Archive for 03/20/13

The theme of this trip so far has been loudness. The minute we stepped off the airplane, people were talking and car horns were beeping. Loud music is usually blaring, sounds of construction can always be heard, and we got to hear people celebrate Dominican Republic winning the world baseball classic.

It was disappointing because half of our group got to the Dominican Republic first, while two of our members got here Saturday afternoon and Sara M, got here late Monday night/early Tuesday morning. But now, our entire group is here!

It has been a crazy trip so far! The first day we got here, after we tried catching up on sleep, went to the local beach to play volleyball and meet people. We had the opportunity to play volleyball with Dominican people and had opportunities to talk with people about Jesus. Then next day, on Sunday, we went to church with Evelyn and her daughter, Yonairy. It was really awesome because they sang parts of worship songs in English because they knew we were visiting. After church, we toured the University of Santo Domingo campus and then went to the beach to play more volleyball.

Since Monday, we have been going to the UASD campus everyday to tell people about Jesus and to teach English classes and we have had some really sweet conversations. Jon and Renee, who both speak broken Spanish, shared with a girl named Chanel, who only spoke Spanish! She read through the entire gospel tract out loud in Spanish. She answered the all the questions in the tract and was surprised by the answers. She was seemed genuinely interested in what the tract was saying and seems like she wants to know more. Renee and Sara Madison are going to meet up with her again. Kassie got to meet up with a girl named Diana, whom she met last year. She is a Christian and it was exciting to see her again to see how she has grown. These are only two of many stories that could be told so far!

Our English classes are going well and people have been coming! People have also been coming to Bible study, which is also exciting. God has been working here, so please keep praying.

Prayer requests:

Pray for Chanel and that she comes to know Christ
Pray for our conversations and that they would be would go well.
Pray that our group would be united.
Pray for the students we already talked to and that we could see and talk to them again.

Team Son

-Jon, Sara M., Renee, Mike, Sarah B., Kassie

Hello from Team Wood (Equipo Madera)!

We are having a wonderful time so far in the Dominican Republic. The days have been very hot and very full but we are thankful for all that the Lord has done! Instead of giving you an overview of what we have done, here are some highlights from our group members:

From Jon Heggestad: I was able to finish a conversation with a friend from the Dominican that I began last year. We had started talking last year about some questions that were really holding him back in his faith, but we weren’t able to really get anywhere before I had to leave. Being able to jump back into our conversation was a huge blessing for both of us.

From Dane Hopwood: This is my first time on the mission trip and it is a different experience than being back home in many, many different ways. I have been blessed to get to know a couple different people in our English class who have a big heart to know God and study his Word. It is very exciting to witness people accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and helping people get connected with different ways in which all of us can grow closer to God.

From Stephanie Brandstatt: I have loved being able to be a part of teaching an English class that our group is holding. The people in our class have such a desire to learn more about the English language and we have a lot of fun together. It is such a great way to get to know people better by getting to spend time with them each day. We also got to go to an orphanage today and spend a couple hours playing with the most wonderful and precious children. God has been so faithful to provide opportunities for our group to spend meaningful time with many different people!

Our other three members, Hillary, Rita, and Jason will write our next post! Thank you for praying for us!

P.S. What did one wall say to the other wall? Meet you at the corner!
P.P.S. We have included the super funny Laffy Taffy joke at the top because today in our English class I thought it would be a good idea to pass out Laffy Taffy to help us learn more about English idioms. The Dominicans were thoroughly confused by the jokes and probably have never eaten taffy before as most of them ended up with it all over the front of their teeth. It did not go exactly as planned but resulted in many laughs for us later!

Hello all!

This week our group has been incredibly encouraged by what the Lord is doing in the Dominican Republic. We went to our friend Evelyn's church and it was wonderful to see so many people in a foreign country who love the Lord and want to see us succeed in our mission to UASD (that is the name of the campus we are going to each day).

At the campus, we met a few Christians who said that they would translate for us and go sharing with us, which has been a blessing. That Sunday our group met two individuals who have gone sharing with us almost everyday since; these two brothers (we will call them R and K) love the Lord and are excited to be advancing the Lord's kingdom with us.

On Sunday, Michaeline, K, and Erin shared with a man and he became a Christian! What is even more encouraging is that right after this happen, he went with the group to go share with another person. It reminds me of Paul right after his conversion; he just went into town and started to preach.

Yesterday, Gavin was able to talk to someone about the gospel and he was encouraged by it because it included some very heavy questions. We are all very glad to have him in our group because he knows a lot about the Bible. Something that my group has also been encouraged by is that many of the Dominicans are excited to live alongside us. We have gone sharing with them and been having many meals together. Some of our favorite memories have been eating lunch or dinner with them; it is so awesome to be able to love God together.

Today R, Virginia, and I read the Bible with some individuals and saw some individuals from last year during that time. The Bible Study has been really amazing; many people have been coming to them and hearing the gospel. My group has been focusing a lot on Isaiah 55 which talks about how God's word always goes out fulfilling the purpose for which it was sent. Our prayers are that God would continue to unify our group through the Word and His love, that people would see our love and know that we are different, that we would able to encourage and raise up the Christians in the Dominican, and that La Vid would grow in faith, boldness, and love.

Group members: Matt, Gavin, Michaeline, Virginia, Erin, and Mel

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Update from "Team Son"

Update from "Equipo Madera"

Update from "Juistica Estrana"