This post is written at the end of four long days of sharing the gospel. While the heat can be exhausting, God has used that to refine us and help us to lean on Him as we share the "secret" of eternal life with dozens of students, day after day. It has been humbling to see how open the Dominicans are to listening to the gospel message. The gospel is indeed written on their hearts. Most of the people that we talk to believe in God and understand that Jesus has died for their sins. That might cause you to ask, "Why are we sending people to the Dominican Republic? Wouldn't it be more effective if we sent people where the gospel has never gone before?" But the fact is, most of the people that we talk to, although they believe in God, are not sure of their eternal salvation. They are not sure where they will go when they die and they are not aware that the Bible tells them they can know for sure. It must be explained to them, just as to someone who has never heard the name of Jesus, that JesuChristo is the only way to get to heaven. That if they have Jesus in their hearts, then when God looks at them, He sees the perfect life of His Son. This is a truth that can be hard to accept for many Dominicans for they feel that they must do something to earn their salvation. Although Jesus is a free gift, some are not ready to accept Him because it's ingrained in their minds that must live a good life in order to be acceptable to God. Many understand that they are sinners but don't understand that there is nothing they have to do before they can "walk across the bridge" of the cross to God, who is waiting on the other side with open arms. Please pray for those who are thinking about this big decision in their life right now and are not sure if they are ready to follow God; pray also that God would help them see that Jesus died for sinners and that God uses broken people.

Here is one encouraging story that happened today: a brother met "Alexander," and proceeded to share the gospel with him. He was very receptive of it and truly did believe that Jesus was the way, the truth and the life but revealed that his walk was stunted because there was no one to build into him. It was encouraging to be able to offer him the solution: La Vid. He was very excited about the opportunity to have other believers build into him. Unfortunately he was busy today, but he said he would check it out tomorrow. We were able to give him "Primeros Pasos," a Bible study for new believers, and a Bible, as well. We also told him that if he really wanted to grow in his faith he needed to belong to a family of believers that could strengthen him in his walk. Please pray that he would come to La Vid tomorrow and get plugged into a discipling relationship that would help him run hard for the Lord.

Thank you for your constant prayer and unwavering support for the work that God is doing in the Dominican Republic.

Love,
Team Nathan

As our week in Santo Domingo is coming to a close, we are beyond excited to share a few of the wonderful things God has done while we've been here. By the grace of God, our group has witnessed multiple people pray to receive Christ each day on campus. It has been a continual prayer that we would lead them beyond just a basic understanding of the Gospel and teach them how to study the Bible, the importance of fellowship with other believers, and how they can share the Gospel with others on campus.

A young man who accepted Christ on Tuesday returned on Wednesday to work through the first chapter of Primero Pasos. Another young man who we believe to be a Christian attended La Vid on Tuesday- the campus ministry. The message shared the importance of making time for God and being in the Word daily. He was really encouraged by that and has shared with us what he read each day when he meets with us. Two of us shared with a young woman who attends Church but wasn't sure if she would go to Heaven. After reading through the tract, she prayed to receive Christ. As we were collecting contact information so she could start reading her Bible with the women of La Vid, she shared with us how excited she was to share the tract with her friend she was meeting for lunch.

Although these are just a few examples of the amazing things The Lord is doing this week, it is so clear that He is at work here on this campus and in this city.

We begin each day as a whole for a time of prayer, worship, encouragement, and hashtags. It has been so refreshing to bring glory to God with our Nebraska brothers and sisters at our sides. We are beyond thankful for our time with them and encouraged by their personal testimonies of how The Lord has changed their lives and all that He is doing at Candlewood.

We are so thankful for your prayers and ask that you continue to pray for us!

Please pray for:
- continued strength - that we would keep going hard for the gospel despite the week coming to an end
- our health - we would stay hydrated, safe from injury and protected from illness
- wisdom and discernment - who we should invest our time in in order to make the greatest impact for the Kingdom
- our Friday Night Fiesta - many of our friends would show up so we can celebrate this week and connect them with the local laborers
- travel mercies - start praying now that we would have no issues traveling, that we would be safe, and they we would stay mission-minded and alert to opportunities to share the Gospel

In Christ,
#wedonthaveateamname (Terry Amann, Jeremy Lukehart, Megan Lyon, Julia Merkel, and Samanthya Amann)

Hola from the Dominican!

