Dominican Republic 2014 June
As part of the curriculum for the School of Missions at Charis Bible College, Delron requires the students who are pursuing the possibility of a full-time calling into foreign missions to spend six weeks in foreign country, living in the home of a missionary family. This long-term cross-cultural experience gives the students an exposure to everyday life with a missionary family and an opportunity to be immersed in a foreign culture. Delron spends the first week with the students as an orientation and then leaves them in the hands of the missionaries for the remaining five weeks.
This mission to the Dominican Republic, which marked our twelfth visit to the country, was the orientation session for the first full class of mission students from the Bible college. Although Delron and Peggy have brought several teams from Charis to the Dominican Republic for their one-week mission trip as part of their graduation requirement and Delron has brought other students from the mission elective class for longer-term trips, this was the first group who were to actually receive degrees from the School of Missions. This initial class consisted of five students who had spent two full semesters studying the biblical mandate to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, the history of missions, and mission strategy. In addition to their classroom coursework, the students had been through numerous workshops for practical training in puppet ministry, personal evangelism, sermon preparation, and support raising. Additionally, they visited the headquarters of a number of different mission organizations to get a behind-the-scenes tour of how different ministries go about fulfilling the Great Commission. During the week that Delron was with the students, they spent some time getting acquainted with their missionary family, other mission workers in the area, their interpreters, a number of the local support staff, and a variety of the pastors with whom they will be working during their time in the country. Most of the first couple days were used to familiarize themselves with the puppets and other resources at the mission compound, such as a large self-contained ministry truck with sides that open up to provide a fully functioning stage with lighting and sound system for their open-air outreaches. The students also made a couple trips into town to begin to learn how to shop using an unfamiliar currency. One of the highlights of the first week was the open-air outreach in which they had experienced presenting dramas, sharing their testimonies, and ministering to those who came forward for prayer. They also enjoyed working at a Compassion International feeding center where children are given a nutritious meal each day — the only meal that many of the children will eat during the whole day.
In addition to the orientation of the mission students for their mission experience, Delron had a number of opportunities to minister while in the country — at a pastors’ conference and services in three different churches. In one service, the message dealt with dealing with impossible situations. At the close of the service, the pastor took the microphone and shared with the congregation that the sermon had really spoken to his heart in that he was dealing right then with the impossible situation of deciding what to do because the church needed to expand their building even though there was no money available for a construction project. At another service where Delron had preached on godly ways to deal with other people, the pastor concluded the service by testifying that the message had given him the answer to how to deal with a situation that had brought conflict between him and some long-time friends. The message at the pastors’ conference was a study of the life of David to find principles for successful lives and ministries. Several of the pastors actually had tears running down their cheeks as they heard the stories of how David failed in his position of leadership in the nation and how God had to redeem him and his reputation. The lessons helped them realize how easy it could be for them to fail in the ministries that God had given them. Many of the pastors came up after the conference to share that they felt that the message was especially for them. The call for purity in their purpose and integrity in their operation had motivated them to bring their ministries to even a higher level of sincerity and effectiveness. The student team also had a part to play each service through dramas, testimonies, and personal ministry.
The second week of the students sojourn in the Dominican Republic coincided with the visit of a team from The Chapel Project, a ministry that helps struggling churches by helping them construct a church building and evangelize the local neighborhood. The Charis students pitched in with the evangelism team in their door-to-door ministry in the vicinity of the church. Since Delron was not scheduled to return to Colorado until that afternoon, he was privileged to work with the students for the first morning of evangelism. He said that he found an open door and receptive heart in every home the team visited, with everyone wanting prayer and several eager to receive the Lord as their Savior.
Dominica Republic 2014
What a great team I was asked to lead to the Dominican Republic that consisted of nineteen Charis Bible College students. As part of their requirements to graduate, Charis students have to take a mission trip. My team was able to work with Tim and Trena Johnson who were our hosts at their La Casa Grande home and ministry in Santiago. For seven days, we were kept busy morning, noon, and night with various outreaches to seek and save the lost. The Johnsons now have a portable stage mounted on a trailer that they take all over the city of Santiago. The truck converts into a stage with lights and a fully equipped sound system. Once we set up the curtain for puppets, we became the center of attention no matter where we went. Because of the religious freedom in the Dominican Republic, we could go into any public institution or location and were free to say and do however the Lord led. In fact, the Dominican Republic flag has a Bible on it.
This year, after many weeks of skit and teaching practices before the trip, we were ready. Most of the team was between fifty and seventy-five years of age, but I got them into full swing. The Dominican people love music and dramas, so we started out either with this or with ten or more puppets singing and dancing. Before too long, all the children in the area would come out and take a seat, bringing along their parents. How they laughed and cheered as we did our Jesus skits. At the end, their emotions many times turned to tears as the students shared their testimonies, teachings, and the altar call. Many came to the Lord and were healed. I will never forget how several of the young people just trembled under the power of God when we asked who wanted the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
As a leader, it was so rewarding to see students go from being nervous and unsure of themselves to fully confident of what Christ could do through them. By the end of the trip, they were as bold as lions — so full of the joy and love of the Lord. The people we met through the various outreaches in schools, churches, and the truck outreaches know now that there is a Jesus who loves them and is truly alive today.
The island of Hispaniola is home of two developing nations, Dominican Republic and Haiti. Though the two nations share the tiny spot of dry ground protruding from the Caribbean’s warm waters, the two countries are markedly different. Some dear friends of ours who had served as missionaries in Haiti for many years were flying across the island for the first time and asked the pilot of the small plane to tell them when they entered into Dominican Republic air space. His response was, “You won’t need me to tell you. You will be able to see the difference from the air.” And, indeed, they did. At the very border, there is a marked difference between the barren parched land of Haiti and the lush green of the DR. Haiti is considered the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. While the Dominican Republic is certainly not a first world nation, the people there fare much better than do their neighbors in Haiti. The residents of the two countries speak different languages: Spanish on the Dominican side and Creole (a French derivative) in Haiti. The ethnic backgrounds of the people of the DR vary so greatly that their traditional dolls are crafted with no faces so as to avoid reflecting any one particular aspect of the mix. In Haiti, the population consists basically of blacks.
