Salgado D.R. Mission Newsletter 19

Dear mission partners, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ. We are presently back in the United States for a visit. It is great to take the opportunity to see family and friends. The kids get the chance to see their old friends, and today they got to see fresh snow fall for the first time! They were pretty excited about it. There is none of that in the DR (or Florida either for that matter, lol). And although we love to be here as it refreshes and recharges us, we miss our brothers and sisters in the DR. We are currently in Tennessee as I write this, but we wanted to share a  few different reasons why we are here on this trip.

1) Our children do their schooling through Florida virtual school. They do everything online, but they do have to be here every year to take the FCAT test. Last year we were unaware of another test called the FCAT writes in February which is only for fourth graders. We got back to the United States after the test was given and our daughter Maya almost failed because of her not taking it. Thankfully, after pleading a bit with the school officials, they gave her a break. This year our son Antonio is in the fourth grade, so we knew he had to be here in time to take it. The actual FCAT is in April, and we will return to the DR shortly after their testing.

2) Many people do not know this, but my wife’s father has alzheimers and dementia. This has been very hard on her with us serving in a foreign country. He was actually diagnosed right before our family moved. This visit back home gives the family a chance to spend time with him as his health has unfortunately declined in a short period of time. This has been a struggle for Christen, and we have done our best in praying and trying to discern God’s will in this, but we truly feel that the Lord has confirmed time and time again that we are where we should be. We are trusting God. Only He can give a peace that surpasses all understanding, even when faced with difficult circumstances (Philippians 4:6-7). It is a blessing to have a wife who sees the importance of of putting God and His glory above all things (Matthew 10:37, Matthew 19:29), even when life gets hard. But we ask that you please please pray for her and the family.

3) With our situation of being independent in the sense of where our support comes from, we try to take the opportunity to share with other churches our ministry and the many wonderful things that God is doing there in the DR. We travel to different churches and speak, but there is actually only one church that supports us financially, which is our sending church of Romeo Baptist where I previously served as the Youth Minister/Associate Pastor. The rest of our support comes from individuals and families from different areas that have come along side of us as mission partners. We have been blessed to have relationships with some churches who have blessed us by sending us such things as clothes, school supplies, food, sports equipment, and medicine. But we actually operate on a tiny budget (which we never met before leaving) compared to most missionaries. We went there on faith and felt very strongly that this was God’s will for us through the study of His Word, much prayer, and a series of circumstances and ways that He began to provide. We have been there almost two years now and God has been faithful in providing for us.

Although we have not missed a meal since moving to the mission field, everything costs money, especially in the ministry. The area we minister to is very poor and many of the people there have little to no income.The needs are great, but their greatest need is Christ. So we share our ministry with others in hopes that God will open doors to continue to serve there and reach people with the Gospel and make disciples to the glory of God. I never ask for money from the pulpit, we simply make available our contact information if someone asks, on how to give if someone feels led to. We share and pray and depend on God to move on people’s hearts. If you are already giving to this ministry, we are very thankful for your prayers and support, and for your obedience and love for the Lord. As I aslways say..

Those who give to missions play a role just as important as those on the mission field.”

Please continue to pray for us as we travel and share. Pray for my wife Christen and her father and family, pray for our kids while they test, and pray for Pastor Jose in the DR, who is very busy ministering to four different areas alone while we are gone. Also, pray for God to open doors that will help us to continue our mission (2 Timothy 2:2), of preaching the Gospel and making disciples of the people of the Dominican Republic to the glory of God .

If the Lord so lays on your heart to give back to Him by supporting this ministry, you can send your tax deductible gift to  Romeo Baptist Church 20545 SW 5th Pl. Dunnellon Fl, 34431. Please be sure to write Salgado DR Mission in the memo. Or you can  just click on the  “donate” button found on  the home page of this site to give online. We do not use a sending agency that gets a percentage of the money donated, so you can be sure that every penny of your gift goes directly to the mission field. Thank you and God bless you.

In service to our Lord and King,

The Salgado family

 

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