A week ago I said goodbye to Costa Rica and hello to the Dominican Republic! This island may look tiny especially considering there’s both the nation of Haiti and the DR sharing it, but the land is large and vast. 

The base we are staying at is called Hope Mountain and primarily works with women and children who have been through sex trafficking and abuse. Our hosts Vicky and Rueben are very kind and have been incredibly welcoming; a testament to the overall friendliness and kindness shown by Dominican culture. 

While we’re not really allowed to leave base during ministry because of covid, our ministry looks a lot like preparation for the future. Our hosts go out as they need to and take our work with them. For instance, one team is on outreach ministry - which can look like going into the town on a prayer walk, but also preparing these kinds of goody bags filled with food, toiletries, and notes of encouragement and our hosts hand them out on the beaches and in public places later on. According to them, it gives people hope and the recipients of these goody bags often come to visit Hope Mountain later on and end up leaving with the gift of Christ. 

Other ministry looks like doing work around the property- hauling rocks and sand, building different things, pulling weeds, doing yard work. The usual. 

My team this week worked on preparing creative ministries for an eventual church service or youth service. We made and performed a short skit about knowing our worth in Jesus; we also made an entire dance to Lauren Daigle’s song You Say, except it was in Spanish. When the video of it is published, I’ll post a link to it so you all can see it!

The last kind of ministry is administrative. That looks like helping out in the office to sort the ministry’s receipts, make a website for them, and even sometimes making TikToks with the host’s daughters for publicity.

Mostly for fun, though, on that last part. 

Each week, every team will rotate on what kind of ministry they’re doing. This week, like I mentioned, my team was on creative ministry, and next week we’ll be doing work around the property. 

The Dominican Republic is a lot different than Costa Rica. Ministry-wise, it’s a lot more restful. Not only does it start later in the day at 8:30 AM, but we also already have our assignments of what to do, so there’s no stress about figuring out from four different people what kind of ministry we’re supposed to do that day. Costa Rica, while I really really loved it, was pretty hectic in that sense. So I’m glad for a change of pace where we know what to do and when to do it. 

Something I told the lord when we came into this country was that I wanted to love being here so much that it would be the worst heartbreak ever when we left. That way, I will know that I’ve done the best I could, as well as knowing that it left an impact on me. I really want to give the Lord everything I have here, especially considering a year ago I never thought I’d be here in the mountains in the Dominican Republic. I thought I’d be in Costa Rica, the last country on my route after having been to Romania and India, but the Lord has directed me here. So in return for his faithfulness, I want to give him my best effort in everything I do here. 

It’s a pretty bold prayer, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.