Haiti has known very severe spiritual suffering over the years because of the Voodoo covenant the national founders made in which they pledged their nation to the devil in exchange for his assistance in winning their freedom for colonial rule. The price of this pledge has been extracted through a constant reign of tyranny, corruption at every level, pervasive poverty, and repeated natural disasters such as the hurricanes, land slides, the devastating earthquake in 2009, and the cholera epidemic of 2010. The Dominican Republic, on the other hand, is the only country in the world to display a Bible on its flag. Although, the DR has certainly had its share of political corruption and natural calamities, it has not been plagued anything near the extent as has bordering Haiti.
For all their differences, the nations do share one common characteristic–they are targets for the blessings of God. The scriptures promise that the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will cover all the earth as effectively as the waters cover the sea. (Habakkuk 2:14) The New Testament echoes the promise of the Old Testament prophecy that in the last days the Holy Spirit is to be poured out on all flesh. (Joel 2:28, Acts 2:17) Since the Word of God is unquestionably true, we must expect to see revival fires begin to erupt on both sides of the border in all of Hispaniola. We believe that now is the time for a visitation of God among His people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. One thing we know for certain is that when there is revival, there must be good solid teaching. Teaching must precede a move of God because the Word of God is the seed from which the revival will spring up. Even more importantly, teaching must follow after revival because the new converts become prey for cults and heresies without solid instruction. We feel that the Lord is directing Teach All Nations to go into Hispaniola and help establish a firm foundation in the hearts and minds of the rising church leaders.
TAN’s ministry in the Dominican Republic began in October of 2003 when Delron and Peggy had the privilege of taking part in a Feed the Hungry outreach to the island. While in the country they traveled across the island to spend some time with Tim and Trena Johnson who serve as missionaries in the city of Santiago. Since the Johnsons and the Shirleys were all from Dr. Lester Sumrall’s Christian Center in South Bend, they had been friends for many years and Peggy and Delron had financially supported the Johnsons’ mission work. Even though the Johnsons had been extending invitations for many years, the Shirleys had never seemed to be able to find the time to actually go be with them on the field. That trip to the Dominican Republic opened many doors of ministry including a mission’s conference and a couple pastors’ conferences and preaching in several churches.
Mission to Santiago, Dominican Republic 2013
Peggy led a team of twenty-four Charis Bible College students to Santiago, Dominican Republic, where they spent eight days ministering with Tim and Trena Johnson who have severed as missionaries in the Dominican Republic for seventeen years. The team was busy with two outreaches each day in a wide variety of venues including open-air crusades, the public schools, and various churches. The students said that they quickly learned what “the harvest is plenteous” means as they saw people so open to the gospel and hungry to hear the Word at each meeting.
At the crusade in the central park, they presented a puppet show, did some skits, and gave their personal testimonies. The students were amazed to see how many stopped their busy days to stand and watch their presentations. When the altar call was given, the onlookers with tears in their eyes were eager to come forward to accept Jesus or to ask for prayer. The team testified that this altar call really helped them to understand John 12:32, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” The children in the public schools were captivated as they heard about Jesus and how He loves them and many raised their hands as we asked them who had never asked Jesus into their hearts. On Sunday, the students ministered at four different church services, turning them from “nervous novices” into “confident Christian” teachers of the Word. Another amazing meeting was an outreach at a football field where the people were eager to hear about Jesus as one of the students gave an evangelistic message. The people responded with tears of joy as they came to know the Lord, and the team members were filled with the joy of the Lord as these complete strangers became their brothers and sisters in the Lord complete with hugs and kisses. Not only did the Lord heal, save, and deliver so many of the people in the Dominican Republic, but He also changed each of the team members who came home touched forever.
Mission to Dominican Republic June 2013
Delron’s visit to the Dominican Republic was part of a new program that he has been asked to develop for Charis Bible College – a school of missions. The vision for the school has been on the heart of the director of the college for several years and has finally become a reality with a group of seven students who made the choice to concentrate their studies on long-term international cross-cultural ministry. The students spent the first two terms of their third year of studies at the college studying the biblical mandate of worldwide ministry, the history of Christian missions, the lives of some of the renowned missionaries of the past three centuries, and the basic principles of cross-cultural ministry. In addition, they had opportunities to visit with various mission organizations in Colorado Springs to glean insights from their experiences in ministry around the world and to take some basic Spanish classes in preparation for their extended stay in a Spanish-speaking culture. The third term of the school year was spent living and working with a missionary family in the Dominican Republic. While in the country, they were exposed to every area of missionary life (including open-air outreaches, building a church, home-to-home evangelism, prison ministry, preaching in churches, children’s evangelism, personal ministry to the sick and those seeking salvation and the infilling of the Holy Spirit) and all the practical aspects of living in a foreign country (such as how to open a bank account, find an apartment, arrange to get the utilities connected, obtain governmental permits to do various ministerial projects from having a crusade to building a church, and do simple daily tasks like buy groceries and prepare meals).
While in the country as part of the orientation for the mission team, Delron had the opportunity to minister at the church in one of the slum areas of the city. His message, based on the story of how Rahab the harlot became part of the royal lineage of Israel and an ancestor of Jesus, focused on how God can take a person from the lowest level of society and bring him to the top in the kingdom of God.
