WEBVTT
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Well, greetings, brothers and sisters in Christ.
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This is Kris Anderson with Time Missions in
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the Dominican Republic. And this is going to
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be what we pray and hope will be a series of
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podcasts with TIME Missions. We don't even have
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a title for it yet. So we'd love your suggestions.
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But one of the reasons we thought about doing
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this is, of course, podcasting is becoming very
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popular. TIME Missions were blessed with the
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ability to do a lot of videos, a lot of social
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media posts, but we also know that there are
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a lot of people that are exercising and driving
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for hours at a time, and it's hard to watch something.
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And so listening and having the audio... instead
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of the video, is something that people might be
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able to take advantage of. And really, we wanted
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to help folks get to know TIME Missions better.
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And so whether it's a missionary or a volunteer
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or a staff member, we want to let you know who
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they are and their passion for serving and what
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their real story is, because everybody's got
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a story. And this could be an opportunity to
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help share. share those stories. So that's just
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a very brief introduction to the podcast and
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what we hope to do in the future. And so our
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very first guest, I don't know if this is a privilege
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or we'll see how it goes, but we have Luis, who
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is one of our missionary interns. Some of you
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may know him, may have served with him. And as
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I mentioned, we wanted to get to know him just
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a little bit better and talk more with him
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today. So maybe our first question is to say,
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introduce yourself. I've been talking long enough.
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Yeah. Oh, it's been a privilege for me, or it
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is a privilege for me to be the first one to
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try this. I know I've been working with you with
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the recordings of some of the social media posts
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that you have done. It's a privilege for me to
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be here. It's great. It's great to have you here.
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So tell us a little bit about yourself. We'll
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start at the beginning, growing up. And obviously,
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you're from the Dominican Republic. But what
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part of town? Tell us about your family. I grew
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up in a street close to here to the TIME Center,
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about four blocks. I grew up with my mom, my
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dad, and my sister. My dad used to work in Punta
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Cana. So he used to come every three weeks. So
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most of the time I was with my mom. She was a
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teacher. I was studying at the same school that
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she was teaching at, but she never taught me.
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She was in high school. I was in middle school
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when she was teaching. So we always went to church
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here at IBQ. My mom accepted Christ when
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I was eight months old. So I've been around church
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my whole life. My sister has been with us too.
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The three of us, we are Christians. My dad is
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not Christian. We have been trying to get him
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involved in church and all that, but we're still
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praying for that. We're still praying. Just growing
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up, I liked to play basketball, be involved in
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church, in the drama ministry that they had here
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at IBQ, and just to serve. I've always liked to
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serve and to be around the things that glorify
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God. That's great. That's great. So at what point
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do you remember accepting Jesus as your Lord
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and Savior? At that moment in time I remember that it
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was a morning Sunday morning and I remember I
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started to realize that people were raising their
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their hands for something but you know I was
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asking my mom why are they doing that what is
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that and I one day raised my hand and I had a
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conversation with Harold. You know Harold, so
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probably some people know him too. So I had a
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conversation with him and he prayed for me and
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then we started discipleship and after a few
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lessons I stopped and then a few years after
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I began to do the discipleship again. But yeah,
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I remember it was about like 11 years old when
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I did that. That's great, that's great. So that
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was at IBQ Church. Yes, yes. And I know now you
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serve at another church in an area called Bambu.
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Yes. And that was originally, if I recall, long
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before I was even here, that was a chapel. Yes,
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yes. And how did you get connected to that ministry
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in that part of town? So my aunt, she lives there
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in Bambu. And I was always like a son for her.
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I was always like every weekend. That was a place
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that I was going to. So when the chapel was placed
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in there, she started to go there. She used to
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come here to IBQ. And since it was closer,
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she started to go there. And I started to go
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to that church too. And I remember I was like
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about 10 or something, kind of. I do not remember
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that church as a chapel. I do not. That was a
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long time ago. Like my pastor, he likes to build.
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So when he had the opportunity of just doing
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a block building, he did. And there's still some
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panels over there. Like in the back of the church,
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you can see the panels that were created. And
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I think there was actually two chapels because
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it was the main church and then there was like
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a kitchen. because I remember as a kid going
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to the kitchen because they always have a snack
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in my church. That's great. That's great. And
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again, the story of what really what Zeral and
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Dorretta wanted to do was to help those pastors
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get started with chapels and then eventually
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have a concrete block building. And we've seen
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that even in the past year, probably about four
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or five times now we've we've taken down wooden
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chapels and turned them into into a block building.
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So one of the things that you do with that church,
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you serve there, correct? Yes. On Sundays. So
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when I was growing up, I think it was my freshman
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year in high school. I started to be close to
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an English teacher. I didn't know English by
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the time, but he was cool. And he actually managed
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the system, the audio system for the school.
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So I got close to him and started to teach me
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and I started to take over on that. Like it was
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not him anymore. It was me who was like setting
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things up. I was missing classes. I left
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math classes and all that just to set up for
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probably an event or, you know, so with my knowledge
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in high school, I go to the church. I moved to
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that church when I was 13. So. I get there my
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cousin is handling the audio system and I'm helping
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a little bit and then because of some problems
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he had to step out and I became the leader at
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that specific ministry at church. So with the
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time, I also became a worship leader there. So
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I'm in charge of the audio system. I'm also a
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worship leader. We don't have many members, so
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I have to be overseeing both things. I would
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like to divide myself and do both things, but
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you know, we are a body in Christ and we have
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to teach others how to do things. And it's a
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blessing for me just to be able to serve. in
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that church. That's great. Well, and speaking
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of school, what was your school career like?
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I know that you did go to college and are in
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college and you're wrapping up a program. You
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want to share a little bit about? Yes. As a student,
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I was very good when my mom was a teacher over
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there. But since she left, I started to do other
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things because I didn't have anybody to control
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me either. So I started to go down on grades
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and stuff. But my junior year, I got a friend.
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She was very smart and she was helping me get
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better. And I got my grades better and had the
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opportunity to go to college for journalism.
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for two years I thought that was what I wanted
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to do because my cousin the one that was overseeing
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the audio system he did that and I wanted to
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be like him but when I turned 20 I realized that
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wasn't what I wanted so I changed from that university
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to another one and from careers and I decided
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to go for hotels administration and I did four
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semesters of that and now I'm missing just one
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subject. Help me pray for that because like I
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don't have the desire and it's hard and you know
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I'm trying to figure it out and I also have to
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do some internship to be able to graduate. I'm
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almost like at the end but it's been hard lately
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for me so yeah that's what I did. What do you
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read to that kind of a career or that subject
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matter? What was your interest? My Dad. He was
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working in hotels in Punta Cana so he got so
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close to one of the directors of the hotels that
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he was working for that we were able to go for
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free at a five -star hotel that it was like 300
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or 400 at the time dollars the night for free
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so you know just seeing that he led me to to
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do that That's great. Well, think about it. TIME,
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the TIME Center here is like a big hotel,
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right? And we're hosting teams and making meals
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and handling transportation. So that background
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should come in handy, right? Yeah. And I think
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that's one of the things that I say that I'm
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able to serve the Lord in my career and something
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that I love and just serve him, which I love
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more than anything else. Great, great. Well,
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speaking of serving then, what, so what about
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TIME? How did you, when did you get introduced
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to TIME? I would assume as a youth, you knew
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that, that the ministry existed, but where, where
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did it go from there? So when I was a kid, I
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always saw the Americans coming in and out in
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IBQ and I was like, I want to participate there.
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Cause some of the friends that I had were able
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to be a volunteer here, but I couldn't cause
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I didn't know no English. So time went by and
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when I went to the last semester at college
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I went to teach because my mom was a teacher
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so I've been doing what my mom and my dad did
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so I started to teach and that gave me some more
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time during the summer like because there's no
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no one to teach so I remember 2024 there was
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a team that went to the church I don't know how
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they got connected. I just saw the team there
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and I was like, oh, this is cool. The Americans
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are going to my church now. So I realized that
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Carol was there. Carol is my cousin. And then
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I'm a very good friend with Jaaziel and I talked
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to him that day and I told him, when are you
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coming? And he said, oh, I'm coming on Thursday.
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It was a Tuesday. And when he went there, he...
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I almost don't make it. He made it. I almost
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don't make it there because my phone got broken
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and I had to fix it and, you know, all the things.
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But we had a really good conversation and he
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said, I want you to be a volunteer for a week.
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And I remember that was July 5th of 2024.
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So for that time, that was my first week
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here at TIME with the baseball team, Maryville.
