PRAISE
“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32) Our church celebrated the Dominican Independence Day from February 27 through March 1 with three days of preaching services. The above verse from John’s Gospel is also part of the Dominican shield. Our church building was decorated in red, white, and blue balloons and the Dominican flag and shield. In each of the evening services, we played a recording of the national hymn. It was great to hear the children sing along! We invited three Dominican preachers who spoke on freedom of speech (preaching, soul winning), freedom to congregate, and freedom to serve God. On Sunday morning I preached on the subject “Jesus, the True Liberator.” Each preacher encouraged and challenged our people to appreciate and practice the religious freedoms we have in the Dominican Republic.
Our church had the blessing of baptizing 3 new converts in February and celebrating the Lord’s Supper. God also blessed us with 14 precious souls who put their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.
PRAYER
We ask that you pray that our 3 new converts who followed the Lord in believer’s baptism will grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour. Their names are Isaac, Perla, and Maria; and they all come to our church faithfully. Please pray for our church’s 5th anniversary services May 7–10, 2015. Pastor Darrell Hurst will be our special speaker this year, as we celebrate five years of God’s blessings on our church. Please pray about the status of our visas, as we may have to return to the States to do the same paperwork process we completed last year. We were told by the proper authorities last year that we could obtain our residence visas in country with the business visas the consulate did give us.
GRATITUDE
Angela, Elisabeth, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank each church and individual who sent us special Christmas offerings, letters, cards, and email greetings. We are always encouraged to hear from our supporting churches. Elisabeth turned eight in February and would like to thank you for the cards and emails she received in memory of her birthday. We appreciate your faithfulness in praying and financially supporting our family and the ministry God has called us to in the Dominican Republic.
For souls,
Robert Tirado