missionaryMAC

The first week of April, the Dominican Republic had the distinct pleasure of hosting an unprecedented mission education team made up of 10 LCMS district presidents (or "DPs," representing nearly 1/3 of the Council of Presidents, or COP) + 2 dignitaries from our church body's St. Louis headquarters office. While the group indeed spent a week immersed in Dominican culture and numerous aspects of ministry in this place, the 11 sessions presented by different regional team members truly highlighted the work around LAC and even aspects of how the LCMS is Spreading the Gospel, Planting Lutheran Churches, and Showing Mercy globally.  It was a treat working alongside Dana to coordinate the logistics of the event. A combination of factors made them a touch more complex than average, and tag-teaming just made sense; she was busy hosting two teams in March that I only had minimal interaction with, whereas I was essentially free to focus on this once the FORO wrapped up. One of my a...

One of the closing hymns we sing at church often (HL 748) includes the line " Denos pan con que vivir / Y prospere la jornada ." It translates to "Give us bread with which to live / And prosper the __________." According to my go-to online Spanish dictionary , a " jornada " is a workday, journey, or day trip. Last weekend, Concordia the Reformer Seminary here in the DR hosted its 3rd  jornada evangelística - an intensive, multi-day campaign in which the residential students plan and carry out a variety of outreach activities targeting a certain neighborhood.  While said neighborhood was Licey al Medio this time around, the weekend kicked off with a Bible study for Chamos volleyball league players in an area not near any of our current church plants. Chamos is an NGO run by Victor Reyes, a Venezuelan member of Iglesia Luterana Pueblo Nuevo. The growing league currently consists of ~250 players in 2 major cities. Victor's goal is to teach not only volley...

I'm a legal temporary resident of the Dominican for another year. My annual residency renewal appointment in Santo Domingo was last week and shockingly coincided with TWO other missionary friends/colleagues: Tirzah and the Fritzlers. Both had extra errands to run, but I still decided it wasn't worth driving separately, so Tirzah picked me up at 6 am. Grimacing as I got in, she asked me if I was OK. I was not. My whole body hurt from a hike two days prior, and I'd woken up with an [unrelated] sore throat; my tonsils were SO swollen. A tellingly uncharacteristic car nap made the last stretch of the drive go by quickly. Immigration office selfie.  Not every residency trip is hunky dory. Part of what became an unnecessarily long day was self-inflicted - stops at a baking supply store and Krispy Kreme - whereas other, out of our control delays were potentially avoidable. We made the most of a 2-hour midday wait by having lunch in the Colonial Zone and visiting my favorite art ga...

The DR held a biannual FORO ("forum") over the weekend, meaning the local leadership circle, regional representatives like me, and, in this case, twelve  US partners came together to celebrate how God is growing His Church in this place and to discuss what resources would be most impactful in order to see that work continue. It had been four years since we'd met in the capital, so I had the tremendous privilege of spending four nights in one of my favorite places: Santo Domingo's charming, historic Colonial Zone, Meanwhile in Santiago...Dana was hosting a team from Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne: dividing and conquering at its finest.  We tend to ease people into the FORO agenda on Friday, after travel day, so I'd helped organize an excursion to the Columbus Lighthouse and a casual, family-style lunch. We even had a few hours of rest time before we did squeeze in a wee bit of business.  Victor Reyes, a member of Iglesia Luterana Pueblo Nuevo in Santiag...

Three weeks after I'd just been there for a regional leadership meeting , Belize welcomed me back with open arms...and fresh tropical flowers on the coffee table in a building I'd never stayed in before, The Cabana (loved it!).  My task this time was straightforward: host a pair of physicians, both known and hand-picked by the Belize team, who'd be conducting individual assessments for six* families of kids with disabilities in Valley of Peace, a Salvadorian immigrant community. Let this be a friendly PSA to check incoming passengers' flight statuses before driving an hour to go pick them up.  Me: "Coffee shops near me" Google Maps: 👆 Drs. Charlie (left) and Keith (2nd from left) came at an opportune time: the outset of a "Mercy House" project, the primary driver of which is the Rev. Benjamín Flores (right). It's not a physical place but rather a three-pronged campaign to provide support and resources to the aforementioned families in three cate...