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And I love baseball. And it was great for me,
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that experience. I know that wasn't what TIME
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is usually doing, like chapels. But it was something
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to start, I will say. That's great. And speaking
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of baseball, who's your favorite Dominican team?
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Licey Tigers. Tigres de Licey. All right. All
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right. So when did you serve as a volunteer,
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of course? Yes. The Lord led you to be a summer
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intern. How did that come about? So that first
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week, I had a conversation with Joel Hawkins
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and he said I had plans to go to Canada and just
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work there and probably live there. And I explained
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everything that I was doing, what I was studying,
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what I was working at to him. And he said, let
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me tell you, I don't see you doing that. I see
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you serving as a missionary here. And I was
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like, I didn't have that in mind when he said
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that, but it definitely turned something up on
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my spiritual life. I was like, probably he's
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right. And I started to think and pray and I
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had the opportunity to serve another week and
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another week. And I was like, this is probably
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what I really want to do and probably God is
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leading me to come here. That's great. And so
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you served, that was the summer of 2024, right?
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And as interns that maybe are listening, folks
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that have been here on trips, that is a lot of
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work. It's a lot of hard work. It's great ministry,
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but it's early mornings, it's chapel building
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and foundations. and VBS ministry and sports
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ministry. So you survive a summer as an intern
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and then decide, well, I want to do more. Yeah,
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yeah. And so you decided were investigating
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the missionary intern program, which is a year
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to two year. program, extended intern program,
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participating in many different parts of the
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ministry to see if God is really calling you
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to do that full time. So I think everything started
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before my summer intern year because I used to
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come as a volunteer, but I was still working
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at the school. So I will go and teach for 6 -7
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hours or something and then come here sometimes
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without eating lunch and just going straight
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to ministry and it was like I had to sit down
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and think like I'm doing this for the Lord and
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I don't care about anything else but serving
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him so I want to you know seek that idea that
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Joel Hawkins put on my heart that summer,
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like to be a missionary. So I started to investigate
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about that. Well, I didn't investigate. I was
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called and they told me, oh, we want to offer
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you this internship for a year so that you can
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seek the Lord while serving as a Missionary Intern.
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I was like, absolutely. Yes, this is what I was
00:15:44.289 --> 00:15:48.059
waiting for. And I think it was a prayer that
00:15:48.059 --> 00:15:52.519
was answered. So yeah. And so what did you see
00:15:52.519 --> 00:15:55.820
is the difference between being a Summer Intern
00:15:55.820 --> 00:15:58.820
and being a Missionary Intern? There's more responsibilities,
00:15:59.100 --> 00:16:03.419
like so many more responsibilities. You are in
00:16:03.419 --> 00:16:08.360
charge of so many things. This summer, I wrote
00:16:08.360 --> 00:16:13.620
that on my letter. I had to step in for the foundations.
00:16:14.710 --> 00:16:18.190
to be there and to have to measure and make
00:16:18.190 --> 00:16:20.769
sure that everything was alright. It was a lot
00:16:20.769 --> 00:16:22.789
of weight on my shoulders. I know you were here
00:16:22.789 --> 00:16:25.009
and I thank God you were here to help me out
00:16:25.009 --> 00:16:29.370
but it was hard and I you remember that last
00:16:30.570 --> 00:16:32.549
foundation that we did. I was so disappointed.
00:16:32.889 --> 00:16:35.830
It was a lot of work. It was on a hill and several
00:16:35.830 --> 00:16:39.070
rows. I think we wound up five or six rows high.
00:16:39.149 --> 00:16:41.529
I think we did two or three days of work on that.
00:16:41.610 --> 00:16:44.049
Yeah. And then that day, it was really challenging
00:16:44.049 --> 00:16:47.649
for me just not to be able to finish what I started.
00:16:48.529 --> 00:16:50.750
But, you know, it's very different. It's just
00:16:50.750 --> 00:16:54.429
more responsibilities. It's more focused on taking
00:16:54.429 --> 00:16:58.730
care of the team and trying to do the things
00:16:58.730 --> 00:17:01.850
like what you have in mind, explain it to the
00:17:01.850 --> 00:17:05.619
team and get it done for the Lord. That's great.
00:17:06.119 --> 00:17:11.920
Well, can you share any examples of where, I
00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:14.599
mean, I would assume in the years now that you've
00:17:14.599 --> 00:17:16.460
been serving, you've seen God working in many
00:17:16.460 --> 00:17:20.339
different ways, but do any stand out to you where
00:17:20.339 --> 00:17:24.519
you've seen God working in you, in a team, in
00:17:24.519 --> 00:17:29.420
a project? I will say the times that I've said
00:17:29.500 --> 00:17:33.339
felt the Lord the most or the Holy Spirit is
00:17:33.339 --> 00:17:37.079
when I'm translating and I can recall two or
00:17:37.079 --> 00:17:41.240
three times where I really felt that it was not
00:17:41.240 --> 00:17:45.640
me talking, it was not me. So I remember September
00:17:45.640 --> 00:17:50.619
2025, we were at Duquesa and this girl, she was
00:17:50.619 --> 00:17:55.420
talking about John 3;16 and she was explaining
00:17:55.420 --> 00:18:01.789
all about the verse. And when I was translating,
00:18:02.980 --> 00:18:04.960
I felt it was not me. It was just like the Holy
00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:07.500
Spirit working through me. And it was great.
00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:10.420
And there's another one that was this summer
00:18:10.420 --> 00:18:14.869
during the baseball team. I was translating for
00:18:14.869 --> 00:18:19.569
one of the guys. And when I finished, I told
00:18:19.569 --> 00:18:22.289
the kids, if you really want to let Jesus get
00:18:22.289 --> 00:18:24.650
into your heart, then do this prayer. And one
00:18:24.650 --> 00:18:26.869
of the kids, he said, like, is this to become
00:18:26.869 --> 00:18:29.730
a Christian? I was like, yes. I was like, oh.
00:18:29.789 --> 00:18:32.650
He told the guys, you gotta be, you can't do
00:18:32.650 --> 00:18:35.829
this like joking. This is serious. And we did
00:18:35.829 --> 00:18:39.049
the prayer and at the end he said like, am I
00:18:39.049 --> 00:18:40.990
a Christian now? And I was like, yes, you just
00:18:40.990 --> 00:18:44.589
gotta find a church and try to follow the Lord.
00:18:44.670 --> 00:18:47.349
And that's the kid that, I don't know if you
00:18:47.349 --> 00:18:50.029
guys saw JC's letter, but that's the kid that
00:18:50.029 --> 00:18:53.869
he was talking about. I remember that kid. And
00:18:53.869 --> 00:18:57.250
the last time, or the last thing that I can recall,
00:18:57.710 --> 00:19:05.539
it was in Hatillo, this summer too, we were, it
00:19:05.539 --> 00:19:09.319
was people from Quarry Church, Noe was preaching
00:19:09.319 --> 00:19:12.519
and when he was preaching, I felt like something
00:19:12.519 --> 00:19:15.700
else just like came out of me and was translating
00:19:15.700 --> 00:19:18.599
for the church. It was so impactful for me. So
00:19:18.599 --> 00:19:21.680
yeah, those are the ways where I've seen the
00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:24.220
Lord work the most in my life through ministry
00:19:24.220 --> 00:19:26.480
and translating. That's awesome. That's awesome.
00:19:26.700 --> 00:19:30.670
And then the opposite side of that, Can you share
00:19:30.670 --> 00:19:34.589
any examples of maybe being disappointed or challenged
00:19:34.589 --> 00:19:36.730
by God's answer to something or something that
00:19:36.730 --> 00:19:39.609
maybe didn't turn out the way that you had planned
00:19:39.609 --> 00:19:44.180
or what your plans for your life were? I really
00:19:44.180 --> 00:19:48.420
didn't want to do the foundations. I just thought
00:19:48.420 --> 00:19:51.400
it was so much for me. I'm not an engineer. I
00:19:51.400 --> 00:19:54.220
know nothing about that. I was just like looking
00:19:54.220 --> 00:19:58.640
at Keny the whole summer and the previous times.
