A typical week for La Represa ministries includes daily Bible programs in the K-6 grade school and baseball ministry devotionals and practices for 7- to 18-year-old boys. Over the last two months, we have been unable to hold these activities because of the Dominican COVID-19 restrictions. Since many families are without work and government assistance is limited, food has become a great need for many families. This gave us a new opportunity to serve at La Represa.
On Easter weekend, the La Represa ministry delivered bags of rice, beans, corn, bread, and oil to the 160 families involved in the ministries. This includes our elementary school students and staff, as well as our boys in baseball ministry. This week we will distribute food again, but this time to every family in the community (over four times what we distributed weeks ago). New Vision Baptist Church from TN and volunteers from its local church plant, Iglesia Bautista Nueva Vision, are helping make this distribution possible. We are praying for opportunities to share the Gospel as we deliver the food to each house and explain the reason for this giveaway.
Another optimistic aspect of these unexpected months has been sponsor communications. Although many packages for sponsor children remain stateside because of travel restrictions, we have been able to continue email communication. Various children have been excited to receive letters and pictures from their sponsors, and it is so rewarding to see sponsors and children connect during this time. We have also experienced an increase in sponsors for our older kids who have never had sponsors before. This is a huge blessing for which we are very grateful!
As a family ministry, one of the events that was most disappointing to postpone was a weekend family event. We were planning to host a ‘family night’ filled with activities, followed by a day of family photo sessions. People in La Represa do not have many printed pictures of their families, so we planned to get their pictures printed and framed for them to display. This event will be postponed for a later date once the restrictions are lifted.
Many unknowns remain as we plan for the future of ministry during pandemic re-entry phases. We are unsure if we will be able to hold our third annual summer baseball tournament or other summer activities. We are hopeful that everything will resume before August to kick off the new school year together, and we plan to welcome our first post-COVID mission team in October. This annual baseball project will work with the baseball ministry in discipleship, clinics, field maintenance, and other community involvement. Ministry has looked different for us in the days of COVID-19, but we are grateful for opportunities to continue serving the community of La Represa and preparing for the future.
You can read more about Kristi and Alejandro Reyes by clicking here:
You can find out more information about SCORE’s Child Sponsorship program by clicking here: https://scoreintl.org/