Well hopefully this will be the first of many. I will be using this blog as my main way of communicating what is happening and prayer needs while overseas. I am so excited to see what God has in store for my life over the next year. For those of you who do not know, here is a brief explanation of what I will be doing.
I have connected with the Assemblies of God World Missions and am doing their MAPS program. The Missions Abroad Placement Service (MAPS) program is designed to involve men and women in world missionary service on a short-term basis. They have connected me with missionaries in the Dominican Republic for my service. My MAPS assignment in the Dominican Republic will be 10 months.
For the first part of my trip I will be going to Antigua Guatemala for language school at the Christian Spanish Academy. This is not a part of my MAPS assignment, but is necessary in order to learn Spanish in order to work in the Dominican Republic. I will be in Guatemala for 5 weeks where I will be studying Spanish 6 hours a day. The school is also providing a Guatemalan family for me to live with.
On July 31st I will be flying from Guatemala to the Dominican Republic where I will start my missions project. The main part of my missions work will be working at La Vega Christian School in La Vega Dominican Republic. At the school I will be teaching English as a second language to the advanced high school English class and help with P.E. classes. I will be living in a house with another missionary teacher and a Dominican Pastor. Along with teaching at the school I will have the opportunity to help in other areas. First, I will be assisting with evangelism and construction teams that come from the US for short-term missions projects. Second, I will be assisting with sports programs. And third, I will be helping with youth ministry at the local church.
After spending months planning and figuring out every detail, I sit here now getting ready to leave in 29 hours. I am kinda nervous, but am so excited for a new adventure. It is crazy to think that in 2 days my primary language will be totally different from what I am used to, but I guess that everything will be different. I am excited to learn a different culture and a different language, and be able to use that in order to minister for the kingdom of God.
As I get ready to leave I want to ask for your prayers. Pray that I would have safe travel and that God would be able to use me how He wants. I am ready to be a learner and grow in my faith, and I pray that God would help me in that process.
I want to thank all of my family and friends who are so supportive of me. Knowing that I have amazing people praying for me daily is such a blessing. I will try and keep you all updated on a weekly basis.
