The Dominican Republic is Gorgeous!!
Thursday morning our team went with Bill to meet one of the pastors in the class. He's a 58 year old Haitian man whose heart is most definitely for the Lord. Right now he lives in Haiti with his wife and family, and once a month he comes to the D.R. to go through the week long training DownLine helps with. His vision is to reach the nation of Haiti for Christ. He wants to begin planting Churches, first in Guanamat- a small village just across the border from the D.R., and from there train and disciple leaders who will take the Gospel to other villages. One faithful step at a time, this man wants to disciple men who will multiply the Church across the Island. His hope is that Haiti will be healed through the message of Christ, and men and women throughout the island will come to know Him as Lord, and Savior. It was extremely encouraging to see this man's faith- he had less than $200 to his name, and He was confident that the Lord would provide a way.
After an amazing lunch that Debbie cooked (all her meals are amazing!!) we went to meet with a very interesting Dutch man named Gary. Gary is from Holland and has been commissioned by the Dutch government to pioneer a project that could bring economic growth and incredible restoration to devastation in Haiti. The project is through the training of Haitians to grow various kinds of fruit and charcoal trees. Haiti has been really hurt by its loss of trees and vegetation, and this project could bring so much food, hope, and work to the Haitian people who are suffering. Every tree that is cut down to make room for houses must be replaced by 10 that the company will plant. This man has his PhD in chemistry and knows how to grow many different types of trees, from fruit trees to charcoal trees. The really exciting piece of this puzzle is that Gary needs Haitians who are able bodied and willing to take their training and trees back to Haiti to start the restoration process. Our contact Bill is training Haitian pastors who ARE going back to Haiti to reach the people for Jesus, but desperately need work that will sustain them and the villages they are ministering in. We believe this "match" between the project Gary is involved with and the work Bill is doing is a God-thing and it is very exciting to see the potential to bring both social, economic, and spiritual health to Haiti in this way! The hope is that churches will be planted in Haiti, where the Word will be taught and preached, where the Love of Christ will be proclaimed, and where all sorts of trees can be planted to bless the community and provide the ministers an income.
Before class got started we had an hour and a half to spend snorkeling on the beach. After Bryson stomped on multiple sea urchins wading into the ocean, we clumsily started swimming while the locals laughed. We must have looked ridiculous since no one could get their masks on right and we were not at the right spot for snorkeling. It was a blast either way.
That night Bryson taught on the Prodigal son, and Kennon taught on the Shrewd Manager. The parables we have taught this week have gone really well, and I think the Word has impacted a lot of hearts, including our own.
Thursday morning our team went with Bill to meet one of the pastors in the class. He's a 58 year old Haitian man whose heart is most definitely for the Lord. Right now he lives in Haiti with his wife and family, and once a month he comes to the D.R. to go through the week long training DownLine helps with. His vision is to reach the nation of Haiti for Christ. He wants to begin planting Churches, first in Guanamat- a small village just across the border from the D.R., and from there train and disciple leaders who will take the Gospel to other villages. One faithful step at a time, this man wants to disciple men who will multiply the Church across the Island. His hope is that Haiti will be healed through the message of Christ, and men and women throughout the island will come to know Him as Lord, and Savior. It was extremely encouraging to see this man's faith- he had less than $200 to his name, and He was confident that the Lord would provide a way.
After an amazing lunch that Debbie cooked (all her meals are amazing!!) we went to meet with a very interesting Dutch man named Gary. Gary is from Holland and has been commissioned by the Dutch government to pioneer a project that could bring economic growth and incredible restoration to devastation in Haiti. The project is through the training of Haitians to grow various kinds of fruit and charcoal trees. Haiti has been really hurt by its loss of trees and vegetation, and this project could bring so much food, hope, and work to the Haitian people who are suffering. Every tree that is cut down to make room for houses must be replaced by 10 that the company will plant. This man has his PhD in chemistry and knows how to grow many different types of trees, from fruit trees to charcoal trees. The really exciting piece of this puzzle is that Gary needs Haitians who are able bodied and willing to take their training and trees back to Haiti to start the restoration process. Our contact Bill is training Haitian pastors who ARE going back to Haiti to reach the people for Jesus, but desperately need work that will sustain them and the villages they are ministering in. We believe this "match" between the project Gary is involved with and the work Bill is doing is a God-thing and it is very exciting to see the potential to bring both social, economic, and spiritual health to Haiti in this way! The hope is that churches will be planted in Haiti, where the Word will be taught and preached, where the Love of Christ will be proclaimed, and where all sorts of trees can be planted to bless the community and provide the ministers an income.
Before class got started we had an hour and a half to spend snorkeling on the beach. After Bryson stomped on multiple sea urchins wading into the ocean, we clumsily started swimming while the locals laughed. We must have looked ridiculous since no one could get their masks on right and we were not at the right spot for snorkeling. It was a blast either way.
That night Bryson taught on the Prodigal son, and Kennon taught on the Shrewd Manager. The parables we have taught this week have gone really well, and I think the Word has impacted a lot of hearts, including our own.
Lesandro is a boy we met in Los Algadonas- The Haitian village. He's very interested in my phone.
This is the view from the top of the village looking out into the country
Some huge rain clouds were getting ready to dump on us
This is the view from outside our classroom door
