Christmas Love

Every Wednesday morning I attend a Bible study for men. This morning we covered 1 Corinthians 13 which talks about love. It gives a description of what love is and what it isn't. The man who led the study shared a Christmas version of 1 Corinthians 13, and I wanted to share it with you. As you read this I want you to think about how you will act this Christmas and how you will show love to those around you.

Christmas Love
1 Corinthians 13

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautiful adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another cook.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir's cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the Child.

Love sets aside the decorating the kiss the spouse.

Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way.

Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can't.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails. Video games break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, but giving the gift of love will endure.

-Author Unknown

What are you thankful for?

Reflecting over my 25 years of Thanksgivings, it is so interesting to see how it has changed and all the things for which I can be thankful. While growing up, Thanksgiving was always spent with my family. My first two years of college I was away from home but was still able to travel back home and spend time with my family.  I was so thankful to spend the time with then, but I never knew what it would be like away from them. Then came my time in California. I was not able to fly home to be with my family, but I realized how thankful I was for close friends who invited me to spend the holiday with their family. After college it was on to the Dominican Republic. I had an amazing missionary family during my first two years that got together and celebrated. I could have been sad or disappointed that it wasn't with my family, but we got together like a family would and celebrated.

I am now spending my first thanksgiving in Colorado with my family since 2007, and I am more thankful than ever. Over the years I have seen that there are many things for which to be thankful. I am not only blessed by an incredible family, but I have also had incredible friends and my missionary family. There is always something that we can be thankful for. It may look different every year and even sometimes it may not seem like much, but it is important to find that thing.

Every year at Thanksgiving we go around the table and share the best part of the last year and what we are looking forward to in the next year. I always had a plan on what the next year would be like, but I never knew that God would use me in this way. As I look over the last year I am blown away by what God has done in the Dominican Republic. He has made himself present many times and answered so many prayers. I am now I looking forward to the next year. I don't know what God has planned, but that is so exciting. I know that it will be spent in the DR serving Him with an incredible group of people and I couldn't be more excited!

I am thankful for my family, friends, and fellow missionaries. I am thankful for all of my supporters, churches, and ministry partners. I am healthy and living out the call God has for me. God has put me exactly where he wants me and I could ask for anything else. There are hard times and difficult things, but I am thankful that God is next to me, helping me through everything. I trust in Him to get me through the hard times and praise Him for the good times. That is something to be thankful for. What can you thank God for in your life?

Volunteer Missionaries

There is so much that I could write about after a few months without any update on here, but something special happened this evening. 

When I felt the call to ministry, I really felt called to work with young adults. My life was shaped by older adults, and I knew that God was calling me to do the same in other young adult's lives. After studying youth leadership at Vanguard University, I felt called to missions and work with the youth in the Dominican Republic. In February of 2012, I knew that I wasn't only supposed to work with youth in the Dominican Republic but also youth from the United States. I started to dream of an internship program where students could come to the DR for an extended period of time and gain ministry/missions experience. This dream started to take shape as I worked with one student who came to the DR for 7 weeks in the summer of 2013. This student didn't go through Transition Ministry, but it helped to create a framework for the program. I returned to the United States in July to share about what was happening in the DR and to share about this new program.

Students began to be interested in this opportunity and two young adults applied for the position. After meeting with them and receiving all of their materials, I am so excited to say that Transition Ministry has its first missionary volunteers!! They will be traveling back to the Dominican Republic with me in January and will assist in the ministry for 6 months. It is so exciting to see two young adults accept God's call in their lives to serve Him overseas. I pray that this program can continue to grow and send new missionaries around the world. There is still so much to learn, but it is so cool to see young adults serving God. What started as a dream over a year ago has now became reality. I am blown away! 

Check out www.transitionministry.org for more information. 

Transition Ministry Anniversary

In the spring of 2010, I took a class on Christian organizations at Vanguard University. We learned about churches, non-profit organizations, and even created our own fake organization for a project. At that time I figured that I would graduate from Vanguard and become a youth pastor at a church. The thought never occurred to me that I was preparing for the future in a different way. Little did I know that just a little over two years later I would found a non-profit organization.