00:19:59.250 --> 00:20:01.750
but I didn't know anything about that and I was
00:20:01.750 --> 00:20:04.309
placed in that position where I had to step up
00:20:04.309 --> 00:20:07.390
and you know be a leader in something that I
00:20:07.390 --> 00:20:11.029
didn't know but I have to you know just get it
00:20:11.029 --> 00:20:14.009
done for the Lord and it was really uncomfortable
00:20:14.009 --> 00:20:18.910
for me and that last foundation I wanted to cry
00:20:18.910 --> 00:20:22.089
like for real like I told you I'm so disappointed
00:20:22.089 --> 00:20:24.589
with this I wanted to get this done this is so
00:20:24.589 --> 00:20:27.259
hard I don't know how we are gonna fix this But
00:20:27.259 --> 00:20:29.339
I'm so disappointed of myself. And then you said,
00:20:29.720 --> 00:20:32.119
don't be, because you've done so many things
00:20:32.119 --> 00:20:36.359
the right way. And this is just part of the process.
00:20:37.670 --> 00:20:40.670
That's great. Letting the Lord work through you,
00:20:40.750 --> 00:20:45.710
being patient. And you hear the story that God
00:20:45.710 --> 00:20:50.829
says yes, he says no, he says wait. But understanding
00:20:50.829 --> 00:20:54.170
that he's working in that as well even in what
00:20:54.170 --> 00:20:58.329
we consider our failures or our challenges. He's
00:20:58.329 --> 00:21:01.710
building something up. Absolutely. I also wanted
00:21:01.710 --> 00:21:04.210
to ask you, you know, ministry, getting involved
00:21:04.210 --> 00:21:07.670
in ministry and especially missions is something
00:21:07.670 --> 00:21:13.829
that sometimes families don't understand. And
00:21:13.829 --> 00:21:15.750
you've mentioned, you know, you're still praying
00:21:15.750 --> 00:21:18.609
for your father. The rest of your family are
00:21:18.609 --> 00:21:23.420
believers, but how do they feel about your your
00:21:23.420 --> 00:21:26.980
interest in missions and in ministry. Well, I
00:21:26.980 --> 00:21:30.579
think my mom is very proud of me because I know
00:21:30.579 --> 00:21:32.740
she was praying so much for me to get involved
00:21:32.740 --> 00:21:36.700
in church and in things that glorify the Lord
00:21:36.700 --> 00:21:40.660
because just before all this happened, I was
00:21:40.660 --> 00:21:44.740
going through a really bad time in my life. I
00:21:44.740 --> 00:21:49.579
will say that that's my main testimony. All the
00:21:49.579 --> 00:21:53.990
things that I went through before summer of 2024
00:21:53.990 --> 00:21:58.769
and I think it was just an answer from the Lord
00:21:58.769 --> 00:22:02.890
for her to for me to to be here at TIME. My Dad
00:22:02.890 --> 00:22:09.470
he's okay with it his family they you know they
00:22:09.470 --> 00:22:14.150
are not very agreeing with this I will say they
00:22:14.150 --> 00:22:16.730
want me to have a real job or something like
00:22:16.730 --> 00:22:20.839
that something where I can have something secure
00:22:20.839 --> 00:22:25.089
not depend on the Lord but, you know, it's what
00:22:25.089 --> 00:22:27.450
the Lord wants from me. My sister is very proud
00:22:27.450 --> 00:22:31.309
of me too. She likes what I do. And I've brought
00:22:31.309 --> 00:22:35.869
her a couple times to serve too. And she liked
00:22:35.869 --> 00:22:39.009
it. So they are proud of me. That's good. That's
00:22:39.009 --> 00:22:43.250
good. Because I have heard that from other missionaries
00:22:43.250 --> 00:22:47.329
and members of our team, especially here in the
00:22:47.329 --> 00:22:51.119
DR. Sometimes the family members. want to know,
00:22:51.299 --> 00:22:53.960
well, how much money are you gonna make? Because
00:22:53.960 --> 00:22:57.839
your children often help take care of the family
00:22:57.839 --> 00:23:03.099
members and moms and dads as they age and relying
00:23:03.099 --> 00:23:07.240
on somebody else is a big hit to the pride sometimes.
00:23:08.420 --> 00:23:12.839
But at the same time, having been here for what
00:23:12.839 --> 00:23:18.680
16 years now, what we've seen in the church is
00:23:18.680 --> 00:23:22.309
missions is growing. Yeah. And the local church,
00:23:22.390 --> 00:23:24.869
the Dominican church, the Haitian churches are
00:23:24.869 --> 00:23:28.390
sending people out. And so you just look at the
00:23:28.390 --> 00:23:31.170
makeup of our team, right? We have four of us
00:23:31.170 --> 00:23:34.069
that are Americans. Yeah. The rest of the team
00:23:34.069 --> 00:23:39.069
are Dominicans. And that was our founders' passion
00:23:39.069 --> 00:23:41.190
too, was investing in the nationals and letting
00:23:41.190 --> 00:23:45.390
them carry the gospel to, not only to their local
00:23:45.390 --> 00:23:50.009
churches, but around the world. Yes. Speaking
00:23:50.009 --> 00:23:56.390
of that, where are you right now in your life
00:23:56.390 --> 00:24:00.269
decisions where you see God calling you? Are
00:24:00.269 --> 00:24:03.630
you still undecided? What are your thoughts at
00:24:03.630 --> 00:24:09.390
this point? I think I know what I wanted. I had
00:24:09.390 --> 00:24:12.529
that conversation with Joel Hawkins. It was just,
00:24:12.809 --> 00:24:14.609
this is from the Lord. This is what I want to
00:24:14.609 --> 00:24:16.569
do and I'm going to go through all the process
00:24:16.569 --> 00:24:20.970
just to... do what the Lord wants me to do. So
00:24:20.970 --> 00:24:24.430
I know I want to be a missionary. I'm just waiting
00:24:24.430 --> 00:24:28.710
for the process to come and finish and still
00:24:28.710 --> 00:24:31.829
praying for the Lord to send the right people
00:24:31.829 --> 00:24:35.970
to help me out because it's very hard sometimes,
00:24:37.329 --> 00:24:40.670
especially now as a Missionary Intern because
00:24:40.670 --> 00:24:43.230
I got to help my family, got to take care of
00:24:43.230 --> 00:24:47.660
myself, but I rely on the Lord and he's been
00:24:47.660 --> 00:24:49.480
faithful and I know he is going to continue being
00:24:49.480 --> 00:24:52.480
faithful even though I am unfaithful with him.
00:24:52.660 --> 00:24:56.180
He can't deny himself and I just trust him and
00:24:56.180 --> 00:24:58.819
I know he is going to do it. Amen. Amen. And
00:24:58.819 --> 00:25:00.920
we'll talk about that in just a few minutes here
00:25:00.920 --> 00:25:03.759
when we wrap up about how people can partner
00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:08.970
with you and how people can support you. I'd
00:25:08.970 --> 00:25:12.170
like to wrap up our podcast here with just some
00:25:12.170 --> 00:25:15.109
maybe more lighthearted questions to help people
00:25:15.109 --> 00:25:19.450
get to know you a little bit better. And we talked
00:25:19.450 --> 00:25:21.930
about this before. It was a challenging question
00:25:21.930 --> 00:25:25.630
for you. Is there something most people wouldn't
00:25:25.630 --> 00:25:30.299
know about you? It was like a discussion the
00:25:30.299 --> 00:25:35.230
whole summer. I do not have favorites. I have
00:25:35.230 --> 00:25:37.690
a bunch of things that I like. but I don't have
00:25:37.690 --> 00:25:41.640
something favorite. So I wouldn't say I have
00:25:41.640 --> 00:25:45.440
a favorite movie. I have movies that I like,
00:25:45.460 --> 00:25:48.339
but I wouldn't say they are my favorite because
00:25:48.339 --> 00:25:50.759
I would I probably won't watch it again. I watched
00:25:50.759 --> 00:25:52.960
it once. I liked it, but I won't watch it again
00:25:52.960 --> 00:25:57.480
or I'll watch it 100 times. It's just I don't
00:25:57.480 --> 00:26:01.019
I can't say I have something to name favorite,
00:26:01.039 --> 00:26:05.910
but my baseball team. Licey Tigers, New York Yankees.
