Author: Antonio Salgado

Dear friends, mission partners, brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here are just a few of the things that the Lord is doing here in the DR.

We are very pleased and praising the Lord for the growth and regenerating work of God in a some of the people we serve here. Lord willing, be baptizing up to five people very soon. There is an obvious change in their lives and it has been a beautiful thing to witness. Three of them are a young family from Venezuela that immigrated here four months ago because of the economic crisis there that is growing worse every day. They arrived to the DR each with just a small bag of a few articles of clothing, nothing else. The church has come around them and helped in many ways. The love showed to them through this difficult and traumatic transition made an impact on them that the Lord used to bring them to Christ. They are now growing and wanting to serve and fellowship whenever they can. Praise the Lord!

We sat with them today after church to spend time and just listened to their story, and how although they are very concerned with the state of their country and their family there, they are very thankful, and see God’s purpose in bringing them here. One of them, is a man named Rafael who also speaks English. His exact words were “I am just so thankful to Jesus Christ for everything. I didn’t know what to expect and we were all very sad to leave Venezuela, but now I understand His plan in all of this.” We are now planning a wedding and their baptism. Praise the Lord!

We have still been visiting the area of Santiago known as Frakatán (in the image above) to share the Gospel and visit with those who lost almost everything in the flooding a couple of months ago. Saturday we held an outdoor church service there. Since we have been visiting, an older couple has begun visiting the church. At one of them come every Wednesday or Sunday. We are praing that they will be instrumental in reaching more people in that area with the Gospel. Please keep Frakatán in prayer.

There is also still a group going to Cotuí every two weeks. Although I personally have been going a liottle less often, the group from the church that goes has been growing and more are showing interest in visiting there and helping minister to the people. Please keep Cotuí in prayer as well.

We have begun a monthly movie night at the church where we show christian films. It not only gives us more time to spend together, but also a chance for the brethren to invite friends and neighbors. The first night we had 60 people show up! Kelvin and I both got up afterwards and shared a few words. All the visitors heard the Gospel before leaving that night. Pray for more to come and be exposed to more of the Word and the love of our people.

Our group of men is growing and that is very exciting. Since we began working in Hato Mayor, one of my most frequent prayers has been, “Lord, please send us men.” That prayer is truly being answered right before our eyes. God is faithful! When God tells us to pray specifically for things in His Word, do it, He will answer.

And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. – Luke 10:2

There are few very promising men in the group we have a lot of hope for as far as deacons and leadership. They have been growing and very helpful serving any chance the get. They get it. They understand that true faith works, it bears fruit unto the Lord. Please pray that the Lord continues to grow them in faith, knowledge, and grace and for the Lord to send more men still. In our experience, it seems that the women are easier to reach then the men, but many times they come alone or with young children and struggle more in bringing their families. But more often than not, if the men come, they are going to bring their families with them. It isn’t always that way, but that seems to be the pattern we are seeing.

and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. – 2 Timothy 2:2

The group of ladies at the church is also growing. They seem to be more united they are becoming more organized and wanting to serve more. Praise the Lord for that!

There has certainly been struggles, hardships, and difficult decisions to make. God is always dealing with His people whether it be discipline, trials, or just His pruning.  Stripping away things we don’t need, showing us the idols of our hearts, teaching us to trust Him, teaching us to recieve our joy from Him rather than things or people. All for the purpose of His glory and preparing us to bear more fruit for Him. The enemy is also very crafty and deceptive, never far away.

Please pray for the familes, especially the marriages. Pray for the salvation of those among us who still have not been born again, especially the children. Also pray for unity among the brothers, growth in love and humility, and stonger desire for the Word and obedience motivated by love, and wisdom.

There is so much more to share. We have finally gotten closer to obtaining Yeison’s birth certificate. We have had his mother diagnosed by a psychiatrist stating why she is unable to care for him. Please pray for the many more steps in this process of legal custody and getting a passport and possible visa for him. We have done what we can on our own, but there are things that only a lawyer can do. We will definiotely need a lot of support financially to be able to make that happen, it is not cheap at all. We are confident the Lord will provide it. Please pray that the Lord will move people to be generous and give towards this important need. We pray that we will be able to take him to the States one day to visit family and the many people who have prayed for him and our family during these last three years.

We still visit and minister to the orphans every Tuesday. We are planning our activities for the year, hoping people will come to teach for conferences we are organizing,  minister to us, as well and bring much needed resources if possible. Please pray for the Lord to help us arrange all of this.

