Carlos grew up in Haina in the Dominican Republic and always enjoyed basketball and hanging out with his friends. But as a teenager, he didn’t have anyone to guide him through his life, so he quickly ended up on a bad path; “My life was a disaster. I led my life through drinking and parties….and I forgot about my family. It got to the point where nothing mattered”; Carlos felt hopeless and blamed himself. He sank so low that he considered suicide. But in that dark moment, he was compelled to go visit Pastor Julio Cesar at El Refugio Church (The Refuge Church).

Having completed LoveServes’ coaching program, Pastor Julio had equipped his members to follow Jesus’ example and love their neighbors in practical ways. The church members had been reaching out to Carlos and talking with him about Jesus for some time. But in this moment, as he came to Pastor Julio, he was ready to accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior. That was the beginning of a true transformation.

Now Carlos works with the youth, teens and young adults in his community to help them understand how valuable they really are….they have a purpose and are loved. Carlos utilizes basketball as a way to connect with the youth and young adults in his community. Through his character, love and dedication, he stirs an interest that has drawn in the youth and teens to connect with El Refugio Church and to learn about Jesus.

Together with other church members, Carlos is actively at work to transform their community and to help break the cycle of poverty. He is a disciple who is making disciples. This is what it means to be a healthy church with a holistic vision for a healthy community. Because Pastor Julio equipped his church members for the works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up (Eph. 4:12), Carlos heard the good news about Jesus and his life was transformed. And now, Carlos is living to do the same for other youth; “The teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ is to serve. I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”

Do you recall Jesus’ parable in Matthew 25:37-40 when He said “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’” What if “one of the least of these” is an addict, who knocks on your door for help? 

We recently heard testimony from Pastor Teodoro, (a LoveServes trained pastor) about how his church members are living out Jesus’ teaching in this parable and how that transformed the life of a man named Jose’. 

It all started with a vision. His pastor went through LoveServes training and learned what it meant to have a vision for his community. LoveServes mentored him to identify the greatest needs in the community and then assisted him in equipping the church members to do the work needed to meet those needs. (Ephesians 4:12)

The work of the church members is an expression of their love for Jesus. As community members begin to experience the love of Christ through their outreach and care, hearts are being opened to hear about the hope of the Gospel message.

God continues to show up in a big way! The result?

• Community members are accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
• Lives are being transformed as relationships are restored.
• Alcoholism, gambling and other addictions are overcome.
• Domestic violence is stopped.Their community is being restored.

This church is one of over 3388 churches in 5 countries that have been impacted by LoveServes. Would you help us continue to equip churches to restore people to Christ?

Imagine if we could change the world together, one community at a time. It seems far-fetched, but isn’t that God’s plan? Changing the world by restoring people to a relationship with Him. Jesus asked us (the Church) to join in that plan….to love our neighbors. Restored people can restore communities.

Alexander is a member of a local church in Haina in the Dominican Republic. His ministry work is on the basketball court. Alexander connects with local youth through their shared passion for basketball. Please take a minute to watch Alexander’s story.

Alexander is seeing the lives of many young men and women in Haina being transformed through this ministry

Alexander is seeing the lives of many young men and women in Haina being transformed through this ministry.

Not only is Alexander ministering, but other church members are loving their neighbors in practical ways as well and the impact is supernatural.

It all started with a vision. Their pastor went through LoveServes training over 10 years ago and learned what it meant to have a vision for his community. LoveServes mentored him to identify the greatest needs in the community and then assisted him in equipping the church members to do the work needed to meet those needs. (Ephesians 4:12)

The work of the church members is an expression of their love for Jesus. As community members begin to experience the love of Christ through their outreach and care, hearts are being opened to hear about the hope of the Gospel message.

God continues to show up in a big way! The result?

Community members are accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Lives are being transformed as relationships are restored.

Alcoholism, gambling and other addictions are overcome.

Domestic violence is stopped.Their community is being restored.

This church in Haina is one of over 3,072 churches in 3 countries that have been impacted by LoveServes. Would you help us continue to restore communities by activating more churches?

Rafael, a coach with LoveServes, mentored Pastor Amado for two years. Pastor Amado began to understand that the church members were not there to meet the needs of the church but to help meet the needs of the community. Through LoveServes’ training, Pastor Amado equipped his church members to reach their community by loving their “neighbors” as Jesus does.

