Episode 63

Comprising nearly two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, the Dominican Republic is a country that boasts of beautiful beaches, breathtaking scenery, lovely culture, and fascinating people. But what is the spiritual condition of the country? What challenges do missionaries face in propagating the true gospel to the lost souls there? Join us in this episode of the Removing Barriers podcast as we continue the On The Mission Field series with the third installment: an interview with Timothy Germano, missionary to the Dominican Republic. We learn about how God not only saved him but also called and equipped him to take the gospel to the small country, and what blessings and challenges he has encountered there.

I know we had a lady that we met. We were out passing out Flyers for VBS and we met her. And I said, hey, we’d love you to come to Church. And she said, I’ll be there. What time we’re having a Bible study. We’re starting a Church. We have a Bible study at 1030 and at 10:00 clock, we have coffee and some snacks. We’d love for you to come out. She said, all right. She stopped by her house on her way to work the next day. 1030 right. I said, yes. 1030. She came by her house on Saturday. I’ll be there tomorrow at 1030. I said, Well, yes, we’re so excited because often they’ll tell you they’re coming to Church, but yet they just don’t want you to feel bad about them saying no. And so we’ll wait and see. We hope that they are true to their work. And so Sunday came 10:00. I didn’t see her. 1030. I didn’t see her. And it was about 12:00 when everybody was leaving, that they came in.

Thank you for tuning in to the Removing Barriers Podcast. I’m Jay and I’m MCG, and we’re attempting to Remove Barriers so we can all have a clear view of the cross. This is episode 63 of the Removing Barriers Podcast, and this is the third in the series of on the Mission Field. And in this episode, we’ll be going on the mission field with missionary Timothy Germano to the Dominican Republic

Tim, it is a pleasure to have you and welcome to the Removing Barriers Podcast. Thank you so much. Thank you again for giving me this opportunity to share about the Dominican Republic and different ways that the Gospels going out and different hindrances as well.

Great. Glad that you are able to fit us in your busy schedule, so let’s get into it. Tell us about yourself, your family, your calling, whatever you feel comfortable sharing. Well, I was raised in a Christian home. I’m thankful for my parents and just how they put an emphasis on not just going to Church and different things, but just living it out. They were the same everywhere. And that was just a huge impact on us. I’m one of six children, and so we’re like stair steps. And so we were always in Church. We were involved in the Church. There were involved in Christian schools. And I heard the gospel a number of different times. And it was a head knowledge. But it wasn’t until I was in the Christian school that is my teacher. She often would was sharing the gospel. And I knew that Jesus died on the cross for me. And it wasn’t just, oh, yes, Jesus died for the world. I know, but just realizing, no, he died on the cross for me. And as a six year old boy, I asked, Christ, forgive me of my sins and be my Savior. And just even looking back on that day. And just as a kid. You didn’t realize all that was there. And the more you study the Bible, the more you grow, the more you realize how truly great of a work that Christ does when he saves sinners. And I didn’t know that God was going to have me to be a missionary. It wasn’t until I was a teenager, as I was challenged and the youth group there, I said, Well, God, I don’t know what you want me to do, but I’m willing to do what you’d have for me to do, whether it’s in the Ministry, whether it’s in other different fields of work. God, I’m willing to do what you want me to do. And it was a few years later, we were having a mission or a youth rally in our Church. And the pastor was preaching about stepping out on faith. And God very clearly worked on my heart and said, I want you to be a missionary. And I was scared to death. I was 14 years old. I was very shy, very introverted. And I just remember it was something that I prayed about. God, what would you have for me to do? But when it actually came time to, well, this is what I want you to do. I was very nervous, almost like Gideon. Well, Lord, if this is really what you want me to do, would you just confirm in my heart our Church was going on the first mission trip they’d ever been on just a month or so after this point, actually, to the Dominican Republic. I had no idea this is where I’d end up living with my family. And God used that trip to work on my heart about being a missionary. And it wasn’t until later that I knew that this is where God would have me to be. And so graduated. I met my wife and we were in College. We worked in Pennsylvania for a few years as a youth pastor. And then we went on reputation and came down here. We have two children, Landon and Elena. There are eight and six soon to be seven and nine. And they’re very excited about that also. And so that’s just a little bit about us. And we’ve been here in the Dominican Republic since 2015.