00:26:05.910 --> 00:26:09.670
I'm sorry for any other team, but those
00:26:09.670 --> 00:26:12.829
are my teams. All right. If you could have a
00:26:12.829 --> 00:26:15.869
conversation with anyone in history, who would
00:26:15.869 --> 00:26:21.890
it be? I was thinking about that a lot. I think
00:26:21.890 --> 00:26:25.009
it would be Abraham. Some people will say Jesus,
00:26:25.369 --> 00:26:31.039
but Abraham, he trusted the Lord without knowing
00:26:31.039 --> 00:26:34.250
what was going to happen. Jesus knew he had to
00:26:34.250 --> 00:26:39.690
die because of what he was going to mean for
00:26:39.690 --> 00:26:42.750
the world. But Abraham trusted the Lord and he
00:26:42.750 --> 00:26:45.750
didn't know where he was going. He didn't know
00:26:45.750 --> 00:26:49.509
what was going to happen. He has a kid. The Lord
00:26:49.509 --> 00:26:52.369
tells him to sacrifice a kid. He's like, what
00:26:52.369 --> 00:26:57.549
am I going to do now? And just to ask him, what
00:26:57.549 --> 00:27:02.190
was his approach like? how he was able to trust
00:27:02.190 --> 00:27:07.470
the Lord so badly. And I would like to have that
00:27:07.470 --> 00:27:10.829
same desire he had for the Lord, just to follow
00:27:10.829 --> 00:27:14.109
him without asking questions, without knowing,
00:27:14.269 --> 00:27:16.910
just walking in obedience. And that's something
00:27:16.910 --> 00:27:20.769
I would really like to ask him. Amen. Amen. And
00:27:20.769 --> 00:27:23.349
what do you like to do for fun? For fun, just
00:27:23.349 --> 00:27:26.130
like play basketball a lot. I love baseball,
00:27:26.130 --> 00:27:30.329
but I like to play basketball. Baseball is more
00:27:30.329 --> 00:27:33.150
for watching and following the stats and all
00:27:33.150 --> 00:27:36.990
that. If some people remember the devo about
00:27:36.990 --> 00:27:39.930
fanatics, it came because of me, because I was
00:27:39.930 --> 00:27:42.049
talking about baseball the whole time. And I
00:27:42.049 --> 00:27:46.049
was like, he wrote that because of that. So yeah,
00:27:46.049 --> 00:27:50.049
I like to play basketball and sometimes play
00:27:50.049 --> 00:27:52.910
some video games. And we were talking earlier,
00:27:52.930 --> 00:27:56.130
you've started running. Yeah, I started running
00:27:56.130 --> 00:28:00.710
August 10th. I couldn't even run two kilometers.
00:28:00.789 --> 00:28:03.970
Now I'm doing five miles, probably doing more
00:28:03.970 --> 00:28:09.230
in a couple months. So I have grown that desire
00:28:09.230 --> 00:28:12.349
of running in my heart now. Probably also going
00:28:12.349 --> 00:28:16.150
camping or hiking here in the highest mountain
00:28:16.150 --> 00:28:19.029
in the Dominican Republic on January. That's
00:28:19.029 --> 00:28:21.490
a desire that I have. So let's see if I can make
00:28:21.490 --> 00:28:24.829
it. That's great. Training body and spirit. Absolutely.
00:28:25.049 --> 00:28:27.789
Yes. And foundations get you into shape pretty
00:28:27.789 --> 00:28:32.089
quick. Yes. Well, that's great. It's really been
00:28:32.089 --> 00:28:35.930
a privilege talking with you and hopefully getting
00:28:35.930 --> 00:28:38.089
people getting to know you a little bit more.
00:28:39.029 --> 00:28:42.529
And so speaking of partnering and supporting,
00:28:42.529 --> 00:28:45.630
of course, prayer, I'm sure Luis would appreciate
00:28:45.630 --> 00:28:49.630
lots and lots of prayer in the decisions that
00:28:49.630 --> 00:28:52.609
you'll be making in the future. For guidance
00:28:52.609 --> 00:28:55.970
from the Lord and that I can follow His direction
00:28:55.970 --> 00:28:59.059
and just As Abraham did, just walk in obedience
00:28:59.059 --> 00:29:02.940
and follow Him. Yes, yes. And of course, partnership,
00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:07.640
as some of you know out there, that we are all
00:29:07.640 --> 00:29:11.319
faith -based supported. So we do not receive
00:29:11.319 --> 00:29:16.900
salaries from TIME Missions. We rely on individuals
00:29:16.900 --> 00:29:19.759
and churches and the Lord, of course, moving
00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:22.779
through people to help support us financially
00:29:22.779 --> 00:29:29.660
so that we can pay for things like housing and
00:29:29.660 --> 00:29:32.400
food and transportation and all those expenses
00:29:32.400 --> 00:29:36.619
that people have while we are dedicating our
00:29:36.619 --> 00:29:39.779
time to serving the Lord. So if you would like
00:29:39.779 --> 00:29:42.960
to partner financially with Luis, you can go
00:29:42.960 --> 00:29:46.920
to our website, timemissions.com. And on the
00:29:46.920 --> 00:29:49.799
giving section, there's a tab there labeled Give.
00:29:50.839 --> 00:29:53.990
You can click on that. And on the list, I believe
00:29:53.990 --> 00:29:58.009
you're still listed under Luis intern. TLLuis
00:29:58.009 --> 00:30:01.910
DanielPerez25. Yes. So if you go there and
00:30:01.910 --> 00:30:07.089
click on that, then you can sign up to be a partner
00:30:07.089 --> 00:30:10.809
with him, either a one time gift or an ongoing
00:30:10.809 --> 00:30:14.750
gift. And so we'd really ask you to pray about
00:30:14.750 --> 00:30:19.390
partnering with Luis in that so that he can begin
00:30:19.390 --> 00:30:22.819
his partnership building process. And I just
00:30:22.819 --> 00:30:26.319
want to thank the people that has done that already
00:30:26.319 --> 00:30:30.319
that has they have helped me through this year
00:30:30.319 --> 00:30:34.119
is really been a blessing and most of them they
00:30:34.119 --> 00:30:37.119
are more than friends for me they're family not
00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:39.500
because of that but just because like the relationships
00:30:39.500 --> 00:30:43.980
that we created and just thank them for for their
00:30:43.980 --> 00:30:47.839
support right right and do you have a visa I
00:30:47.839 --> 00:30:51.160
do not. I'm working on that. I'm still on the
00:30:51.160 --> 00:30:54.200
process. I'm praying for that. So probably next
00:30:54.200 --> 00:30:57.440
year I can make it to the States and just visit
00:30:57.440 --> 00:31:00.500
some of you. That would be great. It certainly
00:31:00.500 --> 00:31:04.099
is a blessing to visit churches and people in
00:31:04.099 --> 00:31:07.420
the U.S. and we'll pray for that process. So
00:31:07.420 --> 00:31:13.140
with that, we'll wrap up our first ever official
00:31:13.140 --> 00:31:18.210
podcast and we pray that all of you out there
00:31:18.210 --> 00:31:22.430
in podcast land listening have enjoyed this.
00:31:22.710 --> 00:31:24.430
As I mentioned, we'll be talking with some of
00:31:24.430 --> 00:31:28.349
our other team members as well over the coming
00:31:28.349 --> 00:31:32.480
weeks and months, and we look forward to how
00:31:32.480 --> 00:31:35.119
God is going to lead us in this particular part
00:31:35.119 --> 00:31:37.960
of our ministry. So, blessings. Thank you for
00:31:37.960 --> 00:31:40.980
listening, and we'll see you soon. God bless.
00:00:10.099 --> 00:00:12.599
Well, greetings, brothers and sisters in Christ.
00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:14.699
This is Kris Anderson with Time Missions in
00:00:14.699 --> 00:00:17.820
the Dominican Republic. And this is going to
00:00:17.820 --> 00:00:22.559
be what we pray and hope will be a series of
00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:25.359
podcasts with TIME Missions. We don't even have
00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:28.519
a title for it yet. So we'd love your suggestions.
00:00:29.460 --> 00:00:32.679
But one of the reasons we thought about doing
00:00:32.679 --> 00:00:36.420
this is, of course, podcasting is becoming very
00:00:36.420 --> 00:00:40.310
popular. TIME Missions were blessed with the
00:00:40.310 --> 00:00:43.509
ability to do a lot of videos, a lot of social
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media posts, but we also know that there are
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a lot of people that are exercising and driving
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for hours at a time, and it's hard to watch something.
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And so listening and having the audio... instead
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of the video, is something that people might be
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able to take advantage of. And really, we wanted
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to help folks get to know TIME Missions better.
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And so whether it's a missionary or a volunteer
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or a staff member, we want to let you know who
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they are and their passion for serving and what
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their real story is, because everybody's got
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a story. And this could be an opportunity to
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help share. share those stories. So that's just
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a very brief introduction to the podcast and
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what we hope to do in the future. And so our
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very first guest, I don't know if this is a privilege
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or we'll see how it goes, but we have Luis, who
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is one of our missionary interns. Some of you
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may know him, may have served with him. And as
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I mentioned, we wanted to get to know him just
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a little bit better and talk more with him
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today. So maybe our first question is to say,
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introduce yourself. I've been talking long enough.
