From March 9 to 11, 53 youth from Dominican Republic and Haiti joined together to serve in the first Maximum Mission organized in the D.R. East District. During the weekend, the visiting participants joined two Nazarene churches in the city of Higuey, using their gifts and talents to impact the specific community of Juan Pablo Duarte in 5 areas: Fellowship, Service, Evangelism, Discipleship and Compassion.
Leaders of the East district, including Global Mission coordinator Elba Duson and NYI president Ramon Joseph, worked together with dedication and effort to hold this big event. The name of the Maximum Mission was “Transform: Change, Evolve,” which arose from Acts 17:6 and the desire to see an entire nation renewed by the Holy Spirit and transformed by the message of salvation.
Participants shared devotions together, cleaned the city’s streets, raised awareness of creation care through workshops, and engaged in door-to-door and street evangelism. They also used artistic presentations during an evangelistic campaign, held a Vacation Bible School for children, taught a conference entitled “You are special” for teenagers and a separate workshop for parents, and even donated toys, clothes and shoes to the children and families in the community.
One of the participants, Lioni Taveras, said: “My life was changed during this Maximum Mission. I was able to share with different people who left an impact on my heart: we went out to preach, serve the community, and even cleaned houses… I realized that it’s not only about preaching God’s Word verbally; it’s also about showing compassion. So I have a challenge ahead: listening to God’s voice and being obedient to Him!”
Elba Duson shared: “By the end of the weekend I realized that transformation doesn’t happen spontaneously; it’s a process that starts in our own lives until it gets to the lives of others. I saw God working in each participant, how they confessed their own sin and need for God in the midst of this experience. Not only the community received the call to transformation, but this had already begun in our own lives.”
Global Mission, East District Dominican Republic