Only after the service did he learn that the pastor had beenpraying and fasting for three days, seeking to hear the exact ord that the sermon conveyed. Teach All Nations also had the opportunity to host a pastor’s conference where Delron ministered from his new book Interfaces. Many of the pastors present expressed their appreciation for the message, saying that it was exactly what they needed to help take their ministries to the next level.
Mission to The Dominican Republic Jan 2012
Delron and a group of seventeen Charis Bible College students, including students from across the US, the UK, and Kenya, spent the first week of December with missionaries Tim and Trena Johnson at the Casa Grande mission compound in Santiago, Dominican Republic. Fred Taylor, a graduate of World Harvest Bible College who has traveled with Teach All Nations on several previous trips including Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic joined them a couple days after their arrival in the country. They were also joined for one day by a team of students from the Jacksonville, Florida, campus of Charis.
The week was very busy with a full schedule of activities including four church services, four open-air outreaches, a children’s crusade, a visit to a feeding center where the team helped serve lunch to the children in an impoverished community, and a pastors’ conference. The student team took the lead in each ministry event with puppet shows, original dramas written by one of the team members, testimonies, preaching, and praying for those who responded to the altar calls. Although none of the students spoke Spanish and most of them had no previous experience in working with a interpreter, they had no problem communicating the love of God with the audiences. It was beautiful to see how quickly the hearts of the students and the Dominicans were knit together. Perhaps the bond of love between the students and the people was most evident at the kids’ crusade as the children’s bright faces graphically displayed their awe and amazement at the puppet show and dramas and their joy as the students prayed for them and handed out candy as they left for their homes. Each service was highlighted by salvations, healings, and deliverances. Even on our free day when the team took a break at a Caribbean beach, they took time to share the gospel with the local souvenir vendors and led at least one to Christ. Although the language barrier hindered us from getting the full report, we did hear numerous testimonies of lives that were touched and changed through the ministry. But the changes didn’t stop with the Dominicans; all the students testified that they would never be the same after this experience. Some of the team members even testified that they had received the directions for their ministries and even missionary callings during the trip.
In addition to coordinating the mission team, Delron was the featured speaker at the pastors and leaders’ conference where several hundred pastors packed the hall to capacity and others from outside the local area logged onto a live internet broadcast as Delron taught from his book People Who Make a Difference. Plans have been initiated to have the book translated into Spanish and published for distribution in the Dominican Republic and other Latin American countries.
2011
Delron and a group of seventeen Charis Bible College students, including students from across the US, the UK, and Kenya, spent the first week of December with missionaries Tim and Trena Johnson at the Casa Grande mission compound in Santiago, Dominican Republic. Fred Taylor, a graduate of World Harvest Bible College who has traveled with Teach All Nations on several previous trips including Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic joined them a couple days after their arrival in the country. They were also joined for one day by a team of students from the Jacksonville, Florida, campus of Charis.
The week was very busy with a full schedule of activities including four church services, four open-air outreaches, a children’s crusade, a visit to a feeding center where the team helped serve lunch to the children in an impoverished community, and a pastors’ conference. The student team took the lead in each ministry event with puppet shows, original dramas written by one of the team members, testimonies, preaching, and praying for those who responded to the altar calls. Although none of the students spoke Spanish and most of them had no previous experience in working with a interpreter, they had no problem communicating the love of God with the audiences. It was beautiful to see how quickly the hearts of the students and the Dominicans were knit together. Perhaps the bond of love between the students and the people was most evident at the kids’ crusade as the children’s bright faces graphically displayed their awe and amazement at the puppet show and dramas and their joy as the students prayed for them and handed out candy as they left for their homes. Each service was highlighted by salvations, healings, and deliverances. Even on our free day when the team took a break at a Caribbean beach, they took time to share the gospel with the local souvenir vendors and led at least one to Christ. Although the language barrier hindered us from getting the full report, we did hear numerous testimonies of lives that were touched and changed through the ministry. But the changes didn’t stop with the Dominicans; all the students testified that they would never be the same after this experience. Some of the team members even testified that they had received the directions for their ministries and even missionary callings during the trip.
In addition to coordinating the mission team, Delron was the featured speaker at the pastors and leaders’ conference where several hundred pastors packed the hall to capacity and others from outside the local area logged onto a live internet broadcast as Delron taught from his book People Who Make a Difference. Plans have been initiated to have the book translated into Spanish and published for distribution in the Dominican Republic and other Latin American countries.
2010
We had barely caught our breath from the trip to England and Ireland by the time we were to leave for the mission to the Dominican Republic. Early on the morning of December 1, we loaded the busses with twenty-four Charis Bible College students and headed to Denver and then Miami. A mechanical malfunction in Denver delayed our departure, resulting in our missing the flight out of Miami. After an overnight stay in Florida, we were finally on our way to Santiago in the Dominican Republic. Since the loss of a day at the front of our trip caused us to miss a couple outreaches, we had to double our efforts once we touched down in order to fulfill all our commitments.
On our first day, we split the students into teams and send part of the students into the schools while the rest headed out to a barrio (needy community in the city) to preach the gospel and distribute food. In the Dominican Republic, religion is not blocked out of the schools as it is in the US; in fact, all students are required to take part in a religion class and the missionaries we work with there have been asked to provide a certain amount of religious training for the school system each year. What a wonderful platform this freedom provided for the team to present their gospel drama, testimonies, and to give an opportunity for the students to receive prayer. At the barrio outreach, we also presented gospel dramas, testimonies, a gospel message, and an invitation for prayer. Due to the language barrier, we were not able to know how many came forward for salvation and how many were asking for prayer for other needs, but almost everyone present came forward.
