San Francisco

Yesterday, we had the opportunity to go on a short trip to San Francisco de Macorís with Alex (assistant pastor of the East Church), Maxi, and Greggory.  The goal of the trip was to scout out a plan for the upcoming August mission trip to San Francisco.  San Francisco is a beautiful city about two hours north of Santo Domingo.  When out bus arrived, we were picked up by Pastor Magdalene.  She showed us around the town a little bit before taking us to her house. At her house she immediately told us to make her home, our home.  She told us to use everything, even suggesting that we might want to sleep for a while.  She also starting cooking for us right away.  Pastor Magdalene is an incredible woman of faith.  She told us about her son dying when he was twenty-three years old and the incredible pain that she endures in her leg every day with no relief.  But, she said "I continue to walk for Jesus". Despite the terrible events that occur in her life, she still continues on for Jesus.
After lunch, Alex and Greggory talked to her about the trip in Spanish (very fast and hard to understand) and we again left to go see her church.  The church she co-pastors (she is in charge of children's service as well as preaching occasionally) was very small, but she said the people pack in tightly to get a chance to hear God's word.  Pastor Magdalene said that she was waiting on God to provide a church that was bigger to hold more people and to keep them dry when it rained.  Her incredible trust and total dependence on God was inspiring and it was hard to say good-bye because I could have listened to her for hours.
After arriving home we attended the Bible study for the East Church and Bill spoke about Salvation. He asked the members that if Christ died on the cross for everyone, does that mean everyone has Salvation? A lively debate ensued, and it was interesting to hear the different view points people had on Salvation and whether or not people could lose Salvation.  Bill likes to have people answer their own questions, but always makes sure that the truth is clearly understood. 
It was a wonderful day full of adventures and I can't wait to see what God has in store for the rest of our trip :)
-Emily

Bethany and Ruth Carolina

Laundry :)

Bethany Doing Laundry

Cooking with Peg and Luz

Banana Peanut Butter Cupcakes

The Agape Pilots

Bus Ticket

Bus Station in San Francisco

Lunch

Greggory and Bethany

Alex, Joey, and Maxi

The Church in San Francisco

The Whole Group

The Outside of the Church