Summer Revolution

This summer we hosted teams from Niceville, FL (Rennae's hometown!); Dallas, Texas; Mufreesboro, TN; Cedar Hill, TX; Sarasota, Tampa, Atlantic Beach, Maclenny, Port Orange and St Petersburg (Nelson's hometown!)

We were especially blessed to host lead Pastor Joshua Potts from Maclenny, Pastor Tom Finken from Port Orange, Pastor Jamie Morgan from New Jersey, and Pastor Donnie Huttio from Atlantic Beach. I must say that it is a special gift for us have these pastors travel our bumpy roads and pray over children with us in our outreaches. For them to know and EXPERIENCE the fruit of their faithful partnership is an enormous joy that I cherish with all my heart!

IDA_English_Testimonies

Here is a video about our Valentines weekend outreach. This video was put together by Dawn Amsler. She is a new missionary here in Dominican REpublic, who serves on our ministry team.

Check it out!!

A Walk in Bonis' White Shoes

Bonis has some nice white shoes. Seriously, I have always admired how white he keeps those shoes walking around here in the Dominican Republic. Bonis is a missionary intern from Castillo del Rey (King's Castle) in Nicaragua. And as a missionary, Bonis is walking the walk of faith in those white shoes. He has come here on a very tight budget and there are days when he doesn’t have a peso to his name. Today was one of those days.

Today he was supposed to come the office and share devotions in our staff meeting. The title of his message was to be “The benefits of obedience”. He walked out the door not sure how he would get to office and praying for God to provide transportation some how, some way. He has been serving in a small town 45 minutes away from our offices, so it was going to be a long walk in those white shoes.

As he walked Bonis contemplated what he would share in devotions. He had hardly walked just a few blocks when a car pulled over. It was someone Bonis had never seen before. Bonis explained to us that it turned out to be a brother who had seen him at an evangelistic event. The brother offered him a ride to the capital.

This morning we were all encouraged; there was not a dry eye in our devotions. We all understood. Every one of us is walking this walk of faith, in one way or another --just without the white shoes.

Day 1 continued-- Beautiful Feet

It wasn't long before the men of the village pulled together some corn from the crop that was growing on the mountain. They made a fire with the old husks, and cooked us some corn. Some of it even popped up like popcorn! It was dry and not very sweet, most likely due to the scarcity of water in the region. The sweetness of this corn was really found in the act of sharing. We had brought goodies for them, but they also gave of what they had to us. On this side of the island, we have erroneously believed that Haiti is full of people that always take, and never give.


We then gathered together in the church, and Pastor Samuel told the story of the rich man and Lazarus found in Luke 16. He must have been an amazing storyteller because the people were mesmerized, and the children were completely quiet. We did a program, and a prayer tunnel. We prayed for everyone on that mountain. It took awhile; I think we counted over 200 people squeezed in the little church.

Among those 200 people I saw a woman who was wearing a familiar shirt. I took a second look, and realized it was the same shirt that was given to my boys when we visited Life Church in Roanoke, VA. Now, this was amazing to me because we were really in a remote place. How did that shirt get to somebody way up on this mountain? I asked Pastor Samuel. He was not nearly as amazed, and I loved his answer:

“Sister Rennae, you say that shirt was from an Assemblies of God church. Well this church is an Assemblies of God church, and we are all one family. Pastor Bill (Bill Smith, our AGWM missionary) is always giving us donations to take up the mountain. We load up our back packs and mules, and bring whatever he gives us.”

Each of the kids received cookies, a pair of flip-flops, and the Book of Hope. They were thrilled! Then we began our walk down the mountain. As we walked, some of the children followed, holding our hands to keep us from falling. It was steep going down! I noticed that my little traveling companion had no shoes. Flip-flops would be useless for going down this mountain. I had been regretting the whole day that I was doing this hike in converse tennis shoes knowing that I had a perfect pair of hiking shoes in my closet. My regret quickly turned to gratefulness for my undeserved abundance.



Coming down the mountain we took time to stop and eat our lunch. Granted, it was about 4:00 pm, but there was no way that we could have eaten while at the church with people who had such need. We had brought a few extra sandwiches, but our traveling friends were more than we expected. So we prayed for the multiplication of bread, and God supplied the need. The funny thing was, that just like there were leftovers in the story of the Gospels, we also ended up with leftover sandwiches!!!

Coming down the mountain, I looked around at my tired, smelly, and filthy team. Our shoes were dirty from the hard climb. But one thing is for sure, our feet were BEAUTIFUL!

