Well this was a little later than I intended it to be. Life and ministry have been very busy this year. We have had some great groups with us already this year and are in the heart of our busy season, summer. The girls have finished their second school year in the Dominican Republic and after 2 awesome years in San Pedro our family made the move east about 30 minutes to La Romana where we have always felt called and drawn to.
This brings us to vision #2 that brought us here. When we first visited the Dominican Republic for the first time in February 2015 we met a Pastor by the name of Jean Mede. Pastor Mede was born in Haiti and came to the Dominican Republic in 1980 to minister to Haitian immigrants in the DR. After a few years of being a single man and working alone he pleaded with God that He would give him a partner to do life and ministry with. God so kindly obliged and sent Estella his way. So for more than 30 years now they have been ministering to “the least of these” as God commands us. Along the way God provided them with two children, Bry and Bryanna. Now together as a family the seek to serve others. Without many resources they look to give of themselves. They advocate on behalf of the people that have no medium to advocate for themselves. They advocate for the poor, for widows and for orphans.
People have people that they look up to. Growing up you might look up to a famous person, one of your parents or a teacher. As we grow in our faith we look up to people as mentors in “the faith.” I like to call them my heroes of “the faith.” Pastor Mede is one of my heroes in “the faith.”
For almost 38 years now he has looked for ways to serve God’s people. He has pulled together whatever he could to help the people. In 2014 God gave him a vision to build a church. A temple for his church to grow. A resource that would further their ministry for the Lord. Pastor Mede shared that vision with me in 2015. I was very compelled by his desire to leave the next generation a healthy church to continue serving the Lord. He is praying that he will preach in that church before he meets the Lord. By faith he walks every day depending on God’s provision. After I left the DR on that first visit I had a desire to help him but I wasn’t sure how I could help or if I was supposed to be involved at all. Well I got my answer on March 8, 2015. It was a Sunday morning and we were worshiping at Crossroads in Pittsburgh, PA. On that morning I was worshiping with my eyes closed and God gave me a vision. It was a building being built. One by one blocks were stacked upon each other and forming walls and He said, “Build my church.” Now I wasn’t sure exactly what to do with that. I was pretty sure that He meant Pastor Mede’s church but I wasn’t certain and I certainly didn’t have the money to build it. So over the next year I just prayed and I felt after talking with pastors and friends that the Lord’s desire was to build Pastor Mede’s church in La Romana. I felt that this was one of the reasons that God sent us here, to help facilitate the building of the church. To connect God’s people and accomplish his desire.
At the end of 2016 one of our friends asked if we had a project that they could give to. Immediately I thought of the church and this vision. In early 2017 almost two years after I first stepped foot on the property where the future church would be built we began clearing and leveling the lot with that donation. After that without anymore money we hit a pause for a few months. We were praying that God would continue to send the resources to build His church. The next step being the foundation is a big one. It is the single most costly step of the entire process. Then in the Spring God sent resources in the form of two churches and an awesome family. All in his timing God provided. Today with one of those churches we will put our hands to work and begin to lay out the rebar for the foundation. I don’t know when God will provide the funds to finish the project or if I will be here to see it but I know that God is faithful and He will fulfill his promise to build the church.
We serve an awesome God and He doesn’t make false promises! I am prayerful that I will one day see the completion of this project and lift my hands to him in “His House.”
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