The church members began showing love and offered practical assistance to those in need in their community.

About 10 years ago, Amado’s father passed away, leaving him a vacant lot across from the church, right next to the drug and prostitution hotspot. Amado immediately dedicated the land to the Lord’s work and the church began offering medical clinics, even before a building could be built. Through the love of Amado’s church, God launched a revival among the drug dealers and prostitutes next door. Transformed through Jesus’ love, they declared that the space would no longer be used for witchcraft and trafficking, but instead would be used to shine as a testimony of the power of the Gospel.

 What do you think when someone mentions the “global impact of COVID-19”? If you are like most people, your thoughts divert directly to challenges, loss and overwhelming changes. Whatever immediate thought you have, it’s unlikely you thought about a transformed, healthy church. But that is exactly what happened in El Chico in the midst of the COVID pandemic.

El Chico is a small island in the Guatemalan Pacific. In El Chico, almost in the middle of nowhere, there is a small church focused on the integral transformation of this fishing village. In November 2018, when LoveServes began training in Guatemala, the El Chico Presbyterian Church was in a deep crisis: the assigned Pastor only attended eight days a month and the membership was only 15 adult women, 10 youth, 10 children, and five men who governed the congregation.

Since the church lacked a permanent Pastor, the church assumed there was no way for them to participate in LoveServes’ training and apply the precepts and Integral Mission programs. “But God” had already been stirring hearts. Three leaders of the church assumed the commitment to heal their church. In 2019, they chose to be part of LoveServe’s training. These devoted church members (brothers Elvis and Samuel Rodas and Antonieta Trinidad ) carried out the training faithfully and shared the spiritual enthusiasm they learned with the other church members.

In a short period of time, this small group of believers began serving their community in new ways.

• They changed the vision of being a water purification plant to being a supplier of pure water for the elderly, the disabled, and sick people in the community.
• The church began to promote cleaning days throughout the village and created a food distribution program.
• They also began working with drug and alcohol addicts.

Villages are Transformed as people look outside the four walls.
This works. This is proven

God has grown the El Chico Presbyterian Church to a current membership of 115 people (including children). They are sustaining four outreach ministries to the community:

• Family Counseling,
• Food Distribution,
• Environmental Care and
• Supply of Drinking Water

The El Chico Presbyterian Church is a testimony to the wonderful work that God has begun to do in Guatemala through the coaching and training of LoveServes.

THANK YOU for your donation. It fuels our ministry forward. It enables our training. It creates the ripple effect of transformation. Your donation leads to kingdom impact spanning generations. Please join us in this movement and help us transform communities through healthy local churches.

Carlos grew up in Haina in the Dominican Republic and always enjoyed basketball and hanging out with his friends. But as a teenager, he didn’t have anyone to guide him through his life, so he quickly ended up on a bad path; “My life was a disaster. I led my life through drinking and parties….and I forgot about my family. It got to the point where nothing mattered”; Carlos felt hopeless and blamed himself. He sank so low that he considered suicide. But in that dark moment, he was compelled to go visit Pastor Julio Cesar at El Refugio Church (The Refuge Church).

Having completed LoveServes’ coaching program, Pastor Julio had equipped his members to follow Jesus’ example and love their neighbors in practical ways. The church members had been reaching out to Carlos and talking with him about Jesus for some time. But in this moment, as he came to Pastor Julio, he was ready to accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior. That was the beginning of a true transformation.

Now Carlos works with the youth, teens and young adults in his community to help them understand how valuable they really are….they have a purpose and are loved. Carlos utilizes basketball as a way to connect with the youth and young adults in his community. Through his character, love and dedication, he stirs an interest that has drawn in the youth and teens to connect with El Refugio Church and to learn about Jesus.

Together with other church members, Carlos is actively at work to transform their community and to help break the cycle of poverty. He is a disciple who is making disciples. This is what it means to be a healthy church with a holistic vision for a healthy community. Because Pastor Julio equipped his church members for the works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up (Eph. 4:12), Carlos heard the good news about Jesus and his life was transformed. And now, Carlos is living to do the same for other youth; “The teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ is to serve. I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”