To Be Found Faithful

Hello from the Dominican Republic! Since my last post, SO MUCH has happened! So, let’s start where we left off.

Team Ministry: November 30th – December 23rd, 2022
Island of Ometepe, Nicaragua
During our time at Ometepe, Team Revel partnered with CICRIN, a school and orphanage which seeks to raise children to know and love Jesus in a healthy and safe environment surrounded by Godly role models and parental figures. Here’s what a typical day looked like for us!
8:00am – Breakfast
9:00am – Morning Ministry: chores around the base which included a lot of mopping, sweeping, raking, and assisting in the garden.
12:00pm – Lunch
1:30pm – Afternoon Ministry: usually we would spend time with the children or help with miscellaneous tasks.
6:00pm – Dinner
7:00pm – Time with children and ministry hosts: we had a bonfire, heard a couple of testimonies, enjoyed a movie night together, played games, and worship and prayer.
While we were there, we also got to go prayer walking one day. We met a sweet couple who had relationships with the Lord, a family that was mockery towards the gospel, a boy around my age that was in the hospital a day prior with a fever and convulsions, two women whose mother/sister has had cancer for two years, and a mother and son who welcomed us to their home and were interested in what we were sharing. It was crazy and eye opening to meet such a wide variety of people who all lived on the same street. It was a privilege to meet and intercede for all of them!
God taught me a lot during our time at Ometepe. He continued refining and pruning my heart towards surrender and choosing to say yes to him daily. In my misunderstanding and confusion, will I say yes? When I’m raking for the fifth day in a row, will I say yes? In fear, worry, sadness, and frustration, will I say yes? This is hard and looks like choosing Him before anything else. But he is far beyond worth it, never leaves or forsakes us, and sees, knows, and loves all fully through it all!

Christmas and New Year: December 23, 2022 – January 3, 2023
Granada, Nicaragua
Our teams reunited, and we spent the holiday season together in Granada on the REAP base. It was a special time to be together and be more focused on the reason for Christmas (JESUS!) without the distraction of consumerism and earthly possessions. We hung “sockings” to leave notes or little treats for one another, were blessed with Christmas dinner cooked by our ministry host, worshipped, and played white elephant. Some people got a roll of toilet paper while someone else got some cash and another got a half a bottle of body wash – all are gold on the world race!
To ring in the new year, we followed the Nicaraguan tradition of strapping dynamite to a paper mache person then blowing them up. Sounds pretty bizarre because it is haha. It was crazy to reflect on all the Lord did in 2022 while looking forward to what he has planned for 2023. We also had a few more days of ministry in Nicaragua before we left!

Midway Debrief: January 3 – January 9, 2023
Jaco, Costa Rica
Four and a half out of nine months of the Race complete calls for a debrief! Our coaches flew in to join us, and Luis was there as well. It was a sweet and treasured week to spend time together, have fun, rest, and process and debrief the past few months. We reflected on what the Lord did during our time in Nicaragua, enjoyed days at the beach (I got to try out surfing), went grocery shopping and cooked meals together, spent evenings in worship and prayer, and more. It deepened my love for my squad, and it really felt like one big family.
On our last night, we had a time for baptisms. I got baptized in 2014 as a public declaration and symbolism that Jesus has saved me from my sin and raised me to life in him. By the grace of God, I’m not who I was then. And by the grace of God, I won’t be who I am today in another nine years. And another. God has much more in store, and I felt like this was an invitation to more with him. I wanted to display that I am a new creation in Christ and the old has passed away (2 Corinthians 5:17). Thank you, God, for saving me and always having more!!!

Mission of Hope: January 9 – February 8, 2023
Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic
¡Adios Nicaragua y hola República Dominicana! Since my squad has arrived in the Dominican Republic, we have been serving alongside the organization Mission of Hope. It was founded in 1998 in Haiti, and their mission is to bring life transformation to every man, woman, and child through the hope of Jesus Christ. We have helped with practical needs around the base in ways such as painting and re-branding, landscape, and moving and organizing belongings. We also have the opportunity of going to the city of Santiago throughout the week to teach English and Spanish in a Haitian school. Another significant ministry here is Strategic Ministry Time (SMT). This includes visiting homes in local communities with the purpose of getting to know the residents, share the Good News of Jesus Christ, and pray with them. It has been really cool and special to experience Dominican and Haitian culture. A day doesn’t go by where you don’t hear Spanish, Creole, and English be spoken. Many people are involved in Vudu practices, and there is much spiritual warfare, fear and shame, and an incorrect understanding of Christianity that people are living with each day. As I have gone into the communities, these themes are very evident. A couple of weeks ago, I met a young Haitian woman who is married with three children. She shared that only her youngest child lives with her while her other children are still in Haiti living because they don’t have enough resources to support them here. Although it is considered safer for her to live here, she said she is not able to leave her house securely as she will most likely get physically beat up and have the belongings with her stolen. There is much depth to this woman’s story. My heart can’t help but break for her and her family yet praise the Lord because she has a relationship with Jesus Christ. She encouraged and challenged us to continue sharing the love of Jesus with boldness because it is the best thing we can do and something she wishes to have the freedom to do. This is just a glimpse into the daily lives of those who live here.

What’s Next?
Team Ministry: February 8 – March 2, 2023
Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
On Wednesday, our teams will go separate ways again to different ministries in the DR. My team is partnering with Makarios and will likely be teaching English. Please join me in praying in advance for the hearts of all those in this city. From what we have heard, evil inhabits this city evidently. The enemy has many footholds in the lives of the people who live and visit there, but we are going to bring the light of Jesus that no darkness can overcome! Praise God!

In addition to praying for our upcoming ministry, I invite you to pray for Mission of Hope. May the Lord bless them and keep them and his favor be upon them. Also, please pray that the peace of God which surpasses all understanding would guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7) and that I would continue to be found faithful and walk in simple obedience.

To the ends of the earth,
Madilyn