AC3 Dominican Republic Mission Trip 2023

05/23/2023

God blessed us today with being able to serve him and the people of the DR. Making Pollo y arroz for a local nursing home.

05/22/2023

05/20/2023

First two days of mission work. God is here with us

05/20/2023

Friday!

Today was a BIG day. We started it off at the hotel when Pastor Rafael picked us up by 9:30am. We headed straight to the church where our group was split up for two different activities.

1) Spending time at the church's school for kindergartners

2) Helping run drills at baseball practice for kids ranging from 8 years old to 15

At the School-
Sophia, Chloe and Zoey spent their morning helping in the classroom, it was an eye opening experience as their first task was to help the teacher by making copies of two worksheets- by hand. No printer or copy machine in sight, instead they helped out by preparing material for the teacher so she could spend her time on the lesson with the kiddos. Soon it was play time and the three of them were quick to realize a language barrier does not mean you can't have fun with each other. From tossing balls around, pretending to play basketball, building with blocks and the most popular play time activity- braiding hair. All the kids wanted their turn playing with Sophia, Chloe and Zoey's hair. In fact everyone wanted a turn with the hair braiding it was difficult for the three to leave when the bus arrived to pick them up. It was an amazing time and such a fun opportunity to spend time with God's children and point them towards the love of Jesus with kindness and joy. Luke 18:16

At baseball - Anthony and Jonathan and the team ran some awesome drills with the kids! Jonathan shared his testimony and 10 kids gave there. Life to the lord. We had a lot of fun with the kids as baseball is a big deal here in the Dominican Republic.

The second half of the day was spent as one group at the church. We all had the privilege of engaging in worship as Pastor Rafael's Wife, Josephine, led us with her beautiful voice. While the words were foreign the meaning was not, Jesus Christ was at the center of worship no matter the language. Joining us for this worship was a large group of kids from the private school the church will often partner with, however a majority of these kiddos do not consider themselves Christian. That's why it was such an amazing moment when Alex was able to get on the stage today and preach! He did a phenomenal job with Liz, our translator, helping relay the message- God has a plan for you, and although it may look different for what you had envisioned, it's the path that will grant you the most fulfillment. On top of that, he described to the kids that no matter where they are in life or what they look like, that God finds them so so important and valuable and there's no love bigger than that.

Once the kids were dismissed the team had about an hour until the worship services for "adult church" would begin. Though that's when the rain, thunder and lightning came in and it was a lot! Streets were flooded and the moment you stepped from out of the building you were drenched. The rain was not light and did not stop to the point that our power at the church went out for long periods of time. The few who made their way to the church through the storm joined us in a circle as Josephine led us in worship again (clapping can cross language barriers!) And pastor Rafael would speak as Liz translated. It was a phenomenal worship experience where the holy spirit was certainly present. Looking forward to seeing what God has planned for the rest of the trip!

05/19/2023

05/19/2023

Today was our first full day in the Dominican Republic and it was such a success! We started off the day by visiting the church called Iglesia Bautista Nueva Palestina.

Pastor Rafael shared his testimony with us and the transformation the church has been through in the last few years. The last time Alex was here the church was underdeveloped, but throughout COVID (the most unlikely time) God has been blessing the church immensely. The church is now 3 stories with beautiful tile floors and a large open auditorium. The second story is where they host a small school for under-resourced elementary students. We popped into the class to say hi and introduce ourselves. The school runs on minimal resources and staffing. They hope to one day hire 2 more teachers and accept more students from the waitlist. The third floor is under construction until they get the funds to make it into an activity center.

After lunch we visited a different school called Centro Educativo de Barrio Lindo.

This is a private school serving K-12 students. This school is also a ministry from the church and now run by a full staff. We happened to be there when the older students were in session. Our team separated into the 5 classrooms. Our goal was to introduce ourselves, share our testimony, and play games to get to know the kids. When Johnathan shared his testimony the kids listened intently. You could tell that they were hungry to learn more about Jesus. After that, to lighten the mood we played a game of volleyball and everyone joined in.

After that we went back to the church to enjoy freshly picked mangos and share our experience with Pastor Rafael. During our conversation he expressed to us the challenges of introducing the gospel not only to the students of the Centro school, but also to their parents. Most of the students' parents are non-believers. He hopes to be a Godly role model to the students so they can share the gospel with their parents in turn.

To end our day our team met on the beach to pray and share our highlights from the day. We ask our readers to pray for us to have more opportunities to share the gospel and touch the lives of the people we interact with. Thank you!

Blessings, Sophia Garcia

05/18/2023

At the church!

05/17/2023

Boarded the plane! Ready for take off!

05/17/2023

At the air port!

05/16/2023

On our way!

05/04/2023

We will be using this page to blog and share on our trip!