Samana: Receiving Radical Hospitality

We learned about domestic violence, we sang and played games.  We met in a 190 year old Mrthodist church that haf been transported from England.  We spent the night in Ramona's home, so gracious a host.

Meeting Time

The Presbyterian Women's team in the Dominican Republic is meeting on the top floor the hostel with this gorgeous view.

Our Awesome Visit Today

We visited with the four Women's Associations of Iglesia  Evangelica Dominica in Higuey, which is two hours from Santo Domingo.  We all enjoyed wonderful lunch at Pastor Valentin  Mercedes and Lucy Paniaguas  home.

A beautiful Sunday

From beginning to end, today belongs to God.  We worshipped at the Protestant Dominican Church of Santo Domingo.  Reverend Miguel Cancu delivered the rousing sermon on Daniel and honored the 30 youth present.
This is a picture from the top of the hotel.

Thank you, Chef Oral!

A very fine breakfast!

Prayer for breakfast.

We prayed in Dutch.

We get ready to travel today!

Our group will fly out of Montego Bay, going to the Dominican Republic.

Visits

Thank you for your gracious hospitality!

Human Trafficking International

I learned the score of Arizona on antihuman trafficking from three wise Caribbean women.  Visit Shared Hope to learn more.

Sharing expectations for the Caribbean Global Exchange.

Lunch in Jamaica

Our schedule begins with all twenty-two Presbyterian women arriving in Montego Bay Airport on November 4, 2014.  We are all holding Horizons magazines to show that we are Presbyterian women's Global Exchange.  We are shuttling to the Madge Saunders Conference Centre.  For those who would  like to read more about Reverend Madge Saunders' contributions, then click on her name.  Thank you to the Caribbean and North American Council on Missions who invited the Presbyterian Women Presbyterian Church USA.

Predinner meeting to review our notebooks. Theresa, Linda, Nicole, Leslene.

In Charlotte NC

Sent from my Verizon Wireless Phone

Eagerly waiting at the airport in Tucson, Arizona to begin the journey, the Global Exchange to the Caribbean.  My prayer is, "God give me the opportunities to show my devotion to you.  I don't ask primarily for comfort or riches or ease or security.  God give me the opportunities to show my devotion to you."

A Moment for Mission: A Mustard Seed

A small mustard plant

Matthew 17:20 NIV 

20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Tomorrow is Sunday, October 26, 2014, and I present the Presbyterian Women's Global Exchange to Northminster Presbyterian Church.  In this Moment for Mission, my hope is to plant a seed of hope that will branch out in faith and bear fruit in love; all through the Jesus Christ for the Glory of God.

Visions of hope in the islands of the sea.

As a part of our mission preparation, we read the following books:

• Stories from Blue Latitudes:  Caribbean Women Writers at Home and Abroad edited by Elizabeth Nunez and Jennifer Sparrow.
• Vision of Change:  A Caribbean Perspective by Joan M. Purcell.
• Memoirs of a Woman in Politics:  Spiritual Struggle by Joan M. Purcell.
• When Helping Hurts, expanded edition by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert.
• Toxic Charity:  How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help (And How to Reverse It) by Robert D. Lupton.
• Caribbean Connections:  The Dominican Republic by Anne Calen, Ruth Glasser and Jocelyn Santa.

I invite you to pick a book and share or read a review of it in the Horizons Magazine.

The Dominican Republic: The First Permanent European Settlement in the Americas

After arriving in Jamaica, the Presbyterian Women mission members will participate in an orientation, and then be divided into three groups with one group going to the  Dominican Republic.  As a member of this group, I am looking forward to meeting our Global Exchange partners. 

The two remaining groups will travel to Curaçao  and Guyana.  Each group will spend a week in one of the three Caribbean countries and then return to Jamaica for processing.  We have been studying and communicating in preparation for the mission journey.

For where two or more are gathered in my name, there am I with them. Matthew 18:20

We are blessed to have as our host the Caribbean and North America Council for Mission.  Their mission is to "bear common witness, to challenge and empower one another for creative involvement in mission.  There is a common understanding that mission begins at home.  All are invited to being in their Jerusalem, then to Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth."

As the journey begins...

The blog is a travel journal for a Presbyterian woman who is representing the Presbyterian Women in the Synod of the Southwest in the Caribbean Exchange.
For more information about the Presbyterian Women's 2014 Global Exchange visit Presbyterian Women's Global Exchange.
A thank you for support goes to Presbyterian Women in Presbytery de Cristo, Presbyterian Women in Presbytery of the Grand Canyon, Presbyterian Women in the Synod of the Southwest, the Synod of the Southwest, Presbyterian Women in Northminster Presbyterian Church of Tucson, Presbyterian Women in First Presbyterian Church of Mesa, Presbyterian Women in Westminster Presbyterian Church of Roswell, New Mexico. Thank you to these ladies who have encouraged and supported me in this mission journey:  Jean, Sharon, Ibolya, Judy, Bonnie, Annie, Dixie, Cheryl, Janna, Lily, Judith, Susan, Cynthia, Julia and Ruth.  Thank you to Peggy Free, Moderator of PW in the Synod of the Southwest for encouragement and to Pastor Pete Seiferth of Northminster for recommending me for the Global Exchange to the Caribbean.