safe travels—despite a few delays, everyone arrived safely in the Dominican Republic by Sunday. On the way, Charlie and Keely stayed the night in New York City, where their taxi driver prayed to receive Christ.

Saturday was a quiet day as more teams arrived in the Dominican. We enjoyed one another’s company and ate dinner at a traditional restaurant.

On Sunday, we visited Evelyn’s church for an encouraging worship and message. We spent the afternoon outside nearby a cathedral and shopping area talking to people. God blessed many conversations and gave us grace though people’s willingness to talk.

We met a few Christians—pray that they are encouraged and growing in the Lord. Pray that Frank and Victor are encouraged and keep heaven in mind—even through daily struggles and suffering.

Pray for soft hearts; pray that Truth soaks into hearts and changes lives. Pray specifically for Oscar, Richard, Ezekiel, Alberto, Brady, Victor, Alphoce and Moises. Pray that Victor continues to pursue Truth and asks questions about eternity.

Our prayer for God to put people soft to the gospel in front of us has been answered. During our time in El Cande while speaking with people in the square we were rained out and ended up huddling around parts of the city square to stay dry. There was a middle-aged man that was lingering around us. Finally he was right next to us, and it was as though we had to speak with him. When we asked him if when he died he thought he would be in heaven or hell, he said he didn’t know, but wanted to. After hearing the gospel, he repeated it back in entirety and immediately wanted to go to church. God is so good, pray for Moises. Pray that we can contact him and continue to build a relationship. Pray that the Lord continues to soften their hearts and open their eyes to understand God’s unconditional love.

Today we will begin our English clubs and spend more time on the University campus.

Sam, Jon, Terry, Elena, Jessika, Emily, and Mel

Today we were able to go to a local Church which was such an encouragement and blessing for us all. They talked about Philippians 2:12-13 which was wonderful! After we had lunch, we prepared our English lessons for the classes we will be teaching tomorrow. We will be teaching the advanced English speakers which is a blessing because this will allow for more conversation about the Lord with them.

After dinner, we went sharing by the beach. We were able to have many good conversations; we prayed for a translator and the next person we met was Frank, who told us he was a Christian and that he spoke English. Praise God for his perfect timing! Frank translated for us for while we talked to a group of students. He wants to meet with us again this week and offered to walk around campus with us. That same night, we were able to hand out many tracks to people walking by.

Please pray for our English classes tomorrow. Also, praise God because Emily and Jon got to meet their good friend from last year who wants to walk around the campus with us this week.

This morning we joined Evelyn (our host) at her church where we experienced a great bi-lingual service. It was a great time and real encouragement before we headed out to the Plaza to go share the gospel later that afternoon. Once we got to the Plaza we broke up in to groups of two. It was at first nerve racking, but God’s grace was shown to us by providing great conversations for all the groups.

One example of this was a conversation that Andrea and Josh had with a man named Orlando. He seemed to have a very soft heart and indicated some interest in placing his faith in Christ. The only problem was that he didn’t speak a word of English! However, God’s grace was evident in how they were able to communicate the gospel to him in the first place. Furthermore, they were able to bring a fluent Spanish speaker from another group over to help with a few questions he had and present him a Bible. Be praying for Orlando that he would make the decision to follow Jesus.

Once again sharing was cut a little short due to another tropical down pour! This time we were fortunate to find some cover before we got drenched! (Most of us) We then met up with the other two groups staying at the apartments.

When we got back we made a great dinner and told stories from the day, laughed, enjoyed fellowship with one another, and were joined by a local that another group met. Tomorrow the English classes start at the University and hopefully we will meet some students who speak some English and catch up with friends from last year. Be praying both for the classes and the groups going around sharing across campus. Pray For: 1) Soft hearts 2) That the gospel would be understood clearly. 3) SALVATION!!! That people would recognize their sin and would put their faith and trust in Christ to find forgiveness!

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

Great news: SCOTT NILIUS HAS ARRIVED. Team Ultra Spiritual Ambassadors is finally whole.

