NORTH before SOUTH (or Montana to Dominican Republic)
Partnering with Heritage Christian School (HCS) in Bozeman, Montana, we spent a little over a week in the Dominican Republic, from February 12th through the 22nd – marking our very first mission trip with Wings! Before we set out to our tropical destination, we first had to trek to snow-covered Bozeman for some pre-trip training with the ten students and four adults whom we would lead overseas. We spent an entire morning discussing the ins and outs of missions – from ‘why’ to ‘when’ to ‘how’ – and finished our time together practicing a wordless dramatic sketch that we were to present in the Dominican. After almost forty-eight hours of travel, including two layovers (one overnight in the airport!), we finally arrived in the DR and got settled in our accommodations at SCORE International in Juan Dolio, on the southern coast.
We set out every morning for ministry, took a break for lunch, and continued our ministry all afternoon until dinner time. The ministry activities varied from day to day – our schedule was set up by Word of Life missionary Kenneth Balootje and his team. It was very exciting, yet surreal, for all of us when we had the opportunity on more than one occasion to share the gospel IN A PUBLIC SCHOOL, with the teacher present, and several students prayed to receive Christ on the spot!
At a remote sugarcane village, where the children had no shoes and most families were able to afford a decent meal only once a week, we were able to paint several homes and pass out food in hopes of improving their quality of life in any way possible. Most importantly, we were able to build relationships with the villagers and share Christ with several of them while we worked. We also partnered with a local church and invited residents from the neighborhood to a special presentation. We performed the dramatic sketch we had practiced entitled “Chains”, then one of the students would share their testimony, and we would wrap it up with the gospel. Every time we had one of these presentations we saw people accept Christ!
Unfortunately, many American mission teams visit poor countries with the idea that they are “bringing God to the third world”. However, the eyes of everyone on our team were opened to the exact opposite. We were joining God who was already at work! At the end of our week we had presented the gospel – whether through one-on-one relationships or group presentations – to over 1200 people. And of those people who heard the gospel, over 130 people gave their hearts and lives to Christ! We were also able to pour into the lives of the students from Bozeman and saw two students recognize that God is directing them to work in full-time ministry.
Having only met the students and adults from HCS three days before arriving in the Dominican, the missionary confessed that he was curious from the start to see how we would work together. By the time our feet hit the ground in the first village, we had such a strong bond and were able to minister more effectively because of our fellowship in Christ. We are so grateful that God allowed us the opportunity to disciple them with the Word of God in how to be missional on a daily basis and see several more people join God’s Kingdom! How blessed we are to call our role with Wings our JOB!
Almost There…
We have been on one of the most humbling and awe-inspiring journeys of our lives for the last seven months as we raise our support for Wings! I (Ryan) can still remember the first time I heard that Wings staff members had to raise their own finances from individuals’ monthly contributions. I said to myself, “That will never be me!” Obviously, God certainly has a sense of irony! But the process has been so rewarding and humbling for us. We see His hand moving in the hearts of not only ourselves, but in the lives of those around us as He calls them to sacrifice for His kingdom.
Our faithful support team consists of over 40 families now! We are currently approaching 60% of our monthly goal of $4,200 and every penny of it is because of His grace!
We are asked quite frequently, “You’re still living in Tampa – why haven’t you moved to Georgia?” Right now, God has us in Tampa as we continue to raise support. While He teaches us patience and persistence, we have come to a better understanding of God’s sovereign will and the need to trust Him without any reservations. As He has us in this period of waiting, we have been able to build more relationships with people who are interested in our ministry, continue working on our goals and vision for our ministry, and most significantly spend time investing in our marriage. God has allowed us the unique opportunity to spend nearly every day of the first eight months of our marriage together. Most newly-wed couples come back from their honeymoon and hit the ground running with work and/or school, but God is allowing us extra time to strengthen our relationship with each other and with Him before our daily agenda is submerged in the work of our ministry.
Our prayer is that we would be able to move to Georgia in June and finish transitioning our life to the ministry with Wings. Although we have been on staff since August, there are some responsibilities which await us that we will not be able to take on until we are around the rest of the staff. In order for this to happen, our board of directors has advised that we first have at least 85-90% of our monthly support committed. This means that we must raise an additional $1400 a month from where we’re at now.
We cannot determine who is able to give and who is not; it’s not for us to decide. We only ask that people would pray and seek God’s direction. If He is leading them to give, then they must follow Him in obedience. Ideally, we would like to sit down face-to-face with every person we know and ask that they would consider joining our team. Unfortunately this is not always possible, whether because of proximity (out of state), conflicting schedules, or simply because we don’t have everyone’s contact information. So, we feel that there are times when it is acceptable to ask in a letter…
Will you pray and consider joining our monthly support team, help us move to Georgia by June, and continue to expand our opportunities to disciple students and share the gospel around the world?
