Technologia

While I was there, I had internt access perhaps 4 or 5 times? And I was able to make one phonecall home.

However, when we did the Lifehouse skit, the equipment worked every one of the 14 times we did it. Awesome!

 

I learned about..

LOVE while I was there. The people at my church saw each other pretty much every single day, sometimes multiple times a day, and they always seemed happy to see each other. There was a real, easily distinguishable community of Christians there, but instead of keeping to themselves, they welcomed people in. I’d like to bring some of the warmth and welcome that I received back with me and apply it in my life. A lot of the Christian people I met were loud and outgoing to my “cold” culture view, but even the quiet ones knew how to love, with eyes, words or hands.

On a similar note, I learned about hospitality-lots of hospitality. All three of the homes I stayed in asked me to stay longer with them, free of charge. When I went over to someone’s home, they always offered coca or juice and had me sit down. They might laugh at my Spanish, but they were always ready to sit and talk. People would offer their homes for me to stay in next time I come-and actually mean it. Almost every day I would be impressed by how much people gave despite how little they may have had.

 

Relationship-oriented

I have always been the depressingly organized, go-to person with all ducks in a row. And colorcoded and cross-indexed. On this trip I got (or had?) to deal with Dominican time and ways of doing things. The culture there is a “warm” culture, and relationship-based, not task-oriented. I had to break away from my task-orientation. For the first time, I got the opportunity to really be spontaneous. I could walk up to people (unscheduled people!) and talk to them, pray with them, or just hold their hand. At first I was just trying to practice my Spanish, or use what influence I had as a white female speaking Spanish to attract attention to whatever activity I was doing, but after a while I really started to enjoy doing unexpected things. I might say hello to an cute little five year old in the market place, and five minutes later I’d be sitting in their best chair drinking coca cola with new friends.

Some pictures from the market. A little more “spontaneous” than ours, hm?

This is JCPenny’s, Dominican style, complete with cashier.

This spontaneity, even boldness, I’d call it, is something new for me, and I’m still processing it. However, I think it’s important to bring back to America, if only for me. I obviously can’t walk up to a child and start sharing Jesus in the supermarket here the same way, not without being arrested. However, I can do unscheduled, relationship-oriented things, like saying hello and making friends where normally I’d avoid eye-contact or do a nod.

I think that the church here in America can be a bit regulated. I don’t mean to say that we should start walking out, knocking on people’s doors and banging them over the head with a Bible. Or preaching on a table at lunch. However, I hope to think of some way to bring more relationship-orientation into the church. Too often I have remained silent when I could have said something. Not in an argument, per say, but maybe just meeting eyes and making new friends in the community.

 

..washed in the blood or just in the water?

In the Dominican Republic, as all of my sentences tend to start these days, there was this once when I was about to take communion in one of the churches that had those little plastic shot glasses. I got my glass, and as soon as the man left the row I noticed that there was a crack in the glass..just enough to drip. And that the blood of Jesus was dripping on my skirt. Luckily, the bread was the poufy -absorbent- kind, so I used the body of Jesus to help wipe up the blood of Jesus..I hope that isn’t sacrilegious somehow.

Eventually we all took communion, and a few minutes afterward the lady next to me was like “What’s on your hand?”
Me: “Oh, just the blood of Jesus. It just covers everything.”
She handed me a wipe. (She had an 11 month old)

 

Jorge

Jorge (left) and a friend

This is Jorge (on the left). He’s 5 years old, and an orphan at the supermarket, “supermercado”. He has been adopted, informally if not formally, by an older lady that he helps with her fruit stand.

The first time I went to the supermarket, I saw Jorge standing by his tomato pile.
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(This isn't him, but it's the same vegetable-on-the-ground arrangement)

I walked over and said hello to him. He was awfully cute, and who knows if he hears kind words from anyone? The market can be a difficult place. From then on, every time I went to the market, I would make sure I said hello to him and the older lady if she was out, and I would stop and chat with them for a while. Build those relationships! Eventually, during one of the last times I got the opportunity to talk to them, I pulled out my Spanish gospel tract and started my routine.

