Hope Mountain

Tomorrow my squad leaves for Eswatini! I can’t believe how fast the last 6 months have flown by!

Before leaving for Africa I wanted to share with you all about the second ministry I was at in the Dominican Republic.

The ministry is called Hope Mountain. It is run by a couple named Ruben and Vicki. They originally pastored in the States but felt the Lord calling them to the Dominican Republic which is where Ruben is originally from. They have been here 12 years now and they have helped planted churches all around the area!

Hope Mountain is literally in the mountains and my team was blessed with the most beautiful view! We were surrounded by trees and it kind of felt like being in a jungle! This also called for lots of bugs and spiders, but the view was for sure worth it.

Our ministry here consisted of prayer walking, teaching English, painting murals, women’s retreats, and helping women In prostitution.

When prayer walking we would walk all around town praying over the town, praying for hearts to be opened, praying for the gospel to be spread, and praying for the Lord to work in the town of Lajas.

We got to teach English at a school 4 days each week! The English teacher, who didn’t actually even speak English, broke her leg and wasn’t able to teach. This meant our team got to step in and teach, live on the kids, and even hang out with them at recess. Near the end of our time we got to invite our students to our ministry base to hang out and we got to share the gospel with them.

It was obvious that even though they were young that some of them were so broken inside, which was so sad to see in such young kids.

Our ministry host also asked us to paint a few murals on the ministry base! It was so fun the add some more color to the property as well as know that Hope Mountain is a place of peace for many people.

We helped our ministry host prepare for a women’s retreat with the women from the church’s they planted. It was so cool to see the ladies poured into as well as have a good time fellowshipping together with the Lord.

My favorite ministry we got to help with was actually today where our team got to hold a Bible study for women in prostitution. Some of the women had been rescued from prostitution others still involved. It broke my heart to see a room full of women who at some point came to such a point of desperation that they felt they needed to sell their bodies just to feed their families.

Some women were as you g as in their twenties, others as old as seventy. Alike both were stuck in the cycle of prostitution. Our team got to lead them in worship, share testimonies, I got to share a piece of my testimony with the women, we got to each individually pray over a woman, and share in a time of fellowship with them. It was such a beautiful time. This women are desperate and even the smallest act of kindness, like praying over them, would bring them to tears.

My time at Hope Mountain was a time of rest, a time of growth, and a time of preparation for what’s next.

God taught we so much about the worth of following him, ALL IN. I heard it said like this, “ God died for the whole man, not just part of us. Equally, He deserves all of us , not just part. “ this is a call to dive in head first, giving Him EVERY part of yourself!!

As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.” He said to another person, “Come, follow me.” The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead! Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.” Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.” But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.””

‭‭Luke‬ ‭9‬:‭57‬-‭62‬ ‭

“Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭9‬:‭23‬ ‭NLT‬‬

God has been asking me, “ are you truly willing to give all this up to follow me?”

I feel very full and satisfied by the Lord right now, and I know He still has so many big things for the last three months of this trip! He is so good and faithful!!

God bless you all! Thank you for all your support and prayers! God is moving in the Dominican Republic and in America! Praise God for the revival happening!

• Mandie 🙂