After a quick trip back to the mission compound for lunch and to load up for another food distribution, we were off to a nearby village for another outreach. Again, the host church was filled with needy families from the neighborhood who had been invited in to hear the gospel and receive a package of food. The area has been severely affected by the closing of several factories that employed almost all the people of the community. With such devastation, everyone is eager to receive what little economic help the church and missionaries can offer; therefore, such food outreaches are especially effective. Since evangelism is always the motivation for any outreach, only specifically invited families are able to attend the food distributions. That way, the church is able to follow up after the meeting to see how they can assist those who came to the crusade to develop in their newfound faith. Again, the students presented the gospel in dramas and preaching and then demonstrated the power of the gospel through laying on of hands and prayer.
While the students were ministering in the main sanctuary, Delron was in an annex building leading a pastors’ meeting for the pastors from the general vicinity. Since many of them would not be able to attend the main pastors’ conference that was scheduled for the following day in Santiago, we decided to hold a smaller gathering for them in their area.
Saturday was no day off for the team in that we had to package food for the upcoming food outreaches in addition to the scheduled events of the day — a children’s crusade and the pastors’ conference. When the day started out rainy, we were concerned that we would have to cancel the children’s meeting since the children all come from an area where the roads are unpaved and can quickly become muddy and impassable. Surprisingly enough, the rain didn’t seem to hinder the attendance and we soon had an overflow crowd. Puppets, dramas, juggling, a candy giveaway, and lots of hugs and smiles added to the gospel presentation. Another quick lunch and another round of loading the vans with food brought us to time for the pastors’ conference where about three hundred pastors and leaders gathered to see the students perform their dramas and receive a review of the major points in Delron’s book, Finally, My Brethren, which was just released in Spanish. After the teaching, we gave the pastors a free lunch and a basket of food to take home to their families in addition to a free copy of the book.
Sunday, we split into teams to minister in a number of different churches and then went to a mountain village for a gospel meeting and food outreach. Rains threatened to cancel the outdoor outreach in the mountains, but our prayers of faith held back the downpour through the meeting. On Monday, we were again in an open-air settling as we ministered in a public park where passersby congregated to hear the music, see the dramas and puppets, and to get face paintings–in addition to hearing the gospel and receiving prayer. It was wonderful to see the people boldly step forward to receive salvation, healing, and deliverance. That evening, we concluded our mission to the Dominican with another children’s outreach at a local open-air basketball court.
February 2009
Following the conference in Haiti, Delron left for the Dominican Republic on the other side of the island. After an all-day bus trip, he arrived in Santiago where he was greeted by Tim and Trena Johnson. Although he only had two days of ministry with them it was a power-packed time. When we had made the arrangements to come to the DR, he did not realize that we were scheduling the visit over their Independence Day holiday week. When Delron learned that news, his first response was that maybe it was not such a good idea to come exactly then because of so many possible conflicts. Actually, we did find out that the timing did pose a problem with some conflicting schedules; however, a powerful testimony came out of the matter. One church canceled a planned leadership seminar so that their leaders could attend our pastors’ meeting. Another group of pastors came directly to the meeting from a four-day ministerial conference that their denomination was sponsoring. It was so humbling to hear how they were willing to sacrifice and adjust in order to be present for the teaching. Delron also considered that it was also an honor to be there at this particular time since he was the first speaker to minister in the new ministry facility that is being built on the mission compound. In fact, some of the finishing touches were still underway as we were setting up the chairs for the meeting! Approximately four hundred pastors and their wives rejoiced at the opening of the new facility and enjoyed a condensed version of the message on being men and women who make a difference. Delron says that he knows that these pastors will definitely make a difference in their nation because they have already been greatly impacting their neighborhoods, city, and country.
On Sunday, he ministered in two different churches and witnessed a great move of the Spirit in each congregation. In the morning service, the pastor of the congregation had been out of the pulpit for months due to health problems and a church split from his having been falsely accused of certain wrongdoings. When Delron gave the altar call, he turned to the pastor because he was seated on the front row and asked him to take the microphone and lead the people in the sinner’s prayer in Spanish. When the people saw him step back up in front for the first time after so long a period, there was an immediate spirit of jubilation that swept through the building–not only for the dozen new members of the Body of Christ, but also that their pastor was being restored! Between six and seven hundred people packed the church where Delron ministered on Sunday night. Sixteen came forward for salvation at the close of the service, followed by a “cast of thousands” who came up for healing and prayer. Just as we were ready to close the service, the pastor called Delron forward and blessed him with kind remarks, saying that he is always encouraged when Delron comes to the Dominican Republic to minister because he always feels that every time Delron brings a word directly from God and that the attitude of humility displayed in his ministry mirrors the very nature of God.
June 2009
“How do you become a doctor?” “How do you know if God wants you to be a preacher?” “How do you read the Bible if you don’t understand what it is saying?” These were some of the questions that the children asked in the Dominican Republic when a medical doctor joined Delron in a question and answer time during a children’s meeting. It was so refreshing to see the children demonstrate such mature and honest desires concerning their futures and spiritual lives.
Advertised as the doctor of theology and the doctor of medicine, Dr. Duane Spaulding, Trens Johnson’s brother, visited a whole series of churches and a prison to address questions from evolution, predestination, and the Great Tribulation to urinary tract infections. After addressing their questions, Delron would minister a gospel message and pray for people to receive salvation, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and be healed. In every place, we saw a tremendous eagerness and response. Meanwhile, practicing the principle of divide and conquer, Peggy was ministering at other churches where she also saw great moves of the Spirit.
The highlight of the week was the pastors’ conference where most of the pastors and church leaders from the area gathered to be trained from the Finally, My Brethren book. Unfortunately, we ran into a snag in the translation process and were not able to provide all the pastors with copies of the book in Spanish as we had planned. Although the books were not actually in print in time for the conference, we did get exciting reports from everyone involved in the translation process who testified that the truths in the book had really impacted their lives as they translated.
