March 22-30, 2026

Outreach Reflections

Our return trip from the Dominican went well. Connections were made, and travel was smooth. We did have an hour’s delay to get the toilets fixed on the plane, but after that, all was well. We arrived home around 2am Tuesday.

Today, Wednesday, I feel almost caught up with sleep and being in the correct time zone. It is an odd thing to be in another country preaching and teaching and then be home, resting and recovering. I feel like I should be going somewhere to teach and meet with people.

As I look back, I think of the verse, Isaiah 55:11 where God says, “So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” I think of all the times that we spoke the words of God and all of the ears that heard those words. I know that God’s word has been having its effect upon those people.

I have to say that I absolutely loved all the times of preaching and teaching. Though it was a heavy schedule, I would readily do it again, and then some! It has been a great privilege to be used of God to change the lives of the people in the Dominican. I enjoyed meeting with the pastors and the people in their churches. I am glad that in every church, it was more than just pastors and leaders who showed up. I am glad that God changed the plan to include anyone who wanted to come.

I am prayerful that the seminars will help them all to understand God through His word more and more. The pastors who were at the seminars asked for us to come back and give some more teaching, so I am prayerful that we can go back and teach some more material some time in the future. We do hope to get a team together from my church to go in early August so that they can experience God at work through them as they take part in various ministries and maybe even building a house. Do pray that some will take the opportunity to go and be changed.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support. The trip was fully funded and fully prayed for. I believe God showed up through us and you were a large part of that. I hope to get some pictures on the website soon. If you are nearby, we will be sharing stories and pictures at New Community Church of Union in the early evening of Sunday, April 12th, likely around 6pm.

Michael

Sunday, March 29, 2026

The day is now into its eve, and I am glad to not have any more commitments on the schedule. The preaching and teaching are over and I can rest. I do not have to preach tonight. And I realize, now that I don’t have to stay primed for the next teaching, that I am more tired than I thought.

This morning’s service went well. It was a long, but good service. After I preached, a few of the people asked for me to pray for them, which was a privilege to do. The pastor was happy with the message and asked me to come back and preach again.

We will finish off our time here with supper at a restaurant that is located on the top of a hill that overlooks the city of Santiago. I am looking forward to the meal and more so, to the views.

Tomorrow we will pack our stuff and fly out of Santiago at 1:30pm. We fly into Miami, layover there for about 2.5 hours and then onto Seattle. We will arrive in Seattle just after midnight. Kyle’s wife, Sarah, will pick us up and we should be home somewhere around 2am.

Please continue to pray that we remain healthy and stay vigilant about the water. Pray for a good flight and connections. Pray also for a very good sleep tonight.

Once again, thank you for praying for us, it has made a difference to us. When I return home, I will write some more as I reflect back on the Outreach to the DR.

Michael

Saturday, March 28, 2026

Saturday is almost over here in the D.R. We are soon to be off to supper.

The day started earlier than the others as we needed to leave at 8am to get to the District Conference where I would be speaking. There was a bit of confusion and miscommunication regarding the time when I would be speaking. My interpreter was not aware of the correct time, but we got hold of him in time for him to make it to the conference. I was quite glad to see him show up!

The sermon went very well and was well received by the pastors and leaders who were there. There was a fair amount of interaction with the audience, which I took to be a good thing. It meant they were listening and staying with me. I was very glad and humbled to have the opportunity to address the conference.

After the conference, we travelled to Porto Plata to enjoy lunch and the ocean. Though I did not go swimming, I did stand in the water for a while and enjoyed the surf and sand. Kyle did not come in the water, but he also enjoyed standing on the beach enjoying God’s creation.

So, now I have only one more sermon to go. Tomorrow I will speak at the church in Santiago. We are now staying at Rick and Tammie’s home. They have a nice place and Kyle and I get our own bedrooms.

Please continue to pray for our health and strength. We are both feeling good. I did not sleep well last night and am quite tired today. I am in need of a good sleep. Please also pray for the sermon to go well tomorrow. I want to finish well and bless the church from the words of God.

Thank you for all of your prayer support that has kept us safe and healthy so far. One more to go before we travel back on Monday.

I will report back tomorrow.

Michael

Friday, March 27, 2026

It is almost 2pm as I write this update to you. This morning we travelled to the boy’s rehabilitation center. As we did the previous day in the men’s rehab center, we sang some songs, Kyle shared his testimony, and I spoke. Today, I told the story of Gideon. I always enjoy telling the Bible stories, and it seems that the boys enjoyed the stories as well. I was told that all of the boys stayed engaged and interested in the story.

This afternoon we get to enjoy some time off until supper and then travel 1/2 hour to a church for the next and last seminar I will do. The seminar went well last night, though the service was longer because they sang for about 45 minutes before it was my turn to teach. The people at the church were engaged and even answered the few questions that I asked. The pastor was thankful and said he hoped I would come back again to do some more teaching.

The time here has gone by fairly quickly. The days have been full and I have enjoyed these full days. By the end of the day, I will have presented five 1.5 hour seminars in five different churches and spoken twice more and the rehabilitation centers. We are almost done; hard to believe.

