Last week, we were able to partner with Doulos to host a wonderful and wild group of 16 teens and 4 adults from our sending church in Oregon, Creekside Community Church. This group came for a week to serve the Lord in the D.R. as well as learn about the ministry that God has called us to here. During their time, they were able to learn about the various aspects of ministry at Doulos, serve through different projects on campus, see the new Doulos property, attend our local church in Spanish, experience the Doulos talent show (way to represent, Travis, with your juggling skills!), walk around town, learn how to navigate life without running water for 3 days, hang out in our home, attend dinner with a Doulos student and their family at the student’s home, jump into a waterfall, sample various Dominican foods, and so much more.
After serving almost four years in Jarabacoa, it was such a huge encouragement to the four of us to have part of our church here working alongside us and experiencing the adventure that is life on the mission field. It has been an incredible journey to be the Lord’s hands and feet, but it is exhausting being in full-time ministry. Having a group of people come and bless us while learning about God’s work here and the advancement of the gospel was a tremendous support to us. It was an additional blessing that this was such an AMAZING, responsible, respectful, engaged, loving group of teens. We felt honored to experience them pouring out while being poured into by our Heavenly Father.
This was especially true for Brennan and Ava. They LOVED being able to have their Oregon friends here and to be able to give them experiences to go along with the stories they have shared during previous summers in Oregon. Oftentimes for third culture kids, they deal with not having friends who understand their life. Their Dominican friends don’t understand the challenges of living 3,000+ miles from their home culture, and their Oregon friends can’t fully grasp life on the mission field. Having their youth group come and understand life in Jarabacoa through hard work, lots of laughs, new experiences, a few pranks, times of worship and fellowship with other believers in our own language, was, and will be a lasting gift for all four of us. The last 12 months have been extremely difficult for our family with the process of Melissa’s Mom dying, so it felt SO good to be filled with SO MUCH JOY and be refreshed this past week. We are so thankful to Creekside and the Lord for this great blessing!
