Partners in Missions

Sunday, March 8th, 2009

February 2008
Issue #1

In This Issue:

Testimony from Ian Hosey on his trip to the Dominican Republic
Testimony of Barb Schworm on her missions trips to the Dominican Republic
Did you know?…Alliance Missions Philosophy

Dear Friends,

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Matthew 28:19-20

I have always loved the King James version of that verse.

Over the years, I have seen how God uses people in so many different ways to accomplish this Great Commission. I have seen Sunday School teachers collect quarters that students pledged as a class to the Great Commission Fund in our church. I have seen people transform our church using their artistic skills to decorate for missions conferences. I have seen women gather together to pray for specific requests from Alliance missionaries around the globe. I have seen peoples’ lives change from short-term missions. These examples are just a few of the ways people can serve in the spreading of the gospel. May this newsletter and subsequent newsletters teach you how you fit in God’s great plan for His people to go into all the world.

This issue will mainly be about the recent short-term missions trip to the Dominican Republic by 11 people from DAC.

On a different note, I have been a member of Dorseyville Alliance Church since the early 90’s, but I still remember being a new kid on the block at our Church. I remember being slightly amazed by all of the unfamiliar terms and lingo that the people of Dorseyville used. One of our goals is to acquaint you with the missions program at DAC. If you have ANY questions or inquiries about missions at Dorseyville Alliance, please don’t hesitate to contact me. If I can’t answer your questions, I will get an answer for you or refer you to someone who does know. If you have a heart for missions and would like to serve on the Missions Committee or in some other way, contact me or the Church office.

Blessings In Christ,
Michelle Lipinski

Testimonies from Dominican Team

Our finding children to bring to Kids Club

Ian Hosey: (Ian was asked what the highlight of his trip was.)

“I would say that from the time I arrived at the airport in Santo Domingo to the time I departed for the U.S., it was awesome. It felt like a second home. I’d say that the whole trip was a high point. To see those people so happy, with nothing, is eye opening. It can’t be described in a scientific formula or a physics law; It is straight from GOD! I urge anyone from Dorseyville to go out on a limb, to get out of their comfort zone and visit the village of Villa Hermosa. It’s a great gift.”

Barbara Schworm:

“This was my second trip to Villa Hermosa and I can’t wait to go back again. The relationships that I am forming with the people in this community are so valuable to me.

I was able to get to know a specific family with several children, see where they live,and find out their hopes and dreams. Ambriosa is one of the children in this family. He is 13. Unfortunately, he was not able to tell us goodbye because he had to go to work our last day at the church in Villa Hermosa. How many of our thirteen year old children have to work? Life is hard there, but you would not know it by the smiles on each face. His sister is a senior in high school this year and hopes to be an architect. However it costs 200 dollars a month, and she is unable to pay for it now. Her plans are to work for as long as it takes, which may be years, and then go.

The hardest times for me were seeing the children alone in an abandoned building or eating a piece of sugar cane for breakfast that was so dirty you could hardly tell what it was. It was hard to tell if
these children had homes or if the community just cared for them.

The highlight of my week was seeing my brother, who was one of the DAC 11, after 40 years give his life to Christ. I am not sure why he had to go to another country to do this. Ha ha!

I now know how to sling mud for block laying, a skill I may never use here in the states. But you never know; a career change may be in my future.

I keep pictures in my bible to remind me to pray for this community. I know that God has great plans for them. I am so blessed and grateful that he has allowed me to be part of His plan.

I encourage you to be a part of Gods plan as well… you will not be
disappointed.”

Dominican Republic Demographic Profile

Geography: The size of Vermont and New Hampshire combined, the Dominican Republic (18,815 sq. mi.) occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with Haiti. The country’s terrain includes rugged highlands and mountains with fertile valleys interspersed.
Language: Spanish
Ethnicity/Race: White-16%; Black-11%; mixed-73%
Economy: Per capita income-$6,300; Inflation-55%; Unemployment-17%; Literacy rate-85% ;(2003 est.)
Population: over 9 million. Infant mortality rate-32.4/1,000(death/births) Life expectancy-67.3 years
Capital: Santo Domingo-(2003 est) 2,851,300 (metro area), 2,252,400 (city proper)
Government/Political Climate: Representative democracy. Attained independence as the Dominican Republic in 1844. From1966-1996 Joaquin Balaguar was president. Since then, regular competitive elections have been held in which opposition candidates have won the presidency.
Religion: Roman Catholic-95%; other-5%
Information found at the Christian and Missionary Alliance Website

Alliance Missions Philosophy

The Alliance seeks to evangelize among people groups who have not yet received an understandable presentation of the gospel and among whom there is no indigenous church effectively evangelizing those peoples. We also desire to plant churches among peoples responsive to the gospel, regardless of their previous exposure to Christianity, with a view to equipping those churches to evangelize unreached peoples and to plant missionary churches among them. 880 workers currently serve worldwide with the U.S. C&MA. This number is made up of…

663 GCF-funded (Great Commission Fund) (fully or partially) personnel (includes career, associates, Canadian or foreign personnel who are funded by the U.S.)
65 non-GCF funded personnel (including special assignment, workers on leave of absence, or partners)
37 CAMA Services personnel funded through CAMA (Compassion and Mercy Associates)
10 GCF-funded International Fellowship of Alliance Professionals (IFAP) workers
105 IFAP workers who are partially funded by the GCF.
58 of these countries have personnel who serve with IM residing within their borders.

Information found on Christian and Missionary Alliance website

Meet Steve and Debbie Clouser, our missionaries to Burkina Faso, Africa!

In the next issue:

We will be posting some pictures of the care bags that the children received in Villa Hermosa. To all of you who so generously donated, thank you so much. You should have seen their smiles.