Chapter 3! Another country, another new beginning of sorts. Our months in the USA taught me how to abide in the Lord, how to search for him in the scriptures, how to truly love with all of myself. In Costa Rica, I continued to cast off my fear of the perceptions of others. I learned that God was trustworthy, not just in theory but in real life. I experienced renewed hope for missions as I listened to the testimonies of our mentors and saw with my own eyes the fruit of missionary work in the past. I wonder what the Dominican Republic has in store for me. I’m ready to pour out all of myself here.
The journey from Costa Rica to the DR was 26 hours. You might be thinking, “Kate. Costa Rica and the DR are really close! How exactly does that break down?” I have no idea. All I can remember is a lot of bumpy bus rides and a really long layover in Panama.
We rolled into our ministry host’s base at 6am in the morning to see a light hazy blue mist settled on top of deep green mountains. Here’s a picture of that view during the day:
The breathtaking view made up for the three legitimate tarantulas hanging out on the wall next to where I was going to sleep. When we saw them we all freaked out for a total of five minutes before they ran away. We never found them again, but I still slept really well that night.
Our ministry here is called Hope Mountain! They have 6 church plants and are in the process of becoming the Dominican Republic’s first sex trafficking safe house for minors! While we are here, we will get to host some women’s retreats and get to pour into some of these incredible survivors!
In Costa Rica, we usually didn’t know where our hosts were placing us until the week of. Here, our ministry is a lot more organized, which I love! We actually know exactly what ministries we will be doing every day for the next 8 weeks! God really said, “Yea ok Kate. I’ll give you that one.” So if you were wondering, here is the breakdown of what I’ll be doing for ministry:
(With Team Zao)
Week 1: Creative Team- Zao will write and perform skits and dances that communicate the gospel to students our age. These skits will be used in Hope’s church plants for their youth groups!
Week 2: Manual Labor- Zao will help continue construction on a house for one of the base staff and help maintain the base.
Week 3: Admin- Zao will help our hosts with office work and communications tasks like maintaining our host’s website, writing base updates, organizing receipts, etc.
Week 4: Outreach- Zao will go out into the community here, praying and speaking with the local people here and possibly participating in Hope’s Covid safe food distribution program.
WEEKS 5, 6, 7, &8! While my team will run the circuit of weeks 1-4 a second time, I’m actually getting pulled off my team to TUTOR AND DISCIPLE MY MINISTRY HOST’S DAUGHTER!! I’m very, very excited about this. She is 16 years old, bilingual, an amazing singer, and just the coolest person you will every meet. I’m so excited to (1) do something remotely school related for the first time in a long time and (2) pour into a single person 6 hours a day for an entire month! Like wowowow I am so excited. More on that when we get to week 5 but THANKS GOD.
God has been doing so much in me and in those around me. Some friends on my squad are walking through a season of asking the Lord some really important questions, and this transition time has been a great opportunity to pour into one another. Scripture has proven to be so reliable and so alive in my life, and it has been incredible to share what the Lord has taught me through the Bible with others.
Every day, I am clinging to Him. And He is so so faithful.
Isaiah 41:9 “my friend; you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, ‘You are my servant, fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you. I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.’”
Pray that the Lord will work through every ministry we are involved in here. Pray for incredible relationships with our ministry host, unity within our squad, and overwhelming love for everyone we come into contact with. Pray that we will find so much joy in every day, that we will follow the spirit’s leading and cling to sound doctrine. Pray that the Gospel will be shared and that more will come to know Him!
I love you all!
Dear Kate,
I’m not surprised at all that you were chosen to mentor an already very accomplished teen. You’ve been preparing and doing that for years! I know your host’s daughter is going to have a wonderful experience getting to know you and you are going to have the same in getting to know her. I hope someone has a guitar there so you can accompany your ‘little sister’ while she sings. This part of your journey may portend a very special sisterhood perhaps now and throughout your lives.
We are excited for you and in looking back over photos we have from your trip to Belize a few years ago and our experiences observing you at youth groupings at your church, it is clear you are a magnet for others and we already know you to be a genuine, caring, and special person wherever you are. Continue to enjoy the journey, and we’ll hope to see you when you return home.
Love always, Gramma Pogue
I love hearing the joy on your voice! Clearly you are called to teach and mentor. What a blessing to use your gifts!
hey there friend!!! wow!!! i can hear the joy coming from these words! the excitement to love the Lords people! wow you are wonderful kate!!
so proud for you! so blessed to call you my friend!