How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"
Isaiah 52:7

Day 1 Walking and Singing Together...

"If you want to walk fast, walk alone; if you want to walk far, walk together." African Proverb

During our training days I shared this African proverb with the warriors. We talked about how missions requires partnership. In order for us to go to the ends of the earth we would have to be committed to the long walk TOGETHER. Little did I know that we would LITERALLY be walking far together during our trip to Haiti.

Pastor Miguel told us that we would have to be up early the next day (4:00 AM) because we would be traveling far into the mountains. He was taking us to a place called Pino that no foreign team, American or any other country for that matter, had ever been. He said that even the UN had not visited this place because it was so remote. For places like Pino, humanitarian supplies are dropped from helicopters. We drove up in a tap-tap (a converted pick-up truck that holds passengers in the truck bed on small benches) and met Pastor Samuel and his wife along the way. Pastor Samuel pastors an A/G church in Port –a- Prince that planted this church in Pino. It is the only evangelical church for these mountain people. Pastor Samuel’s church also sponsors the children to go to school right there in the church. It was a two-hour drive up through the mountains to get to the bottom of the Pino Mountain.

Our wonderful missionary host, Miguel Ovalle, kind of left out a detail when he told us that we would be walking three hours to this remote community. He neglected to mention that we would be climbing a mountain. As we climbed this mountain it became very clear as to why we were the first foreigners to visit Pino. It was a STEEP desert mountain filled with cactus. We had one mule that carried our water and our puppet stage and then each of us had a backpack full of ministry supplies like cookies and candy, copies of the Book of Hope, our lunch and a big bottle of water.

As we gathered ourselves together at the bottom of Pino we saw a group of women and children washing clothes and filling buckets with water. This was the river that served the mountain people. This was the only water that they had access to. From this river we walked three hours to get to the community where the Pino Assemblies of God church was located. I snapped a picture of the children with buckets of water on their head; amazed at their ability, and also struck by the harsh reality of their daily lives.

We walked together Dominican missionaries with American missionaries, Haitian pastors, Dominican Castle warriors and Haitian castle warriors and as we walked we shared. We learned Creole along the way. We laughed together. We learned together. Pastor Samuel showed us the Voo-Doo witchdoctor houses. He showed us trees with Voo-doo symbols and he reminded us that this was the ONLY church in these mountains while Voo-doo places ofworship are scattered throughout the mountains.

Voo-Doo temple that we saw as we climbed the mountain

Pino Assemblies of God Church

When we finally made it to the top of the mountain we were greeted by the community of believers that was waiting for us at the church. The humble church was made with wooden poles and palm leaves for the siding. The roof was made of tin; the floor was a dirt floor with small wooden benches. (My friend Shirley, who used to be a missionary to Haiti, calls them "cut-your-butt" benches, which is a much better description)

Upon our arrival Pastor Samuel gathered us all together on that mountaintop standing outside of the church with the mountain views all around us. He said “Let us give thanks to the Lord for bringing us safely”. We expected him to begin with a prayer but instead he began to sing. The words were strange to us in Creole but the tune was well-known by all who were gathered on that mountain. He sang “How Great Thou Art” and as he sang I heard my beloved Dominicans join in “Mi Corazon entona la cancion, cuan grande es El…” It was overwhelming. Tears filled my eyes because I knew that I was in the middle of the most beautiful moment. It was as though the complicated political, cultural border that divided these two countries was magnificently erased by the beauty and greatness of the God who had brought us together.

Check back again for more of Day 1.

Getting rid of my shades…

Ninoska, a Castle Warrior and I at the border about to cross into Haiti

For sixteen years I have lived, worked, and loved this island that is known as Quisqueya. Our work has been on the Dominican side and it was only this past week that I finally was able to cross to the Haitian side. Going to the other side was an amazing experience that has enriched my life tremendously and changed everything that I ever believed about Haiti.

The Dominican Republic and Haiti share the same piece of land in the Caribbean and they also share a difficult history. The history between these two countries is a road stained with conflict, racial prejudice and hatred. The result is a border that separates the languages, the culture, the sport, religious tradition but most tragically, the people. Everything that I ever understood about Haiti until this past week I understood with a Dominican understanding. It was like I was looking across the border with a pair of tinted glasses. I was close enough to see Haiti but my view was darkened by those Dominican shades.