Great. So you’ve been on the mission field about six years or so. Yes. That’s hard to believe. Time flies when you’re having fun, right where in the world for listeners that may not know, although I’m sure everyone listening knows where the Dominican Republic is. Can you tell us where on the globe is the Dominican Republic and tell us more about it as a country, perhaps the people and the religious make up and that sort of thing. Yeah. The Dominican Republic is located in the Caribbean, and it’s in the Greater Antilles. So the larger Islands that you have in the Caribbean, you have Cuba and Jamaica, and then you have the Dominican Republic and Haiti they share the same island of Hispaniola, then you have Puerto Rico. So the Caribbean Islands get a little smaller as you move into the Lesser Antilles. So the Dominican Republic is right there in the middle of the Greater Antilles, sharing the island with Haiti. And it is a Spanish speaking nation, and it shares with Haiti. They speak French Creole. And there’s a lot of differences between the two. We share the same island. But culturally, there’s a lot of differences between the two different people, a lot of history with the French control and the Spanish control. And so that’s where we are. There’s over 10 million people, I believe now here in the island and Spanish speaking, and there are religious people. Most people would claim Catholicism. But I know even in the six years since we’ve been here, we tend to run into other people that belong to other churches before we run into those that would be actively practicing their Catholic faith. And so that’s a little bit about the breakdown here where we are in. There’s a lot of Pentecostal churches, and they’re all across the board. You have some Pentecostal churches that would be more sound than their doctrine, and some that I’m not sure where they’re coming from in any of their beliefs. And that tends to be more of what we find out here.

Yeah. I grew up in the Caribbean, so I know that the Caribbean people are very religious people, but at the same time, the doctrine can be lacking, especially you talk about the Pentecostal faith. There are so many different Pentecostal churches and stuff like that. So, yeah, that’s a tough one. Religious people are harder to win in my opinion, than some non religious people at times. Yes. Yeah, definitely. So you touched a little bit under religious breakdown. How much of the population would you say is Pentecostal Cat Lake percentage wise? Do you know, I know in the official statistics depends on who’s doing it and when it was done. But in the last 20 years of the statistics, you’ll see, it range anywhere from 70% to 90 or even above 90% Catholic. But we haven’t seen that. A lot of people, they’ll look back and say, oh, my family’s Catholic. I’m like you would see in the United States as they identify, even though they may not be practicing as a practicing Catholic, they will still identify if they had to choose. I’m not sure the exact breakdown of Pentecostal churches, but I know even in our town and a lot of the towns that I’ve been in, you’ll have more Pentecostal churches than any other type of churches by far, in any of the cities, these tend to be smaller congregations, but there is a number of them many times you’ll have multiple churches on the same street of different Pentecostal faiths.

Yeah. That’s interesting. Let me shift gears a little bit here, Tim, because as I say, I’m from the Caribbean and one accusation missionaries get when they go to the Caribbean, at least in my country at times is that they are more for the vacation and the sun, the sea, the sand and stuff like that rather than to actually win the people and win the loss. Firstly, do you get any of that? Do you get any pushback from the people that believe your day more for vacation and enjoy the beauty of the island rather than to win the loss? And if so, how do you go about compacting that? Well, I know a lot of times it would just be we’re in the Dominican Republic, and somebody had a relative that’s gone to a resort down here or on vacation. They think of the resorts and the touristy areas that are done up. And I know a lot of times, oh, man, it must be tough. I know you can attest to this as well as growing up in the island, there’s places that are built up and very touristy. But the vast majority of the island is greatly different from these places where these people go. And so a lot of times we just kind of chuckle and say, Well, we always call it we’re out in the real part of the Dominican Republic where, like, the vast majority of the island is. I mean, it’s true. This island is absolutely beautiful where we live. It’s beautiful. We’re not that far from the Caribbean. It’s a very beautiful place, but it’s a third world nation as well. People think, oh, everything’s like it is in the cruise ports or these different big name resorts. And that’s a very small fraction of what the country is. And you don’t really get to know the Dominican Republic until you get out from those places, you get to meet the people where they are. Yeah. That’s so true. It’s a big difference growing up in the country, getting a taste of the local and compared to the actual tourist areas, as you said. Yeah, definitely. Even some of the beaches are probably tourists only and security wise and stuff like that. Yes. We visited some of those places and it’s beautiful. I know my in laws came down to visit us a few months ago and they’ve had a chance to see a lot of different parts of the island. And they both said, we think it’s more beautiful down here. It’s a rugged beauty. It’s not built up. We’re off the beaten path. And it is true that it’s not built up with the tourists and the different things you get, what you get. But it’s got a natural beauty here. And I imagine you get to really to know the people more than being in the tourist areas. Cool.

So, Tim, you talked about how the Lord burdened your heart for the souls in the Dominican Republic. When you were 14, you were saved at six, called to be a missionary at about 14. What was it about the Dominican Republic, or perhaps the people that stirred your heart. So I know the Scriptures talk often about how my nine dots affect my heart. Was it a video you saw? Perhaps it was people you spoke to, or was it just the Lord gradually bringing you about to have you realized that the Dominican Republic is where I want you to go? Could you go into a little bit about how the Lord called you to Minister to the souls in the Dominican Republic? Yes. With God calling us here to the Dominican Republic, I guess I always in the back of my mind. I thought maybe that I would end up here. God used that trip in my mind or in my life to just see the mission field and see the need here. I remember seeing these different places and seeing the need for churches and for labor. But it wasn’t until I was in school and the Church that I attended when I was in College. The pastor really challenged us for Matthew 938, that pray, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth flavors into his harvest. He challenged us that we would pray specifically for places that God would send labors and missionaries and Church planners. And he challenged each of us to pick a place. And I knew there was a great need in the Dominican Republic. So I began to pray for God to send labors here in the Dominican Republic. And just a few months later, I was praying that God would you send people down there? God began working on my heart and said, Well, you’re praying for people to go to the Dominican Republic. How about you go and be one of those labors? So God had answered that prayer that I had it was different than how I thought he would answer it. That’s how God brought us to come to the Dominican Republic and just laid this island on our hearts and these people on our hearts.

