Matthew 5:13 You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its flavor, how will it’s saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

I share with you the story of a 19 year old named Leydi, motherless, raised by her father and close relatives. A year ago I had the opportunity to meet her more closely since she was one of the teachers of the Vacation Bible School (VBS) in the “bateyes” or communities surrounded by sugar cane. These are places where Haitian immigrants come to cut sugar cane while living in the eastern part of the Dominican Republic. Leydi served faithfully in the (VBS) and I saw in her the gift of teaching. Leydi was not teaching at her local church in La Romana. In her community, this gifted teacher, Leydi, was salt that was stuck in the salt shaker.

Leydi said: “God’s purpose did not develop in my life because fear gripped me. The fear of not being liked by people. A fear of rejection had created the desire to be separated from others. Therefore, as a member of the Maranatha Baptist Church, I was not part of the ‘small groups’ of young people and did not know the gift that God had put in me.” Leydi, as salt, could not leave the saltshaker easily because, as she kept telling me, “I had no security in myself and I cared more what others were saying than what Christ said about me.”

Leydi was stagnant as the Dead Sea! Leydi was at a dead end. God’s purpose and function to spice up all around her could not be performed by fear. Therefore, she was dead, fruitless, lifeless. In the Vacation Bible School last year, Leydi began to try something different, living among others, she watched the lives of children around sugar cane. They have no hope of getting out of that environment. Leydi had the opportunity to share, to listen experiences of other young people everyday, God began to speak to her life. She understood the purpose for which she was created when she began to let God take the saltshaker where she was well guarded as salt. Through God shaking the saltshaker, she began seasoning the lives of children around her. Leydi began to serve and deepen her experience with Christ and she continued to grow more aware of Christ’s love for her and others.

Today God continues to fulfill His promises, bringing life and hope. Last Monday I took the team of teachers and teachers from different churches of the Alliance of Baptist Churches to the beach. I asked Leydi to write about her experience of how she has grown through service. Leydi writes: “When I met Ketly, she has been a mainstay helping me to get closer to the purpose of Christ. I started going to the VBS in “bateyes” with the aim of teaching children the Word of Christ. I have been reminded that Christ is in me and that without Him I am nothing.”

Leydi grew in her knowledge of God through service. She continues: “It has been wonderfully great to remember God’s purposes for my life and that He will remain faithful. Now, I fell in love with the things He does in my life.” Leydi started swimming in the river of the Holy Spirit and is flavoring the lives of others. She serves now as salt through service to others. In addition, she began her college career to become a teacher, developing God’s call in her life. Leydi, through the presence of the Spirit, is offering Jesus, the salt of the world wherever she goes.

The Holy Spirit through the life of Leydi is giving life and adding flavor to many children in the “bateyes” and nowadays she is one of the best teachers in her local church in La Romana. In addition, she wants to start a dance ministry with young women in the “bateyes” due to teens pregnancy and lack of vision in their lives. Leydi contiues to grow in Christ and her focus is on others and encouraging them to follow God’s mission for their lives.

Leydi and us invite you to allow the salt of Christ in you to be spread to God’s world. You are invited to be a blessing to everyone around you and even across national and cultural boundaries, so the Holy Spirit in your life can keep you as salt very loose in the saltshaker so you can share with others God’s gift to others.

Thank you for your encouragement, your prayers and your offering through the World Mission Offering which allow us to continue passing the salt to others, forming disciples of Christ.

In Christ,

Vital and Ketly

 

Please pray for:

1. The various discipleship classes that we offer so God will continue to call each disciple to be salt of the earth.

2. The completion of the construction of the Community or Welcome Center to immigrants in La Romana in February 2019.

3. God’s chosen people to be an instrument of blessing to the Haitian immigrants and Dominicans at the Community Center.

4. The opening a New Church Plant in La Romana later this year.

5. The response of missionary groups in the United States and Puerto Rico to the Dominican Republic so that their lives are shared in missions.