"Do Something" posted July 2010 Reflections by Heera KangGateway Community Church, Austin, TX - Dominican Republic Service Learning Connection  I’ve been thinking about how I tend to treat people I consider as “other." "Other" as in someone different in background, religion, wealth, lifestyle, personality (there are so many ways). What I tend to do is separate myself. I’m not proud. I wasn’t even aware, for the most part, that I was doing it - gravitating toward people like me, and pulling away from offenders of my sensibilities. I can be quick to perceive differences in others, while the awareness of sameness is left for the occasional revelation, if ever. Before I start sounding too hard on myself, I acknowledge that I’m not alone in this condition. (It might actually be a human condition.) I would also say that, thanks to God, I’m starting to change. He couldn’t have meant for us to live isolated and constantly misunderstanding each other. He himself takes three distinct forms and remains somehow a perfect union. We must be missing something.
My journey to the Dominican Republic in June (traveling with a team of nine from Gateway Church in Austin, TX) showed me another way of living, without barriers. There we met leading members of the Red del Camino Network, a church based movement that promotes community transformation through their (whole) understanding and practice of the Gospel.
In the historic Colonial City of Santo Domingo, we met church leaders Robert Guerrero (pastor) & team from Iglesia Comunitaria Cristiana (ICC). There we saw our first example of one of RdC’s church based wholistic community ministries - which I came to understand has to do with combining “shared spiritual, human, and finical resources" to bring about change in the hearts and lives of a community. Key word: shared.
Their church parking lot doubles as a shelter for homeless disabled and elderly of the community, and a refuge during the weekdays around lunchtime for over 80 of their friends who are living on the streets. The ministry is run predominately by former and current homeless folks. They cook daily meals in an industrial kitchen set at the far end of the parking lot/shelter (built through donations from friends of the network, though they still badly need a ventilation system!). And gathered together for Sunday evening services, the homeless, the re-homed, the never been homeless, the recovering addicts, the church staff, the ex-gang members, the short-term missionaries, sit side-by-side in a converted theater to worship God together.
_____________________________________________________________________________________ Being A Presence posted July 2010 Video Testimonies from Along the WayEsdras Kelly, pastor of Iglesia Comunitaria Agape of Santa Rosa Bani, Dominican Republic shares how, through his connection with the RdC Network, his life and church have been transformed to truly become a presence of the Kingdom of God in his community. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Caring for Creation in the Congo posted May 2010 Joel Tembo Vwira Mobilizes the Church to Clean their CommunityThe stories that are shared among Christ followers, who are practitioners of the wholistic Gospel, are some of the most treasured gifts that come out of these encounters. We wanted to share with you one such blessing that came out of our time together in Mombasa (Amahoro Africa Gathering, 2010). 
It is the story from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Joel Tembo Vwira is from Congo (Goma). He has participated in the Amahoro gatherings since the first one in 2007 organized in Uganda. The theme of that inaugural gathering of emerging African leaders was “The Gospel of Transformation vs the Gospel of Evacuation.” Joel went home that year transformed and dreaming of ways to reveal the Kingdom of God in his community. Joel currently is the president of the youth ministry in the Goma Baptist Church and is leading a movement to clean up Goma, a city plagued by garbage.
After Joel graduated with a business degree at the University of Goma, he quickly started working on something that he has been dreaming about since Amahoro Uganda. When he was a kid, Joel passed by a mountain of trash that all his neighbors produced and dumped at the corner of the street. Joel was always saddened to see the neighborhood kids play in it and get sick, and he was always sadden by how his beloved city looked. He was also sadden by the fact the church didn’t do anything to clean the city or at least the next corner trash from the church.
At the end of 2007, Joel figured that he could start a company that would get rid of the trash in the city by mobilizing the church, then attack the source of the trash by giving a trash can to each family, restaurants, offices etc. His outfit would then pick it up every week and then use the trash to produce fertilizers for farmers and eventually recycle, transforming the garbage into other products. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Templo Buenas Nuevas An Upper Room Refuge in Salta, Argentina “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in…” Matthew 25:35  Templo Buenas Nuevas, a RdC network church in Salta, Argentina saw under-used space in their ministry facility as a Kingdom resource to meet the needs of the “strangers” in their midst. The church became aware that there were great numbers of poor individuals and families from the remote rural regions of northern Argentina who came to Salta to receive medical attention but had no social network to care for them during their stay. The church decided to invest in their facilities to create a space to welcome these people and care for them as they faced the uncertainty of medical issues, and recovery processes. With help from network friends and supporters a small grant helped them make the needed changes to their ministry facility create an “upper room” to welcome these visitors and give them a home and family to show God’s care and embrace. Since making the new space in May, the church has received more than 15 guests most staying from one to 3 weeks while they or there family members are being treated at area hospitals.  Don Jesús Rafael Guamante was one of their guests. He is a 72-year-old man who came to Salta from a small remote rural village in the mountains to look for a brother who had moved to the city. He was beaten and robbed by delinquents when he arrived. He made his way to a city hospital where he was treated, but his condition required further tests that would take some time. There were no beds available for Don Jesus. Hospital administrators told him about the housing and care Templo Buenas Nuevas provides in their “upper room”. David Paniagua a church leader shares, “we to this day do not know how they knew about our ministry…and referred him to us!” Don Jesus, stayed at the church for several days while the needed tests and treatments were administered. He found not only a warm bed and meals during his stay, but many friends from the church how sat and talked with him. He found a place where he could tell his story… When he left, he shared these heartfelt words… “If everyone would be like you and do what you all do here, then the world would be a much better place. Here with you, I found what I can’t even find in my own little village: patience, love, people that want to listen to me…people who make me feel important, as if I am worth something. Thank you so much. Tell everyone who has helped you to create this wonderful place that they have touched my life, an old man from the country who doesn’t have anyone. Now, when I come back to the city I will come to visit you my friends. I will bring you some vegetables to help you help others who come to stay because that is what you have taught me through your loving service!”
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ARCHIVES Click on the links below to read about previous Transformational Story Activities: Igreja do Caminho: Making a Difference in Brazil Julio's Story: VIDEO Reflections on the aftermath of the Costa Rica Earthquake Pricila On Screen: Video Production and Film Ministry in Brazil A Refuge of Hope: Experiencing the Love of Christ in Chile Transformation Counsel: Unifying the Kingdom in Goicochea, Costa Rica Up from the Ashes: An Opportunity for Hope in Loncoche, Chile ReCreando Jesus para Tod@s Baptist Church: Empowering Children and Teens in Argentina Marcelino's Story: The power of gathering together along the Way in Mexico Wendy's Closet - An Essay by Dee Yaccino Shooting For Success - An Essay by Tom Yaccino The Power of Ten - An Essay by Tom and Dee Yaccino A community of Healing and Encouragement: You matter to me because we matter to God - A testimony by Eladia Gesto God Don't Make Junk: An Essay by Adel Calhoun Gustavo's Smile: A Story of Reconciliation in Buenos Aires "Family from the Streets" Changes Santo Domingo Neighborhood
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