For quite some time, I’ve felt like maybe it would be good to share my testimony in my blog, so that’s what I’m going to do this month.
As a child, I attended the Lutheran Church with my grandma, but as I got older, I stopped attending. Fast forward to 2018, I had a coworker who asked me for my address because she and her husband were trying to raise support to go on a mission trip with Pinehills Church. I said sure, but can I go with you? When I asked her if it was possible to go, I wasn’t actively seeking God or attending church. The group leader said yes, and before I knew it, I was applying for my passport to go!
While on that trip in January 2019, I met some of the most loving people and started to understand what Solid Rock was involved with in the Dominican Republic. On Thursday night, my friends shared the Gospel with me and invited me to come to church. I agreed to meet them on the next Sunday morning. At that time, on Friday mornings before heading to Santo Domingo, the teams would go to the “land” to see the progress made that week. I remember the large mounds of dirt in front of the clinic, and that the open-air roofs hadn’t been installed, nor the floors. The group took a small tour, prayed over the clinic, and loaded the bus back to Santo Domingo.
As we drove back through San Juan, I knew my life had been forever impacted by the people I had worked with that week. An individual on the trip came back to me on the bus and wanted to share something. She shared that God had given her a picture of me working in the clinic in the future. I wasn’t sure what to do with that information. I just smiled, said thank you, and went on with my day.
I went back home and went back to work. I started attending church at Pinehills the next Sunday, with my friends waiting for me in the lobby. I joined a small group that they were part of and started to get connected. I got baptized in December of 2019. I made trips back to San Juan with Pinehills and Solid Rock, and learned more about the organization and what they were doing. I had always hoped to be more involved with Solid Rock in some form. On the return trip, I asked whether the clinic would hire Americans, but I was told that Dominican nurses would staff it. With that, I figured I wouldn’t actually ever be working at that clinic. As time went on, I also became more involved with Pinehills’ global outreach, serving on the team and learning more about different initiatives.
I continued to make those once-a-year trips with Pinehills, wanting to be more involved but not sure how. I started sponsoring students and following the Revolution Project and other developments in the ministry.
In October of 2023, the opening for Solid Rock was posted. Three individuals approached me about the opening and encouraged me to take the position. I had lots of conversations with individuals and decided to apply for the position. I accepted a 3-year position with Solid Rock just after Thanksgiving 2023 and moved in January 2024.
There have been so many things that have happened since January 2024, even through tough times, and I see the abundance of blessings that I have encountered in the Dominican Republic.
In my last blog, I shared that some family members had been dealing with some health issues. My older sister was diagnosed with breast cancer in January, and following testing and what felt like months of waiting, she had surgery this week. On Tuesday, I flew home to be with her for 2 weeks to help care for her. Thankfully, surgery went as planned, and she has been home for the last few days recovering. While being in the DR was very stressful as she walked through the start of this diagnosis, so many people stopped, prayed, encouraged, and loved me through the waiting. I know it’s sometimes hard to see God moving in situations like this, but I have already seen him move. I was able to call my old coworkers and ask for help getting her seen quickly. When she has chemotherapy, the nurses I would trust with my own life will be caring for her. None of us ever thought cancer would be on our playing cards this year, but we have started down the path of treatment together. I’m very thankful for everyone who is stepping up to take care of things in San Juan so I can be home.
In February, we hosted our first surgery team of the year! This team is always ready to do whatever it takes to care for as many people as possible. We completed 48 surgeries that week. I always look forward to this team being here. This is technically my third time working with them, so at this point, we’re all friends.
Following the surgery week, Bianca and I attended a Juan Luis Guerra concert in Santiago for her birthday! We had a very quick trip to Santiago, but I’m hoping to make a return trip in the future to see more of the city.
Prayer Requests:
– Healing & Strength for my sister through her treatment
– Continue to trust the timing God has for my life
– Clarity & Peace for the future