This morning we attended a local church and were very encouraged by the Christians there and the message. They even had translators for us! The rest of the afternoon groups split up to put together materials for tomorrow. We are in charge of a booth to inform students about the English classes. To draw people in, we are holding a drawing to win an iPod! The booth will also challenge students with an interesting question: What are 2 things God cannot do? He cannot punish the righteous nor let the wicked go free. Their answers to this question will lead into meaningful conversations about the Gospel.

After prepping for the booth, we were hoping to go share the Gospel at the University. But, it was pouring out! We stayed in and 2 Dominican women that we met last year came over. They took Nicole, Ellie, and Shaly to a Chinese restaurant to order food to bring back for about 15 people... but Shaly over-ordered... and fed the 5,000! It was delicious! And it was a great opportunity to hang out and love the 2 women.

Tomorrow we will worship in the morning and then head to set up the booth at the University. We will spend our day there engaging people in conversations! Please be praying that people will be curious, want to talk, and to have interest in learning more about the Lord through our Bible studies. We are excited to get to know more students and to see how God leads us!

Yesterday, our group arrived safely in Santo Domingo. After our arrival we went to campus praying that God would have us meet some of our friends from last year. Within 15 minutes of being on campus we met up with a friend from last year, how amazing is our God! This morning we went to an extremely encouraging and convicting church service at Iglesia Bautista Internacional. Though it has rained the last couple evenings, God has really provided us with great attitudes and lots of fun. Tomorrow we will begin teaching English classes to students at the university and having a cornucopia of fun talking to the Dominicans. Please pray for grace with the language, divine appointments, continued relationships and continued good attitudes. BOUNTIFUL PRAISES!

El groupo Lechuga Tortuga
(Collin, Philip, Jessica, Meredith, Amber, and Laura)

Los Liones Valientes: Ben Van Walbeek, Caleb Davis, Jeff Olson, Liz VanderSchel, Erin VanderSchel, Elizabeth Bourland

For the Bold Lions it started out just like any other day. We woke up and had breakfast, welcomed our leader Ben to the Dominican since his flights were delayed, read our Bibles and got ready. We were able to visit a church in Santo Domingo that our friend Evelyn attends. It was unbelievable and opened our eyes to how vast and powerful God really is—that so far away people are worshipping and know the same God we do. The message the pastor gave was very encouraging as well and it was the perfect beginning to our week. He spoke on living out our salvation in reverence and how it fits into the process of sanctification. God not only has offered himself as a sacrifice for our sin, saved us and given us the Holy Spirit, but he also wants to cleanse us from ourselves. We tend to think that this is all from our own works, but really even the sanctification and becoming more like Christ is all dependent on God. He gives us the desire to obey and do what he asks because it’s what’s best for us. It’s easy going into the mission trip thinking that I have to do all these things God asks and it’s all on my shoulders. But EVERYTHING is from the Lord and our motivation must come from doing things understanding that he gives us the strength and that he has done so much more for us than we can ever do for him. Basically it was great. It was also wonderful to sing in a different language knowing that God is pleased no matter what language we praise him.

After church we came back, ate and prepared for the English classes. We still had some time before dinner so we decided to go down to the beach or la playa. There were people everywhere. We split into two groups of three and went out to talk to people about Jesus. Not a lot of people we talked to spoke English so we mostly handed out and went through tracts with people. As we were walking around, the wind began to pick up and the dark clouds started rolling in. You can only imagine what happened next…torrential downpour. We were soaked within seconds but we decided to go under a shelter with a few other people. A man next to us began to dance with Elizabeth and we talked to him for a while. He was a television cameraman (at least we think he was, he couldn’t speak any English) and he was very excited when we gave him a tract. After it had been raining for a few minutes we decided to run. After about five minutes of running we rested next to a wall, totally drenched. At this point none of us cared if we continued to get wet because we were soaked. So we walked back to the hostel and upon arrival, there was a lot of joy and laughing and pity. But we couldn’t stop talking about how it was the best experience of the whole trip. The streets were flooded and it seemed like a river was flowing so fast that you could get swept up in the current. But we didn’t get hurt and it was really fun and it was a great bonding experience. We ended up being the only group that got to go out sharing that day and it was definitely worth it.