Me: "Do you like gifts?"
Jorge: "Yes!"
Me: "Especially when they're FREE gifts?"
Jorge: "YES!"
(I'd usually hand the child a sucker or something here)
Me: Well, God has a FREE GIFT for you! Let me tel-
Jorge: "REALLY?! Wow!"

He prayed the prayer with me. While I don't know how heartfelt it was at his age, I do know that he heard the message and that I left a good impression with him. The last few times I went I got a chance to follow up with him, to make sure there was a church he could go to and be sure he understood things. And partly just to love him.

The people in the DR are different in that the majority seem to be open to hearing the gospel. Jorge's caretaker; (he called her "tia", "aunt", as a term of respect) was outside with him when I pulled out my tract, so I asked her if she would mind me using it. She said "No! No! Tell him about Jesus! We need to hear about Jesus!"

How different this was from a typical American experience. If I were to whip out my wordless tract at Target and approach a child, I could land myself in jail. The community is very receptive to hearing the gospel. I can't wait to see what they do with it, and the long term affects of missionaries in that country.

 

Puppets

I didn’t use to like puppets, “los títeres”, much at all. They seemed kind of strange, very expensive, and I didn’t find them very effective ministry tools. But I have been “converted”. In the DR, I was working closely with a puppet team, translating skits and able to observe their effect first hand.

That week I was helping a group that went to several one-day VBS’s, and we did the puppets at each of them. Most of the kids hadn’t seen them before, so they were brand new and attracted –and held- attention. If I saw the kids again I would follow up with them and ask them about what happened, and they could tell me. Through a combination of skits both with and without words, we conveyed the gospel to the kids.

 

It was interesting to watch the puppeteers behind the curtain. At some places we had no poles and only a sheet and some wire, so the puppeteers would be stacked three deep in the back to make the show. I took a few very very short and very unprofessional video clips.

 
 

One time, the place available for us to use was a discotheque..I had to use an extra puppet sheet to cover the naked woman on the wall!

 

It was great to be able to use that space to do God’s work. Here all the kids praying together after the skits.

At the end of that week, we taught a “how-to-do-puppets” class to members of 13 different churches, and gave each of them a few puppets and some guidelines to work with. Hopefully this form of ministry is now spreading across the Dominican Republic! I can’t wait to be involved in it here in the U.S.

 

The Lifehouse Wordless Drama

 

Well, it’s been 10 days since I was in the Dominican Republic. I haven’t recovered yet. I don’t know that I ever will completely recover. I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to update this blog as often as I had hoped-I had much less internet access than anticipated. Over the next few days I’d like to post some of my memories and reflections.

 

(As a reminder, I went for six weeks on my own, living with three different familes and one week with a group at the Solid Rock Missions guesthouse.)

One of my favorite parts of the trip was during the last week, with the group. The story begins early this spring, after I had seen the Lifehouse drama at my church (one version pictured here:)

a few weeks before I left, I really felt strongly that that skit was something I needed to be a part of in the DR. A clear message, no language barrier, everyone could participate, and we could do it in a large church or take a boombox with us to a nearby neighborhood. I emailed the lady in charge and received a “Sorry, but no”, we wouldn’t be able to do it. But then, when my group arrived I learned that there had been a change in plans and that someone had stepped up and put the skit together, along with two other wordless dramas! The very first time the group performed (I was in the audience with the Dominicans, since I spoke Spanish) a Dominican leader in the organization asked us to come to his neighborhood and do the same thing.

We went to his neighborhood, to his friend’s neighborhood, to the park, a shoeshine boy camp, the old folks home, even the market in the middle of the day performing these dramas. It was so exciting. After we finished performing the dramas, someone would give a brief summary, explanation and invitation in Spanish to the Dominicans. There was a certain line they would usually use.. “Quien quiere confiar en Cristo hoy, ahora?” (Who wants to trust in Christ today, now?) and there would be a pause. And then the hands would go up. In one of the neighborhoods we went to, almost every one of the people watching raised their hand.