2007
Tim Johnson, our missionary in the Dominican Republic had been off the field for more than a year due to being attacked with what could have been a fatal brain tumor. Miraculously, the Lord saw him through this ordeal, and he was finally back in the Dominican. That was the answer to many prayers and the first piece of my great news! A second piece of good news was that Teach All Nations has the opportunity to join Tim and his family as they were resettling in the country. The team of teens that we took down over Christmas break of 2005 was one of the last groups from the States to be at the mission compound before Tim’s seizures began. We were very excited that we were also be one of the first groups to come back to help him now that he was back in the country. It was simply amazing how our team had come together from all across the US. We had a wonderful group consisting of students and adults who have a real heart to minister to the hurting people of the Dominican Republic and to help Tim and his family as they are getting re-established.
I’ll share even one more piece of great news: Feeding the Nations agreed to supply a cargo container full of food for us to distribute as we reached out to the nation. The contents of this container will be valued at over $50,000, but all we have to do is pay to get it there!
Most Bible students consider seven as God’s number of completion. If there is any truth to that estimation, the first Saturday of July was truly a day of completion in the kingdom of God: 07/07/07! As least for our mission team to the Dominican Republic, as we boarded the 777 Boeing aircraft for our flight home from the DR, we all felt a true sense that God had used us to accomplish His purposes in the nation.
This trip to the Dominican Republic was number four for Delron, number three for Peggy, and the second one for Jeremy. The rest of the team–el groupo, as we became known–was comprised of mostly high school and college students and three parents. Fourteen in all, we originated from three different areas of the country and met in Miami for the flight down. We first met Vida and Sarah, a mom and daughter from California, when we were teaching at the Elijah Generation discipleship program in Arizona. Cynthia, who joined us from Chicago, was also a student in the EG program. Jeremy Witt and Beth are students from Charis Bible College where we teach in Colorado Springs. Beth says that her parting words when she left the DR after a recent vacation there were, “Next time I come here, it will be as a missionary.” Also from Colorado Springs was Alex, Jeremy Shirley’s classmate. From South Bend, we had Danny, Jim, and Jaci–a mom and her two sons who had joined on the 2005 trip. Another returnee for the 2005 trip was Brittany who this time brought her mom Claudette, a nurse who was instrumental in collecting toothpaste and brushes for a dental hygiene clinic.
Each day and evening was filled with activity–not only ministering, but also preparing the food packets for the outreaches and practicing the songs and drama we would perform at each meeting. Almost four hundred delegates attended the pastors’ conference, many of whom we already knew from our previous conferences in the DR. It was so encouraging to hear them tell of how the truths we had shared during our earlier visits had transformed and empowered their ministries. All the churches reported that they are experiencing explosive growth and great outpourings of the Holy Spirit. One thing that has always impressed us about the Dominican Republic is the quality of the pastors there. They all exude the joy of the Lord and exhibit a true spirit of humility. If you know anything about the DR, you may realize that some of our leading major league baseball players hail from the island–and it is every Dominican boy’s dream to go to the US to play baseball. Two of the pastors we work with were recruited to play professional baseball but gave up their tickets to fame, fortune, and freedom–one resigned from his team and returned to the island and one turned down the bid–in order to pursue the higher draft choice on their lives–the call into the ministry.
In addition to the pastors’ conference, we held two children’s crusades, seven church services, three outreach crusades, and an open-air meeting in the city park. In every outreach and church meeting we had many people come to know the Lord and many received healings. Due to the language barrier and the lack of interpreters, we were only able to get a few testimonies. Among those that we heard, was the story of restoration of sight to a man who was partially blind. When we took the group to the beach for half a day of relaxation, they were actively sharing the gospel and prayed for a women who was touched of God and even slain in the Spirit right on the beach!
Even as we rejoiced in all that had been done during this short mission, we all realized that the “7”s meant only that one phase of what God is doing both in the DR and in our own lives had come to completion. Most of the team have dedicated themselves to future missions–fulfilling our ultimate desire in taking teams abroad, to raise up a new generation of missionaries. The harvest truly is plenteous, but the workers are far too few.
Probably the easiest way to sum up the overall impact of the week would be to describe one particular outreach. The church in a rather impoverished area of town had arranged a food distribution among the needy families in the neighborhood. Each family was given a ticket that would admit them to the service and entitle them to a packet of food. As we rounded the corner and headed through the barrio toward the church, we could hear exuberant shouts, “The Americans! The Americans!” Little children and even a few adults rushed into the narrow street to escort us to last few hundred years to the church. When we arrived, we found the street jammed with people eagerly waiting for the doors to open. Our first problem was to back the van up to the door so that we could unload the food. We say that it was a problem because no one was willing to lose his place in line to let the van through. We watched in amazement as we maneuvered the vehicle just inches from the people’s toes trying to make our way in. Finally, we got in and unloaded the food. As soon as the doors were opened, the sanctuary was packed to capacity with an overflow crowd pressed around the open door and windows trying to see and hear. We sang a couple songs in Spanish–some of the team did a little more lip syncing than actual singing–followed by testimonies for the team. As one student’s testimony drew to a close, a couple women from the audience came up for prayer. Sensing that there were more who needed salvation, healing, or deliverance, Delron took the mic and preached for a few minutes and extended the invitation. Suddenly, most of the audience stepped forward asking for prayer. As the team members began to pray and minister to the hungry hearts and hurting bodies, we began to see smiles appear on the faces and tears on the cheeks. Many of them were slain in the Spirit as God worked on their lives. One thing that we always tell our groups is that the first rule to being a missionary is, “Be flexible.” That also happens to be the second and third rule as well. A special beatitude for missionaries reads, “Blessed is the flexible for he shall not be bent out of shape.” At this point, we got to practice our flexibility because the sermon and altar call are always scheduled at the end, not the middle of the service as it had come this time. After a bit of a struggle, we were able to regain order in the room and go on with the program which featured our “human video,” a beautiful choreography of the song Lord, You Are Holy, which we usually do early in the service as an introduction to the ministry. After the drama, we distributed the food packets and gave each person a friendly “God bless you,” a warm embrace, and a gospel tract as they left.
