Many have asked me how I ended up in the Dominican Republic for the summer. Well, it starts about two years ago.
My home church, at the time, Lanier Hills in Gainesville, Georgia, first visited the DR on a summer mission trip in 2011. Warmed by the hospitality of the people of Mogollon, I decided to return the following year, summer 2012.
God wrecked me on that trip as He softened my heart to the point of tears. Relationships were formed with the pastors and many of the girls in Mogollon. I also ventured into new territory with my team to the nearby village of Cerros de Mogollon. There, God put me on my back in a baseball field praying for the country and area in His Name for about an hour. One isn’t the same after that.
I left that trip disheartened only from not knowing the next time I would return to the DR. Could I return with the Lanier HIlls team the following year now that I had moved back North? Little did I know what God had in store.
It started with a phone call to my good friend Laura Jacobs. As we were talking, I mentioned my recent frustration with the job I had only held for 6 weeks and my strange jealousy for a girl at church who was going to the DR for 9 months for work. Laura listened and replied, “There’s a position in the Dominican Republic that describes you, but I’m not going to tell you what it is until you pray about it.”
I did, and this is what I heard: A position that would use my administrative skills and one that would use my communication skills. When Laura heard this she said, “Well that’s interesting because Miguel and Kristen Shaul need an administrative assistant specifically helping them with their communication.” After that, it was a done deal and support began to be raised.
My position has morphed a bit since that conversation, but I am happily serving down here for the summer as Cultural Liason between the American churches on mission trips and the Dominican churches they serve alongside, and English teacher to the village of Mogollon and Dominican Rising students.
Truly blessed!
