Gary shares what they were up to in the Dominican Republic

In early May, Diane and I participated in the Latin American National Coordinators Conference held in Pico Escondido, Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic.  The conference, which was held at a Young Life camp in the mountains in the Dominican Republic was attended by people involved in the church leadership from seven different nations. Some of these leaders have responsibilities and influence in the churches of an additional five or six nations.  So as you can see, we had a pretty broad representation of people from South America, Central America, North America and the Caribbean.

In addition to encouragement and  reinforcement of the basics of the Train and Multiply program we were discussing how to overcome what appears to be a "barrier" to expansion into the third generation of church group expansion.  

Our model, when it is properly implemented should and does lead from an initial church group establishment (First Generation) into those people in that church establishing several satellite groups which develop into churches in their own right (Second Generation) who in turn help train and develop several other satellite groups that organize a cell or house church group (Third Generation.)  And the process goes on.  In some of these countries, there are Seventh and Eighth Generation groups gathering and worshiping together every Sunday.  Many of these house or cell church groups are small consisting of only two or three families or perhaps only 8-10 people, but others have grown to the point where their attendance on a given Sunday might be 80-100 people or more.  This is why the program is called Train and Multiply and why you can develop many churches and many believers in a short time. 

In some locations, each established group that becomes a church is given the expectation that they will develop at least two new groups within a short period of time in order to keep growing and multiplying.  That obligation does not stop with the development of one or two groups, but is part of their commission, i.e. to "Go forth making disciples......"  Matthew 28:19.

The work and the results emanating from these Latin American nations is so very encouraging.  Colombian leaders have developed materials separately and independently of OMS and they are printing out this material for their use and are offering it to be shared with the other Spanish speaking nations.  The material is first class and was enthusiastically embraced by the others at the meeting.

Hearing the first hand stories of successes in such places as Haiti where they are constantly working against Voodoo and other dark forces and the miraculous things that have occurred to bring the light even into those dark areas is just amazing.

Along with everyone else at the seminar, we felt recharged, motivated and determined to keeping the process expanding and multiplying.  We are looking forward to our next visit to Honduras to see what God's work is achieving there in the areas of the prisons of that nation.

Why Go On A Mission Trip?

Once upon a time, Gary and Diane asked that same question and it rerouted their whole retirement plan. Check out this week's post by Diane.

People ask, " why go on a mission trip?". Well, I would answer if you feel that the Lord is prompting you to do it, then listen to His promptings and do it! 

Gary and I waited until we were in our sixties to take our adventure and answer these promptings. At first we went almost fearfully to the meeting for the trip to Mexico with our church. We thought,"What would they want with two old people on this trip?" We thought they would think we were too old to go, since they said there was some strenuous walking and other problems to deal with. As it turned out the Lord clearly wanted us to go and so did the others on the team! It was the best thing we ever did! 

We were part of a dental team with two dentists, two assistants and me to do dental work in the remote mountains of Mexico. They flew us out to that remote mountain area in a small single engine plane, making approximately four trips to get us all out there with the equipment. We also had some teenage boys with us and a translator, who was invaluable!  

It is hard to put into words how wonderful our experience was. The accommodations were not great. We slept on sleeping bags on the second floor of a government building. There was electricity but no bathroom! A local lady cooked for us and that was just wonderful. Plain and simple, but wonderful. But the best part was the people and interacting with them. We could not speak the language, but we could still communicate Gods love for them through us. I cleaned teeth sitting on a 5 gallon bucket with my patients on a chaise lawn chair. It was very primitive. It was one of the most physically difficult things I have ever done -  and one of the most rewarding. When we were flying away from the mountain, an overwhelming sadness came over me. I realized that I would never see these people again! It was very weird to me, since we really did not have conversations with them. But there was a real connection. We were showing them Christ's love and they were receiving it gratefully.

I believe that trip was a very important part of our call into missions. Gary and I both felt that those few short days changed our lives. I guess my only regret is that I waited so long to go on a trip. But I trust the Lord's perfect timing in this as with all other aspects of our lives. This was the time for our call. Needless to say - I would encourage anyone and everyone to answer the call to missions. It Will Change Your LIFE!