We need more transportation. Many of the people, including the new ones do not have any transportation. We are praying for a large van or mini bus for the church. We can certainly put something like that to very good use here. We have spoken to a lawyer who is also a friend and employee of customs at the port here and he is confident he can get it into the country for us if one was sent or donated. Pray for that! We are also working on finally replacing the roof to the church building. Praise the Lord! We are very thankful for the generous brothers and sisters back home who made that possible.

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

I can go on and on with prayer requests and praise reports, but I will end this one with this. Our family hopes to visit the states in the Summer. Please pray for the funds needed to do so, and for the Lord to open doors to new mission partners,  opportunities to share this mission with more churches and individuals back home that will enable us to continue to minister effectively here and hopefully do more to reach more. Please also share this newsletter and the many prayer requests with others. We are thankful for each and everyone of you who pray and support our family and the ministry here in the DR. Thank you and God bless.

In service to our King,

The Salgado family

 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. – Ephesians 3:20-21

Dear friends, mission partners, brothers and sisters in Christ,

2016 has flashed right before our eyes. Here we are in December now getting ready for Christmas and New Years. Many families plan their get togethers and enjoy some time away from work and school. It is a time of the year that we remember the miracle of the incarnation of our Lord. When God Himself stepped into time and His own creation , took on a robe of flesh and came to rescue an otherwise hopeless people from their sins for His own glory. I pray that we all make time to block out the noise of materialism and busyness to meditate on these important and beautiful truths and to be thankful for God’s glorious grace.

Life still continues almost the same here for us. Please remember to pray for our family and the many other missionaries around the world who can’t be with their families or at those special reunions at this time of year. There are many other prayer requests as well.

After 3-4 years on the field, many missionaries come home for a furlough. There are several different reasons for this. Fundraising, medical reasons, reporting to home and supporting churches, and rest. We have now been here 4 1/2 years.  Many missionaries take a furlough after a term of 3-4 years on the field. Please pray for provision and wisdom in this decision. We also are about to begin fundraising for some important legal paperwork towards working on some very important steps with Yeison, including a passport and visa. We are praying that with the lawyer we will soon be meeting with, Lord willing, Yeison may finally be able to travel with us. Even if it is just for a short time in the beginning. But it will be quite costly and depends on what this lawyer says. We are hopeful and This lawyer has a lot of experience with the process. If the meeting goes well, fundraising that kind of money will also be difficult from this side. This is another reason that we would need to be home for a time.  We hope to share this need and other needs with many churches and individuals. Please help us pray for this. Yeison is very much our son and deeply loved.

But we also are realizing the importance of other reasons for this furlough, like rest. Since I spoke the language coming into the DR, we really did hit the ground running right from the start. Although we have had a couple of  minor changes in the course of our time here, we pretty much have been going full steam since we arrived. We are praying for wisdom and provision for us to be able to rest for a while, tend to our family, and refocus. The Bible says this in Ecclesiastes 10:10:

If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom helps one to succeed. – Ecclesiastes 10:10

Machetes are a commonly used tool here. But anyone who has had to use one to chop for any amount of time would tell you, they work best when they are nice and sharp. You exert little energy and can work efficiently for extended periods of time. But over time and with much use, the blade begins to dull. If one continues to use it that way you must exert more and more time and energy as the blade loses it’s edge. In the end you are bound to become exhausted. The wisest thing to do in that situation is to sharpen the blade. But to do so one must step away from the task for a time.

We are now praying about that time so that my family and I  may sharpen our proverbial “blade”. We understand that this is an important, necessary, and  healthy thing for us as a family, and for our longevity on the field to be able to better minister to others in the future. Pray for wisdom in this decision and continued provision during that time.

There are some wonderful praise reports too. This month, by God’s grace we had three more people join the membership of the church. Praise the Lord! We are also seeing some tremendous growth and committment in some of the brethren, especially brother William. Brother Kelvin’s daughter (Genesis) is growing and is healthy and strong. And sister Rosalina’s new son  (Daniel who is about a month old now) is also healthy and strong. Two beautiful blessings from God to two godly families at Hato Mayor. More of God’s glorious grace.

In November I was in Haiti with brother Moises and helped him take some money, food and supplies to his mother and brothers in a remote area in the mountains. Please keep Moises in your prayers. He is in Santiago with us but still struggles a little as he is now adjusting to life on his own as a young man now. We keep a close eye on him and he is in our church as well. We also still help him in every way possible with the support of the brethren. Recently, a brother in the church was able to give him a job. That has been a long time prayer but the Lord now has answered that request. Praise the Lord!