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Yeah. Oh, it's been a privilege for me, or it
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is a privilege for me to be the first one to
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try this. I know I've been working with you with
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the recordings of some of the social media posts
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that you have done. It's a privilege for me to
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be here. It's great. It's great to have you here.
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So tell us a little bit about yourself. We'll
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start at the beginning, growing up. And obviously,
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you're from the Dominican Republic. But what
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part of town? Tell us about your family. I grew
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up in a street close to here to the TIME Center,
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about four blocks. I grew up with my mom, my
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dad, and my sister. My dad used to work in Punta
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Cana. So he used to come every three weeks. So
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most of the time I was with my mom. She was a
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teacher. I was studying at the same school that
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she was teaching at, but she never taught me.
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She was in high school. I was in middle school
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when she was teaching. So we always went to church
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here at IBQ. My mom accepted Christ when
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I was eight months old. So I've been around church
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my whole life. My sister has been with us too.
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The three of us, we are Christians. My dad is
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not Christian. We have been trying to get him
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involved in church and all that, but we're still
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praying for that. We're still praying. Just growing
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up, I liked to play basketball, be involved in
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church, in the drama ministry that they had here
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at IBQ, and just to serve. I've always liked to
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serve and to be around the things that glorify
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God. That's great. That's great. So at what point
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do you remember accepting Jesus as your Lord
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and Savior? At that moment in time I remember that it
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was a morning Sunday morning and I remember I
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started to realize that people were raising their
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their hands for something but you know I was
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asking my mom why are they doing that what is
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that and I one day raised my hand and I had a
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conversation with Harold. You know Harold, so
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probably some people know him too. So I had a
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conversation with him and he prayed for me and
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then we started discipleship and after a few
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lessons I stopped and then a few years after
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I began to do the discipleship again. But yeah,
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I remember it was about like 11 years old when
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I did that. That's great, that's great. So that
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was at IBQ Church. Yes, yes. And I know now you
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serve at another church in an area called Bambu.
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Yes. And that was originally, if I recall, long
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before I was even here, that was a chapel. Yes,
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yes. And how did you get connected to that ministry
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in that part of town? So my aunt, she lives there
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in Bambu. And I was always like a son for her.
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I was always like every weekend. That was a place
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that I was going to. So when the chapel was placed
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in there, she started to go there. She used to
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come here to IBQ. And since it was closer,
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she started to go there. And I started to go
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to that church too. And I remember I was like
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about 10 or something, kind of. I do not remember
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that church as a chapel. I do not. That was a
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long time ago. Like my pastor, he likes to build.
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So when he had the opportunity of just doing
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a block building, he did. And there's still some
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panels over there. Like in the back of the church,
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you can see the panels that were created. And
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I think there was actually two chapels because
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it was the main church and then there was like
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a kitchen. because I remember as a kid going
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to the kitchen because they always have a snack
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in my church. That's great. That's great. And
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again, the story of what really what Zeral and
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Dorretta wanted to do was to help those pastors
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get started with chapels and then eventually
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have a concrete block building. And we've seen
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that even in the past year, probably about four
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or five times now we've we've taken down wooden
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chapels and turned them into into a block building.
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So one of the things that you do with that church,
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you serve there, correct? Yes. On Sundays. So
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when I was growing up, I think it was my freshman
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year in high school. I started to be close to
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an English teacher. I didn't know English by
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the time, but he was cool. And he actually managed
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the system, the audio system for the school.
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So I got close to him and started to teach me
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and I started to take over on that. Like it was
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not him anymore. It was me who was like setting
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things up. I was missing classes. I left
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math classes and all that just to set up for
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probably an event or, you know, so with my knowledge
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in high school, I go to the church. I moved to
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that church when I was 13. So. I get there my
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cousin is handling the audio system and I'm helping
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a little bit and then because of some problems
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he had to step out and I became the leader at
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that specific ministry at church. So with the
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time, I also became a worship leader there. So
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I'm in charge of the audio system. I'm also a
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worship leader. We don't have many members, so
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I have to be overseeing both things. I would
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like to divide myself and do both things, but
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you know, we are a body in Christ and we have
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to teach others how to do things. And it's a
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blessing for me just to be able to serve. in
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that church. That's great. Well, and speaking
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of school, what was your school career like?
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I know that you did go to college and are in
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college and you're wrapping up a program. You
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want to share a little bit about? Yes. As a student,
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I was very good when my mom was a teacher over
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there. But since she left, I started to do other
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things because I didn't have anybody to control
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me either. So I started to go down on grades
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and stuff. But my junior year, I got a friend.
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She was very smart and she was helping me get
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better. And I got my grades better and had the
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opportunity to go to college for journalism.
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for two years I thought that was what I wanted
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to do because my cousin the one that was overseeing
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the audio system he did that and I wanted to
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be like him but when I turned 20 I realized that
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wasn't what I wanted so I changed from that university
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to another one and from careers and I decided
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to go for hotels administration and I did four
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semesters of that and now I'm missing just one
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subject. Help me pray for that because like I
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don't have the desire and it's hard and you know
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I'm trying to figure it out and I also have to
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do some internship to be able to graduate. I'm
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almost like at the end but it's been hard lately
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for me so yeah that's what I did. What do you
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read to that kind of a career or that subject
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matter? What was your interest? My Dad. He was
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working in hotels in Punta Cana so he got so
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close to one of the directors of the hotels that
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he was working for that we were able to go for
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free at a five -star hotel that it was like 300
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or 400 at the time dollars the night for free
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so you know just seeing that he led me to to
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do that That's great. Well, think about it. TIME,
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the TIME Center here is like a big hotel,
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right? And we're hosting teams and making meals
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and handling transportation. So that background
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should come in handy, right? Yeah. And I think
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that's one of the things that I say that I'm
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able to serve the Lord in my career and something
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that I love and just serve him, which I love
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more than anything else. Great, great. Well,
00:10:33.940 --> 00:10:35.679
speaking of serving then, what, so what about
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TIME? How did you, when did you get introduced
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to TIME? I would assume as a youth, you knew
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that, that the ministry existed, but where, where
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did it go from there? So when I was a kid, I
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always saw the Americans coming in and out in
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IBQ and I was like, I want to participate there.
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Cause some of the friends that I had were able
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to be a volunteer here, but I couldn't cause
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I didn't know no English. So time went by and
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when I went to the last semester at college
00:11:07.230 --> 00:11:11.049
I went to teach because my mom was a teacher
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so I've been doing what my mom and my dad did
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so I started to teach and that gave me some more
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time during the summer like because there's no
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no one to teach so I remember 2024 there was
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a team that went to the church I don't know how
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they got connected. I just saw the team there
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and I was like, oh, this is cool. The Americans
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are going to my church now. So I realized that
00:11:38.110 --> 00:11:41.490
Carol was there. Carol is my cousin. And then
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I'm a very good friend with Jaaziel and I talked
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to him that day and I told him, when are you
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coming? And he said, oh, I'm coming on Thursday.
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It was a Tuesday. And when he went there, he...
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I almost don't make it. He made it. I almost
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don't make it there because my phone got broken
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and I had to fix it and, you know, all the things.
00:12:01.659 --> 00:12:03.580
But we had a really good conversation and he
00:12:03.580 --> 00:12:06.759
said, I want you to be a volunteer for a week.
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And I remember that was July 5th of 2024.
00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:14.899
So for that time, that was my first week
00:12:14.899 --> 00:12:19.120
here at TIME with the baseball team, Maryville.
00:12:19.740 --> 00:12:23.690
And I love baseball. And it was great for me,
00:12:23.789 --> 00:12:26.429
that experience. I know that wasn't what TIME
00:12:26.429 --> 00:12:30.149
is usually doing, like chapels. But it was something
00:12:30.149 --> 00:12:34.269
to start, I will say. That's great. And speaking
00:12:34.269 --> 00:12:36.210
of baseball, who's your favorite Dominican team?