On July 3, 2012, I founded Transition Ministry. The vision and the budget were simple. I had the idea that the ministry would provide a covering for my work as a missionary in the Dominican Republic, cover expenses, and provide $100/month for ministry giving. The budget was $12,000 to stay and work in the DR for 11 months. Not only was that budget reached, but God completely blew all the plans I had out of the water! Just a few weeks after Transition Ministry was founded, I was presented with the idea of doing student sponsorships for a Haitian school that we helped build in August of 2011. Soon, $384/month was being given to the Haitian
school to sponsor 26 students and their teacher, but it didn't stop there. A donation was given to build a kitchen at the school, and now with the new construction project, the Rose of Sharon Educational Center, over $31,000 has been donated for the land and school building! This building will provide four classrooms for the Haitian School, serve as a Dominican afterschool program, and host a church. There are future plans for a second level that will serve as a vocational training center for adults.


The Rose of Sharon Educational Center

8th grade students at LVCS

Over the course of the year, I was able to work with about 150 students (grades 6th-12th) at La Vega Christian School through teaching English, Bible, and leadership. In January we began with the S.W.A.T. program (Spiritual Worship and Training) where students were broken up into small groups to put there leadership skills into practice. I was also able to take on the 9th grade Bible class for the last two months of the school year. It was incredible to see these students grow over the course of they year. At times they would come into my class room to talk or hear about the recent book I was reading. The people who had the biggest impact in my life were teachers at my school. I would go into their classrooms to talk and spend my free time. I never thought that I would be serving in a similar role. There is nothing better than to see how God can change our plans from something I never wanted to do to something that I now have a passion and heart doing. I was also able to work in the local church as I was able to lead worship, preach, and serve as a youth leader.
 

The Initiative team in January, 2013

I also had the incredible privilege to work with eight different short-term missions teams from the United States. They ministered in different ways including: children's ministry, dramas, puppets, preaching, TV shows, dental clinics, eye clinics, construction, painting, a revival, vacation Bible school, and much more. These people gave up a week of their lives to be a blessing to the people of the Dominican Republic. Through these teams we were able to see churches made new with paint and doors, people saved, others healed, many more learn the Gospel message, restore blurry sight with classes, and provide medical treatment.

The last two years, and especially the last year with Transition Ministry has been quite the journey. It is something that I never expected or though about before I graduated. It is truly incredible when we seek God's plan for our lives and follow in the way that He has called us. However, it doesn't stop there after one year. I believe that God has even bigger plans in the future. Plans to continue to working with the Haitians, plans for La Vega Christian School, and plans for a new missions internship program for university students. God has not only put the youth of the Dominican Republic on my heart, but He has also put the youth of the U.S. on my heart, especially those that have felt the call to be missionaries. I want to provide a way for university students to receive missions training so that they can one day go out and work for the Lord in other countries.

So what is happening now? I am currently in the U.S. for six months to meet with pastors, speak in churches, schools, and universities to share what God is doing. The plans are to minister in Colorado, Florida, South Carolina, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Ohio, and hopefully California. I believe that God has great plans in the future, and it can only be accomplished with the help from all of you. So what is your part? Can you put myself and Transition Ministry on your prayer list? Can you contribute financially to the work in the Dominican Republic? Will you sponsor a child? Or will you come yourself on a short-term trip or as a missions intern? Together, we are making an impact.

Vacation Bible School

Please visit www.transitionministry.org for more information. God bless you all and thank you for making the last year so fruitful! Let's continue together in the next year!

Links:
Transition Ministry Promo Video
Transition Ministry Facebook
Transition Ministry Twitter



The Rose of Sharon Education Center

The first plot of land in 2011

The school under construction

About a week after I arrived in the Dominican Republic (Aug. 2011), I was invited to go see a piece of land. A pastor had a school and had to change locations. He was talking to Mitch Martinez (view his blog here) about the idea of building a school on the small piece of land so that his students could continue their education. At that time I didn't understand Spanish very well and I didn't understand the need for a Haitian school in La Vega. The good thing is that Mitch understood the need and agreed to help the pastor. A missions team came at the end of August and we started the construction. After just a few weeks and a few donations, a school was built, and the students started the year.


The finished school in 2011

The first school year went well, and while I was home over the summer I received a phone call about trying to find sponsors for the students. Many of the families could not afford the $9/month tuition and the uniforms. God continued to provide and each child's tuition was paid, including the teacher! Since support for 26 of the students and the teacher was going through Transition Ministry, I became much more involved in the school. We planned a wonderful Christmas party for the students in December that was paid for by supporters (read my blog about the event titled "A True Blessing").


