Incase you haven’t noticed yet, we have a NEW way of communicating with you all. Throughout the past 5 years we have used a mixture of ways to communicate to you. We have been searching for a better more streamlined, user friendly way of communicating with you and for you to easily communicate back with us and get our updates. WE FOUND IT!
Introducing MISSIO! We are excited to be a part of Missio. A new way for missionaries to connect with their supporters.
Once you subscribe, you get to decide how often you receive our updates (weekly, monthly, quarterly) and get them emailed straight to you. Then they have an AMAZING app you can download for free and see our updates super quick & easy when they happen.
You can connect and respond in an easy, fun way as well by clicking the praying hands to let us know you are praying for us or clicking on the raised hands or heart to let us know you read the post. You can even comment below the post as well for us to see and be encouraged by.
WE WILL NOT BE POSTING ON HERE ANYMORE AS WE HAVE MISSIO NOW TO SHARE ALL OUR UPDATES WITH. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARE SUBSCRIBED TO OUR MISSIO EMAIL UPDATES & DOWNLOAD THEIR APP AS WELL IF YOU’D LIKE FOR EVEN QUICKER/EASIER ACCESS TO OUR UPDATES WHEN THEY HAPPEN.
IMPORTANT! To make sure you are following us on the new platform so you can keep updated on our missionary journey, follow this link below.
You will be instructed to create a quick account. CHOOSE PARTNER, not publisher. Publishers are missionaries like us who are posting the content. Partners are those who are following the journeys.
Some people, especially when downloading the Missio app to quickly access updates, may be asked for a personal code, if you see that, plug in this: i1hbEsjl
We encourage you to check it out, ask us if you have any questions and see what you think of it. When you want to donate a one-time gift or start your own monthly support of our family (thank you btw) you can easily access our donate link as well.
God has been so kind to us this first year in the Dominican Republic. When we first moved to the Dominican Republic, it was challenging for our family. Being the first ones from our organization to serve there, we had to figure out how to get around, where to find things, and how to adapt—all while still learning the language and adjusting to the culture.
In contrast, our time in Haiti was a bit easier to step into when we first moved over there in 2019, as we had a team of national staff who could guide us, support us, and help us find our footing much more quickly.
It was VERY interesting but God answered our prayers above & beyond by sending us a big community of believers & friends who helped us figure out things & make those first connections.
We praise God we found a local church to go to in between ministry things. They have a heart for multi-cultural relationships and coming together as the body of Christ to serve the communities in need around us. Our pastor preaches in Spanish, it’s translated into English and we worship in Haitian Creole, Spanish & English!
In our first year in the DR, we were able to partner with a Dominican church ministry that has a strong network of both Haitian and Dominican churches. This opened the door for us to have meaningful connections and ministry opportunities. This is where we began to see all the needs, physical and heart/spiritual of both the Dominican and Haitian communities. There is a VERY big need for medical teams to come down to help pour into the Haitian communities especially. We have our first two medical teams of the fall coming in September & October. Our goal is to have a medical team coming down every month. Please reach out for more info. Not every team member has to have a medical background. There are things non-medical personnel can help with. We are also in need of project teams and discipleship training teams.
Our older two boys sat in some of the sessions with us at the missionary conference we went to.
April & the older two are a part of a wonderful homeschool community that April started when we first moved down there. Already we have 15 active families doing life & learning together on a weekly basis.
When we return in August, April & one of her friends who is also a missionary, is starting a women’s bible study to meet together weekly.
Teen movie night at our house!
We had the privilege of delivering food & needed supplies to a Haitian pastor. He has ladies from his church cook the food on Sundays and then he delivers the food and supplies to the deportation center where Haitians are kept in pretty harsh conditions before being taken back to Haiti.
Jim talking with a Haitian pastor.
As we head back and start our second year in the DR, please continue to pray for our language learning. Native Spanish speakers tell us how hard it is to hear Dominican Spanish because of how mumbled and fast it is. Pray for Zeke’s continued healing and for us to find a school that will accept him. We are doing tutoring in the meantime, trying to help him get to a level of academic where the schools want him at so he can go. He also has a lot of emotional behavioral growth that needs to happen before they will let him come too. Pray for continued clarity for us, that we continually focus our eyes on Jesus and follow His leading in each thing He calls us to do there.