The pastor asked "Who wants to trust in Christ today, now?"

 Now, I know that some of the people were just doing it to make us happy or hoping that they would get something. But still, they heard the message, and God’s word never returns void. Those moments after the invitation were very powerful for me. That was a big reason I was there, to take God’s word to those who need it. Plus, in the Bible the only time that we know for sure that the angels are singing is when a new soul comes to Jesus. How fantastic, even if only one or two hands were really sincere, that God was able to use me in part to do his work. I can almost hear the angels’ rejoicing!

 

I’m back!

I’ve arrived safely home and with all luggage intact! Thanks for all the prayers!

I’m going to sleep, analyze and process, and then give more details and pictures soon.

-Jackie

 

Dios les bendiga!

Dios les bendiga todos! Dios les bendiga mas!

God has really been opening up doors for me here. Every day I have the opportunity to go out and share the gospel. It seems to be a lot easier here than in the U.S. in that people come up to me and ask me out of curiosity what I´m doing in the country..which is a huge opportunity..

I also have this method I use to attract the kids.. for the younger kids, I ask them: Do you like gifts?
Them: Yes!
Me: Especially FREE gifts?
Them: Yes!
Then I usually pass out candy or paint nails or something as I tell them about the best free gift ever.

For the older kids I have a sleight of hand trick I can do where it looks like I can take off one of my fingers..which is hard to explain on here, but it´s fast and draws quick attention, and once I have their attention I have another opportunity!

It´s different here than the states in that parents like, even encourage people telling about Jesus. Where in the U.S. I´ve had parents draw their kids away from me (the crazy religious nut), here, the parents say “Come, come in, eat something, tell the kids this!”

People in general are very open and friendly here. And they all want to practice their English. On one of my first days I was walking to my English class early in the morning and this old man leaned out of his house and called ¨Good evening!” I had to laugh. I called back “Good evening!” and continued on my way.

I´ve been getting a lot of culture too. I´ve been out to eat several time, to the barber and hair salon, to pay the bill, to the supermercado and mercado (my favorites because of all the people, I have lots of pictures), to a million people´s houses (they don´t call ahead here, just walk in), clothes shopping, to the old folks home, to a million vacation Bible schools, and a lot more. I like to walk on the streets and look at all the people. The more that I understand the culture here, and the language (which hasn´t been anywhere near as much of a hurdle as I had anticipated, praise the Lord!) the easier it is to share the good news.

I´ve been reading my Bible in Spanish and in English, and it´s interesting the difference between the translations. In particular I´ve been doing my theme verse in Matthew, and also Ruth, Job, Esther, Proverbs 31 (I´m halfway through memorizing it in Spanish!) Isaiah and Romans. Romans definitely has a lot of meat in it! My current favorite verse of the day is that one part of  Job..when Job is asking all the questions and finally God is like “Job. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth?” That´s a paraphrased translation.

I have a lot less internet access, unfortunately, then I had anticipated. Until next time, whenever that may be!

 

Hallelujah!

Well, I´ve arrived in San Juan and settled in pretty well. It looks like I won´t have as much access to the computer as I thought, and I have to be quick. Basically, I love it here, it´s awesome.

In particular, God has been gracious enough that I´ve already done something I had wanted to do. Last time I was here, in 2006, at one of the vacation Bible schools, just a minute after we had finished the school and shut and locked the door, two sisters strolled up the lane and knocked at the door. However, due to rules down here we weren´t allowed to open the door. They went around a tiny window on the side and reached through the barbed wire into the room, asking ¨What you do here?”, “Who Jesus¨”, “Tell more”. I tried to get out to talk to them, but the rule was that the door stayed closed. And then in the morning when I got to go out to look for them, they were gone.

I didn´t think I´d ever get to see them again, but by some miraculous “chance”, I ran into the same girls, in a completely different part of the city, and I got to share the message with them. I couldn´t believe it! They both accepted Jesus as their Savior..that´s when the angels rejoice!