Dominican Republic Update - February 3rd, 2023 (Baylee)

 Hello everyone! 

I am so excited to be writing to you from Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic! I am currently at the brand-new Mission of Hope base with my squad, and I pray that wherever you are currently, you are seeing the Lord moving every day in mighty ways!

MINISTRY UPDATES:

Our ministry base is a 30-acre plot of land nestled in the mountains of Jarabacoa. The base used to be a school, and we have been working to transform it into a functional ministry base where events, medical clinics, and church services will be held in the future! We have cut highly overgrown weeds with machetes, painted the interiors and exteriors of buildings, and have been working to renovate the dorms so that teams have a place to stay when they come to serve! It has been so special to have the opportunity to be the very first team at this base, as we have had the honor of being part of establishing it for years to come! Even while macheting acres of weeds for hours, I have been reminded of the Lord’s faithfulness in gardening our hearts; pruning and uprooting weeds that need it in order to make room for seeds of love to be sown in their place. 

In addition to serving at the base, we have had the opportunity to travel about an hour into the city of Santiago to share the love of Christ with the locals there! In the mornings, we travel to teach in a Haitian school for preschoolers through high school-age kids. The Dominican Republic has a large Haitian population, as they immigrate here due to the unrest in Haiti. The Dominican government does not allow Haitians to have citizenship, so they are unable to find legal jobs and live in constant fear of immigration sending them back to Haiti. The children are also unable to attend school, so we are able to serve alongside volunteer teachers to help them receive an education. They have an enormous need for learning Spanish and English in order to make it possible to even live everyday life here, as most of them speak Creole. I am responsible for creating a curriculum for the kids, and it has been so sweet to see them learn and thrive! Not only do we teach them language but we are also educating them on the Bible and sharing the love of Christ! Especially because they are so harshly persecuted here, the Lord has truly blessed us with the opportunity to create a place of safety and peace for the kids at the school! Additionally, in the afternoon, we go out into the community and do house visits to have conversations, love people where they are, weep with those who are hurting, and pray with people. The Lord has shown me Himself in the eyes of persecuted yet hopeful people, in the joy of children who must live outside their home country, in the majesty of the mountains, and in the love and care of my teammates, and my heart is full of gratitude. 

• A few days ago, a team of us went into town to do some house visits. We started talking to a woman about her family, God, and other important things and got to know her a bit. She then mentioned wanting to accept Christ and go to church again in February. I felt the Spirit prompting me to ask her what was stopping her from accepting Christ today, and she responded by saying that she felt ashamed that she didn’t have nice enough clothes to go to church. We gathered that she equated going to church with accepting Christ, and we got to explain to her that the Lord loves her right where she is now, there is no need to clean ourselves up before coming to Him. After sharing parts of our testimonies, my friend Ethan and I asked her if she’d like to commit her life to Christ, and she said yes! She had never heard the gospel before, so I was able to share it with her and walk her through all that Christ has already done for her, what salvation means, and what relationship with God truly is. Ethan then was able to guide her through a salvation prayer with our translator, and in that moment, her eternity was changed! I am praising God that He chooses to use broken vessels like us to bring His Kingdom to earth!

• Just yesterday, we went out again to do house visits, and we met a woman who immigrated here about 7 years ago. She has two children stuck in Haiti and it has been nearly impossible to get a job here where she would be safe. To say the least, she was very hard pressed and had walked away from the Lord. After sharing some of our testimonies and encouragement, she made the decision to re-commit her life to Christ! Revival is here, I can’t believe that God allows me to simply be a witness to His goodness! 

• We met a woman who had escaped Haiti and an abusive relationship with her husband this week. She is very sick, and her husband burned her Bible shortly before she moved away from him. She owns multiple wigs to disguise herself as a Dominican for fear of being sent back to Haiti. When we began talking to her, she seemed so hopeless and broken. By the time we had finished talking and sharing in her grief and encouraging her with scripture and prayer, her eyes were full of hope! The power of the gospel is changing the posture of her heart! 

• We have had multiple conversations with people who either practice witchcraft or voodoo themselves or have family and friends who do. This is prevalent here, and we have been able to share about how relationship with Christ is far more fulfilling and life-giving than practices that seem to temporarily “fix” problems. 