God continued to do wonderful things at this school. A missionary came and gave water filters to the 26 families and the school. My parents came down and my dad held a dental clinic for all of the students. Two Dominican dentists joined and we were able to see all of the students at the school. The students that had urgent needs were then able to go to the dentist's office for further work. I took my afternoon English class from LVCS on a missions trip to the school. My 6th-8th graders shared a devotion, a dance, and gave food to each student. It really opened the eyes of some of my students about the lives of other children in our same town. We have also had many other missions teams from the U.S. visit this school.



The new land that we just purchased

However, we knew that we didn't want to just stop with what we had. We had the desire to one day buy the land around the school and build a nicer and bigger structure. There were problems with the owner of the other property, and we had to look for other options. That is when the pastor found this plot of land. We talked to the owner on a Monday and decided to buy the property that Friday. We were trusting in God to provide the finances since we only had $15,000 of the $28,000 that we needed. On Tuesday there was nothing, but God started to answer our prayers and the prayers of many. We received a check on Wednesday from a generous donor for $2,000. That left us $11,000 to go with just two days before we were planning to close on the land. The time to meet with the lawyer was 5pm on Friday. After hearing nothing all day Thursday, exactly $11,000 showed up at 4pm, Friday. God answered our prayers just one hour before the deadline!! We were blown away by the response and how God worked for us to buy this land.

Now begins the next stage of this journey. An architect has drawn up the plans for a wonderful structure which will be named, The Rose of Sharon Education Center. It will be made of concrete block and able to have two stories. We will begin with a fence around the property and the first level which will have four classrooms, school offices, a large eating area, and a room for a person to sleep and watch the property. The lunch area will be large enough to hold church services and chapels. The plan is to have the Haitian school, a Dominican after school homework session, and a church using the facility. If the school or church begins to grow, the second story will be added for more classrooms or a large sanctuary. The price for this building is estimated at $48,000. There is the goal of having short-term missions teams to come down and do some of the construction. This will help keep the costs lower. I believe that God wants this building built and a lot sooner than we think. Two donations totaling $15,000 have already come without us even making an appeal!! When I received those phone calls I began to yell and shout praises to God. There are not even words to express how grateful I am for the generosity of people in the U.S. There is no way that we would be able to accomplish these goals without faithful supporters who are answering God's call to help. There is still much help that is needed, but we know God has a great plan. Please keep this project in your thoughts and prayers. God is SO good and we are trusting in him to provide. We know He will because these Haitian and Dominican children are His beloved children.


Here is a short youtube video that I filmed at the new property. Thank you to the people that donated to make this happen!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFBeI_5NBYE

At the new land with Pastor Juan

Social Trends

I have grown up most of my life questioning things. I don't like to accept an answer because you say it is correct, but I want to analyze it and see if it is even logical. This has been a problem at times because I will defend a small point that doesn't matter. However, I think it is a good quality to have. I learned in school that there are four types of people: 1) The person that won't listen to new ideas and won't change his beliefs. 2) The person that listens to new ideas but won't change his beliefs. 3) The person that listens to new ideas and thinks critically before changing his beliefs. 4) The person that listens to new ideas and will change his beliefs without thinking.

I believe that the best one is #3. We are not always correct, and we don't know everything. It is so important to learn to listen to other people, but also not just accept it because they say so. There are so many rumors going around on the internet that people believe, and defend, without even knowing the facts. Many of them come out to be false! We need to learn to think critically. This has been a long introduction into the thing that I have been thinking about recently. I have been thinking critically about our culture, and why we do the things we do. What is it that excites the youth today?

If you look at twitter, Lebron James has 7.5 million followers, Justin Bieber has 35.5 million, and Ashton Kutcher has 13.8 million. That is a small example from secular sports, music, and movies (the first three names that came to my mind). If you look at famous Christian athletes, musicians, and pastors it is very different. Matt Redman has 171,000, Josh Hamilton has 217,424, Rick Warren has 908,000, and Doug Fields has 22,000. I understand that the whole world is looking at people like Justin Bieber and Ashton Kutcher, but only the Christians are following the pastors. That is why the numbers are lower, but it still makes me ask the question why? Why does the Gangnam style youtube video have over 1 billion views?? Why are there over 10,000 versions of the Harlem Shake?? This is all coming from a culture that wants to be unique and different. People get piercings, tattoos, clothes, and color their hair all different colors so that they are unique, but at the same time we are following trends like crazy!! We follow the fashion and the trending topics on the internet like there is no other option.