So now you’re there in the Dominican Republic, and you’ve been there since 2015. So you’re six years going on seven, I’m sure. And you’re living among the people. You’re in the real part of the Dominican Republic, as you say. And as we were talking about before the podcast began, you talked about how the people are very religious and the make up of people is very interesting, particularly the dynamic between the Dominican Republic and Haiti. So can you tell us a little bit about what the culture is like in the Dominican Republic? How do you handle those differences when you’re talking to religious people? Are you coming at them from the standpoint of addressing their doctrine? Or do you have to start back at the beginning, or do you find that they already have an understanding of who God is? And now it’s just a matter of straightening out their doctrine. How do you deal with those cultural and religious differences when you’re ministering to the people of the Dominican Republic. Well, the people here, they’re very friendly. We’re thankful there’s good relations between the United States and the Dominican Republican. And that gives us a lot of that helps us. I know a lot of places there’s some hostility or different things and things they have to work through, even just by being an American missionary there in their country. We’re thankful we don’t have to worry about any of that here. They’re very friendly. They’re very appreciative that we’re willing to try to learn their language and learn their culture. They’re very laid back. And I guess that can frustrate us oftentimes as American. And we’re very schedule oriented in most of the world is not especially here in the Caribbean. Missionaries. We joke sometimes that it’s island time and that you have to tell people 3 hours to show up before they’re really supposed to show up. I know we had a lady that we met. We were out passing out Flyers for VBS and we met her. And I said, hey, we’d love you to come to Church. And she said, I’ll be there. What time we’re having a Bible study. We’re starting a Church. We have the Bible study at 1030. And at 10:00, we have coffee and some snacks. We’d love for you to come out. She said, all right. She stopped by her house on her way to work the next day. 1030 right. I said, yes. 1030. She came by her house on Saturday. I’ll be there tomorrow at 1030. I said, Well, yes, we’re so excited because often they’ll tell you they’re coming to Church, but yet they just don’t want you to feel bad about them saying no. And so we’ll wait and see. We hope that they’re true to their work. And so Sunday came 10:00. I didn’t see her 1030. I didn’t see her. And it was about 12:00 when everybody was leaving, that they came in. Culturally, But the next Sunday, she was here right at 07:00 for the people here, they’re very friendly and they’re very religious. That’s all around the country. I know where we were at. And we worked in Santa Domingo with a veteran missionary for our first term here in the island. And we’d run into people that were religious and life in the big city is always faster paced and people have less time. Where you get out of these places, people are more laid back and talking with different national pastors and Christians. We began inquiring what is it like in the other places? Where do you see the greatest need? Where was it like where you grew up and everybody talked often about we’re in the Southern region of the Dominican Republic, in the city of Batona. And they said, Well, the Southern part there that’s the neediest place in the country there and along the Haitian and Dominican border. Okay, well, we began praying and God put in our hearts to come here. We came out here in January of this year, and you start talking to people and everybody is a Christian. We saw the same thing like it was in the capital. Oh, yeah, I’m a Christian, and we think, okay, well, I know that people talk about there’s such a need, but then you talk with people about their need for the gospel. Oh, yes, I’m a Christian. I go to Church. I do this. I do that. But then the further you develop these relationships with them, the more you see it’s a cultural Christianity or tradition based. And you begin to see, okay, they think they are Christian, but their idea of what it means to be a Christian, how to become a Christian is different often than what the Bible teaches. Theirs is Jesus plus tradition plus their Church attendance plus their families, religion plus their good works. I know, even with in vacation Bible school, I think it was the second night I was sharing the gospel. At the end of the lesson, I like to ask questions when I’m teaching and preaching, and I just asked the kids I had already shared the gospel, shared the need to be saved by faith. And I said, Can we be good enough to get to heaven? And do we have to be a good person to get to heaven and pretty much every single one of them? Yes, we do. And it was like, okay, I have my work cut out these kids. And, you know, it was interesting because by the time Friday came around, I asked that question about half of them said yes, and half of them said, no, it’s like, okay, working with. Okay, they’re religious. Many of them think they’re Christian, but trying to break it down. Okay. What are you trusting in or who are you trusting in? Are you trusting in Jesus? Plus what you can do or are you trusting in Jesus Christ alone, not your works, because if it were worse, we’d have something to boast of, like the Bible says. And so just trying to deconstruct almost that idea of, oh, yeah, I’m a good person. I’m a Christian. And to be able to get to them to the point to realize, no, it’s not me trusting in Jesus. It’s me trusting in Jesus Christ alone for Salvation. So that’s definitely something that we face. And we’re facing, even here in the Southern region, here in the Dominican Republic, about just trying to just take that patience in that time to almost get them to realize we’re not talking about what the Church teaches or what tradition teaches or what you may understand culturally. We’re taking everything back to the Bible. And this is what the Bible says, and that’s what we teach. And that’s what we preach. And that’s what we believe.