• Our ministry base is getting ready to host its first team outside of our squad this coming week! We have been working hard to prepare it, and we finally get to share it with executives and short-term teams! 

I’M GRATEFUL . . . 

• My entire squad got lice this past week, and we have spent between 8 and 14 hours a day treating and combing through each others’ hair and doing laundry in between ministry events. I am so grateful to have washers and dryers on base for the first time on the Race and to have such patient, kind friends who are willing to comb through my hair for dozens of hours this week! 

• For new passion rising in my heart for musical worship! I have started to play guitar again for the first time in years and have been playing with our squad worship team (Psalm 100:4)!

• The patience of the Lord as I ask Him questions, work through doubt and fear, and learn to rely on His strength and understanding more and more each day (Philippians 2:12-13)!

• Even in a very spiritually heavy environment with a large population of people who don’t know Jesus yet, the Lord calls us the light of the world (Matthew 5:14)! 

• For translators!

WHAT’S NEXT? 

I have some incredibly exciting news to share with you all! As I have prayed about what the Lord would have me do following the Race, He has revealed His will for me to participate in a discipleship and missional leadership program called Center for Global Action in the fall! It is through Adventures in Missions in Gainesville, Georgia where I had my training for the World Race. I feel as though the Lord is leading me into doing long-term missions in the future, and this program will help equip me to be on the field long-term. I have learned that in order to lead others well, one must be able to lead themselves well, and this program shares the same vision. It is a single-semester program, so I will be moving to Georgia in early August and likely going back to Minnesota in December. While in the program, I will learn more about how the Lord has uniquely designed me and how I fit into His Kingdom, how to lead myself and others well, how to establish a ministry, what discipleship looks like, how to do missions sustainably, how to walk out my giftings and utilize them for the glory of God, and more. If you’d like to know more, please feel free to contact me, I’d love to chat! With that being said, I will be raising funds yet again! I am trusting fully that the Lord will provide all that I need and am humbly asking for your consideration in prayerfully, and if you feel led, financially supporting me. It is with much gratitude and humility that I am asking for your partnership in what the Lord is doing in this moment in time, knowing that with each passing day, we are getting ever-closer to the day of Jesus’ return (Romans 14:11)! I truly cannot adequately express how humbled I am by all of the people who are lifting me up in prayer daily and giving of their time and resources to support all that God is doing through me. Thank you for all of your love as I follow the call to make disciples of all nations!

PRAYER REQUESTS: 

• For open doors to share the gospel with people who are deeply hurting and are living in fear (1 John 4:18)!

• For the new Mission of Hope base and its hosts that many would be impacted by the love of Christ through their new location! 

• For perseverance as I wrestle with homesickness, long days, and general spiritual and emotional weariness (James 1:3). 

• My team and I are moving to a new ministry within the DR in under a week, so please be praying that we would continue to stay present each day and bless people where we currently are while also preparing to pick up and move once again! 

• As I mentioned in my last newsletter, my teammate Ryann’s mother has been very sick, and as a result, she has left the field to be home with her family. Her mom passed away this week, and she and her family could use all of the prayers they can get. 

• We met a woman named Mary on a house visit this week, and she had mentioned wanting to give her life to Christ, but she is afraid of pushback from her family. Pray that she would go forth in courage and take the leap of faith to invite Jesus into her heart! 

• There was a minor earthquake here yesterday. No one on our base was harmed and there’s no damage here, but please pray that those in vulnerable positions would receive the help they need.

Thank you so so much for taking the time to read this newsletter, pray for me, and love me so well while I’m away! I love and miss you all more than you know. I have been learning so much lately about simply letting go of “trying” to grow and simply keeping my eyes fixed on Jesus and letting Him transform my heart and mind. My prayer for you is the same as the Apostle Paul’s in his letter to the Ephesians: 

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” - Ephesians 3:16

This life is meant to be lived for more than ourselves. I pray that in all of our hearts, we would realize the truth of Luke 17:33: “Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it”. Let’s live loved. 

All my love, 

Baylee