Dominican Republic Missions Trip Day 6 :: 816/16

Monday

We awoke this morning to a beautiful day.  When we went down to the river for breakfast, we discovered that they had provided a breakfast buffet for all the guests.  We normally order from the menu, but since the weekend is much busier, they had an enormous selection of food available on several tables.  Scrambled eggs sprinkled with cheese and bacon, fried ham, mashed potatoes, fried cheese covered in tomato sauce, several kinds of cereal and yogurt and fresh squeezed pineapple and orange juice.  And coffee.  Wow.  And it is all you can eat.  I remembered some of the missions trips I have taken in the past where I came home starved to death, and was so grateful for a nice place to sleep and good food.  Brother Lane joined us for our breakfast, and then we headed out to give him a hand at the camp.  He needed to knock down some forms for the concrete porch on the mission house, so we all jumped in and helped with that. Then we helped stack up some lumber in the shed to keep the locals from stealing it.  He has to spray paint his name on everything he buys to keep people from stealing it.

After we finished that, he took us on an exploration of the local hardware stores and lumber yards so we could see where he buys his material.  That was very interesting to say the least.  The tool selection, and materials that are available was pretty neat to see.  Brother Lane always has several church building projects going on simultaneously so construction is a big part of his time and effort.

After we left there, we met Sister Lane and some of the kids they’ve “adopted” at a local pizza place.  The restaurants here are clean and the service is great.  The Dominican people are very friendly and we enjoyed meeting so many of the towns people that the Lanes have established relationships with down through the years.

We spent a few hours in the afternoon packing and getting everything ready for our trip back home on Tuesday.  For supper, the Lanes took us up the mountain to a really nice restaurant overlooking the city.  

We enjoyed a nice meal and they expressed to us how grateful they were that we got to come see where they have been serving since 1989.  They thanked us for taking the time to come see them and asked us to please have the church pray for them and the churches they have established. They told us that they desperately needed help to reach these people, and challenged our group to pray for laborers.  We are going to miss this place.  The trip was amazing.

Dominican Republic Missions Trip Day 5 :: 8/14/2016

Saturday Night

Every Saturday night is Youth Night at Temple Baptist Church.  The young people spent an hour or so playing games and enjoying several activities to start off the evening.  They don’t have any other venues, so they just push the pews back and use the auditorium for their fun time.  Several of the neighborhood teens showed up that have never been before to join in on the activities.  Some of the young married couples and young adults came to help coordinate and participate.  I shared my heart with the young people on one of my favorite verses – Psalms 37:4 and challenged the kids to “Delight in the Lord…”.  There is a huge problem in this country with teen pregnancy, fornication, and sexual immorality.  I encouraged the kids to live for God and stay pure.  Some of them mocked and some of them really listened.  I was reminded again that teenagers are pretty much the same everywhere.  Many of these kids come from broken homes and I was told that quite a few of them come to church alone; without their parents. 

These Haitian Sunday School teachers gathered on Saturday night to go over their Sunday School lessons.  They studied together for over 2 hours in preparation for the next morning. 

Sunday Morning

We woke up early this morning and left the hotel at 7 AM to head to the capital city to preach in the Haitian congregation named Calvary Baptist Church.  It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive and we had to go in two vehicles.  We enjoyed seeing a little bit of the country and the fellowship and conversation in the truck was also a blessing.  We arrived at the church around 9:30 and the service was well underway.  They start at 8 AM with Sunday School and children’s classes upstairs.  

The kids here love my hair!!  They ask to feel of it.  

Brother Lane showed us around while the Haitian congregation finished up their Sunday School classes.  He took us up on top of the three story church building and showed us the city surrounding the church.  It is in a very rough section of town.  Bro. Lane started the church about 14 years ago.  

At the end of the street he also helps financially support a Dominican school for underprivileged children.  About 80 children are registered in this tiny 3 room building.  He told me that they sit two children to a desk.

Right outside some old men were playing dominoes.  I took a few pictures of them and the we walked back up to the church for the morning service.  This area is very poor and it reminded me so much of Africa.  The sights, the smells, the people all brought back so many memories.

The morning service lasted quite a while as they sang and testified and prayed.  Bro. Lane had asked me to preach on Stewardship and Giving, so I preached from Malachi 3 on tithing and choosing either the blessings or curse of God in their life.  Again, I had flashbacks of preaching in South Africa.  The environment and the spirit was much the same.  We said our goodbyes after the service and headed back to Jarabacoa. 

The evening service at Temple Baptist was a 5 PM.  Spencer was asked to give his testimony, and the people all made a big deal of the fact that he was celebrating his 18^th birthday today. Bro. Lane gave candy to whoever could quote the memory verses, and several could. I sang a special and at Bro. Lane’s request, I again preached on Stewardship and Giving.  After the service, the Dominican youth threw water all over Spencer to celebrate his birthday.  

We were grateful to meet so many sweet people during our time at this church.  Afterwards, we ate a late supper here at the hotel and swapped missionary stories with Brother Lane.  Tomorrow we are going to give him a hand with some of the construction work at the camp he’s been working for nearly 10 years.