Sounds like you’ve got your work cut out for you, because when you’re talking about a cultural religion, not only are you dealing with barriers of wrong theology and wrong doctrine. But now you’re dealing with the social and familial expectations that might come with people, perhaps leaving their faith. Like, for example, I’ve witnessed quite a few Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons, and I’ve noticed that for them, it’s not just a religious thing, Catholics as well. It’s not just a religious thing. It’s a cultural thing. So turning from the faith to the one true God is not just turning from their old belief. It’s also turning from very strong ties of family bonds and their family takes it seriously. Some of them even goes so far as to shun them. So you’re not just dealing with the barrier of wrong theology. You’re also dealing with the barrier of cultural norms and traditions that would have to be broken if you’re going to repent of your religious beliefs and turn to the one true God. Have you found that to be true when you’re talking to people and you confront them with their need for a savior? But then they also think, oh, if I believe in Christ and I turn from my faith and turning my back on my family, or I’m turning my back on everything that I’ve always known. Have you found that to be a barrier when you speak to people as well? Thankfully, it’s not as bad as it is in lots of places. I know, missionary friends of ours, maybe in Southeast Asia and these different places where they would just be a complete cut off here. You deal with it some more of it is just okay. They’re a Christian. I know sometimes the dividing factor.

We have one of our neighbors that thankfully, the Lord allowed us to continue to build this relationship and let them realize that we’re not the enemy. I know you were inviting our different people in our street, and we were visiting with them. And I was talking with the wife and the husband said, the Lord put on our hearts. We’re here to start a Church. And they were so excited, even me and some of my Christian friends, we pray over this neighborhood that God would work. And I said, Well, the Lord’s answer your prayer is put on our hearts to come here and to plan a Church. They’re very excited. I know. Just a few days later, she was talking with my wife. She saw when we were outside, and she said, Well, I didn’t ask you, are you guys Pentecostal or what is your Church? She said, Well, we’re Baptist, and I don’t know what has happened or their idea of what a Baptist is, but she was very kind of taken back, and we noticed a cooling off after that for a little while. I know just from a little bit of what we’ve seen, what kind of churches were Baptist. And we’re going to start a Baptist Church, the Seven day Adventist. There’s a lot of them in the country, like Seven day Adventist, no Baptist or others that will say Baptist. They often know, oh, Baptist. And I’m not sure what’s happened in the city and people’s ideas of what a Baptist Church is. And so sometimes we may deal into that, oh, a Baptist Church. If it were Pentecostal Church or other things, it would be okay. But thank zoning. I know we had some children get saved recently and we were talking with their parents and we were wondering, OK, well, how are they going to respond to this? Because they’re religious, but they don’t go to Church. That’s their day to rest and to do different things. Thankfully, the kids have continued to come. We’re praying and trying to reach their parents, but we’re thinking, okay, well, how are they going to respond? We explain to them the decision that they made, and thankfully, that hasn’t been much of an issue yet. I know that we’ll probably run into some of it more in the future, but it still is dealing with that cultural aspect of what’s culturally Christianity and what we believe, how somebody can be saved and go to heaven. And what does the Bible teach and trying to help them to realize it’s not culture. We need to look at what the Bible has to say. Yeah, definitely. So on the top of culture, would you say that the culture is more of an accepted two or extra 17. You sound like you’re the act chapter two based on how you’re describing it. But what would you say? Yes. They have a basic idea of God of Jesus. A lot of times when you ask somebody, well, how are you doing? They’ll say, Well, I’m good. Thank the Lord for that. It’s in grain culture, and they’ll say it without even thinking as you greet people. Hey, good morning. God bless you. They may not even be a Christian, but it’s just kind of into their culture, and so definitely be more of a long that acts two mentality, but then just helping them say, okay, it’s Jesus. Plus nothing almost like what the Apostles did with the Jews of realizing it’s not tradition, it’s not and what we can do, but it’s in Jesus Christ. There’s no other name under heaven whereby we must be saved. Amen. Yeah, definitely. So you’re talking to someone who is burdened to go to the Dominican Republic.