I could see Haiti because so much of Haiti is here. There are Haitian Beteyes (Haitian communities usually for the purpose of farming) where we have been active in ministry for years. There is the history of independence from Haiti. Dominicans celebrate independence from Haiti. Independence was won in this city, Santo Domingo and my children have studied in a Dominican school. I have visited the monuments and sang the songs of liberty. My neighbors across the street are Haitian and I have missionary colleagues that plant churches among the Haitian community. Haiti has always been here, but I have never been to Haiti.

Last week, we took a team of Dominicans (Kings Castle warriors) to work with our missionary Miguel and Mairelys Ovalle in Port-a-Prince. Miguel has been a part of Castle practically from the beginning of Castle here in the DR. He and his wife are THE ONLY Dominican missionaries the LIVE FULL TIME in Haiti. They are giving their lives to reach the children of Haiti and that speaks volumes to the Haitian church.

If you could hear each story you would find that each of the Dominican Castle warriors would tell you about someone in their lives who did not understand why they wanted to go to Haiti. Someone who did not think it was worth the money to be spent on one week in a place of so much hopelessness. But this is a group of warriors they have heard the call to go to the other side and together we took off the shades of our understanding and got to see Haiti in a whole new light.

Impossible Tasks

Here in Dominican Republic it is not uncommon to see all kinds of things being transported in unusual ways.

I have seen a family of six riding on a small motorcycle.

I have seen seven children going to school on a motorcycle.

I have seen a washing machine strapped to a motorcycle.

I have seen 20ft bundles of rebar being dragged by the passenger on the motorcycle.

I have seen tricycles, bikes, that served as the local garbage collectors piled so high that the driver could not see what was in front of him.

But in my humble missionary opinion this photo wins the prize. I love it!For me it is the perfect metaphor for our lives and ministry at this moment. Here we are given a task that just seems impossible to accomplish given the resources that we possess.

On our island slavery is a HUGE issue. Over 300,000 children are enslaved through forced labor or prostitution. I am just trying to save 27.

Drug abuse and drug trafficking are out of control. Just a few days ago, Yudi, one of our missions students, got a call saying that her brother was murdered by drug traffickers. Now she has two brothers that are dead because of drugs. Yudi is the ONLY Christian in her whole family. We are committed to see this one young, spirit filled women be the transformational generation in her family.

There are still 6,620 unreached people groups in the world. In India alone there are 2,190 unreached people groups. Misael and Deborah, newly appointed missionaries from Dominican Republic have a passion to reach just one of these groups. They are presently raising support from our Dominican churches to go. Our job is to train them to go and train our churches to send these missionaries.

So given such a sizable task, we can sit and look at this big job and complain about the economy and how few resources we have, or we can put the car on the bike and make it happen. We choose to make it happen.

What is your impossible task? Are you waiting for the economy to improve before you make it happen? Are you waiting for the perfect timing and better circumstances when all the while if you just took a chance on what you you had right in front of you, your mustard seed could actually MOVE A MOUNTAIN.

"I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." --Jesus in Luke 17:20

Muddy Shoes, 6,000 Souls, Giving Groceries and a Toilet Story

Muddy shoes and beautiful feet - Yudi is a second year Master's Commission student who was out in a rural town doing children's ministry when she found herself in the middle of some deep mud. She was out inviting children to an afternoon evangelistic activity. As she walked she saw three kids playing in a basketball court that was just beyond some really deep mud. It was so deep that her shoe got stuck in the mud and she had to dig it out. As she was digging it out the young girl that from the church that was with her told her, "It's ok Yudi, we really don't have to go so far in this mud." Yudi was determined. She was gonna make sure that those three little boys were invited to the actvity. Sure enough that the first children to arrive at church were the three boys from the muddy barrio. The left their muddy shoes by the door of the church and sat on the front row. It turns out the Yudi's muddy feet were the most beautiful of all. As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"(Rom. 10:15)

6000 souls- Elias and Merary spent last weekend putting together a Kings Castle soul-a-thon event. Their faces were lit up with joy as they were able to reach 6000 children at the event!

Giving groceries- Keila was so excited as she told about how her young people were able to give out groceries in the neediest barrios of her town of Villa Altagracia. Keila shared "I had been hoping to recieve bags of aid from an American organization for feeding the poor. We waited and then I decided to challenge the young people of my Kings Castle team not to wait. We can each bring and donate a bag of groceries from our own families resources to give out in the communtiy. We called them 'bags of love' and distributed the bags door to door."

