Day 7 - Reflections by Eddy Song

As I am sitting in this airport, there is an overwhelming sense of peace over me. Which is funny, because we just got through U.S Border Protection, which was pretty nerve wrecking, and walking through the Miami Airport is always difficult, thanks to the genius architect behind the floor plan. Yet, sitting here, waiting to board our plane, I can’t help but thank the Lord for all that he has done this week.

The most noticeable thing I am observing is the change in expression of the faces of my fellow missionaries. Right before our departure, there were expressions of eagerness, excitement, uncertainty, and now, they are replaced with expressions of contentment and peace. God has given us a taste of the Living Water.

What a week it has been. We saw people work joyfully at a work site which will be the first official pastor training facility. We saw the joyful smiles of children singing hastily translated Father Abraham, and we saw abandoned physically disabled children teach us about love. We saw an hour-long worship and prayer where people were truly just abandoning their hearts at the altar. We saw 13 people who barely knew each other become the best of friends. We saw one of our members profess Christ as Lord for the first time in his life, and we saw friends confess suffocating sins that have chained them for years. God humbled, God broke, God did miracles, God answered, and God glorified himself.

This was my sixth mission trip, and fourth one out of the country. Yet it was without a doubt a completely different experience from any trip I have been part of. To be completely honest, I am still trying to figure out why it was so different. I mean I have seen people come to Christ before and am pretty used to seeing people completely open up their hearts. I have even seen a miraculous healing take place before. And yet, this trip, even though had many occurrences which could have made it very special for others, was nothing new in the sense of God showing up.

Thinking about it now, this trip was special because of the intimacy with which every member of this team pursued the Lord. I woke up relatively early to see half the team already awake spending time in word and prayer. One night, we worshiped straight for an hour and nobody wanted it to stop. Our plans were constantly changed and everyone was constantly challenged and stretched. Yet, even within that situation, the members of the team stayed joyful and even better edified and supported each other. Whether it was cracking silly jokes, poking fun at each other, or spontaneously bursting into song, we carried each other’s burdens and became the joy of Christ to each other. This trip was special because God showed us that we do not need air conditioning, comfortable transportation, nice beds, and toilets that accept toilet paper to know that God is good.

We left Santiago, reminding one another to stay fervent in our fight and to not lose the fire that the Holy Spirit has started in our hearts. I’ve been in many trips before where these words were repeated, and yet I’ve come back to see most of the members grow indifferent and apathetic once again. Yet, that fear and doubt is not in my heart. You do not walk away the same from an experience like that.

Friday, Day 6

We had a great, long last day here. We had a casual breakfast, and as we ate we each shared what God was doing in our lives. It was a time of honesty and reflection. God has been working in so many ways, and it was really good for each person to have a chance to share a different perspective. We cleaned up, did a bit of packing, then headed off to the disabled children's home. For those of us who had never been before, nothing that Teresa said could have prepared us for the visit. Some kids were walking around, others were in wheelchairs, and many were just laying or sitting in a crib-like bed. Some members of the team hung out with a few kids who were more aware of what was going on. They laughed, sang, danced, gave hugs, and really brought joy into the lives of the children. Others walked around to different beds, talking to the kids and singing worship songs. When we got in the van to leave, many of us broke down and wept. It was so hard to see the kids. It was so hard to leave them. After the children's home we needed to stop at a grocery store to get coffee and cigars for the people who financially supported the trip. It was a humorous sight--13 Americans with shopping carts full of coffee, trying to figure out prices in dollars and wondering how to fit all the goods into the van. We returned to the house and spent the afternoon doing work for Jim and Teresa. We painted, weeded, organized, and more. We ate some fabulous pork chops and had a fantastic time watching the antics of various group members. Eddy spilled tea all over the table, Ben mopped it up and gave it to Eddy to drink again. Zach and David mimicked each other's accents. I won't name names, but there was definitely some talk about problems with the digestive system. We also had Jim and Teresa's grandchildren over for the evening, which was really nice. After dinner we gathered in the living room and Jim and Teresa shared stories about his time in prison in Haiti. God has done incredible things in their lives, and it was so encouraging to hear their testimony. Mark closed our evening with a devotional about sin, about the way we let it take hold in our lives. We had a late night, and will be on a very early plane ride home tomorrow.