What do you think they should keep in mind as they prepare to go serve things that were encouraged to us. And I seem to be true in our time that we’ve lived here is just to be patient, and it’s a daily process. It’s a step by step process. And you know where we are and we Minister. We don’t face some of these obstacles that other people face about. They may labor for years and just see a few people coming. And a few people say we’re able to start with at least some type of foundation, even though we have to undo some of these ideas and thoughts of it. And so just encourage them. There’s a great need down here if you look at it from a secular standpoint. People were listed as a Christian nation. But when you come here, you realize it’s Christian culturally many ways is what we see the United States, and that’s even moving beyond that. But there’s a difference between cultural Christianity and biblical Christianity, and so just encourage them to, yeah, in the world’s view, it’s a Christian nation, but there’s much work to be done, stirring the truth of the gospel. And it just takes time. And it’s just a daily building those relationships and sharing the truth of God’s word and trusting God to bring that increase that we can plant, we can water. But God is the one that works in their hearts.

Yes. Earlier we mentioned that the Dominican Republic shares an island, his Panorama with Haiti. How does migration from Haiti to Dominican Republic or vice versa affects your Ministry? Because, of course, Haitians speak French Creole. Dominican Republic speak Spanish. Do you find it that you have to learn Haitian Creole and also Spanish? So tell me about that dynamic and also tell me about your journey into learning Spanish. Yes. There’s definitely a lot of division between the Haitians and the Dominican Republic, and that stems from history. And the Haiti was in charge of the Dominican Republic for part of their history. And so it’s amazing how those things, even though it was many, many years ago, the Dominican Republic gained their independence. That mentality. And that thought process still continues. And there’s a big social difference between the two Islands. It’s a night and day compared to Haiti. The Dominican Republic is very prosperous from the United States. We look at the Dominican Republic. It’s a poor place. But then when you look at the two, it’s a night and day difference between Haiti and the Dominican Republic a lot of times. If there’s any type of problem, it’s just the Haitians, it’s what the Dominicans will say. And it’s like, Well, no, it’s not just lumping them all into it, really. It’s a sin problem. And it’s not just Haitians. Everybody, we’re all guilty of this. And I know something that we saw even when we were in the capital saying that just Dominicans, often not all of them, but often they look at, well, Haitians are second rate. They’re the ones that do the manual labor. They’re the ones that do that, even talking with Christians. And when they interact with people in the same Church that are Haitian that are living here in the Dominican Republic, sometimes you even see that negativity come across. And it’s something that, Stephanie, when you come here, there’s cultural things that you fight and cultural things that you don’t. They’re going to be late. You start on time, whether you’ve got one 5% of the people that are coming, you start on time. You try to encourage it. But there are other things that you fight. You fight the racism because God has made us all of one nation, of one blood, and we’re one human race. And those are things that we fight. Those are our brothers and sisters in Christ. God loves them just as much as he loves you. And so those are things that we work through some of the capital out here. The ratio is about the same between Haitians and the Dominicans because of our proximity to Haiti. And so we see that the mentality is a little better out here because there’s such an intro diversity and such a mixture of Haitians and the Dominicans. We’ll even see if there’s a lot of Chinese people that are coming to the Dominican Republic, and we’ll see hostility between the Dominicans and the Chinese. Well, they’re just trying to come here and get all our businesses and do this and get all our money and different things. And so you see that just those problems and obstacles between those two nations as well. And we try to teach them, well, this is what the Bible says that we are all one in Christ, our brothers and sisters. They were all created in the image of God. And it’s something that Steph and I, when we first saw it, we thought we both looked at it and said, We’re going to fight this. We know that we’re going to get people looking at saying, we’re crazy thinking, Well, you don’t know what this group did or that group did. We just from the get go. No, this is what the Bible says. The Bible says we are one in Christ. The Bible says that he’s created all of us in his image. The Bible teaches us that Christ died for all men. And so we see that even out here, there’s a lot more Haitians and Dominicans. And you see a lot of hostility, even from the government tortations.

I know if I go into the capital for whatever reason, maybe work on visa paperwork or get some supplies, I will go through at least four or five military checkpoints. And the biggest thing they’re doing is looking for Haitians that don’t have their paperwork and they’ll racial profile them. There was a man that worked across the street from us when we were in the capital, and he didn’t have his ID. He had his work visa, but he didn’t have it with them. So they sent him back to Haiti. And we just didn’t see him for a number of weeks because he got sent back, no money, no ID, nothing, and had to be able to get somebody to come help him so that he could come back to his house there in the capital. So you run into a lot of that. And just a lot of the different immigration rules are done not because of Americans, but because of Haitians. And so it’s drawn out the process for everybody trying to get visas and different things here. The Haitians here. They speak Spanish because they want to work and they want to get jobs. And so everything we do is in Spanish. I wish I knew Creole. I’d like to learn a little bit, but everything we do in the Church, we teach and freed. We Minister in Spanish. Lord William, I’m still working on my Spanish. I’d like to learn some Creole, even just some conversational. I know there’s a Haitian pastor that’s in the town, and he wants me to teach in a seminary. And he said, Well, you can learn it just about a month. I said, think it’ll take me a little longer than a month to learn a French Creole, but maybe we’ll see about the future. I’d like to learn a bit of Creole Spanish. I think it’s an easier language to learn. It’s not Mandarin or my wife spent a summer in Cambodia and she said that they studied Cambodian while they were there with Kamai, and she’s looking at that. My head doesn’t work like that. My brain doesn’t function with the symbols and all that. That’s in Spanish. When I was in high school and in College and when I was in College, I knew God would put it on my heart to come here. So I began to apply myself, like many people that take foreign language and American high schools, it’s just to get the grade and you forget everything you learn. But Thankfully, I knew God had already worked in my heart about coming to the Dominican Republic, so I was able to dive into it and studied while we were on Deputy, my wife and I, we both took language school with the man that taught in the Christian school where we were at. I took six months, and my wife, she worked on the language for about a year and a half. It’s just a process. There are words that I learn every week and just reviewing and just thankful that the people have a lot of patience with our mistakes or on my bad pronunciation.