A Toilet Story- Pastor Reynoso called me the other day to tell us about how his church has been ministering to 337 children every week . Now he pastors a church of only 75 members but they are serious about reaching out to the children in their impoverished barrio. They have carefully kept records of each one of these children. They know their families and their stories. The make it a point to learn about their needs. One little boy in particular was a regular attender to the children's ministry and came to church every time the doors were open. They noticed that every time he came he would use the church bathroom as soon as he arrived. Then someone went to visit the little boy's home. They learned that the family was so porr that they did not have a bathroom. Pastor Reynoso and his wife decided that they would personally do something to help. The gave took out their own toilet and gave it to the family and helped them build a bathroom. Pastor Reynoso's wife was happy to help. She said, "I wanted a new toilet for our house anyway."

Angelo is going to PERU!!!!

I must admit that I was surprised that Angelo was even interested in Master’s Commission, our missions training school. Angelo is quiet and from the small town of Azua. Yet he was determined. This past summer Angelo was one of the first class of students in Dominican Republic that was the first to graduate with a major in missions and theology.

Since entering Master’s Commission Angelo has felt called to missions and he made it his goal to do his missions internship in Peru. Financially, this was an extremely lofty goal for a guy from Azua. Yet the biggest challenge was the fact that his family was in the middle of a crisis. His father had been unemployed for six months. As a young adult in Dominican culture, Angelo was expected to contribute to the family finances and all the more so in the situation of financial crisis.

So Angelo had a decision to make the day that he bought tickets to Lima, Peru. The tickets were found at a significant discount if he could leave on the 31st of October. Would he stay and find work? Or would he move forward with his ministry plans in Peru? Angelo took an enormous step of faith and purchased the airline ticket. The flight would leave the day that his father was to complete six months of unemployment.

Yet the God who calls is also the one who provides. Just a few days before Angelo’s flight was to depart, his father was was hired at a new job! This was just the confirmation that Angelo needed. His family was taken care of, his missionary budget was supplied and his Friday, Angelo will get on a plane headed for Peru to serve and love the children there.

Going in the Right Direction

I have been looking for those ruby red slippers. Somebody said that they sold them at Wal-mart and I actually looked for them on several occasions. I never could find them in my size. I wanted them because I found myself dreaming about just clicking those bright red shoes together as I recited “ There’s no place like home”. Moving is an enormous amount of work and the idea of tapping red shoes together seemed easier--easier yes, reality no.

Reality was that we would end up having just under three weeks to pack and prepare a shipment. Reality was that because there was not time to plan we didn’t have enough space in the shipment. Reality was that when all was said and done and we had our bags packed and tropical storm blew through Florida. Flights were delayed. The bags had to be semi unpacked and repacked. Lord, I am TIRED of packing!!!

In the midst of it all we were so blessed to have the family of God rally around us and help us get through it all. Just before we packed our container, our good friends and pastors Walt and Tina Nelson came by with a donation for our shipment. They saw all our stress and helped us pack a few things. As I chatted with Tina, I asked her the common small talk question. “ How are things going at your church? To which she replied. “ Going... long pause... smile... in the right direction.” That simple little response really hit me. In the middle of so much work, stress, and problem. It was this wonderful assurance that no matter what; we were going in the right direction. I was running toward my purpose.

The day finally came! On August 20, 2008 we boarded a plane headed in the right direction. Boarding that plane was not simple matter. We arrived at Tampa International airport with 17 suitcases, 1 guitar, 5 roller carry on luggage pieces and 1 saxophone, all required to weigh less than 50 lbs. My teenagers we mortified as we had to open suitcases and rearrange a few shoes, books or whatever to keep every suitcase at exactly 49.99 lbs. I don’t blame them, even I was concerned about flying underwear as everyone at the ticket counter watched us like we were free entertainment.

The plane left late from Tampa which put us in Miami a little late. So we booked down the concourse to make the next flight. WE WERE NOT GOING TO MISS OUR FLIGHT! One problem--we hadn’t really eaten anything but granola bars. It was around 2 p.m. and we were starved! So picture it in your mind--me, Nelson and our four boys--all of us with rolling luggage and one with a sax--running to our gate with little guys whining, “I can’t run mommy, I’m so hungry” So we stopped quickly to get some pizza and chinese food to go (all at the same place) and hurried on to our gate. When we got to our gate, everyone is sitting around with that, bored, irritated face that indicated to us immediately that the flight was delayed. So we sat down in a little corner and stuffed our faces until the announcement came over the intercom.

“American Airlines Flight 364 has been moved to gate F-82. Please gather your things and move to gate F-82 as we will be boarding shortly.” We were sitting in F-2.