I have seen posts that criticize Christians for doing their own version of the harlem shake. I am not doing that, and that is not why I am writing this post. I don't want to sound like the critical Christian that thinks we should only focus on Jesus (no youtube, facebook, twitter, etc.) and have no part of this world, because that is not how I think. There is the scripture that says that we should not conform to the patterns of this world, and people take that to mean that Christians need to separate completely. I do not agree completely. I have a two facebook accounts, a blog, and two twitter accounts. That is the best way that I have to share about my ministry and what God is doing in this country. They allow me to show pictures, videos, and ask for prayer support. They can be used to do so much good! I even hashtag stuff!

My question and reason for writing this is; what can we do to make good things trend? Can the popular people and trending topics be Christian? Why do 300,000 people go to Carnival and 2,000 go to United for Him? It isn't just about the style of music or if your youth group has lights and smoke. It interests me that youth want to be unique, yet join every trend that comes along. We have a desire to be a part of something and to fit in. Can we make the church that place? Do we open up for the drunks and the drug addicts, or do we only hope for our Christian students to invite an unsaved friend? Are we going into the streets to minister, or just saying that we should? What are you doing? What are we as Christians doing? Am I crazy and out of my mind for thinking this way? Please comment respond. I would love to get your feedback. God bless!

United For Him 2013

It is incredible to think that this is my second year attending Unidos Por El. Last year didn't go as I expected. A speaker fell over on my leg as I was helping to set up the day before the event, and I was rushed to the hospital for the first time in my life. After an emergency surgery and more than 30 stitches, I spent most of the month on crutches or limping around. It was an incredible time, but also very difficult moving and enjoying the concert when I couldn't stand. I know that many of you were praying for me during that time, and it was very meaningful.

Romy Ram at United for Him

It is good that bad times pass and bodies heal. I have been incredibly blessed to spend my second year in the Dominican Republic and enjoy Unidor Por El with a healthy body!! We have had awesome artists come and perform, as well as great speakers that have challenged the youth. The place has been filling up every weekend with about 2,000 people for the 2nd and 3rd weekends. We are expecting a big crowd for the final weekend coming up.

This event is necessary because of the carnival celebrations that happen in La Vega during the month of February. Ever weekend, hundreds of thousands of people flood into the city for concerts, drinking, and parades. It is a very dangerous time, and a terrible influence for the youth in the city. I friend told me that they were talking to a student that goes to our school after the first weekend of carnival. The students was visiting one of the hospitals, and in a 15 minute window, they brought in multiple dead bodies, and too many injured people to count. There is a great spiritual battle in this city as the carnival festival is celebrating demons. We have provided this positive, Christian alternative to the carnival events.



Bobby performing at United for Him

It was exciting to have Transition Ministry partner with Unidor Por El to help raise support and have people watching the event from the United States. I also have had a great time as some of the performing artists have stayed at my house. Bobby is one of the artists that I have spent a lot of time with, and he is even in my first video shout out! The event is broad casted live at www.livestream.com/latinmedia each weekend. It begins at about 6:30 pm EST on Saturdays and 5:30 EST on Sundays. Tune in this weekend for the final two days!! Saturday is mostly worship and a speaker for the youth. Sunday is a mixture of rock, rap, and worship music. Check the Transition Ministry Website for more information on United For Him. Look at the Transition Ministry Facebook for pictures and the Transition Ministry Youtube for videos from the event. I have talked to many people that have been praying for this event during the last three weeks. Keep this last weekend in your prayers!! Thank you so much for the support for this event and my ministry. You are awesome!!

A Day in Miami

All my life I have tried to avoid layovers. Every time I go through Miami I have had at least a five hour layover and most times it is seven hours. It is a dread to sit in an airport that long and I couldn't imagine anything longer. This time I guess I waited a little too long to book my tickets. The only available trip back to the Dominican Republic after Christmas would be an overnight flight and a 12 hour layover in Miami. I was not looking forward to this, until I got a great bit of advice from my uncle. He told me to not stay in the airport but to look for tours and trips around the city. This turned out to be some great advice!

I was able to leave the Miami airport and travel around the city. I took a trip down South Beach and then headed downtown. My stops were the American Airlines Center, where the Miami Heat play, and the Miami Marlins new ballpark. They happened to be giving cheap tours of the brand new 500 million dollar stadium. I was able to go onto the field and through the club house. It was an incredible way to spend 8 hours in Miami.

Now that I will be booking more tickets to and from the Dominican Republic, I think that I will start looking for long layovers (I'm young and can function on little sleep). My next ticket will hopefully be booked through NY, and it will hopefully be a 24 hour layover. I came to realize that the most expensive part of a vacation is normally the plane ticket. If the ticket is already paid for on my trip home, then the short vacation in a new city is practically free!!