One of the sweet ladies at church holding Amelia as she worships. One of our mission trip teams passing out food. One of the days at the medical clinic.
As we finish up the summer and finish speaking at several churches, meeting with supporters and spending much needed time with family, we look ahead to year two in the DR and our 6th year in missions and what God has in store. Through this past year, He has used people and situations to help us see that even while we are waiting for the bigger things to fall into place and grow or waiting for the main thing we feel called to do to happen, He is working in the day to day situations He places us in and we need to make sure to stay focused on Him so that we don’t miss what He is doing in those moments. Friends…He is so good. We cannot begin to fathom His love for us and why He loves us so or chooses to extend so much grace and mercy to us and give us gifts that we don’t deserve.
… Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine He’s been my fourth man in the fire, time after time Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood And what He did for me on Calvary is more than enough
… I trust in God, my Savior The one who will never fail He will never fail
… Perfect submission, all is at rest I know the author of tomorrow has ordered my steps So this is my story and this is my song I’m praising my risen King and Savior all the day long
Jim and Isaac went to a Feed My Starving Children meeting in Santo Domingo last month. We will be working with them in the near future, like we do in Haiti, to get the Manna food boxes to distribute to those in need. In the coming future, we need to figure out a place to store the boxes of food in between times of distributing so please be praying for that. Until we have a ministry place here in the future where we have room to store, we will need to find temporary storage until then.
While in Santo Domingo, we met with our lawyer to discuss the next steps in getting our residency visa here in the Dominican Republic. While there, we went to the Colonial Zone (first city in the new world) and enjoyed a day there as a family looking at all the beautiful old buildings.
We have spent some time getting to know our pastor at the church we go to here in Santiago and seeing how our family can serve & love our church community more.
One of the neat things about living in the DR is we get to have the Agape Flights pilots come and stay with us from time to time. We were able to get to know some of them while living in Haiti and it’s nice getting to house them for the night and get to know them more. All of us missionaries are so grateful for all they do to help bring mail down to us.
Jim has been busy behind the scenes working with the local leadership here in the DR with the church we are working alongside with to help the Haitian & Dominican local churches & communities here. We are preparing already for the next few teams we have scheduled this coming year.
In the 8 months since we’ve been here, we’ve built community, made connections, went out into the communities of various Haitian and Dominican churches and seen the needs and struggles. We’ve seen and felt the tension between the Dominicans and Haitians here. We have seen the caged trucks with Haitians strapped in the back. We have seen a lot of things that make us more sure that we are where we are suppose to be. We don’t know a lot, we are not Haitian or Dominican, but we have lived in both places and we have hearts for both people. We feel God is doing a work in this current season to prepare our hearts and family for all that He will be doing with us in the near future here.
Please take a minute and read our NEW MISSION TRIP FLYER! We will be sending these in email to the churches we currently partner with. If you’d like one to share with your church and bring a group down, please let us know and we can email it to you. April.starkey@rmibridge.org
As you’ll see from the image, we need four specific types of teams right now in the DR. THIS IS A BIG NEED! Simply put, to do what is needed done down here, we need churches and groups to come down!
Reach out to partnerships.dominican@rmibridge.org for more information. Reserve your date this coming fall or winter to bring down your group to the Dominican Republic to love & serve the people there. Getting your date on the calendar now helps your whole team to prepare, fundraise and ask for prayer as they prepare for this time away of serving.
Learning the language. We are working daily & working hard on our lessons, homework and speaking as much as we can while out and about. Please keep praying for us as we learn Spanish.
Continued prayer for Zeke. God knows. We also are hoping to get him into a different school next year, so we’d appreciate prayer concerning that.
For churches, youth groups, medical teams and groups to reach out and schedule their trip to come down and serve here with us on a missions trip.
For us to be aware of the Holy Spirits working in our day to day lives and being ready to serve & love in those moments. To stay connected, focused on Jesus and mind set on what He is wanting us to do here.
bridgetohispaniola.com 