Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. AND love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-40)

Hello there! I returned to the Dominican Republic on May 12th and will be staying through June 23rd. I am staying with a missionary by the name of Marcos Lykins who does missions in La Romana. Marcos and his family do a lot of work in the poorer neighborhoods of La Romana building relationships, supplying needs, and sharing Truth. Marcos' aim in working in these neighborhoods is to train and equip the Dominicans, so that they can then be independent and train others too. His ministry covers a lot of different areas such as working with former prostitutes and teaching them a vocation, pastoral training, short term teams, and daily visits to establish deep relationships. Because it is the Spirit leading and guiding this ministry, there is no set box of what Marcos does in these neighborhoods, so it is difficult to convey all that he does there. It is amazing to watch God work as we depend on His leading in ministry. Here is his blog if you want to read more about his ministry ://marcoslykins.blogspot.com/

This first week and a half, Marcos has been training and teaching me from the Scriptures about missions and other topics. Wow, the Lord has been revealing so much of His heart and desires through these studies. We have gone out to a neighborhood called Brizas del Mar to connect with the people there and start intentional relationships. One particular family the Lord has led us to is a mom (Mami-Ana) and six children. They live in a dirty shack and have hardly enough water and food to survive. The mother is ill and three months pregnant. Before we showed up a couple days ago, Mami-Ana was close to giving up. But little by little, as we continue to spend time with her, encourage her, and help her, we pray that she grasps on to the hope of Christ. And I can't wait to play with her kiddos, just so I can see a smile on their sweet faces :) Today we visited an orphanage in La Romana, and I am praying about getting involved there as well. Those kiddos are a blessing.

I have so much joy in doing this kind of relational ministry. These are my brothers and sisters. They are real people with real feelings and needs. And I love that they are willing to invite me in so that I can get to know them and come alongside them. I look forward to share the ways in which God is working in Brizas del Mar. I'm excited for the adventure He has ahead!