Tomorrow, I will be speaking at the Alliance District Conference in Santiago. I am not sure the exact time I will be speaking, but the session starts at 11am. Please do pray that I speak well and that my sermon connects with the audience. Pray also for my translator as this will be a different message that he has to learn. Pray that God will show up in the words as I speak. Once I am finished with the speaking, we will have the rest of the day off.

Currently, we are staying out at the mission site, but Saturday through Monday, we will stay with Rick and Tammie at their apartment in Santiago. Kyle and I will get our own rooms. No more of my snoring for Kyle to put up with! Also, we will have hot water for our showers! So far, we have been showering without any hot water. It is supposed to work, but it has not. Makes for a refreshing start to the day!

As far as health goes, I am doing well. I had a bit of a lesser day yesterday, but nothing serious – I just felt somehow “off”. Today I feel well again.

Please continue to pray for us so that we will finish well. Pray for the seminar tonight and for the preaching tomorrow.

Until the next update,

Michael

Thursday, March 26, 2026

Yesterday’s activities went very well. We had a great morning at the village we visited. We visited five families in the same village where Mission 2535 built a church. The first family we visited lived in a house that was built for them by Mission 2535 also, just one month ago.

For every family we visited, we brought them a very hefty bag of groceries. We then told them our testimony. I only spoke once, while Kyle spoke the other times. After the testimonies were given, we would pray for them.

They were all very appreciative of the time that we spent with them, sharing Christ and praying for them. They were welcoming and receptive. To my knowledge, most of them were Christians. One woman said she was not, but she wanted to have more conversations about Christ at a later time.

In the afternoon, we toured the property of Mission 25235 and then went for supper before the evening training. The church we travelled to was about 1.5 hours away. Once again, the church was full of families, including very young children. The adults were very engaged in the seminar – the most so far – and I had a great time teaching them.

The church was encouraged and desired that we come back to teach them again.

As I write to you now, it is now Thursday afternoon, and we have a bit of down time. This morning we went to a men’s rehabilitation center. There were about 25 men at the center. Kyle gave his testimony and I preached. We then shared some snacks with them and left.

Tonight we are going to one of the pastor’s houses for a meal and then off to the next church for the seminar. I suspect that the whole church will be out to the service again.

My interpreter is great and we are working well together.

Tomorrow’s schedule looks similar to today. In the morning we will be going to a youth rehabilitation center for a testimony and a sermon or Bible Study, then off to another ministry in the afternoon, and another seminar in the evening. Tomorrow’s seminar will be the last time I give the seminar. Then I will focus on preaching Saturday and Sunday.

Thanks again for praying. Please continue to do so. My health remains good, but I am certainly tiring.

Michael

Wednesday, March 25, 2026

Yesterday was a long, but good day. We started out with a nice casual breakfast, visiting with the staff here as well as a couple of the pastors that we are working with. After breakfast, we went out to a village where Mission 2535 is building a house for a single mom with one child and another on the way. She currently lives in a shack made from tin – both walls and roof. It is about the size of a garden shed. The house she will receive is many times bigger and made of brick and wood. What a difference this house will make for her and her children’s lives!

We then went for lunch and loaded up in the car to make the four hours journey to the church where I was to be speaking. We experienced some rush hour traffic and then some very nice, green countryside and small towns. The roads were fairly good but loaded with potholes and some unexpected speed bumps!

We arrived at the church with time to spare. Once again, it was not just a group of pastors and leaders, but the whole church came out, even children and babies! So I adapted the presentation of the material to fit the audience. The presentation takes about 1 1/2 hours with the interpreter. Although it was very noisy in the church, it was well received and they asked me to come back to teach again.

We drove home after that, and it only took three hours as there was no rush hour traffic. We arrived at home about midnight and slept well last night.

Today, we are touring the Mission 2535 compound, going to a village to visit and pray with people, and then off to another church for the seminar. The church is only 1 1/2 hours away, so the day will not be quite as long.

Thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray for us.

Michael

Tuesday, March 24, 2026

So much has happened since we headed to the airport on Sunday. We arrived in the D.R. on schedule. The flights were good though we did have trouble sleeping on the plane. We certainly were not refreshed when we arrived.

We were picked up at the airport and driven to our accommodations at Mission 2535, where we were able to get some sleep before leaving to the first training event in the evening.

When we arrived at the church, it was clear that this was more than a training event for pastors and leaders of the church. Many others from the church were at the event as well. It felt more like a regular church service than a training event.

This meant that I had to adjust the presentation of the material to the group. Instead of a training seminar, it felt more like a lecture to a classroom. I was still able to use the notes that I had given them, and I covered more material than they thought they were getting!

My interpreter was fabulous and we worked very well together. The presentation went smoothly and was received very well. I was informed that they wished I could have given them another hour of material. So that is a good indication that the material was worth teaching.

Today, in about an hour, we will leave to travel to the next city for the same seminar. We suspect it will be a lot like last night’s event. We are driving to Los Miches which is a four-hour drive! The seminar begins at 7om and will likely last two hours like last night. This means that we will be back home at around one in the morning!

Please continue to pray for our health and strength(we are both well so far, just tired), as well as our safety in travelling. Please also continue to pray that the seminar goes well and is received as well as it was last night.

Michael