Thursday- Day 5

If anyone had doubts about the reason why there were here at The Dominican Republic on a mission trip instead of spending Spring Break on the beach or hanging out with friends, I believe today was the day God revealed to us His purpose of bringing us all together.

Today began with everyone waking up at 8:00 for breakfast as usual and without much planning aside from visiting several tourist sites. We were able to visit the oldest church, the oldest fort, and the oldest street in all of Americas as well as tour Christopher Columbus' son's house. Afterwards, we spent about an hour shopping for personal things to take back home at a market place where haggling was such a norm which could save you a great amount of money if carried out correctly without acting like a tourist. These were all great experiences but I would like to take this time to focus more on what God had planned for us today instead of what we planned as a group.

I say with great confidence that tonight was the reason that all 13 of us were called on this mission trip. What started out as a normal bible study with Jim and Teresa's bible study group ended up becoming something more than anyone could have imagined. Our very own Ben Oheim led the worship with 6 songs that he had planned on but the bible study ended up lasting for about two hours of just worshiping the Lord and glorifying Him. During this time, The Holy Spirit broke the hearts of many and this became the most pure and natural worshiping experience for myself and many others. Words can't explain how perfect this worship was and how naturally we created our own songs of worship that conveyed the emotions we were feeling at that very moment which The Holy Spirit was putting upon our hearts.

After this worship that both drained and fully restored our spirits, we had a double devo by myself, David Lee, and Jenny Dietz. My devo was about Thankfulness; I wanted to emphasize the importance of not letting our thanks to the Lord during our prayers become a mundane thing such as, "Thank you for this day, thank you for this food..." and that we should quit treating God as if He owes us something but rather realize how much we are blessed. Jenny's Devo was about how we should identify the lies in our lives that the world blinds us with through media and peers and find the truth that disproves and overcomes the lie in The Word of God. After the devos, several of us felt this great anxiety in our hearts. We didn't know what but we knew that The Holy Spirit had something else in store for us even though we were physically exhausted. Ben proposed we simply sit in silence for a while and listen to The Holy Spirit. We decided to move upstairs on the patio and say one thing we are genuinely thankful for and one thing that we are willing to give up for a month. We prayed for a couple in our group, and several really experienced freedom!

We thought this would be the end of our emotional roller coaster for the night but The Lord still had other things in store for us. One of our group accepted Christ as Savior! We all prayed then for guidance, strength, bravery, and persistence to keep the fire inside going even after we go back home and for continuing to seek out The Truth daily from this day forward.

Even after this confession, we felt that someone else had something else to say. At that moment, another confessed sin and asked for our prayers that night. Once again, we laid our hands on a Child of God asking for strength, self-control, and victory.

Tonight was a night miracles where The Holy Spirit worked in the lives of every single one of us in a way that was so flawless and beyond compare. Small groups confessed sins to one another and asked one another to be their accountability partners so that victory can take place over our sins. James 5:16 says this, "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." This is exactly what The Holy Spirit compelled each and every one of us to do tonight and it was so encouraging to see The Lord work is such mysterious ways that is simply perfect. I just pray that all 13 of us will be able to take this high we feel for God here in this country back home with us and keep our flames active.

Wednesday--Day 4

Today was an incredibly powerful day for the team. We started the day with cereal, some yogurt, amazing coffee and some fresh fruit. One of the men who work with Sharing the Vision, Gee, had some incredible words to share with us (it is as if he knew what we were about to experience).

We drove up to Santo Domingo early and did VBS with some children at a small school. It was really hard for some of us because we felt ill and our minds and bodies were pretty exhausted by then. Despite that, VBS was amazing; the kids were so sweet; I really bonded with a little girl named Rosalia. She was so shy, but we really connected. These kids are so beautiful, and I couldn't help but love them completely. We sang songs, played games, and did a skit about Noah's Ark; it was so much fun trying to communicate with them. Jen thought that "sit down" was "siete" in spanish, so she was yelling "Seven; seven!" to the kids, clueless as to why they wouldn't listen to her. When the kids went home, we began the street ministry. The Holy Spirit was so clearly apparent that it was really intense for us. We walked around, inviting people to a Christian concert at the school. In my group of people (Jim White, Eddy, myself and an amazing guy named Anthony), we talked to four people. Our of the four, three of them came to Christ. Never had I experienced anything like that before. It made me realize: these people on the street may have different physical needs, but we all need the same thing, which is a relationship with Jesus Christ.

