DanL Posted January 21, 2015 Group: Senior Member Followers: 11 Topic Count: 20 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 77 Content Per Day: 0.01 Reputation: 61 Days Won: 0 Joined: 06/09/2009 Status: Offline Birthday: 10/20/1958 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Since I've been gone from chat for two weeks, and many of you know I was on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic, I am anticipating answering the "So, how was the mission trip?" question many times. In the interest of not burning up hours and hours repeating myself, I post this. It's the blog post I wrote about it for the church's site and for the Kinship Christian Radio blog site. Dios te bendiga, hermanos! Overwhelmed My wife and I returned from our mission to the Dominican Republic late Saturday night. We made it to church on time on Sunday morning, but something odd began happening before we finished singing the first song. As I sang “Hail to the King,” my eyes began to burn and tingle. By the end of the song, tears were running down my cheeks. I looked over at my wife and the same thing was happening to her. The second song was “We Believe” by The Newsboys. When we got to the line “Let the church live loud,” I needed a tissue. Several, in fact. The pastor, knowing that we had just returned from the mission, asked us to come up and explain our tears. We tried, but all we could really say was that we were overwhelmed. With tears falling on the pages of Ephesians 3, I tried to explain to the congregation by reading this: 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. (NLT) What had happened in the Dominican Republic is that my wife and I had gotten a glimpse, an inkling, a taste of just how immense, how majestic, how immeasurable, how beyond awesome is the love of God. Even now, I struggle with trying to find the words to describe it to you, so I’ll give you a few examples. We attended a service at the Altar of God Church at about 5:00 p.m. on our second full day. (Dominicans hold their weekly church services on Sunday evening, rather than Sunday mornings.) The church service itself embodied the word “zeal.” I can say with great confidence that no one falls asleep during a service at that church—even though it lasts for about three hours. The woman asked to preach spoke about 1 Kings 17:8-24 where the flour and oil never ran out and Elijah raised the widow’s son from the dead. She preached with a fire of the Holy Spirit that was relentless, adamant, and powerful. During her sermon, she mentioned that her two-year-old daughter was ill and had not eaten in two days. After the service, we prayed that Jesus would touch this child and heal her. Little Katy was obviously pale and weak at the time. We went back to the pastor’s house where we were staying and, before we had finished supper, a happy, bouncy Katy was in the kitchen healed by Jesus and asking for something to eat. Later in the week, we were in the small mountain village of Manabao, helping with a children’s ministry and eight children accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. The next day, in the same church in Manabao, I was miraculously not only able to sing, but was asked to lead others in singing! (Anyone who has ever heard me sing knows this is indeed a miracle.) Numerous times, the Lord put people and events in our lives that made it clear He was opening doors for us to tell others about His infinite love for them. This happened again and again, even on the flights to and from our destination. In one case, I was sitting next to a man on the plane who was the administrator of a number of dental clinics for the poor. He had it on his heart to start dental ministries for the poor in other countries, but he had never met an “ordinary person” who was going on a mission and didn’t think it was possible for him to do so. I encouraged him by telling him if I could do it, he certainly could. I am certain if the Lord wants to extend His mercy through this man’s talents, He will most certainly do so. All through the week, we could tell the prayers of those who had sent us were reaching God. The prayers of one woman were being emailed to us. Over and over, we saw themes, words, and phrases that appeared in her prayers in our lives and our ministry. Even lyrics of the songs that were on our hearts were in her prayers, though she had no way of knowing we were singing them repeatedly. One of those songs was “Multiplied” by Needtobreath. Your love will surely come find us Like blazing wild fires singing Your name God of mercy sweet love of mine I have surrendered to Your design May this offering stretch across the skies And these Halleluiahs be multiplied. And that was the most amazing part. The love of Jesus surely did come find us and it did not add to itself—it multiplied. These were not coincidences. They were God incidences. The love of God in our Dominican hosts fed us and filled us. It was present and palpable. We