Trip Report

Name: Tricia Lloyd-Sidle

Dates and Places of Travel:  February 8-14, 2008 to the Dominican Republic

Samuel Ledesma and Elias Feliz are seminary students preparing for ordination in the Dominican Evangelical Church (DEC).  God’s call does not wait for graduation, however.  Both are working as lay pastors in recently chartered congregations in Barahona, Dominican Republic. 

The Third Dominican Evangelical Church was established on July 7, 2007 with Pastor Ledesma at the helm.  Pastor Feliz, a civil engineer, is pastor of the Second Dominican Evangelical Church of Barahona. Both congregations were started as missions of the First DEC of Barahona.

There are more than 7,000 DEC members in about 50 congregations.  Many of those congregations are actively evangelizing in house churches and small chapels.  Some are also developing micro-enterprise projects, enabling the church to grow both in numbers and in its ability to support itself.

La Bombita and LaHoya bateyes – COPA (Community Partners) projects.  See the Web site
Rev. Pedro Kery, pastor of Primera Iglesia Evangelica en Barahona, is president of the board of COPA.  For some time COPA has been working in these two bateyes, where it has schools and medical clinics.  UMC missionary the Rev. Connie DiLilo is the project director (and the person to contact if a group were interested in working there). 

La Bombita is the poorer of the two.  It is located right in the midst of sugar fields.  Principal and all the teachers appear to be Dominican or Haitian; while at LaHoya there were a number of U.K. and U.S. staff persons. COPA is contemplating expanding to other bateyes. 

Visit to la Region Norte of the DEC
Rev. Miguel Cancú is the coordinator of the Region Norte as well as pastor if la Iglesia de Sabaneta de Yasica, where he has built up the church, school, medical clinic and numerous capillas over his 25 years there.  PCUSA churches in western Pennsylvania have been important partners.