Day 3! :)

Day 3 – Day of Rest

Today we went to the village #1 that we visited with yesterday. We were able to listen to and be a part of their church service. What an awesome experience! They sang to the Lord as if nothing was holding them back…one older gentleman sang in English “I have decided to follow Jesus”…what a picture of how we should be living...proclaiming to anyone who will listen that “we have decided to follow Jesus”. We also had an opportunity to break bread with the people there. Pastor Matt preached and Tim translated. They both did awesome! After church, we quickly said hi to the elderly living at the nursing home next door. We were able to give the people some candy and craft supplies for their Sunday School. It was so awesome to worship God with people who speak a different language..knowing that we were worshipping the same God...

We are stoked about what tomorrow might hold. We are headed to a village to start tearing off a roof and do some ministry with the people who live there.

Tonight Michael shared his testimony at Devo’s and preached. He did such an amazing job telling us about his life and sharing what was on his heart.

Can’t wait to share tomorrow! Feel free to comment-glad to see 7 people are following us! J

Love,

YOUR TEAM

Day 2 – What an awesome day! One team member described the day in one word – WOW. We had such a wonderful time today ministering to the people at the villages we visited.

Village 1 – We had the opportunity to go and play with/love on/feed/spend time with/carry/throw in the air/sweat with some great people. We went to a church in a village where there were a ton of families. Prior to going to the village we each loaded up a cart with food enough to feed two families…oil, rice, spaghetti and tuna were some of the items that we each purchased. As we played with the children and talked with the adults we were able to show them the LOVE that Christ has given us….After playing with the kids we all went to the church and sang songs, did a drama and Brad gave his testimony (what an awesome part of the day!!). After that we handed out the bags of food. One per person who had a ticket (given out by the pastor prior to our arrival) received a bag of food. It was mind blowing to think that the bag they received would be their food supply for a week….

Village 2 – After lunch we headed out to Village #2 where we played baseball, did the girls nails, let them play with our hair, played tag and played “Quack-didily-O-MY”  with them. At this village we loved on the girls and boys showering them with love and our poor Spanish. (Most of them have a better knowledge of English than we do of their language).

I know I can speak for all of us when I say we were truly blessed by this day. Wow. As we sang tonight “how HE loves us”….God truly is amazing. We can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow as we head to Church John 3:16. Praise God.

Your team in the DR

Our first day in the DR! (Well half day. :)

Day 1 – We made it! After two great flights we landed in Santo Domingo. After making it through customs and immigration, we headed for our luggage. All was accounted for and we were on our way. The moment we stepped out of the airport and walked down onto the pavement we all felt it…heat and humidity! J We loaded our luggage onto the two busses from SCORE and got on. As we drove through the towns and on the highway many of us were reminded of the past years here in the DR. Some of us for the first time saw poverty in a whole new way-face to face. It doesn’t matter how many times you come to the DR, when you see children running barefoot through mud and other things you can’t help but feel your throat tighten and your heart reach out for a way to help them. We were greated at Score by a welcome team who had a cold drink of mango punch, singing, clapping and our very own Alden Community Church sign with last year’s pictures and all! As we got settled in we were reminded once again that “it’s not about us”…without getting into details some of us waited until last night after Devo’s to get any air in their rooms. But at Devotions we were reminded by Pastor Mike that it really isn’t about us…we sang “it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus”. Today (Saturday) we are headed out into two different villages. We will feed one village, ministering to both through music, skits, testimony (Brad) and crafts. We are equipped with small things like a guitar, some craft supplies, balls and games and willing hearts. But what trumps it all is the love that God has given us….without His power we’d be useless, inadequate and this trip would be worthless..Instead we stand ready to go, hearts prepared to be used by our Lord. We can’t wait to share what God is going to do today….Thank you for coming along on this trip with us! Thank you for praying-it is soooo needed and we feel your prayers and they lift us up. Praise God for He alone is worthy of our praise!

In Christ,

Your Team

We're leaving tomorrow! :)

While it's still dark tomorrow at 3 a.m. we will meet at church. We'll make sure everyone has all that they need, pray and load the bus. Even at this early hour we'll be excited (YES tired, but excited). We are all looking forward to what God has in store for us in the DR this year.

Some of us have been involved in ministry at Kingdom Bound (Darien Lake) over the last 4 days and it has been life changing. Over 50 people came to Christ through the ministry, the people that were willing through God's power. He is truly amazing!

As we head to the DR one song rings in my mind.....Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God You are higher than any other. Our God is healer, awesome in power, Our God, Our God....and if our God is for us, than who could ever stop us..and if our God is with us, than what could stand against?...What could stand against?!

Please pray for us but especially for the people of the Dominican. God has divine appointments planned for these people. WE are so HONORED to be a part of HIS plan.

2 weeks and counting!

2 weeks and counting until we find ourselves in the DR!!! :)

We are so excited to go on what we know will be a live-changing trip. Please start praying for us!