We are excited to write to you about how God has been working in and through His people! We began our adventure with three flights and an overnight in the airport. It’s a rush to be on such a great adventure and reminded me of how we often seek adventure because of the great hunger in our soul. We search to fill the great need for something more. This great need is why we have come to the Dominican – to share with others the great God who fills that need.

As we flew we could see land for many miles and I thought of a great God that has removed our sins as far as the east is from the west and whose praise will come from every nation and tongue. As we began to venture in the Dominican we have faced the risk of the unknown and counted the cost as worth it. Psalm 105:4 Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually. Though we have only been here a few days we have known our great need for salvation as well as His daily presence. We continually need His guidance, strength, and grace.

On Sunday we made our way to a camp to visit a church in San Pedro. We enjoyed the fellowship with dear brothers and sisters. It is a sweet blessing to worship in more than one language and to know that language is not a barrier to the praise of God. The pastor spoke about humility and reminded us that it will take daily perseverance to stay humble. We are who we are by the grace of God alone--not by human ability. Humility requires dependence and allows God to be at work as His power is perfected in weakness. The pastor prayed stating, “We do not have to impress you because you know us.” God intimately knows each of us and wants to help us live in victory each day. This reminder of humility set the stage for our trips to the university this week. We know that God is at work and desire for people to see more of Him than of us.

During the first two days on campus, our team joined up with a team from the Omaha/Lincoln church. We have enjoyed getting to know them and seeing God work through them as well. We start our days with prayer and worship, and then head to the campus to share the great news that God sent His Son to die for us so that we may know Him.

Just as our abilities to speak Spanish varies so do the abilities of the Dominicans to speak English. We trust that God uses our attempts to bridge the language barrier when the conversation seems full of confusion. Our hope is for people to come to know Jesus as their personal savior, to understand what it means to live for Him, and to get plugged in with the group that meets on campus throughout the year. It is fun to have people want to talk to us because we are white “gringos” but we truly desire that they stay for God.

On Monday we made many friends and were able to have a few lengthy conversations. A few of the guys in the group were able to meet with someone to talk about the validity of the Bible and what it is. We saw one person come to accept and put their trust in Jesus to be their personal Lord and Savior! Our time sharing was refreshing despite our growing thirst due to the heat. As we walked toward the building of languages to meet for Bible study a group of girls invited a few people from our team into their classroom. It was a class of students that were waiting for their teacher to arrive so they invited us to come and speak with them. We were able to share the gospel and talk about specific questions. One student was joking with us and then decided to ask a question about being close to God. While the rest of the group continued to share with the classroom I was able to step outside and talk with this girl about how her life had changed and she did not feel close to the Lord anymore. The things she once knew had encouraged her she did not feel like doing anymore. We talked for a few minutes before she had to leave but then were able to meet up with us for dinner and more conversation afterwards. She continues to share her life with us and we hope to have more conversations. It is a great reminder as we translate from English to Spanish of the simplicity of faith. One person simply stated, “You are a follower of Jesus, that is a Christian.” It is such a simple reminded of a wonderful truth.

Tuesday we headed to the campus again and spent more time sharing. Multiple people from the group shared that they had been encouraged by the depth of the conversation that they had been able to have. For example, I spent a few hours reading a book with a girl about the first steps you take or need to know when you first become a Christian. She had so many insightful answers as we talked through the questions and wonderful questions that we were about to answer with God’s word.

God’s grace is incredible and goes beyond our insecurities or failures. As a group we have been reminded that we do not need to measure our own success because we know that God is at work bringing about His purpose and plan. Even when our plans appear to fail, God’s are not weakened. We are not what we do or what we have--even if we have a lot. In a land that knows poverty, we have learned of the riches of God.

Continue to pray that we have the humility to depend on God’s Spirit to guide us and to be tender to His conviction. Pray that our group would have unity, as ‘they will know that we are Christians by our love’. We pray that you are aware of the adventure that God is leading you on even as you continue in the mundane. Praying you are encouraged.

Erin, Emmie, Devon, Kaden, and Zach