Yeah, definitely. And you mentioned the Chinese being in the Dominican Republic. I can tell you they’re all over the Caribbean, and I think the reception to the Chinese is probably similar all over Caribbean. I’m not saying it’s right. I’m just saying that it’s pretty much the same in every Caribbean country I’ve been in. Yeah, definitely. What are some needs that if they were filled, that would make your job easier or your mission easier in sharing the gospel of the Dominican Republic. Some of the needs, whatever those needs might be, whether it’s financial, spiritual, practical, whatever they are, what are some needs that you have as a family or perhaps as a Church, that if you had those needs fulfilled, that it would make your job easier in terms of sharing the gospel in that country. The biggest thing is prayer, and people would just pray that God would not only just use us and give us opportunities, but that God would just work on the hearts and lives of the people. And like we had mentioned earlier, it is a process undoing these cultural things. If they’re an adult, it’s been for years and years. They’ve heard it. And it’s set in just praying that God would remove these Blinders. Satan has people blinded by religion and blinded by their own righteousness. And just the biggest thing is the prayers that God would just work through His word. He’s promised us that he would, but that God would continue to work on the people as they hear the word of God preached and the gospel preached. And they would just see that it’s not them, but it’s Jesus Christ. And then even after that, looking at, I know often even the mystery that I work with. We took a number of Sundays to work through the idea of spiritual security coming from that idea of I have to work my way to heaven. I have to be a good enough person, even when they realize, oh, it’s not me. It’s trusting in Christ and they’re saved. Then they struggle with, oh, am I going to lose my Salvation? And that comes from that same idea? It’s what I can do. And even once they’re saved, trying to work on them and help them realize, no, what’s done is done. We have already passed from death unto life, just the power of prayer that God would work, that God would move, that God would just help them to see. And I was just talking with one of our supporting churches recently, the Missions Conference. And it was the same thing that God would just work through, removing these cultural this mindset to see the truth of the gospel and to see the need of a savior. So that’s by far the greatest need, we’re thankful for the support of our churches that we’re at the full support that we need financially. And it’s just with the prayer support. And it’s such an encouragement to know that people are praying for for us. And I don’t know if people realize it’s. Just this morning, I was going through my emails before I got rolling with the day and somebody said, hey, you are a missionary yesterday in Church, and I want to email you and check on you. And we were praying for you. And there are any other specific prayer requests that you have, and that does wonders for us missionaries just knowing that people are praying because we know they are, but even just a word of encouragement saying, hey, we’re praying for you. How can we pray more specifically for the work there in the Dominican,

right? Is there anything the Church in the US is doing that make your mission more difficult in the Dominican Republic? Well, I know the mentality here in the Dominican Republic, the missionaries that came in here in the 60s and 70s, some in the Northern part and the capital and some of the bigger cities. I know some of the things that trying to find the right balance while we’re here, the man that we work with, he helps a number of national pastors start churches all around the island and some in some other countries and just seeing that mentality and even speaking with these national pastors about what involvement do American churches have and what do they need? I know talked with some people, they think, oh, I need an American missionary if I’m going to plan a Church and we tell them, Well, no, you don’t need an American missionary. You need to do what God asks us to do. God expects churches to reproduce, to go out and to reach and to preach and to baptize those that are saved. As a disciple. Paul, when he ran around to these places, he established churches and he left people that were leading these churches. He ordained these elders in those cities that could pass to the Church. And they kept on doing the same thing. So I know one of the things that sometimes that we see here is just from different practices with missions here is people think, oh, I need missionaries. If I’m going to buy property or if I’m going to build a building or if I want to start a Church, I need to have funding and backing from the United States, and that can go against what the Bible teaches, that we’re called to go do it wherever we are. And, yes, it’s been a great help. And churches have done great work through the missionaries and helping them. But I know it’s one of the things that just trying to find that right balance. How much do we help them financially and how much do we let them do it so that they can, in turn, replicate that model when we’re not here because we don’t want to handicap them. Thankfully, there’s a great political climate on this side of the island. I know there’s a lot of problems in Haiti politically now, and there’s a lot of stability here, but something may happen, and we may have to leave as missionaries, and we want to leave models that people, whether there’s an American missionary or not, they say, Well, we can do this because this is God’s plan. And if it’s God’s plan and there’s God’s enablement to do His plan. And so I know that that can be something that can be kind of a double edged sword. Yes, you need money to set up. You need money to be here, to be supported, to work on the mission field so that we can serve here full time. But just finding that balance of how much do we get in and help them and how much do we let them do it, knowing that it will take longer, but knowing that we’re preparing them for, they say they don’t need American mission dollars to do what God has expected the Church to do since Jesus Christ gave his disciples that great Commission.

