Abiding Presence Mission Team Updates

¡Buenos días desde La Romana! (Good morning from La Romana!) If you look at the last photo from yesterday's post, it's hard not to notice the infectious joy written all over Estella's face. She was born in the D.R., and her husband (Pastor Mede) was born in Haiti, and it was so beautiful to hear their story of finding each other as an answer to their prayers, of how God has given them the dream of a thriving church that serves the needy, and how their differing backgrounds give them language skills that balance each other out: he stronger in Creole, she stronger in Spanish! She works as a teacher, a job much in need here. Speaking of language skills, it's certainly impressive to see the way Pastor Mede and Estella switch freely between Spanish and Creole, but it's nothing short of amazing to hear our translators and PPM ( Praying Pelican Missions ) Assistant Trip Leaders translate both languages in fluent English! Meet Gia (right) and Magalie Joseph (left). ...

We are here in La Romana, Dominican Republic! After connecting with our local missionary, Scott, we piled into a bus and drove along the coast to La Romana where we checked in to our hotel. Our evening was filled with a warm welcome, fantastic food, some impromptu multilingual music-and-puppet jamming, and an inspiring introduction to Pastor Mede (of the Luz Divinia church we are partnering with here), his wonderful wife and our intrepid translators. More details to come tomorrow... ...In the meantime, many thanks to all who have prayed for us, helped us with a variety of resources and logistics, and inspired us to work and serve alongside our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ here in the D.R.! -Dave Chávez, Music & Worship Minister, on behalf of our entire 18-person-strong D.R. team