Our Global Bridge students arrived here in Santiago, Dominican Republic on August 18th! Since then, they have been placed in the ministry sites they will spend the rest of their school year serving in, started online classes through Crown College, taken a few excursions throughout different parts of the country, and completed 3 weeks of Spanish school and home-stays in the community! We’re very excited to have them here serving with us!

This month we’d like to introduce you to two of our Global Bridge students, Brooke (second photo, left) and Bekah (second photo, right). Both are from California and are serving in our Early Childhood Development ministry site, working with preschool aged kids. We asked them what they felt God had been teaching them so far throughout the program, and here’s what they had to say…

Meet Brooke

“So far God is teaching me so much about His vast love for His creation. There have been many moments here where I have been so stretched and felt wildly out of my comfort zone. But it has been in these moments that I have truly felt God carrying me through. I have the amazing opportunity of getting to serve at the preschool site, and getting to love these tiny humans has impacted my heart immensely. God loves those tiny humans so much, even when they cry and misbehave. It reminds me so much of His love for all humanity, even when we rebel against His perfect plan for our lives. God continually brings back the simple Gospel to my mind, that while we were still sinners God sent Jesus to die a brutal death in our place, a death we deserved! But He rose to life in victory over our sin, so we no longer have to live in sin and shame. God loves His children, young and old, and desires to have a restored relationship with us through His Son! (Titus 3:4-7) Getting to experience this love in my daily life on God’s mission field has been my biggest takeaway thus far.

Meet Bekah

“Something God has really been teaching me during my time here is what it truly means to say, ‘Here I am.’ Our church here in the DR has been going through a series called ‘Here I Am,’ and it’s challenged me to think about what it looks like to show up fully for God not just in big moments, but in the small, everyday ones too. Working at the preschool has made that lesson real for me; some of the kids can be tough to handle, but God keeps reminding me that showing up with patience and love, even when it’s hard, is part of saying ‘Here I am.’ I’ve learned so much about His heart — how He keeps loving us when we’re difficult, and how He calls us to love others the same way. Learning Spanish has been another part of that process. Even when I feel unsure or can’t express myself perfectly, God keeps showing me that obedience doesn’t depend on perfection. Saying ‘Here I am’ means showing up, trying, and trusting Him to work through me even when I feel limited.”