Heading into Debrief...

The time has finally come for us to make our way to Jarabacoa for two days of team debrief.  We're sad to be leaving Moca and the friendships we've made here.  This is an incredible community and what's more amazing is the work that God is doing in this place!!!  So many hearts are ripe for harvest, and our prayer is that the local church will continue to be the faithful laborers even as we head out.

Team Republica Dominicana 2014

It's amazing how God can use people and places that these students have only interacted with for 6 days and bring such incredible life-change through the experiences/conversations they've been having here.  Some memories we're taking with us are:

• Sweating side-by-side piled into the team vehicles down the bumpy roads!
• Understanding an incredible picture of what it is to be the hands & feet of Jesus.  We were served so well here and feel like we were given far more blessings than we were able to pour out!
• Recognizing that God is so much bigger than a language barrier.
• Total abandon when it comes to worshiping God... dancing, sweating, cheering, laughing - it can all bring praise to our King!
• Prayer walking through the city streets and the incredible ways God works even when we least expect it!
• Reminded of the power of listening prayer & gaining a new understanding of God's voice.
• We're a part of an incredible legacy here in Moca!  This is a ministry that is thriving and has the hand of God all over it, and we are blessed to have been able to pick up where the last team left off.  As we head out, we're excited to pass on the ministry to the next group of laborers!  This place is covered and will continue to be covered in prayer for the future work that will happen here!

As we head into these two days of debrief, this is an opportunity for students to really unpack their experiences and all that God has been stirring/teaching along the way.  We intentionally carve out this time because we recognize that without it, this can just become another trip/another experience.  Instead, we want to help students walk through all that's happened and been happening both in their time here & leading into their time here, to be able to see what God has been teaching/stirring along the way, and to put into place specific next steps to follow through on when they return home to see the change that's happened here & been prompted here carries over into a changed life back at home!

Covering this place, these people, this ministry in prayer

So here's how you can pray for this debrief time:

• Pray for Focus - we're shifting in to home-mode, but we're still here and God's not done with us yet here.  So pray for clear focus to finish strong our time here.  Also pray for clear focus as students wrestle through what their next steps are.
• Pray for Courage - students have taken some bold steps while they've been here, and continuing those bold steps back home will take an incredible amount of courage.
• Pray for Refreshment - we've just had 6 days of intense ministry.  From early morning to late evening, students have been pouring out like crazy, pushing through fatigue & heat exhaustion, and giving it their best.  Pray that these next two days will be refreshing for their spirit, their mind, & their physical bodies.
• Pray for the DR - we want to invite you along on our prayer journey!  Even though our time here is coming to a close, we now have been given the opportunity & responsibility to continue to cover this place & these people in prayer.  To pray for those who stay behind to continue the work, to pray that God's spirit would continue to soften hearts & break down walls, and to pray for the future ministry that will happen in this place.  And we'd like to invite you to continue that journey with us!

Thanks for following along with us!  We're not 100% sure what the internet access will look like once we reach Jarabacoa, but we will do our best to get another update or two on here before we start the journey back home!  Stay tuned...