At least we didn’t have to practice the extent of flexibility we had experienced the previous night when we were stranded at the church for over an hour after the service had ended. At the end of the service, our driver had come up for prayer for healing of a back injury. He fell under the power of the Spirit and was “out” for almost an hour. Peggy reached out to touch him when he did get up, and he collapsed again for another twenty minutes! Since there was no rush to get home, Peggy felt led to use the time as an occasion to minister to the team. During this “afterglow” service, almost everyone was also “laid out” on the floor–not an unusual experience with our mission teams since we always anticipate that at least as much will happen in the lives of our team members as in the lives of the nationals.
In all, we hand distributed almost two hundred dental hygiene packets, seven thousand meal packets, and two thousand scripture booklets. In addition, we left behind cases of tracts, a large supply of medicines, a good quantity of school supplies, and a storage shed full of food for future use. Most of all, we left our hearts with the beautiful people of the Dominican Republic.
2005
Interestingly enough, we began the year of 2005 ministering in the Dominican Republic and Haiti and also concluded the year with a return trip to the DR with a group of young people from our church–including our son Jeremy. Delron worked with the youth group all summer to help them raise the money for the trip.
In an article issue of Missionary Ventures International, Mark Proffitt wrote about not only the benefit, but also the necessity, of involving teens in missions. He made the point that only four percent of American teens are being impacted by the gospel. Even though church youth leaders spend hours developing ways to reach the kids–from games and events to concerts and cookouts–they are still only reaching a few teens at a time. Teens find our Bible studies boring and our discipleship classes mundane. Teens are avoiding church like a plague. We may respond by calling them spoiled, lazy, and underachievers; but Proffitt claims that this is so far from the truth. He emphasizes that what our youth want is an opportunity to apply what they are being taught. They want to be “the hands and feet of Christ.” They want to make a difference, and they will make a difference if we give them the opportunity to do so. Proffitt concludes that the most effective tool in reaching youth is missions. He says that youth group meetings are great and Bible study is necessary, but serving in missions has a greater long-term impact on young people. He has observed that teens who serve on missions teams are more likely to become active in their churches, which leads to their remaining a part of their church when they become adults living on their own.
Although we often take a team with us when we travel to the mission field, we especially enjoy having a group with us when we go to the Dominican Republic because we can offer them a wide variety of mission experiences in a comfortable setting with minimal culture shock. In the DR, we work with long-time friends Tim and Trena Johnson and their three sons, Rodney, Neal, and Darren. They moved to the Dominican Republic in the mid 1990s after having spent a number of years working in Central America. La Casa Grande mission compound, the ministry base they built in the nation’s second largest city Santiago, not only serves as a center where crusades and conferences can be held, it also comfortably houses the mission teams in dormitory-style facilities with home-cooked meals provided in their bunk-house-style dining hall. The good food, clean beds, and hot showers are complemented by the family atmosphere at the compound and the great opportunity to work hand-in-hand with such an experienced missionary family. To top it all off, the facility even has a nice pool for cooling off in after a long day of ministry in the tropic heat!
Being around La Casa Grande is an adventure in itself as Tim starts each morning with a teaching about missions and evangelism. These devotional times are always seasoned with faith-building testimonies of how God has provided for the needs of the ministry and the results they have seen through the outreaches of the ministry. A current chapter in the ongoing testimony is woven around Tim’s miraculous survival and recovery from a life-threatening brain tumor that took him off the field for the whole of 2006 and could have taken him off the scene permanently. When what seemed to be a simple flu turned into seizures, Tim was rushed to the local hospital in the Dominican Republic. As he barely held on to life, the decision was made that nothing more could be done for him at the facility there and that he needed to be rushed to the US for treatment. There were only two problems, the hospital has a policy of not releasing a patient until his bill is paid in full and the medical evacuation to the States with accompanying medical staff would cost thirty thousand dollars which had to be paid in advance. Miraculously, money came from sources within the DR and US–sources which normally don’t have ready cash–and the bills were paid in full! In a story that could only be the result of divine orchestration, funds were provided for Tim’s family to join him in the States, a house was provided free-of-charge for a full year, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills were paid. There was even a reimbursement check for some medications which they had paid, giving them sufficient funds to purchase a new van to bring back to the mission field–a significant blessing since all their present vehicles were over twenty years old. Of course, all the financial miracles pale in comparison to what God did in saving Tim’s life as he repeatedly stood on the very threshold of death’s door. All during this ordeal, remarkable stories continued to develop as Tim and his family were used to minister to people in the hospital. Even when he was unable to speak because the tumor had closed off his vocal cords and the life-support tubes had blocked his throat, Tim would write encouraging notes on scraps of paper to let the others in the hospital know that he was praying for them.
During the Christmas holiday, we had the opportunity to prove how much a mission trip can impact the life of a teen by leading a group from Christ Chapel to the Dominican Republic. Although we were only out of the country for a few days, the experience actually stretched over most of the calendar year. Late last winter, we began promoting the idea among the teens and the church leadership. By early spring, the church was “on board” with the idea and the teens were applying to be part of the team. Next came the big job of raising the money for the trip. Since the only convenient time for all the teens to travel would be during the Christmas break, we knew that we would be facing the highest airline prices of the year; therefore, we set a budget of $20,000 to cover the expenses of the trip. You should have seen the kids’ mouths drop open when we told them how much they would have to raise! Of course, the parents and church leaders’ jaws also dropped!!
