Lessons from the Dominican Republic

-Acts 2:44-45 HCSB

I’ve heard and read this scripture many times before, but honestly, it never really meant much to me until my recent trip to Santo Domingo. I was challenged by the lifestyle of the Dominican disciples that lived out this scripture in everything they did and who they were while I was with them. I am confident that there are people all around the world and in America truly living like this in obedience to the scriptures. They are exemplary servants from whom I need to learn.

It has been more than three weeks since I returned from my Spring break trip to Santo Domingo. I’ve been coming back to this article many times not knowing if I could adequately share my experience and the lessons I learned in a way that would inspire others or even be able to adequately portray the depth of my feelings. As I thought through the details, the Holy Spirit has worked through scriptures, people, books, and my experiences to impact me, which I hope to share in this short article.

I stayed in a household of nine women. Yes, nine! Most of these women were studying in the universities and ranged from young twenties to older twenties. I’ve never seen such a godly household in my entire life. (Given that we have the Holy Spirit, it should be this way all the time. However, I have lived in some good and some not so good households.) These nine women, who all have independent, crazy schedules, pray together every single night. When electricity goes out, which is usually eight hours in a day, they pray by candlelight. Such a habit of prayer draws these women close to each other so that they know each others struggles, desires, and joys. It seemed that everything they do—how they conduct their lives—is completely based on God and Jesus’ example. They put effort into their unity, and they make it a priority over schoolwork, downtime, and anything else that would threaten this holy time they share together.

They share more than just prayer. They also share in their material possessions –groceries, rooms, cars, and money. These gracious women taught me a vital lesson about putting the needs and even the desires of the sisters in my congregation and especially of my roommates before myself.

During my time in the Dominican Republic, I was able to visit orphanages and assisted- living homes in Santo Domingo. One orphanage for people with disorders such as muscular dystrophy and polio was converted into a short-term rehabilitation center for Haitian families and orphans. Nearly every person seeking refuge in this hogar had at least one amputated appendage.

Also during my trip, I was lucky enough to sit in on six bible studies en Español. This might seem like a lot (one for every day of the week), but from what I could tell, each disciple had at least one bible study a day and this is an understatement for the thirteen women on the mission team in La Romana. The mission team in this beautiful city was planted over a year and a half ago. The women are all very different but very close; there is so much love, gratitude, and partnership between these disciples. When familiarizing me with the group, la misión, one disciple named Sagrario said, “We are all very poor because what we have we give to one another and others.”

While in the Dominican Republic, I was reading a book called Crazy Love in which the author, Francis Chan, addresses American church culture. He addresses the typical American Christian and attempts to awaken him/her from going through the motions of faith and actually living by, through, and in the love of God. I was convicted and definitely broken by the hearts of the disciples in Santo Domingo and those of the mission team in La Romana. When you have the opportunity to be among them, you just realize that this is a group of people who truly love God because it radiates from every aspect of their lives. Not to say that people do not love God here in America to their greatest capacity. But what…what if there is more? What if the culture around us and the things that distract us from living 100% for God mask or even diminishing our capacity to fully commune with God and his Spirit?

In Francis Chan’s second book, Forgotten God, he proposes: “Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the ‘Helper’ or ‘Comforter’…Why would we need to experience the Comforter if our lives are already comfortable? It is those who put their lives at risk, [lose their lives (Mark 8:35)], and suffer for the gospel (Phil. 1:29) who will most often experience [the presence of the Holy Spirit]…”

Since this trip, I was a part of a class in which the teacher, Randy Summers, spoke of how the people of Judah, while under the reign of one the greatest kings (Josiah) during the greatest period of Judah’s existence, dressed “foreign clothing” (Zephaniah 1:8). In effect, God was saying that the people of Judah, His people, did not look like his; Instead they began to dress, look, and talk like the Babylonians, Egyptians, and Assyrians. As a result, they settled down comfortably (vs. 8).

I am so grateful for the time I was able to spend with the churches in the Dominican Republic and also for the way that God has revealed truth to me through the Holy Spirit. I’m convicted to not look like an American by my clothing, speech, and culture, but only to be seen as a child of God. The comfort I desire is not the comfort offered by the world, but only the comfort that comes from the Holy Spirit. I am convicted to live out Acts 2:44-45 because I’m loved by God and His Spirit guides me.Perhaps you might feel like I did before I had this experience, but I pray that God reveals these things to you as well so that you, too, can share in the joy I have.