Yeah. You seem like you need to break that tie and allow them to trust in God and not in the missions on the missionary. Yes. It’s definitely trying to find that right balance, because everybody you talk to kind of sets themselves up and maybe further one way or further the other and just praying the Lord, how much would you have us to do? And how much would you have us to just step back and say we are going to lead the way. But we are all in this together. And God has called us as a Church to be self supporting, that they can support their pastor and that they can be self propagating and sharing the gospel. And there they got an established man there that’s the national leading the work. And so just finding that right balance. And so that’s thing that we’re still working on and that we’re still praying about it, how much do we jump in and how much do we hold back? And we just want to jump in 110% to get the job done so that we can go to these other places that have needs in the island. It’s like, okay, well, how can we best set them up so they can in turn, because we don’t want Church to start churches that are looking for. Oh, we can’t start another Church unless an American missionaries here. We want to start churches that can, in turn go out and start churches just like we see in the Book of Acts. Yeah. Amen

you’re listening to the Removing Barriers podcast? We’re sitting over the missionary Tim from the Dominican Republic and learning all about his mission field. We’ll be right back.

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All right, Tim. So we want to go into a bit of a fun section. Find out some of your favorites.

What is your favorite scripture verse? My favorite verse is two Corinthians, four, seven. That we have this treasure in Earth and vessels. That the excellence of the power, maybe of God and not of us. It’s just a good reminder that when we feel able or when we don’t feel able, the Excellency, the powers from God. And then when we start thinking we’ve got it settled, we need to remember that we’re just Earth and vessels and that he’s the one that hits one that’s helping us to if we do anything, it’s only because of Christ. Amen that’s good.

What is your favorite Bible or biblical historical account? Some folks will call them Bible stories, but here they’re moving Barriers podcasts. We call them historical accounts because we believe everything in the Scripture is literally true. What would you say is your favorite biblical historical account? That’s a hard one. Just to pick one. I like going through my favorite book and just that whole narrative is going through John. We just went through it here in the Bible study and just who is Jesus and just walking through and all the Gospels. It’s interesting, but I like going through John and just really seeing Jesus and just his passion and seeing his teaching and just seeing that back and forth between him and the Pharisees. So I guess just that gospel narrative, but specifically there in the book of John, what is the most convicted Scripture passage to you? Well, there’s a number of them, and sometimes it depends on what the message is. I know even last night we were listening, we were participating in our sending Church’s Missions conference. We zoomed in and the guest speaker was preaching and Steph and I were both my wife. We just kind of looked to each other and was like, Ouch. Well, that was good. It was on Zoom, and so we had our mic muted and we were just commenting, shaking our head. Nobody could see us. But the preacher didn’t take it easy on this last night there at the Church. But still I think back to my life first, that two Corinthians four, seven, because it really both ways, whether I don’t feel able what God is able or whether I might man, well, look at that and just be tempted to maybe have that pride, realizing it’s not about us. That whole passage is great. The second Corinthians four, one through seven Amen.

Thank you for sharing that because I’m no missionary in a foreign land or anything, but even in your own home, you may feel overwhelmed with what God has called you to do. And sometimes it could be easy to give in to despair, like I can’t do this or give up. But remembering that the Excellency is of Christ, it’s the Lord. It’s not of you. And if you’re not able, he is. And so you get up, you dust yourself off and you put your faith in trust in what the Lord has promised and allow him to strengthen you and enable you to go do what He’s told you to do. So that’s really awesome. Thank you for sharing that. What would you find to be the most comforting scripture passage to you? I guess it depends on what’s going on in life. Maybe if it’s something that maybe I’m worried or concerned about going back to Philippians four, six and seven, and thinking about that God’s piece that passes all understanding will keep our hearts and minds. I guess it depends on what’s going on in life and whether it’s maybe with worry or just with feeling alone or just discouraged and just kind of going back through. I was like the end of Herbic, where Herbac said, no matter what’s going on, even if all these things fail, that I’ll rejoice in the God of my Salvation, and he plants our feet like Hind feet, and he’s God and he’s good all the time.