The kids dedicated their summer to various work projects to earn the money. They had bake sales and garage sales, washed windows, did yard work, painted fences, and even remodeled a kitchen. It was an exceptionally hot summer, but the kids didn’t let the heat or exhaustion slow them down; they kept working right up to the day that they had to return to school in the fall. By this point, they had over half the cash in hand; then, they wrote letters to friends and family asking for help. You should have seen the amazement in their eyes each time they received a check toward the trip! By the time winter hit, the money was all in and we began to focus on the trip itself–learning a few key Spanish phrases, preparing dramas to perform in the meetings in the Dominican, practicing singing together, and trying to get over stage fright and shyness by giving testimonies in the youth meetings–but most of all, praying together for the trip. This was not only the first time for most of these students to go outside the country; for most it was also their first time on an airplane–so there were lots of fears to overcome, such as fear of flying and–more importantly–fear of bugs. These months of preparation had a powerful uniting effect on the youth group. Working together brought them–guys, gals, black, white, Hispanic–to a place of trusting in and depending upon one another in a way that would never have happened otherwise. More importantly, it was also a time of learning how to trust and depend on God! Oh, yes, and for the bugs; rather than running away when we found a tarantula in the dinning room, they all ran to see it and even gave it a name!
Finally, Christmas break arrived and we were off on the adventure of a lifetime. Though the trip was short, it was intense and packed with lots of activities. We arrived in Santiago late on Tuesday night and only had time for a midnight snack before settling into our rooms at La Casa Grande. Wednesday was to be a big day in that we were expecting to receive two forty-foot containers of food from Feeding the Nations, a humanitarian organization associated with our church. Although the containers had arrived two weeks earlier, they had not been cleared because one key agent was on Christmas vacation. Now that he was back, the containers could be released as soon as the extra storage fee was paid. Although the delay was the vacationing official’s fault, the missionary was responsible for the late charges. It would take most of the day to get the money transferred, but we didn’t worry too much since we didn’t need the food until Friday. The teens spent the morning visiting the neighborhood announcing the children’s meeting that was scheduled for Friday. This outreach gave them an opportunity to visit in homes and pass out gospel tracts. This was the first time any of our team had ever seen people living in shacks made of scrap wood and sheets of tin with only dirt floors, and it made them thankful for the nice homes they have back in America. Before we completed our sweep through the neighborhood, it started to rain. At lunch we prayed for the rain to stop because the afternoon schedule included an open-air crusade in the city park. The rain stopped just as we got to the park, so we set up the portable sound system and began to sing. As a crowd began to gather, the teens presented a drama entitled “Bondage,” which depicts a young lady who wants to come to Jesus but is bound by chains representing lust, greed, and addiction. After the missionary preached, almost a dozen came forward to receive the Lord. The youth team helped pray for the people and went throughout the crowd passing out tracts. After the program, we visited the open-air market and the local shopping area to distribute tracts. That evening we participated in a local church service where the team presented the drama, sang, gave testimonies, and prayed for the individuals who came forward at the altar call.
Thursday we awoke to the news that our containers were still not out of customs. This time there was a problem with one of the documents; the officers had a photocopy of one form but insisted that they have the original. We knew that we had to pray because we could not wait any longer since we had two big food distributions scheduled for the next day. Before the prayer, Delron shared from Romans 8:26-28 concerning the necessity of having the Holy Spirit’s assistance in our prayers. When we don’t know how to pray, the Spirit intervenes and prays in perfect alignment with the will of God so that we can know that all things will work out to our best. At that point, several of the students admitted that they had never experienced that kind of Spirit-led prayer but said that they needed it for the present situation and for their lives in general. Our prayer focus shifted from the containers to the team members. As we ministered to each individual, everyone was deeply touched and many began to sob as they experienced deep inner healing. Some testified that the Lord had drawn them into a closer relationship with Himself so that they knew they could now make better decisions and live better lives even around their non-Christian friends and classmates. One girl who is nearing her senior year of high school said that she had no idea what God had planned for her life but that God used this prayer session as a time to answer many things she had been praying about and showed her what she going to be doing in her future. After the prayer, we spent time learning some songs in Spanish and went to the supermarket to pass out tracts. About midafternoon, we received word that the containers were released from customs but that the delivery company wasn’t going to bring them that day since it was about a four-hour trip and it too late in the day to start. Again we prayed, and suddenly we received a phone call stating that the trucks were on the road heading toward Santiago! We used the rest of the afternoon putting together gift bags for the next day’s children’s outreach. By divine provision, we had toys with us in our luggage rather than in the containers! When the work was done, the kids had free time for a swim–something they really enjoyed, especially when they remembered that it was freezing back home!
When the containers arrived at 7 PM, the drivers told us that it would take until 2 AM to unload them since we were going to do the job by hand. But when the team, along with some local volunteers, jumped into the trucks and started hauling out the boxes, they amazed everybody by finishing the job in one hour and fifteen minutes! Then we turned our energy to getting everything into storage–a job that took the next two and a half hours. The missionary was amazed to hear the kids singing while they worked because he wasn’t singing as he labored with the task. He said that the kids’ joy was an encouragement to him. Once everything was in storage, we turned our focus to packing the food boxes that were to be distributed at the pastors’ conference the following day. It was well past midnight when we folded the last flap on the final box, but the kids were still laughing and singing!
We realized that it was perfect timing that the containers came when they did, not only because they arrived just in time for the two distributions scheduled for the following day, but also because we were able to unload them at night without attracting a lot of attention from neighbors who would have lined up at the gate asking for handouts if the trucks had arrived during the daytime. If the containers had been released when they first arrived, the missionary would have had to unload them without the help of the youth team and the team would not have had the experience of actually moving that much missionary support. In addition, because it was night, the heat was not so intense as we worked.
