More Than Conquerors

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

Ephesians 6:12 has long been one of my favorite verses. It can be so easy for me to get distracted by the little things in life. This verse reminds me that the phyiscial struggless in life, both the little and big things, are not the biggest stuggle I'm in. As a believer, my biggest struggle is the spiritul battle.  Unfortuantely, that can easily become the first struggle to be forgotten. Spiritual battles aren't often seen, so the visible difficulities can quickly take over my focus. That's why I love Ephesians 6:12; no matter what is going on in my life it refocuses my attention on the reality of Spiriual struggles.
This week has been a perfect example of that. I spent the past three days in San Jose and La Riconada where SCORE missionaries work. For those of you who haven't had the opportunity to visit villages like this, let me try to paint a picture of it for you. It's a long, bumpy ride along a dirt road to enter either village. The homes vary from small concert buildings to roughly constructed structures of tin or woods. Few, if any, have running water inside their home; each village has a well/pump for water.  Most do have electric wires running to their home, but the power goes out often. It might be on for 6 hours a day. Or there might not be power for three days. Food comes mostly from what can be grown or raised in the area, which isn't enough many times. Its not anywhere close to the American idea of a decent standard of living. So it's easy as an American to visit and think about all the American conveniences they don't have: toilets, indoor plumbing, safety, sanitation, proper medical care, air conditioning, abundant store bought food, etc.

Yet the lack of material things is not the biggest issue in San Jose and La Riconada. During the VBS program on Friday I held a baby with a little pouch tied around her ankles. Her mother has taken her to the loca witch doctor. The pouch is meant to keep evil spirits away from her. There's a very real Spiritual battle going on in these villages; voodoo is very common, but it's often hidden. Had I not known to suspect it I won't have thought to ask about that strange little anklet. The battle here is not against flesh and blood but spiritual powers.

While most Americans pobably didn't grow up with Voodoo common place, that doesn't mean we don't face spiritual battle. I wonder if being in America actually may make it harder to see the spiritual battles sometimes.  When I'm surrounded by modern conveniences and the comforts of a developed nation it's easy to get wrapped up in them and forget about the spiritual battle that is going on.  No matter what culture, country, economic status, or the condition of your home, everyone faces a spiritual battle, especially for believers.

However, as believers we know that Christ has won this Spiriual battle. "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:37-39

First Week

  It's officially been one week since I arrived in the Dominican Republic.  Already I feel right at home.  It's so great to be back the culture and around Spanish. Somethings are just like I remember them, but at times I notice differences between Jarabacoa and where I am now, Juan Dolio.  Although  I suppose that part of that may because I have a lot more opportunies to spend free time (and even ministry times) with Dominicans rather than American missionarries.  I've quickly settled into the routine here.  Generally, each week I'll be paired with a group to help with and translate what I can.  This week I was with Bethel Baptist from Alabama. Throughout the week we visited several different sugar cane villages, called Bateys. The group had prepared a VBS type program for the kids in each village--songs, a Bible story, and crafts.

In addition to the villages there are two ministries we visited the week that I especially enjoyed.  On Monday we went to San Jose were SCORE Craig and Joanna live.  I hadn't planned it but these are the same missionaries whose blog I read last semester after a friend shared it on Facebook. It's an amazing story of what God's doing here in the DR. If you'd like to read that blog follow this link.  Craig and Joanna have built a house in the village of San Jose and live right among the people they serve. There's a group of kids from the village that practically live on their front porch. Craig pastors the church, they've begun a pre-school, and have a feeding program. They also reach out to the surrounding villages and are hoping to plant churches in those as well. Our ministry on Monday consisted of building benches to be used in the church or school and playing with the kids. Soccer, baseball, Frisbee, swings, etc. During the afternoon it rained, even poured for a while; Craig passed out shampoo to the kids and they all took showers! I was especially drawn to one boy, Mudo. He can't hear and as a result can't speak either. It was amazing to see how the kids had learned to communicate with him. At first, I though how devastating it was that he had no assistance or
interventions. Even if someone would teach him Sign Language there's no one in his village who could understand that.  However, after watching them I began to wonder if it was actually easier to live with his handicap here than it would be in the States. In this village much of the economy is farming. Even young boys know how to drive cattle and ride horses. I realized there's many farming activities one could learn just by watching. Even Craig is able to communicate very similar things to Mudo, such as distinguishing between Coke and water. Yet Craig doesn't know how Mudo is able to understand the difference. I definitely hope to return to San Jose many times this summer.

The second ministry I want to share about in the Lily House.  This ministry serves women who had previously worked as prositutes and their children.  There are two parts to this. First the house where the women can live with their children and the day care for the children while thier mothers are at work. Second there is the training program.  The women work during the day learning skills such as jewelry making, sewing, cooking, and spa/salon.  Much of the jewelry is already bein sold here at the SCORE store.  Recently a family donated to the Lily House to build several shops/business for the ladies to work in.  They are just about ready to open a salon/spa, a store (for jewelry, etc.) and a cafe. All three are absolutely beautiful and once its done the entrance will open up right to the main street; perfect for business not just from SCORE groups but from the public and the tourists from the nearby hotels. I'm so excited to see how this ministry continues to grow during my summer here.

Besides to ministries that the groups do for the Dominicans, is especially encouraging to get to know the individual group members and hear what God has used their trip to teach them.  I was able to have several very good conversations with a member of the team this week. Some of the biggest lessons are the ones least expected. It's amaing to see how God uses a trip to a foreign country to teach something no one could have intended.

As always, thanks for your prayers and support!