00:12:36.649 --> 00:12:40.570
Licey Tigers. Tigres de Licey. All right. All
00:12:40.570 --> 00:12:45.490
right. So when did you serve as a volunteer,
00:12:45.529 --> 00:12:50.029
of course? Yes. The Lord led you to be a summer
00:12:50.029 --> 00:12:53.659
intern. How did that come about? So that first
00:12:53.659 --> 00:12:57.620
week, I had a conversation with Joel Hawkins
00:12:57.620 --> 00:13:03.000
and he said I had plans to go to Canada and just
00:13:03.000 --> 00:13:06.500
work there and probably live there. And I explained
00:13:06.500 --> 00:13:08.519
everything that I was doing, what I was studying,
00:13:08.700 --> 00:13:12.759
what I was working at to him. And he said, let
00:13:12.759 --> 00:13:16.200
me tell you, I don't see you doing that. I see
00:13:16.200 --> 00:13:18.639
you serving as a missionary here. And I was
00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:20.879
like, I didn't have that in mind when he said
00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:26.259
that, but it definitely turned something up on
00:13:26.259 --> 00:13:30.740
my spiritual life. I was like, probably he's
00:13:30.740 --> 00:13:34.419
right. And I started to think and pray and I
00:13:34.419 --> 00:13:36.080
had the opportunity to serve another week and
00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:38.259
another week. And I was like, this is probably
00:13:38.259 --> 00:13:41.279
what I really want to do and probably God is
00:13:41.279 --> 00:13:44.120
leading me to come here. That's great. And so
00:13:44.120 --> 00:13:47.740
you served, that was the summer of 2024, right?
00:13:49.299 --> 00:13:54.350
And as interns that maybe are listening, folks
00:13:54.350 --> 00:13:57.789
that have been here on trips, that is a lot of
00:13:57.789 --> 00:14:00.289
work. It's a lot of hard work. It's great ministry,
00:14:00.470 --> 00:14:03.649
but it's early mornings, it's chapel building
00:14:03.649 --> 00:14:08.649
and foundations. and VBS ministry and sports
00:14:08.649 --> 00:14:14.070
ministry. So you survive a summer as an intern
00:14:14.070 --> 00:14:19.629
and then decide, well, I want to do more. Yeah,
00:14:19.830 --> 00:14:22.990
yeah. And so you decided were investigating
00:14:22.990 --> 00:14:28.210
the missionary intern program, which is a year
00:14:28.210 --> 00:14:32.259
to two year. program, extended intern program,
00:14:32.379 --> 00:14:34.639
participating in many different parts of the
00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:37.259
ministry to see if God is really calling you
00:14:37.259 --> 00:14:43.649
to do that full time. So I think everything started
00:14:43.649 --> 00:14:50.240
before my summer intern year because I used to
00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:52.799
come as a volunteer, but I was still working
00:14:52.799 --> 00:14:58.570
at the school. So I will go and teach for 6 -7
00:14:58.570 --> 00:15:01.909
hours or something and then come here sometimes
00:15:01.909 --> 00:15:03.809
without eating lunch and just going straight
00:15:03.809 --> 00:15:06.950
to ministry and it was like I had to sit down
00:15:06.950 --> 00:15:10.230
and think like I'm doing this for the Lord and
00:15:10.230 --> 00:15:12.970
I don't care about anything else but serving
00:15:12.970 --> 00:15:19.450
him so I want to you know seek that idea that
00:15:19.450 --> 00:15:22.830
Joel Hawkins put on my heart that summer,
00:15:23.070 --> 00:15:27.710
like to be a missionary. So I started to investigate
00:15:27.710 --> 00:15:30.250
about that. Well, I didn't investigate. I was
00:15:30.250 --> 00:15:34.090
called and they told me, oh, we want to offer
00:15:34.090 --> 00:15:38.750
you this internship for a year so that you can
00:15:38.750 --> 00:15:41.570
seek the Lord while serving as a Missionary Intern.
00:15:41.629 --> 00:15:44.289
I was like, absolutely. Yes, this is what I was
00:15:44.289 --> 00:15:48.059
waiting for. And I think it was a prayer that
00:15:48.059 --> 00:15:52.519
was answered. So yeah. And so what did you see
00:15:52.519 --> 00:15:55.820
is the difference between being a Summer Intern
00:15:55.820 --> 00:15:58.820
and being a Missionary Intern? There's more responsibilities,
00:15:59.100 --> 00:16:03.419
like so many more responsibilities. You are in
00:16:03.419 --> 00:16:08.360
charge of so many things. This summer, I wrote
00:16:08.360 --> 00:16:13.620
that on my letter. I had to step in for the foundations.
00:16:14.710 --> 00:16:18.190
to be there and to have to measure and make
00:16:18.190 --> 00:16:20.769
sure that everything was alright. It was a lot
00:16:20.769 --> 00:16:22.789
of weight on my shoulders. I know you were here
00:16:22.789 --> 00:16:25.009
and I thank God you were here to help me out
00:16:25.009 --> 00:16:29.370
but it was hard and I you remember that last
00:16:30.570 --> 00:16:32.549
foundation that we did. I was so disappointed.
00:16:32.889 --> 00:16:35.830
It was a lot of work. It was on a hill and several
00:16:35.830 --> 00:16:39.070
rows. I think we wound up five or six rows high.
00:16:39.149 --> 00:16:41.529
I think we did two or three days of work on that.
00:16:41.610 --> 00:16:44.049
Yeah. And then that day, it was really challenging
00:16:44.049 --> 00:16:47.649
for me just not to be able to finish what I started.
00:16:48.529 --> 00:16:50.750
But, you know, it's very different. It's just
00:16:50.750 --> 00:16:54.429
more responsibilities. It's more focused on taking
00:16:54.429 --> 00:16:58.730
care of the team and trying to do the things
00:16:58.730 --> 00:17:01.850
like what you have in mind, explain it to the
00:17:01.850 --> 00:17:05.619
team and get it done for the Lord. That's great.
00:17:06.119 --> 00:17:11.920
Well, can you share any examples of where, I
00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:14.599
mean, I would assume in the years now that you've
00:17:14.599 --> 00:17:16.460
been serving, you've seen God working in many
00:17:16.460 --> 00:17:20.339
different ways, but do any stand out to you where
00:17:20.339 --> 00:17:24.519
you've seen God working in you, in a team, in
00:17:24.519 --> 00:17:29.420
a project? I will say the times that I've said
00:17:29.500 --> 00:17:33.339
felt the Lord the most or the Holy Spirit is
00:17:33.339 --> 00:17:37.079
when I'm translating and I can recall two or
00:17:37.079 --> 00:17:41.240
three times where I really felt that it was not
00:17:41.240 --> 00:17:45.640
me talking, it was not me. So I remember September
00:17:45.640 --> 00:17:50.619
2025, we were at Duquesa and this girl, she was
00:17:50.619 --> 00:17:55.420
talking about John 3;16 and she was explaining
00:17:55.420 --> 00:18:01.789
all about the verse. And when I was translating,
00:18:02.980 --> 00:18:04.960
I felt it was not me. It was just like the Holy
00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:07.500
Spirit working through me. And it was great.
00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:10.420
And there's another one that was this summer
00:18:10.420 --> 00:18:14.869
during the baseball team. I was translating for
00:18:14.869 --> 00:18:19.569
one of the guys. And when I finished, I told
00:18:19.569 --> 00:18:22.289
the kids, if you really want to let Jesus get
00:18:22.289 --> 00:18:24.650
into your heart, then do this prayer. And one
00:18:24.650 --> 00:18:26.869
of the kids, he said, like, is this to become
00:18:26.869 --> 00:18:29.730
a Christian? I was like, yes. I was like, oh.
00:18:29.789 --> 00:18:32.650
He told the guys, you gotta be, you can't do
00:18:32.650 --> 00:18:35.829
this like joking. This is serious. And we did
00:18:35.829 --> 00:18:39.049
the prayer and at the end he said like, am I
00:18:39.049 --> 00:18:40.990
a Christian now? And I was like, yes, you just
00:18:40.990 --> 00:18:44.589
gotta find a church and try to follow the Lord.
00:18:44.670 --> 00:18:47.349
And that's the kid that, I don't know if you
00:18:47.349 --> 00:18:50.029
guys saw JC's letter, but that's the kid that
00:18:50.029 --> 00:18:53.869
he was talking about. I remember that kid. And
00:18:53.869 --> 00:18:57.250
the last time, or the last thing that I can recall,
00:18:57.710 --> 00:19:05.539
it was in Hatillo, this summer too, we were, it
00:19:05.539 --> 00:19:09.319
was people from Quarry Church, Noe was preaching
00:19:09.319 --> 00:19:12.519
and when he was preaching, I felt like something
00:19:12.519 --> 00:19:15.700
else just like came out of me and was translating
00:19:15.700 --> 00:19:18.599
for the church. It was so impactful for me. So
00:19:18.599 --> 00:19:21.680
yeah, those are the ways where I've seen the
00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:24.220
Lord work the most in my life through ministry
00:19:24.220 --> 00:19:26.480
and translating. That's awesome. That's awesome.
