Today is our last day in the Dominican Republic. Tomorrow morning we leave behind our home of the last two years. The past few days have been full of farewells and well-wishes. Needless to say, it has all been a difficult and very humbling process.
This past Saturday I met with the class of pastors and church leaders that I had spent a lot of time teaching. I was shocked to see their genuine sadness at my departure. Then again last night our home church here in Santo Domingo also had a farewell dinner for us and once again Alison and I were surprised at the genuine sadness and love we felt from our brothers and sisters in Christ. Neither of us had ever felt that our presence in the DR could have affected that many people. We both feel we are unequal recipients of these beautiful sentiments directed to us these past couple of days.
Neither Alison nor I feel like we could have possibly affected lives as much as we have been affected by the lives of others. Life here in the DR has molded us and transformed us in ways we cannot describe and perhaps will be unable to describe for years to come. In the Bible there are several occasions where a "wilderness experience" brings clarity of mind. The Israelites wandered for 40 years before it became clear to them WHOSE people they were. Jonah's wilderness was the belly of a whale where the clarity of God's will became clear to him. Even Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness where His life and future and purpose, contrary to Satan's temptations, were made clear to him. Not all wilderness experiences are negative, like Jonah's stomach-acid-saturated three days. Ours here in the DR has not been negative, yet it has been difficult and this has brought us clarity. Now, we know ourselves more clearly; but perhaps the most important thing, is that now we see God more clearly. Alison and I are in awe that people could have been so affected by our presence here in the DR. We now, however, can see that it has not been our presence alone that has caused our Dominican sisters and brothers to lament our departure. We truly do not see or understand how anything we could have done could have positively affected so many. We were dumbfounded at first, yet now see that God has worked through us in ways we never intended, hoped or imagined. In fact we can humbly and honestly say that we have done NOTHING of value here in the DR, yet that NOTHING God has mysteriously and miraculously made into SOMETHING. It is as if God brought us to this point and used this weekend to say to Alison and myself, "I show you this so that you might know the truth about Me and so that you might not boast about what I have done through you, thinking it was your own doing. Out of your NOTHING I have made SOMETHING. Now you see me more clearly."
Life in the DR has been humbling and exciting. Thanks be to God.
Joel and Alison and Indira
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