could hear it and see it and feel it and we could reach out and touch it. Today, there are dozens of people in my life whom I genuinely love that I did not even know two weeks ago. I already miss them and long for them. I went to the Dominican Republic to bring whatever I could, but I returned overwhelmed and overflowing. Today’s Praise Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Luke 6:38 NIV) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alphaparticle Posted January 21, 2015 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 48 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 1,363 Content Per Day: 0.35 Reputation: 403 Days Won: 5 Joined: 08/01/2013 Status: Offline Share Posted January 21, 2015 Glad it all went well for you guys and glad to see you back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanL Posted January 21, 2015 Group: Senior Member Followers: 11 Topic Count: 20 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 77 Content Per Day: 0.01 Reputation: 61 Days Won: 0 Joined: 06/09/2009 Status: Offline Birthday: 10/20/1958 Author Share Posted January 21, 2015 Thank you, Alpha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hippie333 Posted January 21, 2015 Group: Royal Member Followers: 16 Topic Count: 114 Topics Per Day: 0.03 Content Count: 1,236 Content Per Day: 0.29 Reputation: 673 Days Won: 1 Joined: 10/24/2012 Status: Offline Birthday: 12/18/1970 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Awesome Dan!!!! THanks for sharing !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Posted January 21, 2015 Group: Graduated to Heaven Followers: 10 Topic Count: 73 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 1,884 Content Per Day: 0.25 Reputation: 54 Days Won: 0 Joined: 06/23/2003 Status: Offline Share Posted January 21, 2015 Awesome testimony, Danl. I know you and your wife were very much blessed, and the occurrences and happenings from the trip will stay with you for a long time. God truly blessed you and the people you were able to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmbld Posted January 21, 2015 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 4 Topic Count: 48 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 2,491 Content Per Day: 0.55 Reputation: 1,457 Days Won: 1 Joined: 10/23/2011 Status: Offline Birthday: 02/02/1971 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Praise God! Always good to hear your joy come across in what you write! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wingnut- Posted January 21, 2015 Group: Royal Member Followers: 39 Topic Count: 101 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 7,673 Content Per Day: 1.31 Reputation: 7,358 Days Won: 67 Joined: 04/22/2008 Status: Offline Share Posted January 21, 2015 Powerful stuff danl, thanks so much for sharing, Praise the Lord! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanL Posted January 21, 2015 Group: Senior Member Followers: 11 Topic Count: 20 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 77 Content Per Day: 0.01 Reputation: 61 Days Won: 0 Joined: 06/09/2009 Status: Offline Birthday: 10/20/1958 Author Share Posted January 21, 2015 Praise God! Always good to hear your joy come across in what you write! hmbld! I haven't seen you in ages!! Praise the LORD! Always enjoyed chatting with you! God bless you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alien224 Posted January 21, 2015 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 8 Topic Count: 82 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 1,762 Content Per Day: 0.38 Reputation: 869 Days Won: 2 Joined: 08/09/2011 Status: Offline Birthday: 02/24/1964 Share Posted January 21, 2015 What people never realize until they have been on a mission trip is how very powerful and wonderful God is. May God bless all that were ministered to and all that you were given to help the ministry in Jesus Christ. We lack so much in our comfort zone. Thank you for sharing and God bless you. I would love to go on mission again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanL Posted January 23, 2015 Group: Senior Member Followers: 11 Topic Count: 20 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 77 Content Per Day: 0.01 Reputation: 61 Days Won: 0 Joined: 06/09/2009 Status: Offline Birthday: 10/20/1958 Author Share Posted January 23, 2015 Alien, when my wife told me about the possibility of going, my first thought was to say, "We can't afford that." Happily, after 23 years of marriage, I no longer always say the first thing I think of. Instead, I said, "If God wants us to go, we will go." It was $3400 for the two of us to go. I had saved nothing for such a trip. We sent out letters asking first for prayer and second for provision to go. All of the money and more came in within 10 days. God is not poor. If He wants you to go, you can and WILL go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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