00:19:26.700 --> 00:19:30.670
And then the opposite side of that, Can you share
00:19:30.670 --> 00:19:34.589
any examples of maybe being disappointed or challenged
00:19:34.589 --> 00:19:36.730
by God's answer to something or something that
00:19:36.730 --> 00:19:39.609
maybe didn't turn out the way that you had planned
00:19:39.609 --> 00:19:44.180
or what your plans for your life were? I really
00:19:44.180 --> 00:19:48.420
didn't want to do the foundations. I just thought
00:19:48.420 --> 00:19:51.400
it was so much for me. I'm not an engineer. I
00:19:51.400 --> 00:19:54.220
know nothing about that. I was just like looking
00:19:54.220 --> 00:19:58.640
at Keny the whole summer and the previous times.
00:19:59.250 --> 00:20:01.750
but I didn't know anything about that and I was
00:20:01.750 --> 00:20:04.309
placed in that position where I had to step up
00:20:04.309 --> 00:20:07.390
and you know be a leader in something that I
00:20:07.390 --> 00:20:11.029
didn't know but I have to you know just get it
00:20:11.029 --> 00:20:14.009
done for the Lord and it was really uncomfortable
00:20:14.009 --> 00:20:18.910
for me and that last foundation I wanted to cry
00:20:18.910 --> 00:20:22.089
like for real like I told you I'm so disappointed
00:20:22.089 --> 00:20:24.589
with this I wanted to get this done this is so
00:20:24.589 --> 00:20:27.259
hard I don't know how we are gonna fix this But
00:20:27.259 --> 00:20:29.339
I'm so disappointed of myself. And then you said,
00:20:29.720 --> 00:20:32.119
don't be, because you've done so many things
00:20:32.119 --> 00:20:36.359
the right way. And this is just part of the process.
00:20:37.670 --> 00:20:40.670
That's great. Letting the Lord work through you,
00:20:40.750 --> 00:20:45.710
being patient. And you hear the story that God
00:20:45.710 --> 00:20:50.829
says yes, he says no, he says wait. But understanding
00:20:50.829 --> 00:20:54.170
that he's working in that as well even in what
00:20:54.170 --> 00:20:58.329
we consider our failures or our challenges. He's
00:20:58.329 --> 00:21:01.710
building something up. Absolutely. I also wanted
00:21:01.710 --> 00:21:04.210
to ask you, you know, ministry, getting involved
00:21:04.210 --> 00:21:07.670
in ministry and especially missions is something
00:21:07.670 --> 00:21:13.829
that sometimes families don't understand. And
00:21:13.829 --> 00:21:15.750
you've mentioned, you know, you're still praying
00:21:15.750 --> 00:21:18.609
for your father. The rest of your family are
00:21:18.609 --> 00:21:23.420
believers, but how do they feel about your your
00:21:23.420 --> 00:21:26.980
interest in missions and in ministry. Well, I
00:21:26.980 --> 00:21:30.579
think my mom is very proud of me because I know
00:21:30.579 --> 00:21:32.740
she was praying so much for me to get involved
00:21:32.740 --> 00:21:36.700
in church and in things that glorify the Lord
00:21:36.700 --> 00:21:40.660
because just before all this happened, I was
00:21:40.660 --> 00:21:44.740
going through a really bad time in my life. I
00:21:44.740 --> 00:21:49.579
will say that that's my main testimony. All the
00:21:49.579 --> 00:21:53.990
things that I went through before summer of 2024
00:21:53.990 --> 00:21:58.769
and I think it was just an answer from the Lord
00:21:58.769 --> 00:22:02.890
for her to for me to to be here at TIME. My Dad
00:22:02.890 --> 00:22:09.470
he's okay with it his family they you know they
00:22:09.470 --> 00:22:14.150
are not very agreeing with this I will say they
00:22:14.150 --> 00:22:16.730
want me to have a real job or something like
00:22:16.730 --> 00:22:20.839
that something where I can have something secure
00:22:20.839 --> 00:22:25.089
not depend on the Lord but, you know, it's what
00:22:25.089 --> 00:22:27.450
the Lord wants from me. My sister is very proud
00:22:27.450 --> 00:22:31.309
of me too. She likes what I do. And I've brought
00:22:31.309 --> 00:22:35.869
her a couple times to serve too. And she liked
00:22:35.869 --> 00:22:39.009
it. So they are proud of me. That's good. That's
00:22:39.009 --> 00:22:43.250
good. Because I have heard that from other missionaries
00:22:43.250 --> 00:22:47.329
and members of our team, especially here in the
00:22:47.329 --> 00:22:51.119
DR. Sometimes the family members. want to know,
00:22:51.299 --> 00:22:53.960
well, how much money are you gonna make? Because
00:22:53.960 --> 00:22:57.839
your children often help take care of the family
00:22:57.839 --> 00:23:03.099
members and moms and dads as they age and relying
00:23:03.099 --> 00:23:07.240
on somebody else is a big hit to the pride sometimes.
00:23:08.420 --> 00:23:12.839
But at the same time, having been here for what
00:23:12.839 --> 00:23:18.680
16 years now, what we've seen in the church is
00:23:18.680 --> 00:23:22.309
missions is growing. Yeah. And the local church,
00:23:22.390 --> 00:23:24.869
the Dominican church, the Haitian churches are
00:23:24.869 --> 00:23:28.390
sending people out. And so you just look at the
00:23:28.390 --> 00:23:31.170
makeup of our team, right? We have four of us
00:23:31.170 --> 00:23:34.069
that are Americans. Yeah. The rest of the team
00:23:34.069 --> 00:23:39.069
are Dominicans. And that was our founders' passion
00:23:39.069 --> 00:23:41.190
too, was investing in the nationals and letting
00:23:41.190 --> 00:23:45.390
them carry the gospel to, not only to their local
00:23:45.390 --> 00:23:50.009
churches, but around the world. Yes. Speaking
00:23:50.009 --> 00:23:56.390
of that, where are you right now in your life
00:23:56.390 --> 00:24:00.269
decisions where you see God calling you? Are
00:24:00.269 --> 00:24:03.630
you still undecided? What are your thoughts at
00:24:03.630 --> 00:24:09.390
this point? I think I know what I wanted. I had
00:24:09.390 --> 00:24:12.529
that conversation with Joel Hawkins. It was just,
00:24:12.809 --> 00:24:14.609
this is from the Lord. This is what I want to
00:24:14.609 --> 00:24:16.569
do and I'm going to go through all the process
00:24:16.569 --> 00:24:20.970
just to... do what the Lord wants me to do. So
00:24:20.970 --> 00:24:24.430
I know I want to be a missionary. I'm just waiting
00:24:24.430 --> 00:24:28.710
for the process to come and finish and still
00:24:28.710 --> 00:24:31.829
praying for the Lord to send the right people
00:24:31.829 --> 00:24:35.970
to help me out because it's very hard sometimes,
00:24:37.329 --> 00:24:40.670
especially now as a Missionary Intern because
00:24:40.670 --> 00:24:43.230
I got to help my family, got to take care of
00:24:43.230 --> 00:24:47.660
myself, but I rely on the Lord and he's been
00:24:47.660 --> 00:24:49.480
faithful and I know he is going to continue being
00:24:49.480 --> 00:24:52.480
faithful even though I am unfaithful with him.
00:24:52.660 --> 00:24:56.180
He can't deny himself and I just trust him and
00:24:56.180 --> 00:24:58.819
I know he is going to do it. Amen. Amen. And
00:24:58.819 --> 00:25:00.920
we'll talk about that in just a few minutes here
00:25:00.920 --> 00:25:03.759
when we wrap up about how people can partner
00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:08.970
with you and how people can support you. I'd
00:25:08.970 --> 00:25:12.170
like to wrap up our podcast here with just some
00:25:12.170 --> 00:25:15.109
maybe more lighthearted questions to help people
00:25:15.109 --> 00:25:19.450
get to know you a little bit better. And we talked
00:25:19.450 --> 00:25:21.930
about this before. It was a challenging question
00:25:21.930 --> 00:25:25.630
for you. Is there something most people wouldn't
00:25:25.630 --> 00:25:30.299
know about you? It was like a discussion the
00:25:30.299 --> 00:25:35.230
whole summer. I do not have favorites. I have
00:25:35.230 --> 00:25:37.690
a bunch of things that I like. but I don't have
00:25:37.690 --> 00:25:41.640
something favorite. So I wouldn't say I have
00:25:41.640 --> 00:25:45.440
a favorite movie. I have movies that I like,
00:25:45.460 --> 00:25:48.339
but I wouldn't say they are my favorite because
00:25:48.339 --> 00:25:50.759
I would I probably won't watch it again. I watched
00:25:50.759 --> 00:25:52.960
it once. I liked it, but I won't watch it again
00:25:52.960 --> 00:25:57.480
or I'll watch it 100 times. It's just I don't
00:25:57.480 --> 00:26:01.019
I can't say I have something to name favorite,
00:26:01.039 --> 00:26:05.910
but my baseball team. Licey Tigers, New York Yankees.
