Good Afternoon Friends and Family,

If you would like to follow along with the story my teammates are writing, please start with Chapter 1. by clicking on the link. Chapter 1: The Girlz go to Church

I have been in the Dominican Republic for a week. It has been a joy to work with a ministry called “Until they Know” (UTK).  They want people to have “complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself”(Colossians 2:2). They also believe everyone has a part to play in the body of Christ. Everyone must be prepared to bring their gifts in order for the body to function well. This belief comes straight from Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 12:12-20. Their slogan is “Somos Sancocho”.

“Somos” means “we are.” Sancocho is a traditional soup here in the Dominican Republic that is made for special occasions.  It contains many ingredients to make the soup and the preparations take a long time. Each Dominican will cook it differently depending on the taste of each family member and of the cook. Family members are usually responsible to bring different items for the soup. Here is an example of what Sancocho could consist of: beef, goat, pork, limes, cilantro, oregano, garlic, salt, oil, chicken, pork ribs, smoked ham, pork sausage, corn cobs, Indian pumpkin, plantains, yam, malanga, and cassava. Each item in this dish matters and plays a very important part of the soup.  This is why the slogan of this ministry is called “Somos Sancocho” because they believe everyone plays a crucial part in the body of Christ.

This picture was taken by my teammate Abbey Spiker.

This is an encouragement to the church to see each member as a part of the body and that they play a crucial part. Paul states clearly in I Corinthians 12:21-26 “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’ On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” My prayer is that we would be a body that functions so well that everyone would want to be part of it. 

One of my amazing teammates, Abbey, has also had a great week- she will continue the story of our time here. She will post a new blog tomorrow, so if you want to read more, click this link and subscribe for updates:https://abbeyspiker.theworldrace.org/