When our daughter and her fiancé said that they wanted a Destination Wedding, I felt very uneasy. After having raised our children in a Christian Home, Christian elementary and high school, they would be getting married by a Justice of The Peace. I was sad there would be no Christian, personal message (like Pastor Peter's at Allyson and Adrian's wedding). One night I woke up and thought about the Pastor that runs the orphanage in Puerto Plata. What if he would come and marry them? He's a Christian minister! I got a very settled feeling and started to get excited about it, but how could we make it happen? I talked to Meagan and she thought it would be great. I knew there were so many people from this community who travelled to Dominican Republic for mission trips to this orphanage and I had always wanted to know more about it.
A friend of ours, Annette from Discovery church goes to this orphanage with her husband every year. I called her to see if she would talk to Pastor Joel and see what he thought, instead of Meagan or myself doing a 'cold call' out of the blue to ask him. When she came back from her trip, she said he was all for it!
Meagan talked to Pastor Joel on the phone and he agreed to give his blessing and a message at the wedding. In return we promised to bless him with an evening out for dinner at the resort for him and his wife and a donation to the orphanage. God has continued to show his hand in this as people from Meagan's new side of Lake Ontario have heard about this and have asked what they can bring along to bless the orphanage and if they could visit with Pastor Joel. Now there are people from Bowmanville with no church affiliation going to the wedding with bags packed with gifts for the orphanage. People from the St. Catharines area are doing the same thing.
I am excited about these connections that have been going on with Maranatha, Rehoboth, Discovery and Hope Fellowship and Pastor Joel and the tiny connection that we can carry with us as we go. I'm excited that we will be meeting with him and he will be blessing Meagan and Josh's wedding with a Christian message at a Destination Wedding! God is good!
- Renita
Update: Pastor Joel and his wife Maria were able to come and bless Meagan and Josh with a Christian ceremony (in Spanish). Several of the wedding guests (including the bride and groom) were able to visit the orphanage, riding in the back of Pastor Joel’s pick truck to the delight and amusement of those who saw them, and were able to give gifts to the children and a donation to Pastor Joel. It was a beautiful learning experience for all— Pastor Joel learned from us the love shown to each other in a Christian Canadian wedding and we learned so much from him about the love they share with the 42 children that live in his home.
N.B. A group of people from Hope Fellowship will travel to Dominican Republic this summer, July 14-21, to do mission work. While there, they hope to attend Pastor Joel’s church for a mid-week service. If you are interested in participating, talk to Joan Doorenspleet, children@hopefellowship.ca or Alice Brink, youth@hopefellowship.ca.
A friend of ours, Annette from Discovery church goes to this orphanage with her husband every year. I called her to see if she would talk to Pastor Joel and see what he thought, instead of Meagan or myself doing a 'cold call' out of the blue to ask him. When she came back from her trip, she said he was all for it!
Meagan talked to Pastor Joel on the phone and he agreed to give his blessing and a message at the wedding. In return we promised to bless him with an evening out for dinner at the resort for him and his wife and a donation to the orphanage. God has continued to show his hand in this as people from Meagan's new side of Lake Ontario have heard about this and have asked what they can bring along to bless the orphanage and if they could visit with Pastor Joel. Now there are people from Bowmanville with no church affiliation going to the wedding with bags packed with gifts for the orphanage. People from the St. Catharines area are doing the same thing.
I am excited about these connections that have been going on with Maranatha, Rehoboth, Discovery and Hope Fellowship and Pastor Joel and the tiny connection that we can carry with us as we go. I'm excited that we will be meeting with him and he will be blessing Meagan and Josh's wedding with a Christian message at a Destination Wedding! God is good!
- Renita
Update: Pastor Joel and his wife Maria were able to come and bless Meagan and Josh with a Christian ceremony (in Spanish). Several of the wedding guests (including the bride and groom) were able to visit the orphanage, riding in the back of Pastor Joel’s pick truck to the delight and amusement of those who saw them, and were able to give gifts to the children and a donation to Pastor Joel. It was a beautiful learning experience for all— Pastor Joel learned from us the love shown to each other in a Christian Canadian wedding and we learned so much from him about the love they share with the 42 children that live in his home.
N.B. A group of people from Hope Fellowship will travel to Dominican Republic this summer, July 14-21, to do mission work. While there, they hope to attend Pastor Joel’s church for a mid-week service. If you are interested in participating, talk to Joan Doorenspleet, children@hopefellowship.ca or Alice Brink, youth@hopefellowship.ca.
Comments
Post a Comment