Friday was the busiest day of the trip. We started out by setting up the chairs and the stage for children’s service. Almost three hundred kids showed up–a significant increase over usual number. After the teens sang in English and Spanish and presented a drama about the armor of God, about forty children responded to the invitation. The highlight of the morning was the distribution of the Christmas packages we had packed the day before: a toy, candy, gum, pencils, tract, and Christmas card along with a box of cereal from the containers we had unloaded during the night. As soon as we cleaned up after the children’s outreach, we began setting up for the pastors’ conference that attracted about two hundred and fifty pastors and Christian workers. After the teens presented their drama and sang, Peggy taught on the ten principles in leadership and Delron taught on fourth dimension reality. The students served cool pops and water during service and a meal afterward. Again, the highlight was the distribution of the food boxes we had assembled the night before: a canned turkey, pinto beans, applesauce, noodles, cookies, cereal, cheese, and a Christian book. As a reward for the hard days’ labor, we treated the group with a trip to the local McDonalds and then went to the National Monument–the focal point of the local nightlife — to distribute gospel tracts.
As the trip came to a close, we were able to look back at the lives touched through our prayers, our ministry, our food distribution, and our literature; but we sincerely believe that an equal–if not greater–impact was made in the lives of the team. Because the Dominican Republic has been dominated by the Spanish, overrun by the Haitians, influenced by the French, and administered by the Americans–the people feel that they reflect characteristics of all the racial blends rather than display any one distinctive set of traits. This extremely diverse ethnic make-up is demonstrated in their traditional handcrafted faceless dolls. Rather than stylizing the dolls with any one set of features that singles them out, the faces are left blank and open for universal acceptance and individual interpretation. Our mission trip gave the Christ Chapel Youth Group the wonderful opportunity to add features to these faceless images. No longer will the nation be a collage of non-descript humans–facts and figures academically reported in an encyclopedia. The doll now displays the exuberant smile erupting across the miniature face of a young boy who has just received a box of cereal and a toy at the end of the children’s crusade. It also boasts the radiant glow of a pastor and his wife who were given a big box of groceries as they were leaving the pastors’ training conference. The face is flushed with the excitement of a lady who received a miraculous healing during the altar service in the local church. The face is also washed with the joy of a soul reborn displayed on the continence of a lady who prayed the sinner’s prayer after the open-air crusade in the city park.
Awesome and life-changing are two most frequently used adjectives the kids voiced when describing the experience, but some added a little more definition when they summed up the trip: When we worked, we WORKED! And when we prayed, we PRAYED! And then we kept on working and praying!!…It was beyond anything I had imagined…It was worth every dollar and penny invested…We did a lot of damage to the devil’s kingdom…I saw God work in ways that I knew were possible–since all things are possible–but I had never seen them in action…I was shocked to see how open the people are to getting tracts. Many people were drinking and dancing; but when we handed them tracts, they would stop and read them. They would read the front of the tract and look up at you with wide eyes and a smile and say “gracias” with sincerity…The trip was a physically and emotionally challenging time. I was “outside my box,” but I liked being forced to be bold…It was the best time I have spent with the Lord. I learned a lot and heard God speak to me. He really did answer our prayers…It made me WAY more thankful for what I have…It felt really good to be a blessing to the people…I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything because of the look on faces of the kids and pastors was worth it…This trip humbled me so much and helped me put a focus on what I want to do with my life. It increased my boldness and gave me more of a servant’s heart.
Would they do it again? Absolutely: This mission trip is not going to be my last one. I’d love to do it again VERY soon. I hope God takes me more places because I am ready! I would and could go anywhere! I also would encourage others to go on mission trips too!
2004
Several pastors started taking off their shoes to see if Delron’s message would really work–they wanted to walk on water! Of course, the idea was only symbolic, based on the biblical story about how Jesus and Peter had walked on the stormy Sea of Galilee. From the narrative, Delron had offered these Dominican leaders some suggestions as keys to doing the impossible in their ministries; and they were eager to put them into practice. To show him their sincerity, they started pulling off their shoes pretending to be ready to test his message on the pool at Casa Grande, the mission compound were the seminar had been hosted. During a children’s crusade earlier that same day at the same compound, he had shared the story of how David slew the giant Goliath. The children were as eager to slay some giants as the pastors were to walk on water. These were wonderful signs of the openness of the people in the churches of the Dominican Republic. They want to grow in their own spiritual lives and to extend themselves to reach others for Christ.
Even though his visit to the Dominican Republic was a fairly short stopover on his way to Haiti, it was a very profitable time with the pastors’ conference and several services in the local churches. A number of new believers were born into the kingdom of God during the ministry in the churches, and many came forward for prayer for healing and deliverance from various afflictions and torments.
In addition to the miracles that happened in the lives of those who received the ministry, we saw another great miracle in that a severe tropical storm that was predicted for the day of our pastors’ seminar dissipated before it reached us. Since the seminar was to be held in an open-air area under a partial roof with only canvas extensions to shade the guests from the tropic sun, a fierce storm would have made the gathering impossible.
Many of the friends Delron had met on his previous visit to the Dominican greeted me again this year. They all had great testimonies to share about how the Lord had blessed their lives and increased their ministries since we last saw one another. Tim and Trena Johnson hosted him at the beautiful compound that the Lord has blessed them to build in the city of Santiago. Trena’s parents, Nolan and Virginia Spaulding, were also visiting at the same time. The Spauldings, who are also from our church in Indiana, have served for many years as missionaries in Haiti and are the ones who extended the invitation for me to come to that country for the annual pastors’ conference.
Another little personal treat was that Fred Taylor, one of the graduates from the Bible college in Indiana, happened to be in the country on his first missionary trip. After ministering with Delron in the DR, Fred commented, “You really seem to enjoy this.” Delron’s response was, “Exactly! This is what I was born for!”
