Month: July 2010

Nagua – City of God

Eirene4 Comments

Several days ago I returned from my first ever missions trip, to Nagua, Dominican Republic. The trip was absolutely tremendous. So much happened that I hardly know where to start. But for 3 days we walked through the streets of Nagua and shared the gospel with people in their homes and businesses. We did not have one single instance of someone refusing to listen. And many, many people received Christ. We went into the prison and 2 ladies (of the 15 that are incarcerated) received Christ, with tears. We went into the hospital and the Lord healed a man who had some type of palsy and people got saved there too. We held church services each night and they were packed, with people standing outside in the streets to hear.

As much of a creature of habit as I am, and as much as I am accustomed to American comforts, I found myself adjusting to Nagua very quickly. It was hard to come back home and I still cry when I think about the time in Nagua.

Personally, this has affected me greatly. Sitting at a desk doing accounting for 8-10 hours a day doesn’t make sense anymore. Everybody said this would be a life changing experience. They were right.

Taking it to the streets – Part 2

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The 4th of July weekend is usually a busy time in downtown Baton Rouge. It seemed a very good time to go share with people about the freedom available in Jesus Christ. This time we had a larger group of people from the church that went with us. (See Part 1 here) We were nervous, we were excited, but most of all we were desiring to see people’s lives impacted by the gospel.

This time I was paired up with a young man named Michael. He’s been saved about 3 years and is very passionate about Jesus. When he prays, the words practically explode from his heart. We worked very well together as a team and were able to share the gospel effectively with many people. There were some people who were not interested in what we had to say, but there were more who were interested and heard the gospel.

I know that there are people who feel like this type of thing is not successful if you haven’t “closed the deal” by leading someone in the sinner’s prayer, but I believe that every time the gospel is presented to a person it works in their heart. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Nobody can come into contact with that kind of power and walk away unchanged. I know that I never walk away unchanged.

My own heart is encouraged today as my sharing with others reminded me of the wonder of the gospel, the love of God, and the riches of His mercy in Jesus Christ.