Today was a really long yet productive and exciting day. I started teaching at 8:30 am and finished at 4:00 pm. The leaders who attended the conversation came all over Santo Domingo, and it was quite a gift to have all of their voices as a part of this dialogue. As I mentioned yesterday, we were trying to address, as best as we could, what it means to be human in the midst of the fall. We are trying to understand how to see God’s image in man’s dust. As you can imagine, this a is a very challenging conversation, especially because it touches the foundations of our theology. I think, however, it gets a bit more complicated when we try to address this topic on a 95 degree weather with no A/C, especially when part of the conversation goes with comparing the Babylonian Enuma Elish, and the Biblical stories of the creation of the universe and humanity. I still don’t know how I did it, but it happened to be an amazing conversation with leaders who have not had access to higher theological education. We had a great time working in small groups, conversing with the bigger group, and challenging our ideas of God. After I was done teaching, I was exhausted. Hours of continuous teaching can be draining.
After finishing the training, I was invited to visit a church where another good friend is a
The Pig
pastor. Francis Montas, pastors a church called “Casa Joven”. Francis has also been a part of the previous conversations that the Center for Transforming Mission has developed in the Dominican Republic. But, before I keep going, while I was on my way to visit Casa Joven, I saw something that my CTM colleague and friend Mario told my it was a truly Dominican sight. See the pig?
My friend Francis
Anyway, as I was saying about Casa Joven and Francis, it is interesting to me how the trainings we deliver and the conversations we engage leaders in have taken Francis on quite a journey. Casa Joven, has a vision to se transformation in the community where they are. It is not an easy place. There is a strip-joint kitty corner from the church, a couple bars across the street and a group sex-workers that have taken the street where the church is on as their headquarters. Francis shared with me that all of the people who work on the street where the church is at are part of the congregation. What happens is that they don’t necessarily attend the church on Sundays. Casa Joven, under Francis and his wife Loly’s leadership, has plans to open a couple businesses with social orientation to provide work for the community’s members, and also to make Casa Joven a sustainable community based church.
Today was a good day, and I am glad for what I experienced.
theurbanwonderer 