Please pray for us and feel free to share this newsletter with others. Giving is very low around this time of year and we still have a ways to go to meet our budget just for our family. There are many ministry needs too. Between the demands of a growing ministry, inflation, and men needing training for ministry, we need to raise some money for a pastors fund which will financially help the gifted men and their families who are candidates for ministry so that they can can focus on studying, growing and learning many other things as we prepare them to minister in the future. This is a vital and important step in becoming a disciple making and chuch planting ministry. That is our deepest desire as a ministry. Lord willing, in the future Hato Mayor will become just that for God’s glory alone. Pray.

and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. – 2 Timothy 2:2

Dear friends, mission partners, brothers and sisters in Christ. First and foremost we want to express our extreme thankfulness to the Lord for His faithfulness in providing for our family’s needs. But we also want to thank each and every person who prays for and financially supports this ministry. Thank you for responding to the call to missions. We understand everyone cannot pack up and leave their country to serve the Lord and preach the Gospel overseas, but all believers are certainly called to be involved in the Great Commission with equal passion both at home and overseas. Some go, some send. And those that pray for and give to missions play a role just as important as those on the mission field. Brothers and sisters, the Lord has used your prayers and sacrificial giving to keep us here as we just celebrated four years on the mission field just last week! We have seen the Lord do many things. We have learned so much and grown in so many ways. Thank you for your partnership in the Gospel. I pray that God has been, and will continue to be glorified!

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. – Philippians 1:3-5

The Lord never ceases to amaze us. We have seen Him blessing the work in Hato Mayor in a special way. We are seeing more and more people coming to the church. We are have been consistently full  Sunday mornings and even have around 30 people coming to Wednesday night prayer and Bible study meetings! I am not one to get too excited about numbers, I understand the reality of the state of many souls and that there is SO much work still to do. But the fact that the Lord is bringing many more to be exposed to the Gospel and the teaching of His Word IS exciting! Here are a few of the beautiful and humbling things we have been up to as of late:

We are consistently going to the orphanage every Thursday for the children’s Bible study. Most recently we have been helping to get the lice there under control.

We are currently expositorily preaching and teaching through the Gospel of Mark and the book of James.

We have men and women’s Bible studies every Saturday and have been concentrating on working through the church member’s families and neighbors and friends in our evangelism efforts. We see the Lord using this moreso than some some of our past evangelism strategies. This is also where many of the new faces in church are coming from lately.

We recently reached out to some prostitutes in the city through the sisters in church and a sister that was visiting who has experience working in this type of ministry. We had six women and some of their children come for a special meal we prepared for them as a group of christian women served them and loved them before they received a message from sister Stephanie who was visiting from New York.

We had the privilege of baptizing two people this month and have two weddings planned.

We had the opportunity to go to Barahona to join in the work of a group we know and back to Cotuí to do evangelism and preach the Gospel during outdoor services that we held there.

We have been bringing the handicapped girl from the neighborhood (who for a long time has professed to be an atheist) to church for a few weeks now. She recently lost her grandfather and we have been there with her and the family during that difficult process and had the opportunity to minister to him as well during that time. This encounter with death so close to home has brought her to a place of rethinking things. She is coming to church…and she is liking it! We pick her up and take her home. It is very possible she has been converted, praise the Lord!! Pray as we will be paying her a vist at her home tomorrow as we are out following up with some and visiting others for the first time. There ares so many things going on, it is challenging. Pray for me, pray for our family, pray for the church.

The Lord is certainly working and we have the great privilege and honor of serving Him. In all we do, the verse that continually comes to mind is Luke 17:10.

So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.'” – Luke 17:10

Pray.

 

Dear  friends, mission partners, brothers and sisters in Christ,

It has been an interesting couple of months. As a matter of fact that is a huge understatement to say the least. We have experienced more spiritual attacks of the enemy in recent times than we have in a long while. Attacks on our family in various ways, sickness and depression in several brothers and sisters in the church. Prayers are certainly appreciated in this area for our family and ministry. Even through the dealings of these issues and ministering to and encouraging the brethren here in the midst of difficulties, we are encouraged. We are encouraged because we must be doing something right. I would have more reason to worry that we were not making an impact for the Kingdom if everything was “peaches and cream” all the time.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. – James 1:2-4

We are seeing spiritual growth in the men of the church, we are still seeing new faces visiting the church from to time through different outreach efforts, we are still visiting and spending time with the orphans at Casa de Misericordia, going out to the mission in Cotuí, as well as some new outreach activities we have planned with local little league ball players as well with sports equipment we recently received from a brother back home who has made that his ministry. We have poured a half court on the church property and have a donated basketball hoop we will put up soon for the children and youth to enjoy themselves. Unfortunately there was a small mistake and it is a bit smaller than it should be but we will be extending it very soon. You just have to learn to be patient and flexible here!