The concert was great, also. The electricity was out, so we all prayed about it and worshipped God. He worked a miracle and the lights went back on. So, there were different acts; a pantomime went first (pretty weird, but really cool). Right after that, I got the chance to give my testimony on stage. Though it was terrifying, I am so happy that I could share it, and I hope it helps some people to glorify God more.

Alexis and Steven also spoke on stage, about keeping Jesus in a relationship; it was great and really helped a lot of people (including myself).

Ben and Jen also performed on stage, with us in the front singing along. Though they couldn't understand our language for the most part, the people there worshipped with us with a ton of emotion and honesty. That is one thing that you immediately notice: the sincerity of the Dominicans. They love Christ without holding back!

At the end of the concert, Anthony rapped (awesome) and Jim preached about really, truly following God. Four more people came to Christ at the end, and Anthony was casting out demons. Sounds crazy, but it was authentic; the Holy Spirit was with us that night. You could just feel God in your heart, in the air, in our words as we worshipped Christ.

It was a really late night; we started our day at 8am and got back to the house at 2am. I'm so incredibly thankful that God brought me here; His presence is so clear, and it is so simple in this country. Love God. Listen to God. Celebrate God!

What a wonderful, long day of work. With an early breakfast of yummy awesome Dominican bagel/egg/curry sauce delight! At the property, we worked all day with nice cloud cover to prevent sunburns. It was absolutely gorgeous in the hills with lots of shade and breezes but very few sprinkles...God is good!

The girls varnished doors and cabinets for the work warehouse and organized its supplies, the boys continued planting trees and did A LOT of clearing of jungle. It was legit. Jen and Jenny finished their beautiful water tower. Everyone's working really well together and maintaining positive attitudes.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY:

Mark Townsend high in a tree chopping off branches with a machetee,

Dominican goat, rice, and okra for dinner,

Jen Bailey working a chain saw,

Worship on the patio,

DISNEY SING ALONG IN THE BACK OF THE TRUCK,

No rain but no sunburns! perfect weather!

We got time to catch our breaths and enjoy a team devotional time led by Zach Jordan. He spoke about worry and how important it is to give our fears to God to live a more joyful, free life. Devo's on the White's second-story patio are always beautiful and freeing.

Tomorrow we go to the capital city, Santo Domingo!

Pray for safe travels, courage the big city, and a smooth VBS day.

Monday - Day 2!

Such an incredible day. We had breakfast at 8 and helped with a few chores around the house before we headed out for construction at the seminary. When we got there, Jim White (the missionary we're staying with) showed us around the BEAUTIFUL land and explained how God provided it for them. It was a long, hard hike around, but well worth it. Then we got started on digging holes for the tree line, painting the water tower, and putting varnish on two of the doors. The boys were incredible - 9 huge holes in just a couple hours! Nancy and Alexis varnished doors perfectly, and Jenny, Jen and I were pretty proud of our tower.

After a enjoying a cold drink at the local tienda (convenience story), we came home and showered before one of the most incredible meals of our lives. Teresa White is a phenomenal cook, and she made us Hatian food including chicken, refried plantains, rice with a spicy delicious sauce, avocado salad, and fresh-squeezed limeade. Fabulous.

Tonight, Jen led the devotional, reminding us about the incredible love of God and not finding security or approval in anything or anyone but Him. To end the night, we had the opportunity to attend a local jazz night a few minutes away here in Santiago - so much fun!

For tomorrow, please pray for energy for the entire team. Pray Mark's knee feels better (something might be wrong with his tendons?). Pray Christine will feel completely well in the morning, as she's been pretty sick for a week. Pray for Eddy and Emily as leaders, that we may lead well.

Our God is SO good! :)

Sunday - Day 1!

We're here! God is good. We almost didn't make it to our last flight, but they delayed the flight for us for 20 minutes! Also, while we were running Ben dropped his boarding pass and I happened to see it as we were running past. It was amazing because I'm the least observant person you'll ever meet - God was looking out. :)

It's humid here, but beautiful, and we can't wait to start our ministry. We got in late tonight, so all we did is our devotional, which Ben led, and then worship. We were just reminded that God is SO good - even when our plans DON'T work out, and that it's such a blessing to be a part of expanding the kingdom of God.

Pray for good rest as we're doing construction all day tomorrow, and that there is no sickness. Pray God shows us how to bless God and love Him throughout this week, and that He teaches us how to love each other and those around us well also.