Mission Possible Teams: Sunday!

Hola from the Dominican Republic. Today was Sunday and the church had two services that we participated in, one in the morning and one in the evening. Before church began, we rode a half an hour to the nearest river and witnessed five baptisms for different members of the church. It was awesome to be a part of such a special moment in those peoples' lives.

During the evening service, a couple announced their engagement in front of the church. We did not understand everything they said but it was still moving to watch. Instead of just having a few songs at the beginning and end of the service, they mixed a bunch of songs throughout. We sang three songs: Great I Am, Like a Lion, and Search My Heart, then performed a skit. The best part of the evening was the end when all the children and Americans danced together at the front of the room. The band was playing and people were singing/screaming to the music. Overall, the Dominican church service was a whole lot more upbeat and a much different experience compared to usual churches in Findlay.

Alex Distel and Caitlin Stahl!

Sunday has been the day all of the hard workers have been waiting for; the day of rest. It’s also been the day I’ve been waiting for. This is my second trip to Ebenezer and the most memorable part of my weeklong trip two years ago was the church service. The people had energy and passion I had never seen so openly expressed in the US. But like every other part of the experience, it was nowhere close to being the same. We started the day off early with a cramped bus ride to a crystal clear river where six new believers were baptized. Even though we didn’t understand all the words said, we felt the new connections being made as each person was brought out of the water and a pair of eyes were opened with a new vision. We came back to a church full of people with welcoming smiles. The majority of the service was taught by the pastor here, Moise, in Creole so a lot of it wasn’t completely understood but we understood what was necessary. David also took a turn at the pulpit and got the chance to confuse them with our crazy English language. After church, Caitlin and I helped Ashley make 20 boxes of Kraft Mac and Cheese for lunch. That was an adventure. For the rest of the afternoon, I attempted to learn how to play euchre. At six o’clock we went back down to the church for the second service. We sang lots of songs in Spanish and Creole and watched their tambourine dancers do several routines. All of the performances were done by the teenagers in the church but the cool thing is that they were all excited to be doing it. It wasn’t something their parents forced them to do but a talent they wanted to share in order to serve the Lord. We sang three songs and performed a skit showing how to reach out to people. Also during the service, a couple announced their engagement, which was basically a ceremony for the pastor to make fun of them in front of the whole congregation. It was rather amusing, though our laughter was always a little delayed because we had to wait for Mrs. Speigel to translate what was said. The ending time was never said which was so unreal for us. I thought it was kind of cool to just “go with the flow” and finish when everyone was finished. We ended the service with a conga line around the church and a sweaty dance marathon with the little kids. It was such an awesome experience to be a part of and I do hope we can bring some of this passion back with us to Gateway. I’m determined to start a tambourine group before I graduate next year.

Bekah Shultis

Sunday, the day that I have been looking forward to all week. My sister had gone on the mission trip here two years ago, and she always spoke greatly of their services. We had the honor of being present at the baptism of six Dominicans. As each person came out of the river, they were applauded for taking this vital step forward in their relationship with Christ. The bus ride back went faster than the one to the river, and soon we were back at the church, greeted by smiles from the Dominicans. After several songs, prayers, and a sermon from David, I went out into the courtyard with a few Americanos and some Dominican children. I was surprised at the generosity of one little boy named Franklin. He only had a few pieces of gum left, and was willing to give all of them away. We decided to split a piece, and the Dominicans used the temporary tattoos inside the gum on each other, including on ones forehead. They went home, and we all went upstairs to lay down and rest. I woke up and went upstairs to play euchre with some other people. When we went down to the evening church service, there were many Dominican children were we had sat before. This service was full of energy, with many songs, prayers, and displays of talent. We watched multiple dance routines, and the Dominicans played trombones/trumpets/saxophones. During one of the more energetic songs, a few small children started a conga line and we all joined in. After this there was an engagement that was announced, and the Dominican preacher Moise made a big show of presenting the ring. The man, Sedrach sang a couple songs, and the last one lasted for at least fifteen minutes. We started another conga line, and also big circles of spinning children and Americans. After spinning and sweating, we all left for a supper of pure deliciousness. All in all this was my favorite day so far.

Tim Reed