Tu y yo somos la luz (We are the light of the world)

Hello again everyone!

So I've just been listening to Kari Jobe's song, 'We Are' in Spanish, and I'm feeling so inspired! I think I'm going to download more Spanish music today - this is the perfect way to learn! :D

Anyway, so the COM this past weekend was a success! But before I tell you what happened, let me explain what a COM is. COM, stands for ‘Campamento de Orientacion Misionera’ and in English translates to a Missionary Orientation Camp. The name might sound intense in English, but this camp was really a conference about missions and the call of God in the lives of the youth. About 50 youth from around DR who were interested in finding out about missions came for this 3 day camp.

We did many workshops and activities to do with missions in the Church of the Nazarene, how to become a missionary, and other topics like culture shock and communication. One interesting activity we did at the beginning of the COM was that before the youth entered, they had to go through "customs". Scott and AJ were the customs officers - they dressed up in army uniforms, only spoke English and were searching everybody's bags. The youth were really confused as to why these two "gringos" were being so horrible to them! A few of them spoke a little English, so they were forced to translate for everyone. Some people were let in to the COM straight away, some had to take off their shoes, some had to sing, while others went to "jail"! Many of the youth were really frustrated by the end of this, but then we explained why we did it. All of the things they had experienced had happened to Nazarene missionaries in the past. We wanted to show them that travelling as a missionary wasn't all just fun and excitement, but that they would face situations like crazy customs lines and people who didn't speak their language. It was such a strong start to the camp!

Another activity did was during dinner one night, called the 'World Banquet'. The youth were split into three groups - A, B, and C. Group A (7 people) sat at a nicely set table, ate spaghetti with garlic bread and were waited on by Alan and Lynda. Group B (>20 people) sat at normal tables and shares and were given a bowl of plain white rice to eat. Group C (>20 people) sat in a taped off area on the floor, and had to share one piece of bread and a cup of water between them. Can you see the reason for this activity? We wanted to show the youth about the differences in the world. Sometimes we think we aren't well off, but we forget what others are living in. At first, the youth thought it was a joke, and expected real food. But then they realized what we were trying to get at, and for many of them it was a bit of a shock. This dynamic taught as all to be thankful for what we have, and that it's our responsibility to see the need, and meet the need.

But overall, the COM was a really special time for the team and also for the youth. I learnt so much about missions and God really spoke to me during this time. It was also exciting to see the youth pumped about serving the Lord and responding to His call.

So now we've reached the end of our time in the DR. And what an amazing 3 weeks it has been! Eliezel and Tammy, you have been such amazing leaders, and have looked after us like we're family. I've loved being with the people of DR and trying out my Spanish. I've loved doing Remi and evangelism, and inspiring others to respond to God's call. God has been so close to me, and has been teaching me through the lives of the Dominicans, and my brothers and sisters in the 12:7 Serve team.

Tomorrow we go to Mexico! I'm really excited to go to Carlos and Alan's home country, and to serve the Lord there. Please continue to pray for the team as we continue on to site number 4 - Guadalajara Mexico!

On the journey,

Dani

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden."

(Matthew 5:14)

DR so far (Yey that rhymes!)

Hola from the Dominican Republic!

2 weeks have passed since we crossed the crazy border from Haiti and drove into Santo Domingo, the capital. We've been staying at the Work and Witness house here, and been led by Eliezel Soto, the Work and Witness coordinator for DR. And you know what, I've had an amazing time so far! It's been busy and forever changing, but God is just so good to me.

We've had two main goals for our time in the DR. The first is evangelistic ministry with the new churches here. The Church of the Nazarene is growing rapidly here, and there are so many church plants. So we have been to many of them to do an evangelistic service, an the awesome part is we've done all of these services on the street! Most times, we would start the afternoon doing a children's program called Remi. We would walk around the community and invite all the children and their parents to our activity. Remi is so much fun! It's about a boy called Remi, who is a young missionary, traveling the world. We would sing songs with the children, do a puppet show and learn a Bible verse with them. I'm pretty sure I enjoy it as much as the kids do, especially learning and singing songs in Spanish! Then after that, we would have a service and invite people to Jesus. And wow these services are so different to what I'm used to! Many times we've had cars, buses and people walking past, but even with distractions God still moved in the hearts of people. It was great to meet all of the amazing pastors and their families who have given their life to growing God's kingdom, what blessings they were to us!

The second part of our ministry was speaking to the church in Dominican Republic about Missions!  At many of the churches, we encouraged the members of the churches to respond to the call of God in their life. In our presentations, we gave everyone practical steps that they can take to be involved in Missions as part of the Church of the Nazarene.We all were able to share our testimonies about how God placed a missionary heart in each one of us and called us specifically to 12:7 Serve. It was also very special for me to preach last Sunday morning about the call of God, and how it's time to say yes. 

Something exciting that's happening this weekend is the COM that is happening in the DR. In English, COM means a cross-cultural missions orientation. Over the past two weeks we have been inviting youth all around Dominican Republic to this event. They will learn about themselves, God's call, and about what it means to be a missionary. Will you pray with me for this event? For many of our team members, their first COM was an important part of their missionary call. I will update you all next week about how this event went!

But for now, Dios te bendiga!

On the journey,

Dani