What was your favorite? Him of the fate it is. Well, it’s still my all time favorite. I’ve got a lot of them I like, but that’s still my all time favorite. Why is that, too? I like how the hymn writer, just how he walks through it, how he kind of presents his case there in the first verse about whatever my lot taught me just to stay and then talking about our sin and how even when Satan attacks us, that he’s with us and then just ending with the coming of Jesus Christ, it’s just the Christian life, realizing that he is all sufficient and looking at how that he saved us and how even when we’re attacked he’s there and how he’s coming back for us, it’s. Well, then as well,

would you say that you have a favorite giant of the faith? And if so, who would that be? It’s not anybody, specifically. Currently, I’ve been reading through first and Second Samuel and First Kings, and just looking at the life of David. I know that it’s an encouragement and a challenge. And I’m glad that the Lord included David from the good and the bad, just to see these people, that they were real, that they had struggles, but yet that they trusted the Lord or even with Moses, and just reading through in his life and saying that he was a meekman, as the Bible says, but just to see how he got frustrated in the work and how that okay. If Moses he’s the one who got to know the Lord face to face and speak to him as a man who speaks with his friend just to see the struggles that he goes through. And yet the Lord sustains him. The Lord was patient with him and that God will do the same with me. So I like Moses. And I like David, especially in the Old Testament for those reasons. Yeah, definitely.

What are some of the biggest barriers to the people of the Dominican Republic to receive in the Gospel just overcoming that. It’s not religion that saves it’s, not tradition that saves it’s, not just being a good person, but it’s trusting in Christ alone. And when you talk to them about it, they’ll say it. I’ll say, Well, how are we saved? How can we be saved? And they’ll say, through Jesus’death on the cross, they’ll give you those answers. But yet you come to realize that it’s still that it’s Jesus plus something. And so just trying to help them to realize it’s not our own righteous because those are just filthy rags, as the Bible says. But it’s the Christ righteousness that we’re saved and trusting in Him alone.

Okay, so let’s imagine that there are people in our audience, which I’m sure there might very well be people in our audience that have that same hang up that have that same barrier of Jesus plus whatever fill in the blank, share the Gospel with us and with them. How can that barrier be removed? How can someone who’s trusting in Jesus plus be saved looking at the Bible and seeing what the Bible has to say. I know we were speaking it’s been a number of years ago now with family member and she’s of another faith and just a lot of the same terminology and speaking with her. And yes, we believe the same things that Jesus died on the cross for us and that we’re saved through Him and just diving into it, realizing even looking at some of their pamphlets and literature and saying, I remember showing this family member and saying, Well, here, even in your own literature, it says, trusting in Jesus death on the cross and following His Commandments, and then you can be saved. And a lot of times people don’t even realize that they’re trusting in themselves. I know. I’m sure that you all have as well a number of people that grew up in great churches that heard the gospel. I know somebody that just even recently heavily involved in the Church and said, for years, I knew, well, I don’t think I’m saved and on the one side, well, I do this and I do this and I do this and I’m involved in Church and I try to sing and I try to go out and evangelize it and just try to keep giving that list of what we do and how the Lord just continued to work on His heart and say, Well, no, it’s not what we do. Who are you trusting in that you’re showing fruit of Salvation, or are you trusting it that I’ve truly saved you. And so just going back to the word of God, that God’s word is sufficient, that Christ’s sacrifice was sufficient. If we were saved by good works, then Christ, his sacrifice wasn’t good enough. That’s always a sobering thought, because Jesus lived that sinless life. He was born, he lived, he died for our sins. He completed God’s work here. God accepted His sacrifice, and we see that Jesus was raised from the dead, that God was satisfied, that he was our propitiation, that sin covering, and that if it’s what we can do to be saved, then God Himself couldn’t what his sacrifice himself wasn’t enough. And what he did, if it’s what we can do to be saved, and it lessens that wonderful sacrifice that Christ did on the cross. If it’s what we can do, to be saved. Nobody wants to hear that they’re a bad person and we like to be in control. We like to do things and we like, just give me the steps to do and I’ll do it. It’s not anything that we can do. It’s what Christ has already done and trusting in that. So I just encourage people. Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient. It’s not prayers. It’s not being a good person. It’s not Church attendance. Baptism. It’s not. Oh, well, look at all these things that I do for the Lord. It’s trusting in Jesus Christ alone for Salvation and just encouraging those of you witnessing to people like that just to keep sharing the truth of God’s word, keep building those relationships with them and keep praying that God would use His word to work on their hearts, and God’s Spirit would continue to convict them and show them their need of a savior.

Amen Missionary Tim, thank you so much for joining us on the Removal Barriers podcast. Thank you so much for this opportunity and thank you for the great work. I know it’s eye opening. I know even to listen to some of these others, just to see these different barriers and just to evaluate things in my own life. Just thank you again for doing this and just reaching out and sharing with people how they can reach others with the gospel. Thank you, brother.

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