I had just got settled eating my chicken and fried rice scooped out of the plastic bag that I held as I ran across the concourse! Oh how I wished for ruby red slippers in that moment. Not so much to transport me home but just to transport me, the boys, the five bags, one saxophone and my fried rice to F-82.

We moved. We waited--more delay, It turns out that Tropical Storm Fay was taking up residence in North Florida and consequently flights were delayed in Miami. We ate (not without one of the pizzas spilling along the way which resulted in a great big, noisy, and dramatic melt-down by my very tired 8 year old--more entertainment for American Airlines personnel and our traveling companions.) and finally the words I had been longing to hear rang out as if sung with choir music in the background, “American Airlines flight 842 is now boarding for Santo Domingo”

Finally! We were finally headed home! The flight went smoothly, as tired as we were nobody even slept. The boys next with the window seats kept their eyes gazing out the windows, waiting for the moment when our island came into view. We landed just as the sun was setting. We crowded up next to the window to watch the beauty of the Caribbean coast with palm trees, little shack houses, and motorcycles zipping along the highway from high in the sky. As the plane landed, I felt like an Olympic runner that was finally coming to the finish line. Victory was in view!

Then after so much difficulty and obstacles an amazing, unexpected thing happened. We gathered our 17 bags, 1 guitar, 5 roller bags and the saxophone quickly and easily. We got up to the customs guys, ready to beg for mercy and they just waved us on through. It turns out that they did this because we were missionaries. (makes me grateful when I think of all my colleague who enter sensitive countries secretly and dangerously) We walked down the hall filled with beautiful photos of Dominican children and beaches, and tears came to my eyes. We made it!

Then I heard music coming from outside the door. It was merengue music. We heard cheering and singing. I wondered if there was a Dominican celebrity on our flight. Then I saw their faces. It was our family. Our missionary colleagues. Our staff. Young people all wearing their Kings Castle shirts singing and cheering. Then twenty little girls came running to me with hugs and kisses. It was the girls and boys from Bethesda children’s home. They had a bouquet of flowers and a bright yellow beautiful sign, with words written in gold glitter, “Welcome home to our Missionaries, Nelson, Rennae and family”

I became a blubbering, crying, happy, hugging, kissing mess! As we made our our way outside,( it took awhile, we had to hug and kiss them all!!!) all of a sudden we heard barking and then my boys went crazy! Joel brought our little miniature dachshund, named Holly, running to us on a leash. The boys had missed that dog so much during our 14 months of itineration in the US. They talked about her all the time and couldn’t wait to see her. Having her to there to greet us at the airport was a special gift.

Ketty, my ministry partner and director of the girls home brought us an enormous basket of fruit with papaya, mango, bananas, passion fruit along with a pizza, chicken, soda pop, and a cake. Now the beautiful cake with “Bienvenido familia de Freitas” had unfortunately been dropped at the airport and was not so beautiful but we ate it nonetheless.

We arrived home and our staff helped us get settled in, served us the food, washed the dishes, took 17 suitcases up the stairs and enjoyed the "dropped-on-the airport-floor "cake with us. Our missionary colleagues the Anonbys and the Bellos had stocked the cupboards with food. Elena Anonby made us a batch of homemade cookies and my favorite bran muffins that she makes (mmmmm!!) Sugeily had and arrangement of bird of paradise flowers (commonly found here in the DR) on the table.

Our friends left and we layed our tired bodies down to rest. What a day! We made it! We arrived safe and sound and it turned out that I didn’t need those ruby red slippers after all. But I am still quoting Dorothy, “There’s no place like home.”

The Empowerment Event - Three days of prayer and fasting

The above photo is one of our Castle teams posing in this year's T-shirt. Our theme for the year has been "Make your best play!" We are challenging our evangelism teams to do give their best for Jesus. As you can see we drew inspiration from the national sport of Dominican Republic; that is baseball.The leader of this team sent us the following is an e-mail to our Castle offices after we had concluded our three day prayer and fasting event. We call it “Empoderamiento”. (empowerment) This year’s theme was “Get in shape--No Pain, no gain!”

HI SUGEILY! (Our administrative director)

GOD BLESS YOU A WHOLE BUNCH!

I have to tell you that I always enjoy the empowerment fast and I just have to share with you a testimony that happened the day we left the event. My team and I went to pick up a bus to return home to Santiago and on the way to the bus station there was a motorcycle accident and we saw a woman passenger fly of the motorcycle. It was horrible and none of us will ever forget it. When we got on our bus there was a group of people drinking, speaking vulgarities and making a lot of noise. We just ignored them and since the bus wasn’t playing any music on the radio, we started to sing and worship

About halfway through our trip we saw that another accident had just occurred, also a motorcycle accident. The man was dead and his body was in bad condition. It was really impacting to see that. I was filled with so much sadness, because the Lord had directed me to think about the conditions of their souls and that most likely they did not know Him.

