The last few months we have been developing FIGHT Ministries
from the ground up. Every detail
is laid out on the table and prayed over.
Luke Ostberg leads us as a team of 5. He is from my home church,
RidgePoint in Winter Haven, Florida.
I was telling my home pastors this week, I have absolute confidence in
Him seeking the Spirit for decisions and knowing the importance of sitting
around meetings, daily, discerning what the Spirit is telling all of us. I do not take that quality lightly,
especially if I am supposed to be following. Charles Stanley says he wont move unless his Spirit team is
on the same page, amen to that. I
have been saying this since God sent more people on the ground in the DR: life
isn’t as easy when you have to discern decisions with others. God y yo! Ya! For many
years. That’s it. Now, I am learning what it means to
discern as a team. God has designed
each of us differently and we all have our opinions on how things should
go. All of those thoughts and
ideas are fashioned into one.
So, Naomi heads up our community outreach, Kathy is our
media specialist, Trevor is head of our mission teams, and I am the
administrative part. Most of our
week consists of meetings and community outreach. Community outreach includes
going to families homes from church to just build relationships, surveying
local barrios on living arrangements, needs, conditions, children’s welfare;
more or less educating ourselves on exactly what is around us and what we are
dealing with out in the barrios.
The biggest misconception is that we are in paradise, that this area of
the DR is the wrong area to be in for what we are “doing,” some have said. Seeing a mentally handicapped girl in
the barrio pregnant (again) without having a place to call for abuse is
so heart-wrenching. It is
hidden in pockets of this beautiful area.
We are slowly uncovering those secrets.
Sunday is always set aside to go out to Barrio Blanco to
play with the barrio kids in the afternoon. This area is a portion of Jarabacoa that is saturated with
“high-risk” kids. Some of the kids
attend our church, the others are we are building relationships with for
now. At times, we have parents out
there playing volleyball and baseball, too. One week we counted 56 people. It was insane.
They count on us being there to just have fun. We aren’t giving handouts or trying to fix problems right
now. We go with the love of
Christ… and lots of kisses and hugs!
I remember the first week out there we were all called the Americanos. Now, they know us by name and we know
them all by name and who is in whose family. It is crazy what just spending time with them can do. If one of the team members isn’t there,
they know it, and want to know where they are. If their sister isn’t there, we notice. They care. And, they know we care.
Okay, so this is what we have figure out with the Spirit
leading us. We have some key
families in our church that we have identified and targeted to “pour into”
relationally. We all have basic
needs and we are ready to help these core families. Trevor and Luke are doing some repairs on a house soon
because water is coming in when it rains and soaks the bed. Right now we are helping these families
build a stronger foundation to model it to other families, too We do not want to be heroes to
anyone. We are the same as they
are and give glory to God in all we do.
We want to work alongside the community in developing safe environments
for kids. We want to build with
the identity of Christ cemented in our kids and with education. These families are great
partnerships. They are perfectly
placed in different barrios by God and are influential people in their
neighborhood. It is ridiculous how
they are positioned like that to be mentors in their communities and help us
develop relationships among the people there. They are each growing in Christ and will be the main support
system as we develop a community/prevention center.
This week Kathy, Naomi, and I are starting to make jewelry
with some of the ladies. We are
teaching them a small trade to earn some income in a healthy way to help their
husbands support the family. We had
a very generous donor from upstate NY give me a donation and God told me I was giving it up to FIGHT as
soon as I got the email. The human in me wants to save that kind of money for
emergencies because I live month to month on donations, but Christ in me tells me that I am just a steward of
His money, for His purpose, and His glory. So we waited and prayed on it for weeks and we
purchased supplies last week with some of the money. We are really excited to start this part of the ministry. And, whatever else God has in store for us.
Join us in prayer as we have found a potential building. The landlord will not come down more on the price, but we will see what God works out.
Much love from the Dominican!
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