(fb)

Day 8 (Saturday) Reflections from the DR: Mr. Freeman- As we headed home early this morning, Kathryn, Bethany, and I continued our conversation about each individual student and how proud and thankful we were for them. Our long day of travel was filled with delays and challenges, but, just like they had done all week, our students demonstrated an attitude of worship to God, love for each other, and an ability to adapt to unknown situations. Liberty Christian School has a long history with Freedom International Ministries dating back to its inception in 2008. Kathryn and I have seen their ministry grow from the beginning and Bethany and her family spent 3 years as missionaries at Freedom. This trip was an incredible opportunity to recognize how God is being glorified by the work of the missionaries, staff, and students at Freedom. Each time we have the opportunity to partner with Freedom, I am struck by the similarities between our school in Anderson and their school in the Dominican Republic. Although there are obvious differences in culture, economics, language, and location, ultimately, we are called to love people as God loves us. Both schools exist to equip their students to passionately impact their world for Christ. We are so thankful to have had the opportunity to lead this specific trip with this specific group. These seniors are already impacting their world for Christ and we saw that on display in many ways this week. Each student spent time this week working with elementary age Dominican students on learning English through worship, activities, and games. Several of our students used the gifts that God has given them to make a huge difference on the construction team. We even had the opportunity to travel into the communities surrounding the school to present the gospel to more kids and our students boldly proclaimed the gospel by sharing their testimonies in front of churches full of people. We spent our evenings in fellowship with the missionaries, receiving outstanding Biblical instruction, and having authentic conversations with our team about their lives and God’s plan for them. As we return to our homes and communities, our prayer for these students is that they will pursue a closer relationship to God each day and find ways to love people as God loves us. We want the experiences that they have had to shape them into who God created them to be. We believe that our school and our community will be forever changed as we seek to worship God right where we are at. (fb)