00:26:05.910 --> 00:26:09.670
I'm sorry for any other team, but those
00:26:09.670 --> 00:26:12.829
are my teams. All right. If you could have a
00:26:12.829 --> 00:26:15.869
conversation with anyone in history, who would
00:26:15.869 --> 00:26:21.890
it be? I was thinking about that a lot. I think
00:26:21.890 --> 00:26:25.009
it would be Abraham. Some people will say Jesus,
00:26:25.369 --> 00:26:31.039
but Abraham, he trusted the Lord without knowing
00:26:31.039 --> 00:26:34.250
what was going to happen. Jesus knew he had to
00:26:34.250 --> 00:26:39.690
die because of what he was going to mean for
00:26:39.690 --> 00:26:42.750
the world. But Abraham trusted the Lord and he
00:26:42.750 --> 00:26:45.750
didn't know where he was going. He didn't know
00:26:45.750 --> 00:26:49.509
what was going to happen. He has a kid. The Lord
00:26:49.509 --> 00:26:52.369
tells him to sacrifice a kid. He's like, what
00:26:52.369 --> 00:26:57.549
am I going to do now? And just to ask him, what
00:26:57.549 --> 00:27:02.190
was his approach like? how he was able to trust
00:27:02.190 --> 00:27:07.470
the Lord so badly. And I would like to have that
00:27:07.470 --> 00:27:10.829
same desire he had for the Lord, just to follow
00:27:10.829 --> 00:27:14.109
him without asking questions, without knowing,
00:27:14.269 --> 00:27:16.910
just walking in obedience. And that's something
00:27:16.910 --> 00:27:20.769
I would really like to ask him. Amen. Amen. And
00:27:20.769 --> 00:27:23.349
what do you like to do for fun? For fun, just
00:27:23.349 --> 00:27:26.130
like play basketball a lot. I love baseball,
00:27:26.130 --> 00:27:30.329
but I like to play basketball. Baseball is more
00:27:30.329 --> 00:27:33.150
for watching and following the stats and all
00:27:33.150 --> 00:27:36.990
that. If some people remember the devo about
00:27:36.990 --> 00:27:39.930
fanatics, it came because of me, because I was
00:27:39.930 --> 00:27:42.049
talking about baseball the whole time. And I
00:27:42.049 --> 00:27:46.049
was like, he wrote that because of that. So yeah,
00:27:46.049 --> 00:27:50.049
I like to play basketball and sometimes play
00:27:50.049 --> 00:27:52.910
some video games. And we were talking earlier,
00:27:52.930 --> 00:27:56.130
you've started running. Yeah, I started running
00:27:56.130 --> 00:28:00.710
August 10th. I couldn't even run two kilometers.
00:28:00.789 --> 00:28:03.970
Now I'm doing five miles, probably doing more
00:28:03.970 --> 00:28:09.230
in a couple months. So I have grown that desire
00:28:09.230 --> 00:28:12.349
of running in my heart now. Probably also going
00:28:12.349 --> 00:28:16.150
camping or hiking here in the highest mountain
00:28:16.150 --> 00:28:19.029
in the Dominican Republic on January. That's
00:28:19.029 --> 00:28:21.490
a desire that I have. So let's see if I can make
00:28:21.490 --> 00:28:24.829
it. That's great. Training body and spirit. Absolutely.
00:28:25.049 --> 00:28:27.789
Yes. And foundations get you into shape pretty
00:28:27.789 --> 00:28:32.089
quick. Yes. Well, that's great. It's really been
00:28:32.089 --> 00:28:35.930
a privilege talking with you and hopefully getting
00:28:35.930 --> 00:28:38.089
people getting to know you a little bit more.
00:28:39.029 --> 00:28:42.529
And so speaking of partnering and supporting,
00:28:42.529 --> 00:28:45.630
of course, prayer, I'm sure Luis would appreciate
00:28:45.630 --> 00:28:49.630
lots and lots of prayer in the decisions that
00:28:49.630 --> 00:28:52.609
you'll be making in the future. For guidance
00:28:52.609 --> 00:28:55.970
from the Lord and that I can follow His direction
00:28:55.970 --> 00:28:59.059
and just As Abraham did, just walk in obedience
00:28:59.059 --> 00:29:02.940
and follow Him. Yes, yes. And of course, partnership,
00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:07.640
as some of you know out there, that we are all
00:29:07.640 --> 00:29:11.319
faith -based supported. So we do not receive
00:29:11.319 --> 00:29:16.900
salaries from TIME Missions. We rely on individuals
00:29:16.900 --> 00:29:19.759
and churches and the Lord, of course, moving
00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:22.779
through people to help support us financially
00:29:22.779 --> 00:29:29.660
so that we can pay for things like housing and
00:29:29.660 --> 00:29:32.400
food and transportation and all those expenses
00:29:32.400 --> 00:29:36.619
that people have while we are dedicating our
00:29:36.619 --> 00:29:39.779
time to serving the Lord. So if you would like
00:29:39.779 --> 00:29:42.960
to partner financially with Luis, you can go
00:29:42.960 --> 00:29:46.920
to our website, timemissions.com. And on the
00:29:46.920 --> 00:29:49.799
giving section, there's a tab there labeled Give.
00:29:50.839 --> 00:29:53.990
You can click on that. And on the list, I believe
00:29:53.990 --> 00:29:58.009
you're still listed under Luis intern. TLLuis
00:29:58.009 --> 00:30:01.910
DanielPerez25. Yes. So if you go there and
00:30:01.910 --> 00:30:07.089
click on that, then you can sign up to be a partner
00:30:07.089 --> 00:30:10.809
with him, either a one time gift or an ongoing
00:30:10.809 --> 00:30:14.750
gift. And so we'd really ask you to pray about
00:30:14.750 --> 00:30:19.390
partnering with Luis in that so that he can begin
00:30:19.390 --> 00:30:22.819
his partnership building process. And I just
00:30:22.819 --> 00:30:26.319
want to thank the people that has done that already
00:30:26.319 --> 00:30:30.319
that has they have helped me through this year
00:30:30.319 --> 00:30:34.119
is really been a blessing and most of them they
00:30:34.119 --> 00:30:37.119
are more than friends for me they're family not
00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:39.500
because of that but just because like the relationships
00:30:39.500 --> 00:30:43.980
that we created and just thank them for for their
00:30:43.980 --> 00:30:47.839
support right right and do you have a visa I
00:30:47.839 --> 00:30:51.160
do not. I'm working on that. I'm still on the
00:30:51.160 --> 00:30:54.200
process. I'm praying for that. So probably next
00:30:54.200 --> 00:30:57.440
year I can make it to the States and just visit
00:30:57.440 --> 00:31:00.500
some of you. That would be great. It certainly
00:31:00.500 --> 00:31:04.099
is a blessing to visit churches and people in
00:31:04.099 --> 00:31:07.420
the U.S. and we'll pray for that process. So
00:31:07.420 --> 00:31:13.140
with that, we'll wrap up our first ever official
00:31:13.140 --> 00:31:18.210
podcast and we pray that all of you out there
00:31:18.210 --> 00:31:22.430
in podcast land listening have enjoyed this.
00:31:22.710 --> 00:31:24.430
As I mentioned, we'll be talking with some of
00:31:24.430 --> 00:31:28.349
our other team members as well over the coming
00:31:28.349 --> 00:31:32.480
weeks and months, and we look forward to how
00:31:32.480 --> 00:31:35.119
God is going to lead us in this particular part
00:31:35.119 --> 00:31:37.960
of our ministry. So, blessings. Thank you for
00:31:37.960 --> 00:31:40.980
listening, and we'll see you soon. God bless.