We have a couple of brothers visitng us this week who are coming to do a small conference and teach on the Gospel at our church in Hato Mayor, and evangelistic outreach in Cotuí where we will be roughing it for a couple of days far out in the countryside, and go preaching in a prison here too. Please pray that many hear, respond, and most of all for God to be glorified through it all!

And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” – Acts 10:42-43

Yeison just turned two years old in April and is doing good with the boots that the doctors had made for him. In the beginning it was painful for him and he would just lay on the floor and cry, but he has gotten used to them and is getting around good with them on. When we take them off to give him a little break, he is actually starting to be able to put his feet flat on the ground without them for the first time since he has learned to walk. He still has a way to go but he is making improvement and the boots seem to be working well stretching out his tight heel chords.

Maya also just turned 14 last week and Trinity will be 16 in just a few days! Time is going by so fast and the kids have grown and matured so much since we moved here in 2012. Please pray for our kids, they are all at a sensitive age and going through so many changes. May the Lord keep them, bless them, and use them for His glory.

Please also pray for us as we are seriously considering taking in a young lady needing a stable home and the opportunity to get away from some bad influences in her school and neighborhood. We are good friends with some family members who attend the church who love her very much but are unable to offer her what she needs and they have recently approached us for help. The girl’s father is nowhere to be found and the mother is unable to care for her and is schizophrenic. If this is the Lord’s will we will certainly need help in order to give her all she will need. Please pray about helping us by sponsoring this young lady. Her name is Nayeli Fernandez and some of you who have visited us may have met her. We will be making a decision within the next couple of weeks and keep everyone updated about this situation. Pray.

And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. – Luke 6:31

Dear friends, mission partners, brothers and sisters in Christ,

We have been working hard already in this early part of the year and your prayers are needed. This month we are doing a two day outreach event in Hato Mayor. Brother Kelvin and I will be preaching evangelistic messages on those two days. We also have a brother from the States who is coming to teach  for three days on the family. Please pray that the Lord will use these two events to receive glory for Himself, strengthen families, and to call sinners to repent and trust Christ. I have recently been asked to preach at a few other churches as well. Please pray that the Lord would give me just the right message that He would have for those who will be present, I pray the Lord will use me to glorify Himself as I exalt the name of Christ. Please pray.

We have recently committed to taking a small group of brothers to the town of Cotuí which is about two hours away on a regular basis. We will be going twice a month to share the gospel and hold church services in a place that has no evangelical presence whatsoever. Two families have already opened their homes to us and we pray that the Lord will save and allow us the privilege of seeing a new work started there. It is exciting to see such a young church as ours already beginning to see the need for mission work in other places as well. We had eight people volunteer to go last time and had about 25 people show up for the worship and a message once we got started there. Praise the Lord!

The sanctuary on the church building in Hato Mayor is tiny and the tin roof is very old. We are growing and are now planning for the future. Presently the sanctuary is full with about 40 people. We are getting quotes on what it will cost to knock down the front wall and a side wall to make the sanctuary larger and put a permanent cement roof on it. We have a quote on the labor and I just received the material list of what will be needed. As soon as I get the price on those materials, we should have a total number for what we would need to raise. Please pray about your church helping us raise the funds we will need for this project. This is a project that would give us the necessary room we need for growth and to be able minister more effectively here. But we have recently been made aware of an even more urgent need.

Unfortunately we received some very bad news this month and really need your prayers and your help. Our sending church is in a financial crisis and has notified us that they will be cutting down our support possibly all of it. They are our biggest supporter and this is a huge financial blow for us as a family and as a ministry. It is quite possible that we are in danger of losing up to 50% of our already low budget. I ask that you pray that the Lord would open doors and make possible the connections we will need for more mission partners very soon. We are presently running with no emergency fund, no insurance for our family, and still have yet to raise the money needed for the children’s schooling for next year among other needs.

Brothers and sisters we need your help. If you or your church are presently not mission partners, would you please pray about supporting? We are putting together an information pack about our family and ministry to send to churches that are mission minded and that would be willing to come alongside of us in financial support. Any contact information of such churches would be greatly appreciated.  You can always reach us here or at salgadodrmission@gmail.com. Feel free share this newsletter with friends and others. We will be praying for the Lord to provide the necessary funds that would allow us to continue the work He has called us to here. What we need most of all now is consistent, fervent prayer. Thank you and God bless you all. Pray.

In service to our Lord and King,

Antonio Salgado and family

 

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. – Ephesians 3:20-21