So, a few of my youth felt the same and we decided to share with the people in the van. Especially those who were so vulgar and drinking. It was amazing that when I got up to speak there was this great silence and everyone paid attention. One of the other girls on my team picked up her Bible and started to talk about the love of God and the rest of us began to intercede. To make a long story short, seven adults accepted Christ on the bus. Some of them were from the vulgar group. We also shared with the children individually and many of them accepted Jesus.

Sometimes we think that the place for preaching is only in an outreach, or in a pulpit but the truth is that God can be glorified anyplace or anytime.

Take Care and love you lots,

Maria Virginia “Getting in shape”

Kings Castle World Summit

If you’ve ever been to a championship game, whether it is little league or major leagues, then you know the excitement about the BIG game. There is energy, there is cheering and there is expectation. And that is exactly what it was like in La Vega, Dominican Republic.

In August, we spent five days in La Vega with over three hundred young people from eight countries in Latin America and we experienced the energy, heard the cheering and felt the atmosphere of expectation. The energy, cheering and expectation had nothing to do with a sports event; rather it was a spiritual event.

The Kings Castle World Summit takes place every other year and it was our privilege to host this year’s event. The purpose of the event is to share evangelism material, vision, methods for reaching the lost as well as experiencing a life-transforming encounter with the Holy Spirit. For many of the Kings Castle warriors the event was a place of miracles. That is true for Rosemary, Miguel and Oriali.

When Rosemary got off the plane from Peru she couldn’t even believe that is was real. She was only able to raise $650 for her plane ticket; and the lowest price that she could find was over $1000. The day that she purchased her airline tickets to come to the Summit was a day where her only hope was a miracle. She prayed as approached the ticket counter. Nervously she explained her situation to the agent. It turns out that the agent was a Christian. The agent searched and searched, it took so long that Rosemary was sure that it was not going to work out and finally the agent looked up from the computer. She said “It’s a miracle! I found a ticket for $630!!!” That was just the beginning of Rosemary’s miracle. During the World Summit Rosemary was called to missions. She will definitely be purchasing airline tickets in the future. Now her faith can take her to other continents.

Miguel is called to Haiti. Miguel’s heart is broken for the children of Haiti. Miguel is a warrior. And to be perfectly honest, it takes a warrior to live in Haiti. Haiti is the poorest nation in Latin America. Most Haitians would do anything for an opportunity to live in Dominican Republic. Miguel will do anything to live in Haiti. He came to the Summit to share his vision with warriors from all over Latin America. We planned to take up an offering for Miguel on missions night. So many were praying that God would provide in a BIG way. Yet the reality is that we were taking up an offering in a chapel full of students from third world developing nations. Honestly, I was just hoping for more than $100. Yet it is amazing what God did with a group of students whose hearts are broken for the nations. The offering was counted and we could scarcely believe the result; $800!!! I’ll never forget the smile on Miguel’s face that night when he came to know personally that the God who calls is also the one who provides.

Oriali studied Television production and broadcasting in college. She had a degree and a good paying job in the television industry here in Dominican Republic. Yet she told us, “I was miserable because I knew that God had called me to be a missionary”. Yet Oriali, like many other Dominican students, don’t know have a clear path to missions, there are VERY FEW Dominican missionaries that serve as a model to follow. Oriali knew she was called, she just didn’t know how to follow that call. During the World Summit, God put into motion direction for her life and finally the “path” that she was praying for. Kings Castle will begin filming children’s television this year. Oriali will be going to El Salvador to help begin this new area of ministry. She is excited for the opportunity to use the talent and education to reach the children of Latin America with the gospel. Her path is clear now and the impact is immeasurable.

Oriali, Miguel, and Rosemary are just three examples but there are so many more stories that have come out of the Summit. Basically, we just kept hearing the same thing over and over again, “God has called me to missions” , “I am going to Bible school because I want to preach the Gospel”. Yet my favorite testimony was expressed is just a few lines but I believe it is a true reflection of what God is about to do as a result of the World Summit.


“Every day of the Summit, I felt more and more love for the children that live in the forgotten, unreached countries of the world and now I believe that we will be able to accomplish our goal of reaching one million children very quickly.”