God At Work: Amazing Day!

When we see God at work we should put up a sign that says, Take Notice! This post is my sign. Our mission volunteers got to see God at work in a huge way. And many of you are support this ministry with your prayers and gifts. Therefore you need to know what we saw.

God At Work: Pastors’ School

There have been number of firsts this week. And those have been intentional. The featured image is from our teaching session at Batey 6. We launched the pastor training school in 2011. Our two initial teaching points were Batey 9 and Batey Los Robles. It was easy to see God at work.
In our third year we opened an evening section at our host church in Barahona. Total attendance in all three sections was over 90 people. Graduations followed. And we could see God at work.

This week we moved one section of class from Batey 9 to Batey 6. So that was one new thing. But there was much more to come. In this location we had 41 in attendance and 30 were new students! That’s not all. The man in the picture is Pastor Ramon. He has served as our host pastor in Batey Los Robles.
Ramon is also an esteemed graduate from the school. And the important thing for you to notice is a Dominican is teaching Dominicans. That’s a first for us and it has been a long-term goal. Why? That’s what equipping is all about. Christians learn in order to do! We/you have not invested in vain. The work is bearing fruit in more ways than one.

I was very blessed to see this day. It was a joy to see Ramon teach his peers. But there was more to than that. The God At Work sign hangs over more than the pastors’ school. And that is something else you need to see and know.

God At Work: Dominican VBS

The American version of Vacation Bible School may be going on in your church this week. It was going on in front of the place where Ramon was teaching. I stepped outside and snapped some pictures.
There is something very unique about these pictures. Do you see it? I was the only Americano present and I was taking the pictures; I wasn’t in them. Leadership was in the hands of the Dominicans. But even that statement doesn’t clue you in completely. Several of the boys from the orphanage are giving leadership to this VBS effort. That’s possible through the efforts and prayers of many people. Pastor Pedro and Jodie are on the front lines with the orphans but many of you make it possible for them to be there. You make it possible for me to have a part in this ministry. This is a Thank You for those efforts!

God At Work: More FIRSTS

While the VBS was going on, and while Ramon was teaching, another first was happening. This past December we had an assessment session with the pastors in the school. They suggested it would be helpful for us to bring people who could train and equip other church leaders. Specifically, they wanted some teacher training.

We prepared a one-day training session. Several pastors brought church members with them. The ones they brought comprised our first training class. You should know that we didn’t have any idea how many to prepare for. We didn’t really know how anticipate anything about this effort. But we saw God at work in what transpired.
Our group was not large, but we had a great time in class. Our students included three youth pastors, one women’s ministry leader, one person in charge of discipling new believers, and a church secretary. A couple of others came in but I was not present when they did so I don’t know about them. But just think about the roles I mentioned.
What we were able to share made this group of ministry leaders better equipped. And they will each equip many others over the next several months and years. They are now anxious for another class. And that means I will be looking for people who want the blessing of equipping these precious people and several more like them.

God At Work: A New Beginning

We began our second new location in the city of Tamayo. I’ll have more to say about that in future posts. But it was a great beginning. We had over 40 in attendance. My best efforts put the number of pastors at 12. The class was very well received. And they set a goal while I was there. We will be back in November. They intend to have 40 PASTORS in attendance at that time. And the city is quite large. That goal is attainable! Please pray that we continue to see God at work!

Soli Deo Gloria!